“Mary Poppins, step in time!” cries Van Dyke to Breaux & Wood choreography 4
Kick the knees up! Step in time Votes for women! Step in time It’s the master! Step in time Step in time. As we enter movie theaters in anticipation of the fun and joy director Rob Marshall and his choreography partner, John DeLuca, have in store for Mary Poppins Returns, let’s step in time … ...
Fly high in 2019, with dance!
Jan
2
2019
Did the holidays do you right? Kinda, sorta? Some of us still feel fatigued! Laden, draggy, down to earth. That is why we want, and need, peppy young people, for example dancers, in pursuit of a hot new trend — going airborne. Because space is the place ~! It may be the new dance frontier. ...
‘Ballets With a Twist’ leads the way in reaching new audiences
It doesn’t feel like they do it to fulfill a foundation, or government, ‘outreach’ grant — although they certainly deserve one. They seem to do it by instinct, by coupling brains, creativity and talent with a genuine desire to connect and entertain. That’s why I applaud boutique ballet company ‘Ballets With a Twist‘ for its ...
‘When I say freedom, you say jazz’: JazzAntiqua @ 25
Folk flooding toward the theater half an hour before showtime gave the first indication that something special was on tap at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center on Saturday night. In Los Angeles, traffic-frazzled late arrivals are the norm. The faithful flocked to a special, nearly familial, celebration: JazzAntiqua Dance & Music Ensemble‘s big 25th ...
What was so ‘faux’ about Miss Ruth?
Nov
26
2018
For years I have read critiques that Ruth St. Denis, by all reckoning along with Isadora Duncan the matriarch of modern dance, staged ‘faux,’ or non-authentic, ethnic choreography. Her lack of performative integrity caused her artistic offspring — Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman and Jack Cole — to rebel. But what does that mean? ...
Mazowsze, the Polish folkloric dance troupe inspiring ‘Cold War’
Director Pawel Pawlikowski‘s visually beautiful and emotionally gripping Cold War, which opens December 21, rises from the ruins of post-war Poland where is set a seemingly impossible love story. Cold War earned Pawel Pawlikowski the Best Director award at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. In the film produced by Amazon Studios, two fictional lovers meet ...
Aching loss of Arthur Mitchell assuaged by Memorial, DTH season 1
Nov
15
2018
The 50th anniversary season of the beloved Dance Theatre of Harlem will honor its legendary Founding Artistic Director Arthur Mitchell, who passed away on September 19, 2018, with a memorial service on December 3, 2018. Free and open to the Dance Theatre of Harlem community and friends, the memorial will include performances by the company, ...
Rudik’s ‘Swine Lake’ tunic at auction
For your bidding: An embellished custom-made golden bodice with gold lamé embroidery worn by Rudolf Nureyev during his performance as the handsome prince while dancing with a giant ballerina pig in “Swine Lake” on season two of The Muppet Show. The bodice is generously embellished with silver and gold lamé trim, applique, simulated pearls, chunky ...
‘Apollo’ off course. Wrong. Nyet.
Nov
12
2018
The two photos on this page, of Balanchine’s “Apollo,” are not captures of the ballet’s choreography. No such dance moment occurs in “Apollo.” They are, instead, posed tableaux of two casts of four — marketing photos? Above we see principal dancers of the Mariinsky Ballet, who delivered the work at the recent ‘Balanchine: The City ...
Balanchine goes global in City Center festival
The elegant brochure and historical resonance of Balanchine: The City Center Years generated great promise as a highly anticipated event marking the 75th anniversary of midtown Manhattan’s richly dance-historic theater. The six-performance festival (Oct 31 – Nov 4, 2018), which showcased an array of landmark Balanchine works performed on the stage where nearly all had ...