Lovely ladies-in-motion from choreographer Kyle Abraham
Both “The Watershed” and “When the Wolves Came in,” the paired set of dance programs by Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion presented at Royce Hall by the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA, drew inspiration from serious political and social issues — racial injustice and resulting liberation struggles in the Civil Rights movement and the fight ...
Wim Wenders brings PINA to Aero Theatre Mon Feb 16
Fresh from the Berlinale festival conferring its Honorary Golden Bear on the 69-year-old filmmaker for lifetime achievement, Wim Wenders, the son of Düsseldorf beloved by the dance world, as well, for his magisterial filming of Pina Bausch’s Tanztheater Wuppertal in PINA, the American Cinematheque has nailed the hot-hot-hotter Wenders (on March 2, the Museum of ...
Recco’ed: choreographer Kyle Abraham & Co. to kick it at Royce Hall
Feb
10
2015
A tremendous opportunity to experience the “post-modern gumbo,” the rich inner imaginings and outer cultural connections of choreographer Kyle Abraham whose work we have happily tracked for the past several years. Two separate dance pieces will be shared over two evenings this week’s end, at the regal Royce Hall, presented by the Center of the ...
REVIEW: Ballerina Wendy Whelan, restless for a reason 2
At left, an iconic photograph of George Balanchine partnering Suzanne Farrell in “Don Quixote” for New York City Ballet. Wendy Whelan/Restless Creature, which we enjoyed Saturday evening in Long Beach, brought to mind this historic pairing — a great choreographer dancing with his muse. The four-ballet program, premiered in 2013 at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, ...
Thelonious Monk, dancer
Just as James P. Johnson, George Gershwin, Fletcher Henderson and Duke Ellington took musical inspiration from New York City, it’s impossible to divorce pianist/composer Thelonious Monk’s music from Gotham. In Monk, the erotic and the athletic intertwine at the Savoy Ballroom, subways vibrate with propulsive rhythms, congregational choirs shake church foundations, young girls skip rope ...
Jail bait from Hollywood choreographer Alex Romero
A new book “The Man Who Made the Jailhouse Rock: Alex Romero, Hollywood Choreographer,” author, Mark Knowles, briefly reviewed: Alex Romero was one of the last of the Hollywood Studio staff choreographers who never received the attention or success he deserved. As if his life story is not remarkable enough, his talents were well known ...
Dance DNA: The Nicholas Brothers honored at the Alex 1
What caused these two dancers, each bringing his own qualities and characteristics, to meld and synergize into a ballistic dance unit known as The Nicholas Brothers? Sly Stone said it best: “It’s a family affair.” This was the implicit message delivered across an incredibly fun Sunday evening spent with the two handsome and talented gentlemen ...
Jerome Robbins, in 1947 the king of high/low art
Jan
27
2015
In this photo dated September 7, 1947, choreographer Jerome Robbins coaches chorus kids in ballet. He’s preparing dancers for “High Button Shoes” [music Jule Styne, lyrics Sammy Cahn, book Stephen Longstreet, direction George Abbott, choreography Jerome Robbins]. The show opened October 9 1947 at the Century Theatre on Broadway, then moved to London’s West End ...
‘Kinetic Los Angeles’ heralds impact of Russian ballet in California
This startling and marvelous image of a ballerina garbed in an unprecedented and surely unreplicated costume graces the cover of “Kinetic Los Angeles: Russian Emigres in the City of Self-Transformation.” The journal, the 20th edition of the esteemed “Experiment,” has just been published by the Institute of Modern Russian Culture at the University of Southern ...
Fare-thee-well, glorious Kathak dancer Chitesh Das 2
Jan
7
2015
Saddened to hear news of the departure from Planet Earth of the great San Francisco-based Kathak dancer, Pandit Chitresh Das, whose brilliant cultural ambassadorship for his native art form extended to a eye (and brain)-popping performance at Grand Performances last September. [arts·meme loved and reviewed the show here] We also saw Chitresh hit the floorboards, hard, ...