Choreographer Stephen Petronio, leg man
Mar
13
2011
As a choreographer Stephen Petronio is a leg man. His meticulously constructed movement-chains travel on high-kicking, fully swinging legs. Transporting the dancers across the stage, they then pause in off-kilter balances before sinking into deep solid lunges. We observed this leg action during the West Coast premiere of Petronio’s “I Drink the Air Before Me,” ...
Brazilian folkloric troupe to rock Wilshire Boulevard
Mar
10
2011
After the week I’ve had, I am dearly looking forward to Saturday night’s performance of Balé Folclórico da Bahia, Brazil’s only professional folk dance company. The 38-member ensemble, which features live music and singing (five percussionists and three singers) presents the U.S. premiere of Sacred Heritage, a work inspired by the polytheistic nature religion of ...
Cassavetes didn’t make his films for us, but we like them anyway 2
Saluting the ambitious retrospective of the films — and some of the television work — of John Cassavetes, the patron saint of American independent cinema. The events take place at Cinefamily, located in the old Silent Movie house on Fairfax Avenue, kicking off Thursday night. Cinefamily christens the series, a bit nebulously, with this blistering ...
Pytor Ilyich Tchai-copy-cat 1
A fun musical post contributed to arts·meme by Erica Miner . . . Sound familiar? That’s Tamara Milashkina and Eugeny Raikov, singing Undina and Huldbrand’s duet from Undina by Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky wrote this early opera in 1869, and though it was not one of his two ‘hit’ operas — Eugene Onegin in 1879 and The Queen of ...
Merce Cunningham, genius, his company in final year of touring
Mar
7
2011
Click on photos for better view — Excerpted from article concerning the wind-up of MCDC as a performing ensemble, from March 2011 issue of “Dance” Magazine Intended to avoid the disastrous legal squabbles of the Martha Graham Dance Company in the 1990s, the [Legacy] plan provides a road map to ensure the continued life ...
Good god! Apollo visits Los Angeles, twice.
The bronze art treasure, Apollo Saettante, Apollo the Archer, is visiting Los Angeles through the summer, far from his home in the Real Museo Borbonico in Naples. The luminous statue arrived on the cliffs of Malibu, California, where he received a tender beauty treatment from Getty Museum conservationist Erik Risser and curator David Saunders, antiquities ...
Honoring America’s greats: National Medal of Arts
President Obama this morning honored some of our nation’s great artists in a ceremony at the White House. Receiving the 2010 National Medal of Arts were Robert Brustein, the theater producer and critic; Van Cliburn, the pianist; Mark di Suvero, the abstract expressionist sculptor; poet Donald Hall; and the pioneering dance organization, Jacob’s Pillow Dance ...
Congratulations, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival! 1
Mar
1
2011
President Barack Obama will tomorrow honor Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival with a National Medal of Arts, the highest arts award given by the United States Government. The medals will be presented by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama in an East Room ceremony at the White House on March 2 at 1:45pm, streamed ...
James Dean would follow Eartha Kitt anywhere! 1
Even to Katherine Dunham‘s dance class circa 1955 … but who wouldn’t? Eartha Kitt danced with the Dunham troupe from age 16 to 20, approximately, touring Europe, and becoming a cabaret sensation in Paris. James Dean, on the other hand … this great photo care of koolcatshipchicksblog. fabulous dunham historic photos here.