Miracle on the 405: Mariinsky’s “Swan Lake” @ Segerstrom Center
Oct
7
2012
Yes, a miracle, not on 42nd Street but on the mighty 405 freeway in Costa Mesa, California. There, for a Sunday matinee, all was right with the (dance) world, as the Mariinsky Ballet (formerly the Kirov) offered a sensational journey through beauty and passion, sanity and civilization. Everything that dance can be was on offer ...
Fosse! Pub’ed by Dance Heritage Coalition 1
A new go-to essay on choreographer Bob Fosse, scribed by arts·meme pal Larry Billman, has just been published as part of the America’s Irreplaceable Dance Treasures series. Billman, the founder of the Academy of Dance on Film, is one of several esteemed writers invited by the Washington D.C.-based Dance Heritage Coalition to contribute thinking and ...
What the performing arts look like in Los Angeles
A post-performance picture captures the youth and vigor of the performing arts in Los Angeles today. Review of the concert one post below, or click here. With Miguel Perez, Lillian Rose Barbeito, Ja-Young Jessie Kim, Merett Miller Shah, Melissa Bourkas, Hai Kai, Andrew Cowan, Andrew Wojtal and Tina Finkelman Berkett at The Walt Disney Concert ...
REVIEW: The Los Angeles Philharmonic dances! 2
A big week for dance in Los Angeles: first came the premiere of L.A. Dance Project under the direction of Benjamin Millepied. Then followed Thursday’s symphony gala celebrating what Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel called, in pre-concert remarks, “a union of the arts.” Dance shared the stage, rather marvelously, with our symphony orchestra. Grand ...
Benjamin & Natalie go to the ballet
Sep
24
2012
That would be the dancer-choreographer Benjamin Millepied and his wife the blonde actress, er … the actress Natalie Portman. And here’s is what they went to see: the debut of L.A. Dance Project, a new repertory dance company headed up by Millepied. The boutique troupe of six dancers presented a stimulating and credible evening of ...
Our great choreographer Merce Cunningham explained 2
Sep
20
2012
I’m in a Cunningham frame of mind. Please enjoy and learn from this wonderful Cunningham tribute by Alastair Macaulay, the chief dance critic of the New York Times.
Merce Cunningham’s “Winterbranch” by L.A. Dance Project 2
Sep
20
2012
SEPT 29 2012 UPDATE: CONCERT REVIEWED ON THE HUFFINGTON POST HERE. A wonderful dark and gloomy photo of Merce Cunningham’s “Winterbranch” (1964) with early cast members Carolyn Brown and Gus Solomons, Jr. We’ll watch the re-staging of this High Cunningham classic this weekend courtesy of L.A. Dance Project, the newly launched repertory dance company sponsored ...
Fly away, String Theory, fly away …
Sep
19
2012
The adventurous dance + music ensemble String Theory assembles its massive stringed harp instrument for a site specific performance piece at the Van Nuys Fly Away this coming weekend. Heidi Duckler’s troupe just performed at the mass transit hub as well. String Theory’s work, “Compositions of Sound and Space,” promises to infuse the plaintive bus ...
Happy birthday, George Chakiris
One of dance’s smoothest operators, a suave and velvety mover whose smoldering good looks propelled him to stardom — and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1962 — George Chakiris, born in Ohio, reared in California, celebrates a significant birthday today. Dance Magazine Editor Wendy Perron calls Chakiris “the sexiest dancer on film ...
Thank you, Turner Classic Movies, for “Choreography by Jack Cole” 1
May I express my gratitude to the wonderful classic-movie channel for “Choreography by Jack Cole” broadcast Monday night? I co-hosted the program with TCM’s great veteran host, Robert Osborne. Together, we screened four movies studded with dance sequences that were created by the massively talented American choreographer. And a huge ‘thank you’ to Mr. Osborne, ...