Memorial Day 2020: Los Angeles theaters we miss 1
coveted during covid quarantine – the egyptian theatrethis spectacular photo of the egyptian’s balcony by morgan glier for the ucla daily bruin It all feels surreal — but my essential problem during the theater shutdown of the Covid-19 pandemic is that for me, art happens at night. Rarely during the day, sometimes at matinees, and ...
arts·meme reveals all at age twelve
At twelve, she’s a little lady. A proper one. But sometimes she lets it all hang out — just like Tamara Toumanova in this photo with bad boy Danny Kaye. arts·meme is getting up there in the pre-teen category. Twelve years old today ~ May 24, 2020! Please have fun with our annual birthday posts. ...
On Misty Copeland, gold is the new pink 1
May
13
2020
What ‘ballet pink’ has been for more than a century has gone redefined. It is high time. Enough of that insipid shade. Enter a new theme, dusky gold, the color magnificently worn in these photos by the glorious, triumphant ballerina and principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland. Seen sculpting space in the skyscraper ...
Martha Graham, Rita Hayworth share bill in 1923 2
Astonishing discovery by artsmeme‘s Hollywood dance detective … [More Hollywood dance detective stories here!] Every student of dance history knows that Martha Graham danced in the Greenwich Village Follies of 1923, produced by John Murray Anderson, first in Sheridan Square in the Village and then on Broadway. Correct? Yes, correct. Graham, above, appeared in the ...
‘Content’ is such an ugly word for the arts 11
Everyone is doing the best they can in a pandemic. But will the rush to provide online content serve dance well over time? Pictured: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in ‘Revelations’ photo credit Paul Kolnik In olden days, two months ago, we attended live performances — dance, theater, and music. Along with movie screenings, that ...
Marvelous new ‘Folies Bergere’ poster punctuates Dave Gould dance number
To commemorate the first-ever Oscar for Dance Direction, awarded to Dave Gould at the Eighth Academy Awards for his spectacular “Straw Hat” number from FOLIES BERGERE (1935), dance-movie-poster maven Mike Kaplan in tandem with the National Museum of Dance has introduced a new poster. The poster, created by a young artist, was part of the ...
Anatomy of a cancellation: Heidi Duckler Dance illuminates ‘The Chandelier’
Apr
27
2020
paul crewes, heidi duckler – april 2019 Almost one year ago nearly to the day, on April 30, 2019, The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts gathered the Los Angeles dance press to its stage for an announcement. Paul Crewes, artistic director of Beverly Hills-based theater and Rachel Fine, its executive director/CEO, were venturing ...
Enter early Los Angeles ballet instructors Kosloff & Rasch
Mar
22
2020
ed. note: artsmeme is pleased to publish a two-part excerpt, from a new book, Ballet Class: An American History by Melissa R. Klapper (Oxford University Press, March 2020). Our Los Angeles-based blog requested writing from Ms. Klapper that focuses on the early history of ballet training in our city. Part two below! Jean Westheimer, ...
European exiles & emigres instruct kids of early Los Angeles in ballet 2
Mar
14
2020
ed. note: artsmeme is pleased to publish a two-part excerpt from a new book, Ballet Class: An American History by Melissa R. Klapper (Oxford University Press, March 2020). Our Los Angeles-based blog requested writing from Ms. Klapper that focuses on the early history of ballet training in our city. Part one below! With no ...
Review: ‘West Side’ Video
Shereen Pimentel, Isaac Powell and cast. photo: Jan Versweyveld Broadway’s current revival of West Side Story—the groundbreaking 1957 musical by Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, and Stephen Sondheim whose dramatic power has long been associated with kinetic energy and eloquently focused movement opens simply. The Jets saunter to the front of the vast, bare ...