Stephen Farber screens Ivory sans Merchant 2

Film
“What’s the city of your final destination?” inquires film critic Stephen Farber of his audience, setting the stage for screening director James Ivory’s latest film. “The City of your Final Destination” is one of a roster of top films enjoying pre-release viewings at Farber’s Monday evening “Reel Talk” events in West Los Angeles. Made four ...

Film critic Manny Farber tribute @ LACMA

Film
Among the most tempting of the surfeit of film series  "plaguing" our city in April is LACMA’s tribute to the eclectic artist and film critic Manny Farber. LACMA’s associate film curator Bernardo Rondeau nurtured and developed the series to honor Farber, whose essays were published for decades in The New Republic, The Nation, and Time ...

John Jasperse tells his truth … at REDCAT

Dance · Reviews
New York choreographer John Jasperse’s engaging dance work with the coy name, “Truth, Revised Histories, Wishful Thinking, and Flat-out Lies,” confirms the obvious. And that is that of the many wonderful outposts for dance in Los Angeles, REDCAT is the most happening. Highlights of the REDCAT dance season included the re-staging of Anna Halprin’s “Parades ...

arts•meme to attend TCM classic film festival 2

Film
arts•meme will be part of the press corps at the first ever TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood for four days beginning April 22. More than 50 classic films will be screened at Hollywood’s historic Chinese and Egyptian theaters with appearances by Mel Brooks, Luise Rainer, Ernest Borgnine, Jerry Lewis, Eva Marie Saint, Tony Curtis, ...

NEA dance writer boot camp accepting applications

Dance
A truly unique opportunity awaits a dance writer — established or aspiring — who is motivated to endure the tough boot camp known as the NEA Dance Institute … to be held at the American Dance Festival at Duke University this summer. But you need to apply now. Deadline looms next Friday April 23rd. Application ...

Meredith Monk, liberator of singers

Dance · Music · Reviews
Multimedia artist Meredith Monk, labeled avant-garde for her reducing of dance, music, and drama to their most basic and powerful elements, gave the great voices of the Los Angeles Master Chorale a remarkable gift: their bodies. Halfway through “Songs of Ascension,” the final work of Sunday evening’s Monk tribute, the singers circulated the stage of Disney ...

Herr Haselboeck’s precarious perch 1

Music · Reviews
Musica Angelica’s Palm Sunday performance of St. John Passion at Santa Monica’s First United Methodist Church had us afloat in the infinite beauty of Bach’s musical soundscape. But it also had us glued to our chairs as Martin Haselboeck, the orchestra’s music director, balanced backwards on the edge of the stage conducting Bach’s massive score ...

Bill T. Jones / Dance Theater Workshop merger 1

Dance
A major merger in the New York dance world is in the works. The 25-year-old Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company is in final negotiations to merge with Dance Theater Workshop. The two groups will combine their boards and staff into one entity with a new name and mission, though the final details are still ...

Flamenco fury at Fountain Theater

Dance · Reviews
The petite lady in the photo, a Frida Kahlo lookalike named Palomo Rios, is a spitfire dancer whose performance at the Fountain Theater’s “Forever Flamenco” series we had the great pleasure of viewing last Sunday evening . One suggestion: Do not get on Ms. Rios’s bad side. She’ll hurl her compact body through space, seizing ...

Our exigent film-viewing life in Los Angeles 2

Film
We are truly April fools! It’s a topsy-turvy world … because the laid-back capital of the universe is on fire with film events this month. We in Los Angeles are sweating bullets trying to attend all the film festivals on offer in our city. For film alone, the April line-up is quadruple-booked. arts•meme’s good friend, ...