Elo elicits elevated illumination
Very pleased that HuffPo arts page found the tale of Jorma Elo, the Finnish-born freelance choreographer who’s about to premiere a new work commissioned for the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, sufficiently newsworthy to grant banner headline status ! Read it here.
Roland Petit est mort 2
Jul
11
2011
Choreographer Roland Petit, a giant of contemporary ballet — he more or less pioneered the genre — died this weekend. Petit’s lifelong involvement with ballet, creating 100+ works, gave him two enduring credits: Carmen (1949) and Le Jeune Homme et la Mort, a dramatic ballet set to a Bach passacaglia, with scenario by Jean Cocteau ...
Miguel Gutierrez vs. American Ballet Theatre 1
Jul
9
2011
Informed that his upcoming performances at Los Angeles’s Alexandria Hotel will go toe to toe (he, barefoot, they, in pointe shoes) with American Ballet Theatre’s “The Bright Stream” at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Guggenheim fellow Miguel Gutierrez said: “Shit! It’s always between me and those fuckers!” [Would I make that up?] So, who are you ...
You want audience? China has audience! 2
Jul
6
2011
Back now for several weeks from the tour of central China with Lula Washington Dance Theatre, our friend Keith forwards us photos. Perusing, I’m reminded of the outdoor amphitheater at Zhengzhou’s SIAS University in Henan where we had two shows. The first night a mere 2,000 people were in the house; the second, ostensibly enjoying ...
Hofesh Shechter talks … 1
Jul
5
2011
Lyndsey Winship interviews Israeli born, London-based choreographer Hofesh Shechter, an ex-rocker, in Time Out London published today: Shechter has difficulty acknowledging his own success. ‘I’m experiencing failure daily,’ he says. ‘It’s difficult for me to connect to the idea that I’m successful. I can see it in the fact that my work tours all around ...
REVIEW: Rennie Harris’s “REIGN” rains on China
A woman stands at stage center, her knee-length black dress draping loosely over trousers. She’s trembling. Flashing lights — a disco? faux lightening? — cut the stage’s darkness. The sound of thunder, then rain, pours from the speakers. It’s loud, overpowering. The woman suffers, she’s convulsing; her corn-rowed hair flies in the syncopated rhythm. A ...
Seen at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
Jun
30
2011
artsmeme thanks the joffrey ballet for the funny foto
What to feed a U.S. dance company overseas 1
Jun
29
2011
You’re on an international dance tour, and it’s a pretty small life. I know this because I just had the great good fortune to accompany Lula Washington Dance Theatre in China last month. Life boils down to: What time in the morning do you have to put your luggage in hotel lobby? Hey, what’s on ...
Merce Cunningham Dance Company journeys to Jerusalem and Moscow
Jun
29
2011
A special report from arts•meme foreign correspondent Anna Finke, traveling with Merce Cunningham Dance Company. By day, Anna works as MCDC’s wardrobe supervisor and photographer. She blogs at Finke-Ink. Anna writes first on visiting Israel: We were all excited to take in this new country and the Jerusalem Season of Culture was a wonderful host. ...
George Chakiris remembers West Side Story in advance of 50th anniversary screening @ Hollywood Bowl
Prior to next week’s “West Side Story” night at the Hollywood Bowl — a screening of the ten-Oscar-winning, Bernstein-Robbins-Sondheim-Laurent film celebrating its 50th year anniversary — it’s a great pleasure to post L.A. renaissance guy Tom Gregory‘s lovely interview with Bernardo, er… the wonderful George Chakiris. At the Bowl, the Los Angeles Philharmonic will play ...