REVIEW: Modern dance’s vivid origins in St. Denis/Shawn historic restagings 1
DANCES BY RUTH ST. DENIS & TED SHAWN September 30 – October 3, 2021The Theatre at St. Jean’s 150 East 76th St, New York City Bradley Shelver in Japanese Spear Dance by Ted Shawn (1919)photo Julie Lemberger Of the eloquent, elegantly presented sampling of choreography by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn on view in ...
Hollywood Heritage’s Halloween hangout with ‘glamour ghoul’ Vampira 2
She was born Maila Nurmi, which seems ghoulish enough. But she went by the mononym, Vampira. For those of us who did not grow up in Los Angeles watching this strange, mysterious lady host horror movies on late-night television (I grew up in Pittsburgh, where our Vampira was not nearly as sexy: “Chilly Billie” Cardille, ...
Ida Rubinstein, diva/dancer/actress of fascination, in new Holder play
A new show opens this week in London: It’s a theatrical presentation about “dance’s forgotten diva.” Which … I always thought … was me! But in the reality-based universe, our friend, Christian Holder, has another dance diva in mind. Holder, the great former star principal dancer with The Joffrey Ballet and a Renaissance man, following ...
You go, Ruth & Ted! Denishawn revisited
It’s time to show some respect to Mom and Dad. In the lovable, but mildly dysfunctional family that is American modern dance, we kids all descend from the same parents. Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn were two brave souls who saw, then sought, a world beyond their respective birthplaces in rural New Jersey and ...
In loving memory of Emma Lewis Thomas, a champion of Los Angeles dance 6
Sep
19
2021
ed. note: Emma Lewis Thomas, a beloved dance professional, a university professor, and woman of humor and true grit, died last Thursday at her home in Montana. A few words of loving memory of Lew here. Please feel free to add comments to the post. Please drop me a line if you would like to ...
Film review: ‘In Balanchine’s Classroom,’ a dance documentary
George Balanchine (1960s). Photo: Ernst Hass. As seen in In Balanchine’s Classroom. A film by Connie Hochman. A Zeitgeist Films release in association with Kino Lorber. Watching In Balanchine’s Classroom, the new dance documentary directed by Connie Hochman, you wait and hope for a movie about a significant, if rarefied, subject to add up to ...
Sane dance fans converge on Segerstrom for pleasing ‘Lines Ballet’ performance
It was the United States of Segerstrom last night when the nation’s Capital of COVID-Containment relocated (for just one night, Dr. Fauci) to Costa Mesa, California. There, the much-vaunted performing arts center at least somewhat righted the pandemic cataclysm by launching its season with a knockout dance performance. An upbeat cluster of up to 1,500 ...
A little Fosse-Verdon will do ‘ya!
Aug
30
2021
In the six or so years she danced for Jack Cole, Gwen Verdon was ‘artiste.’ But with Fosse, it was hot dogs, carnie, Vaudeville, Americana, rubber-legs, cigars, straw and bowler hats. And what they were selling, the public was buying. “Bob and I grew up at the same time, where everybody learned to do everything. ...
You’re invited: Blue13’s Bollywood ‘shaadi’ 2
It’s immersive, it’s outdoors, and baby, it’s Bollywood-style. When did you get a better wedding invitation than that? Blue13 Dance Company‘s ‘Shaadi‘ (Hindi for ‘wedding) will be a happening thing at Heritage Square Museum, a cluster of preserved Victorian homes in the Montecito Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. If Blue13’s ebullient artistic director and choreographer ...
Live performance lives! at Vail Dance Festival
Melissa Toogood with other Festival Artists in Michelle Dorrance’s “New to the Session” at the Vail Dance Festival. Photo by Christopher Duggan As New York City’s dance venues gear up to re-open next month, in early August a heady mix of the city’s finest dancers brought the thrill of live dance to the Vail Dance Festival. ...