Get stoned … go higher! See David Dorfman’s “Prophets of Funk”

Dance · Music
Dance maker David Dorfman throws down the gauntlet. And the gauntlet is this: Can he out-do, in his choreographed tribute to Sly & the Family Stone, what the great sixties interracial funk band achieves in a cold television studio? Check out this video: I wouldn’t miss it — if only because the cast includes Kyle ...

Bessie Awards honors west coast choreographers 1

Dance
In a joyous ceremony that ended only one hour ago at Symphony Space on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, two West Coast choreographers were among those honored with Bessie dance awards. The awards returned with a vengeance following a one-year hiatus. Faye Driscoll of Los Angeles was recognized for her dance-theater piece “837 Venice Boulevard.”  Accepting ...

arts•meme at the Pillow

Dance
I am in an arts paradise called Jacob’s Pillow. It’s my first visit to the Pillow, the hallowed Berkshire Mountain birthing ground of modern dance dedicated to preserving, nurturing and presenting dance of every idiom — contemporary, jazz, ballet and ethnic. Last night at the Pillow’s summer dance festival, I saw a wonderful performance by ...

arts journalism

I’ve written about the arts — primarily dance — for many years. Please enjoy a selection of my published work: Kyle Abraham’s “The Radio Show” Los Angeles Times, 16 October 2011“The Radio Show” mourns the loss of a central community touchstone on Pittsburgh’s airwaves. With a score by Alva Noto, mixed by Abraham with music ...

At CAP UCLA, the ‘B’s have it!

Dance · Ideas & Opinion · Theater · Visual arts
To be or not to be, that was the question Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA artistic director Kristy Edmunds pondered in fashioning her arts-forward performance series for the 2014-15 season. So much so that the curator tilted in one direction: toward artists with names starting with the letter ‘B.’ Yes, a barrage ...