‘Get up and vote!’ Engaged dancers urge pals to use their power
It’s high energy and upbeat; it’s scrupulously non-partisan, and it creates a positive model for civic involvement. It’s the brainchild and passion project of dance-community stalwart, the agent and co-founder of MSA Agency in Hollywood, Julie McDonald. Along with a partner, Pamela Cooper, and a technology maven, Emmy Frevele, “Dance for the Vote” just went ...
Storming the Sixties: From Teen Dance Shows to Shindig!
NBC Hullabaloo Dancers on The Motown State Fair Tour with Canadian singer Tony Roman, ca. 1965. Photograph by James J. Kriegsmann. Courtesy of Karen W. Hubbard. Ed. note: artsmeme is delighted to share with readers the third of three excerpts from author Julie Malnig’s Dancing Black, Dancing White: Rock ‘n’ Roll, Race, and Youth Culture ...
Box of sixty bon-bons: The American French Film Festival (TAFFF) starts Oct 29
In the run-up to The American French Film Festival (TAFFF) at the end of October, we picked through a box of “chocolat” to select a few of the yummier-looking titles of the sixty films that will be on offer at the Director’s Guild of America, October 29 thru November 3, 2024. This Festival is among ...
So long, Alain Delon, at The American-French Film Festival
Oct
7
2024
with natalie baye, notre histoire One of the most charismatic leading men to grace the silver screen, Alain Delon appeared in 107 films, starred in some of the most iconic European films of the 1960s and ’70s, and worked with many of the most celebrated directors of his time. While there’s no denying his iconic ...
Luminario Ballet on high meets LedZAerial in the orchestra pit
I find watching the superb aerial-ballet artists of Luminario Ballet at a chill venue like The Avalon of Hollywood to be one of the more fun experiences of my annual arts calendar. An upcoming gala/fundraiser event November 3 is billed as an “immersive dance journey via contemporary ballet en pointe, acrobatics, and aerial dance in ...
FILM REVIEW: ‘Conclave,’ as cardinals clash
Let’s face it, movies based on books can totally flop. Think Bonfire of the Vanities. Some surpass the book—The Godfather. And some make you want to read the book. Conclave, adapted from Robert Harris’s bestselling novel, presented by Focus Features and directed by Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front), falls in that category. ...
Female filmmakers find voice at German Currents Film Festival 2024
Oct
1
2024
The German Currents Film Festival in the year 2024 has a surprising surfeit of films directed by women. The Festival opens on October 11 with a Los Angeles premiere of a comedy/drama by a multi-award-winning woman writer-director Sonja Heiss. It’s the German box office and festival favorite, WHEN WILL IT BE AGAIN LIKE IT NEVER ...
‘Dancin’ as Danson: tango man Jordi Caballero
Sep
18
2024
Jordi Caballero, a friend of artsmeme (F.O.A.M.), who moves from one amazing project to another with jolting speed, came up with a plum about a month ago. He was invited to be comic-actor Ted Danson‘s dance-double, in the very cute commercial for Consumer Cellular, above. The Portland-based provider of cellphones, no-contract cellphone plans, and accessories ...
REVIEW: Teatro Grattacielo’s operatic ‘Beyond The Horizon,’ angst by Eugene O’Neill
photo credit: amanda vaill BEYOND THE HORIZONOpera in Three ActsMusic by Nicolas FlagelloLibretto by Nicolas Flagello and Walter SimmonsOrchestration by Anthony SbordoniPresented by Teatro Grattacielo at LA MAMA Shares, 66 East 4th Street, New York NYSunday, September 15, 2024 Eugene O’Neill is the most operatic of American playwrights — think of those conflict-ridden families, those ...
To Pyotr, with love: A conversation with Tchaikovsky biographer Simon Morrison
simon morrison, princeton professor, author Ed. note: We’re honored at artsmeme to share a conversation between arts journalist Marina Harss with author Simon Morrison, whose recent biography, “Tchaikovsky’s Empire,” is receiving critical kudos. In Morrison’s book, writes Harss, he “takes a fresh, humanizing approach, debunking myths like the composer’s supposed suicide, and focusing on the ...