Meredith Monk muses on “our intimate connection to nature”
Perusing program notes after enjoying Meredith Monk’s wonderful ensemble of songbirds at CAP-UCLA last night, I was moved by the veteran performance artist’s statement. After a bruising week of human destruction, with cataclysms in Algeria and Moscow, where the head of the Bolshoi Ballet was horribly attacked, the essay struck me as tonic. Writes Meredith ...
Jerome Robbins hits the bull’s-eye
As this Saturday afternoon draws to a gloomy conclusion, it seems like a perfect time to fire up the “Prologue” from WEST SIDE STORY (1961). But when is not a great time to watch this? Jerome Robbins’s brilliant storytelling through dance … Leonard Bernstein’s tremendous original score — the anthem of an urban jungle. A ...
Mary Blair, the woman artist who inspired Disney’s “Nine Old Men” 1
At last night’s panel discussion of Walt Disney’s animated classic, “Peter Pan” (1953) (the new blu-ray version is now playing at Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre), we learned about the film’s core group of animators. Walt Disney jokingly referred to this crew not as “Pan-imators,” but rather as his “Nine Old Men.” The expression puns on ...
Little drummer boys at Lula Washington Dance Theatre 1
Interspersed amongst the thundering herd of kickin’ African drummers that propelled Kwanzaa madness at Lula Washington’s Crenshaw Boulevard dance studio over the holidays was a passel of tiny tots … young gentlemen. They banged the drum, and not slowly. I asked our friend Erwin Washington, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Lula Washington Dance Theatre, for ...
Kwanzaa madness at Lula Washington Dance Theatre
Jan
3
2013
Point me to a better show. I’m open minded! But now in my third year of attendance, I find the year-end Kwanzaa Celebration at Lula Washington Dance Theatre not just exhilarating fun, not only pulling you to the edge of your chair with non-stop great dancing, but, an added pleasure, it blasts off to a ...
Happy New Year 2013 from arts·meme! 1
[click directly on photos for detail] Incandescent dance photography from a Hollywood film. Why are we not surprised that Jack Cole stands behind it? The Harlequinade costumes are a dead giveaway; one of the enduring interests of this choreographer (he died in 1974 in Los Angeles) was commedia dell’arte. High-voltage performance (Gower Champion laudable in ...
Jack Cole rehearses Marc Platt, Rita Hayworth in “Down to Earth”
Jack Cole (seated, pointing) rehearses Marc Platt & Rita Hayworth for “Down to Earth” (Columbia, 1947) in the photo at left. Platt executes the move in costume and a (bad) wig, at right. Cole was very big on gladiators; judging by the look on Platt’s face, the dancer was perhaps less so. [click on ...
Dance a big part of L.A. County holiday celebration!
Dec
15
2012
It’s time for the 53rd Annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. More than 20 choirs, music ensembles and dance companies from the many neighborhoods and cultures of L.A. celebrate the season during this free three-hour extravaganza. You can attend part of the show or all of it and it’s full of ...
Jack Cole, Hollywood director 4
On the camera crane works Jack Cole (in white sweater, click photo for detail), directing “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend,” exactly as he did for all four GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1953) dance numbers (Two Little Girls From Little Rock, Ain’t There Anyone Here for Love, When Love Goes Wrong, Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best ...
An easy nut to crack: City Ballet of Los Angeles in “The Nutcracker Swings”
Dec
11
2012
City Ballet of Los Angeles (CBLA) continues its mission to reflect the diversity of its city and bring classical ballet to new audiences with its winter program, The Nutcracker Swings, a twist on the holiday favorite set in 1942 Los Angeles during World War II. The Nutcracker Swings is CBLA’s tribute to the classic tale ...