Where industry meets the arts
E.O. Hoppé, Large Alternator, Siemens-Schuckert werk, Gartenfeld, Germany, 1928 Unknown photographer, GE Plant in Schenectady, 1934. Features Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers (Shawn at center) Hoppe photo credit: E.O. Hoppé Estate Collection, courtesy Graham Howe Shawn photo courtesy, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Archive, courtesy Norton Owen Like this? Read more: Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival ...
Jack Cole rocks Rita Hayworth’s world in “Tonight and Every Night” (1945) 1
The ditty she sings is inane (remember, it was the War!) and the costume is not her greatest. But Rita Hayworth does her thing prettily enough. Life changes when a monster-dancer joins her on stage — Jack Cole. Choreographers: Pay attention @ 1:43. That is how to make an entrance — sliding in on your ...
Marie Bryant put a bun in Betty Grable’s oven 5
The silken jazz dancer, Marie Bryant (1919-1978), seen here jiving with the great Harold Nicholas, was, for a time, rehearsal assistant to Jack Cole. That’s interesting. Cole’s performance group was all white. It wouldn’t be otherwise. But he clearly relied on Bryant for special tasks. Asked what she did for Jack Cole, Bryant replied, “I ...
Go postal: use choreographer commemorative stamps
Finally. A great reason to use snail mail. You can smack a beloved choreographer right onto the envelope. Jim McMullan, the well known poster designer for Lincoln Center, created the images following a first lot of choreographer stamps in 2004. That group featured mini portraits of dance giants: George Balanchine, Agnes de Mille, Martha Graham, ...
John Singer Sargent dresses Rita Hayworth for “Put the Blame on Mame” 2
“The designer Jean Louis, supposedly inspired by John Singer Sargent‘s famous portrait of the décolleté Madame X, created for Miss Hayworth a fetishistic black satin strapless gown, with elbow-length gloves, and the dance director Jack Cole devised the strip-tease routine in which she flung those gloves to her audience. The director, Vidor, expected the filming ...
Between “Pina” and a hard place 4
Heavy-hitting filmmakers are turning their cameras on dance and it’s an honor. It’s also a puzzlement, to the dance world. It surprises us. We thought that the only folk attending dance performances were fellow dancers, parents, and dance critics. But clearly we were wrong. Other artists – filmmakers – love dance too. With “Pina,” German ...
In Hines vs Davis, Sammy wins by decision in first round 3
Jan
8
2012
The wonderful and charming Gregory Hines (1946-2003), try though he does in this touching dance-off, cannot out perform his idol, Sammy Davis, Jr. (1925-1990). The event took place soon before Davis died. Davis’s feathery touch on the floor is a revelation. Watch Hines watch Davis, 1:48 to 2:04. Watch him try to get in. Pure ...
Preparing for “Pina”? Watch Sprockets.
German filmmaker Wim Wenders’s sumptuous new film about the choreographer, Pina Bausch, is a wonder for the eyes — tucked though they are behind thick 3-D glasses. The film, “Pina,” opening in L.A. on 13 October, is marketed as a documentary. But aren’t ya ‘spozed to learn stuff from a documentary? Part of the film’s ...
Distinguished dance professional, Jodee Nimerichter, named as director of American Dance Festival
Jan
5
2012
It wasn’t a surprising announcement but a pleasant piece of news nonetheless to learn of strong recognition for a well qualified woman of the arts today. Jodee Nimerichter, long associated with the historic and esteemed American Dance Festival (ADF), was named as director of the 79-year-running summer dance festival. Nimerichter will be the first woman ...
Robert Johnson writes on demise of Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Jan
4
2012
“If the demise of a national treasure like the Merce Cunningham Dance Company is not sufficient to convince us we must rescue the arts from the hands of capricious millionaires and from the boom-and-bust cycles of legislative appropriations, then our civilization is lost. It is past time to stop accepting their miserly handouts gratefully, and ...