An actress & her dance coach
Two utterly amazing human beings, beautiful people, professional collaborators, and personal friends. He wielded enormous influence on her screen persona and on her career. This photo represents, for me, a most delirious encounter between dance and film worlds; nothing from Astaire or Kelly however great, speaks [to me] as powerfully. Here we have Jack Cole, ...
The great Mitzi Gaynor recalls Jack Cole, courtesy of UCLA Film & Television Archive
After a screening on Saturday August 4, 2012, of THE I DON’T CARE GIRL (Twentieth Century Fox, 1953), we enjoyed a fun panel discussion of the film. It all happened at the Billy Wilder Theater of the Hammer Museum under the auspices of UCLA Film & Television Archives, which had a rare print of the ...
Jack Cole’s 3 dance masterpieces from “The I Don’t Care Girl”
We’re watching a rare 35mm print of the film tonight, courtesy of UCLA Film & Television Archive. Here’s what all the fuss is about, in order of appearance in the film: The Johnson Rag I Don’t Care Beale Street Blues
Bob Fosse’s “From This Moment On” from Kiss Me, Kate 1
Thirty years as a dance critic focused on classical ballet and modern dance has led me to a new fascination: high-impact commercial dance of stage and screen. It fits my mood to see dancers hustle with high energy — and entertain. This number features Carol Haney, a Jack Cole dancer and rehearsal assistant to Gene ...
Zorina in Balanchine’s “Zenobia” ballet 3
Jul
10
2012
Here’s the esteemed Mrs. George Balanchine #2, also known as the Continental beauty Vera Zorina — luscious, lovely, and delectable. In this precious video, Zorina dances the Princess Zenobia pas de deux made by Balanchine for the Richard Rodgers musical “On Your Toes” (1936). Oh my god, I love when toward the end she balances ...
Diverse dance makers selected for National Choreographers Initiative
Jul
6
2012
The ninth annual National Choreographers Initiative takes place this summer from July 9-27, 2012. During the three weeks of intense creative effort at the dance studios of University of California, Irvine, teams of choreographers and professional dancers produce new dance works culminating in a public performance at the end of July. The invaluable program is ...
Fred & Barrie for the Fourth 2
The meeting of two slenderellas …. in her red jumpsuit, Barrie Chase looks like a Fourth of July firecracker!
Jack Cole, the camera’s eye, and the space of the soundstage
In the photo above from “The I Don’t Care Girl,” Cole inserts a staircase so that the dancer (Mitzi Gaynor, on steps) floats (as in space) at mid-frame. Cole layers men on the ground, populating the bottom edge of the frame. He regularly dispatched men, scrambling, across the frame bottom. He even extended the viewer’s ...
I *do* care that you get tickets for “The I Don’t Care Girl” screening August 4
The Billy Wilder Theater, where UCLA Film & Television Archive will screen “The I Don’t Care Girl” on Saturday night, August 4, with Mitzi Gaynor attending, is located on the ground floor of the Hammer Museum. The Hammer Museum is the old Occidental Petroleum Building at the corner of Wilshire & Westwood Boulevard. It’s right ...
In a New York state of mind … with Henning Rubsam 1
This New York/New York anecdote comes from our Facebook friend, Henning Rübsam, the artistic Director/Choreographer of SENSEDANCE: Back in NYC. Last night at the MET watching ABT … “Are you in fashion?,” the old lady sitting next to me started the conversation. “Always in fashion. But professionally I am a choreographer,” I answered. “My nephew ...