Death of a dancer: Lawrence Rhodes
Mar
31
2019
Lawrence Rhodes, Brunilda Ruiz in “Time Out of Mind” – Harkness Ballet 1965 Michael Avedon photo courtesy Finis Jhung I first saw Lawrence Rhodes (1939-2019) dance with the Pennsylvania Ballet. Growing up in Pittsburgh, the company was a point of pride. The below photo is very much how I remember Rhodes’s dancing. His elegance, power, ...
Cunningham, 100, at CAP
Mar
29
2019
We’ve heard of the Land of 1,000 Dances. But what is the ‘Night of 100 Solos‘? It is a global celebration of the centennial of a great dance genius, Merce Cunningham, the exceptional dance-advancing artist who was born on April 16, 1919, in Centralia, Washington. Mighty Los Angeles is part of it! In Night of ...
REVIEW: Diana Wyenn, theater in her veins 2
First, I squirmed. Then I squiggled. I crossed my legs, then re-crossed them. Drawing a deep breath, I wondered at one point if I might faint. Talk about visceral theater! Diana Wyenn’s one-woman show, Blood/Sugar, seen last night at the wonderful Bootleg Theater, goes granular, right down to the grains of sugar your pancreas is ...
REVIEW: ‘I Married An Angel’ at City Center’s Encores!
Sara Mearns, Mark EvansRodgers & Hart’s I Married an Angel Director-Choreographer Joshua Bergasse Over the past few seasons Sara Mearns has found a home at City Center for projects outside of (and sometimes very far removed from) her “day job” as one of New York City Ballet’s leading ballerinas. At Fall for Dance she has ...
Ouchy! on jitterbugger Matt’s neck
Extreme jitterbugging is on view in The Marine’s Come Thru (1938), as the jitterbug contest first prize goes to Matt and Dolly. As well it should. Matt puts his full body into it. He puts his brain to the challenge. This morsel of eccentric dancing comes from our friend Hilary Knight. We’ve got the moment ...
A grandaughter’s devotion: Mariana de Moraes at the bluewhale
Mar
19
2019
photo courtesy mariana de moraes In her upcoming performance at the Little Tokyo jazz club, bluewhale, chanteuse Mariana de Moraes is admirably fronting an evening of Brazilian samba, bossa nova, Brazilian jazz, Afro-Samba, and poetry. And she is doing more. She is honoring her grandfather, Vinícius de Moraes (1913-1980) a giant of Brazilian culture history. ...
Stylin’ songs straight-ahead: Catherine Russell @ Segerstrom 2
Songstress Catherine Russell It’s very common for today’s young jazz singers to want to sound like instruments, instrumentalists, and/or innovative vocalists. There are legions of developing singers who worship at the altars of Betty Carter, Sheila Jordan and Mark Murphy. But each of those trend-setters evolved into very personal stylists only after years of trial-and-error. ...
Remembering filmmaker Peter Mays 1
Mar
15
2019
Turn, by Peter Mays, screening March 31 Peter Mays, a sweet soul who passed away on March 4, 2019, was a Los Angeles treasure. Peter grew up in Los Angeles and attended UCLA where he majored in painting and minored in mathematics. I had the pleasure of some holiday meals with him hosted by his ...
Flowers from John Lautner
Mar
11
2019
Samuel’s Florist, 2017 photo: Adriene Biondo In October 2017 our friend the architectural historian Alan Hess, author of The Architecture of John Lautner, felt a frisson comparable to how ladies feel when receiving a big unexpected flower bouquet. The Architecture of John Lautner, author Alan Hess Ding dong, Alan’s architectural preservationist sidekick/friend, Adriene Biondo, was ...
Is Naharin’s “Venezuela” about Venezuela?
Mar
10
2019
photo: Meridith Kohut for The New York Times Rarely does dance put its proverbial toe into a tempest, but if there was a choreographer to do so, it would be Ohad Naharin, in his dance swan-song for Batsheva Dance Company, soon at Royce Hall, entitled “Venezuela.” Once Latin America’s richest country and one of its ...