A map of Ralph Lemon’s mind
Nov
4
2010
News! Ralph Lemon, choreographer, had a brain x-ray and we got an exclusive on the result! It’s a map of Ralph Lemon’s mind. It could come in handy when you go see How Can you Stay in the House all Day Long and Not Go Anywhere? at REDCAT next weekend. Here are explanations, courtesy of ...
Ornette was fantastic. Frances Davis was also fantastic. 3
“Miles liked Ornette,” said the restaurant hostess as though first-name-basis chatter about two jazz-world geniuses was the most natural thing in the world to do while seating customers. Adam and I were grabbing a bite at Hamburger Hamlet before what would be a wonderful Ornette Coleman concert at Royce Hall. Yes, that Miles. And this ...
A chat with Ralph Lemon
Nov
2
2010
“How do you watch something kind of unwatchable? How do you hear something unlistenable?” asks Ralph Lemon, multi-media choreographer, addressing no one in particular. Talkative in a cross-country phone interview, he’s musing on his latest dance work, How Can you Stay in the House All Day and Not Go Anywhere? It’s a good title for ...
Cannibals found in New Zealand! 1
Nov
2
2010
I read with interest the news that Ethan Stiefel and Gillian Murphy, two of America’s strongest home-grown ballet talents, got plucked by the Royal New Zealand Ballet, Stiefel as artistic director. A nice move for a gifted and beautiful couple. Even more delighted by the way Kiwi journalistTom Cardy cannibalized my descript in the L.A. Times of ...
Ruth Page’s Pavlova passion
Oct
31
2010
Ruth Page, seeing the Russian ballerina perform in Indianapolis in 1914, was not the the only American girl of her generation to be transfixed by Anna Pavlova. The same thing happened to Agnes DeMille in Los Angeles. Enjoy!
Ballet is dead. Long live ballet. 1
In the October 13, 2010 issue of The New Republic, dance critic Jennifer Homans queries, “Is Ballet Over?” In her essay, Homans notes: “Ballet has always and above all contained the idea of human transformation, the conviction that human beings could remake themselves in another, more perfect or divine image. It is this mixture of ...
Choreographer Kyle Abraham, Pittsburgh homeboy, BESSIE awardee
Oct
24
2010
Gifted dance artist Kyle Abraham, whose “The Radio Show” just won a Bessie Award, and who I immensely enjoyed meeting at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in August, is my homeboy from Pittsburgh. Never mind that I’m a good twenty years older than Kyle — a full generation. He and I share a few Pittsbuggian, er ...
Ballet’s Angel Corella looks ahead … and back
Oct
22
2010
“Dance is a way of connecting with people. When you play classical roles, you use your technique to express something, to make the audience part of what you’re doing,” says veteran ballet star Angel Corella, who as a principal dancer with American Ballet Theater for 15 years has played serious dudes with names like Siegfried, ...
Bessie Awards honors west coast choreographers 1
Oct
18
2010
In a joyous ceremony that ended only one hour ago at Symphony Space on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, two West Coast choreographers were among those honored with Bessie dance awards. The awards returned with a vengeance following a one-year hiatus. Faye Driscoll of Los Angeles was recognized for her dance-theater piece “837 Venice Boulevard.” Accepting ...
Jerome Robbins’s “Glass Pieces” at NYCB
Oct
10
2010
Program opener “Glass Pieces” was a standout at the final performance of New York City Ballet’s fall season Sunday afternoon. Jerome Robbins made the piece in 1983, a bit of a late comer to the music of minimalist composer Phillip Glass who had long been the darling of the downtown world. The Robbins validation was ...