Not so cool, Jerry
Oct
13
2018
Okay, his birthday is over so it is back to business. To admire the work of Jerome Robbins is to stumble time after time over his borrowings, and lack of crediting of others. It’s so pervasive (and I am far from a Robbins expert) that I find myself compelled to create a tag ‘Jerry Robbins ...
Happy birthday, Jerry! Love, WSS kids
When was the last time a film clip got a standing ovation? Well, it happened last night. The audience at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills erupted after watching Rita Moreno and George Chakiris, on screen, kicking it to Leonard Bernstein’s thumping music and Stephen Sondheim’s wicked lyrics (all still ring dismally true) ...
On Robbins’s 100th, his biographers raise a glass
I’ll leave the kudos for Jerome Robbins on this auspicious day — his 100th birthday — to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts now hosting an exhibit, Voice of My City: Jerome Robbins and New York; New York City Ballet with its planned Robbins repertory evening tonight (Afternoon of a Faun, Other ...
Memories of Paul Taylor … and ‘Aureole’ 2
Oct
7
2018
Ed. note: Guest blogger Sharon Kinney contributes this reminiscence to mark the passing away of Paul Taylor on August 29, 2018 and to honor a great American dancer/choreographer. Writes Sharon: It was the summer of 1962, Paul Taylor invited me to come audition for a new piece he was making to be performed at Connecticut ...
Pick: Diavolo at the Music Center
There’s a dizzying amount of dance going on the next few weekends, as it is the height of the fall season. But if you really want to travel to dizzying heights, consider the upcoming offering of Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center, Diavolo | Architecture in Motion at the Ahmanson Theatre. Diavolo Artistic ...
Sasha Waltz ‘Kreatur’ in U.S. premiere at German Currents Film Festival
The acclaimed German dance company, Sasha Waltz & Guests, will celebrate the US premiere of its critically hailed dance film, Kreatur, as the closing night event of the German Currents Film Festival, presenting outstanding German, Austrian and Swiss Films in Los Angeles. The annual festival now in its 12th year runs from October 19 – ...
‘Nearly live-in-movie-theaters’ Bolshoi Ballet broadcasts to restart
The performances are captured “live the same day.” That’s how it works. Because you don’t want to go to the local multiplex in your jammies at three a.m. to see a simulcast, do you? Most of us are more than happy with the ‘close to real time’ rebroadcast from the Bolshoi Theatre at the comfortable ...
In memoriam: ‘Still trying to get Paul Taylor’s jump right’
Ed. note: A guest writer, Sean Mahoney, pictured above, submitted this personal reminiscence of his work with the great iconoclastic choreographer Paul Taylor (1930 – 2018). Mahoney, who began his association with the Taylor organization in 1994, has been a member of Paul Taylor Dance Company since 2004. I was in rehearsal and Paul was ...
How ‘Lola’ helped Bob Fosse handle Gwen’s ‘bad reputation’
Sep
16
2018
In a 1991 interview with Gwen Verdon on CUNY Television, the great Gwen describes her first encounter with Fosse as her choreographer for Damn Yankees. I had seen [Fosse] at MGM studios. We had met at a party that Michael Kidd gave. I had a reputation for being difficult … and I was. I was ...
Death of a dancer: Peter Frame
Sep
16
2018
Former New York City Ballet principal dancer Peter Frame, a beloved teacher and coach, performs the duet from Balanchine’s AGON with Victor Castelli. Frame, at right, died August 30, 2018 — sadly, the day after the passing away of Paul Taylor. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kurt Froman (@kurtfroman) ...