La belle Catherine … Deneuve

Film
The film goddess Catherine Deneuve, at 66 larger than life, still impossibly beautiful, and emanating the off-putting mix of power and femininity that characterizes French women (and intimidates me!), received the audience’s full adulation in a personal appearance tonight at LACMA’s Bing Theater. Fittingly, today is International Women’s Day. Et quelle femme! We’d just watched ...

Pytor Ilyich Tchai-copy-cat 1

Dance · Music
A fun musical post contributed to arts·meme by Erica Miner . . . Sound familiar? That’s Tamara Milashkina and Eugeny Raikov, singing Undina and Huldbrand’s duet from Undina by Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky wrote this early opera in 1869, and though it was not one of his two ‘hit’ operas — Eugene Onegin in 1879 and The Queen of ...

“Black Tulip” screens @ LACMA Thursday night

Film
Chris Cole, the producer of the new “Black Tulip” film, contributes this overview to arts·meme. With all the turmoil and foreign affairs debate surrounding Afghanistan, it’s easy to forget about the millions of Afghan civilians still dealing with the consequences that have resulted from over thirty years of war. Families from all over the country ...

Merce Cunningham, genius, his company in final year of touring

Dance
Click on photos for better view —   Excerpted from article concerning the wind-up of MCDC as a performing ensemble, from March 2011 issue of “Dance” Magazine Intended to avoid the disastrous legal squabbles of the Martha Graham Dance Company in the 1990s, the [Legacy] plan provides a road map to ensure the continued life ...

Let’s learn more about Sonny Rollins

Music
Video tracks four historic Prestige recordings between Miles Davis and Rollins, who accepted the 2010 National Award of Arts from President Obama last week.  

Catherine la Grande: Deneuve in person at LACMA 1

Film
Preparing to see Catherine Deneuve appear in person in conjunction with a screening of “Potiche,” her new film directed by François Ozon, we swung by the museum late Friday night to see Roman Polanski’s “Repulsion” . . . a perfect movie. Ian Birnie, film curator responsible for the museum’s Deneuve retrospective, shares his view on ...

My country ’tis of thee … of thee I sing!

Music
We just loved seeing a creative American like Sonny Rollins honored in the White House. That’s the way it should be every day, not once a year. More arts, education, and humanities in our country! Here, the great jazz saxophonist accepts 2010 National Medal of Arts from President Obama. What a moment! “I’m very happy ...

Good god! Apollo visits Los Angeles, twice.

Dance · Visual arts
The bronze art treasure, Apollo Saettante, Apollo the Archer, is visiting Los Angeles through the summer, far from his home in the Real Museo Borbonico in Naples. The luminous statue arrived on the cliffs of Malibu, California, where he received a tender beauty treatment from Getty Museum conservationist Erik Risser and curator David Saunders, antiquities ...

President Obama confers arts & humanities award

Dance · Film · Music · Theater · Visual arts
From the White House earlier today …

Harry Houdini, who he? See: Skirball Center

Visual arts
Houdini: Art and Magic, coming soon to the Skirball Cultural Center, traces magician and escape artist Harry Houdini’s evolution from fledgling circus performer in the 1890s, to stage magician at the turn of the twentieth century, to star of stage and film. Featuring more than 150 artifacts, the exhibition illuminates Houdini’s compelling story through historical ...