Heidi Duckler Dance’s fully ‘Loaded’ dock-dance at the Ford
A distant, pulsing whir of ambient music accompanies the sight of a peculiar, tall figure as he rambles toward us. We spy him (or is it a she?) through the half-closed gate (or it a gate ‘half-open’?) at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre’s loading dock. This creature, dressed in unisex coveralls like a hip garbage ...
Merce & Co. beautiful museum pieces @LACMA
They don’t make ’em like Merce Cunningham (1919 – 2009) anymore. And the dance world is the poorer for it. For those who did not have the distinct honor of face time with the great dancer/choreographer (I studied modern dance with ‘Merce’ as he was ubiquitously known in the dance world, and attended concerts by ...
Misty Copeland, de maximus, in ‘The Nutcracker’
Oct
26
2018
In anticipation of Copeland’s appearance in the soon-opening Disney feature film “The Nutcracker and The Four Realms,” let’s take a gander at this state-of-the-art ballerina, filmed in 2014, in the grand pas of “The Nutcracker.” One hopes that in the movie, Disney has captured her courage, physical exuberance and athleticism, and her musicality. Video gets ...
Los Angeles dance companies to take El Capitan stage in backing Misty Copeland in Disney ‘Nutcracker’
Ready, set, go! As soon as the calendar page turns to November, off with the Halloween costume and on with the Sugar Plum regalia! That’s ‘cuz the newest Disney live-action movie, THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS, will open that night at the wonderful, retro El Capitan Theater on Hollywood Boulevard. Playing “the Ballerina,” in ...
O, Jackie! Mrs. K-O goes to the ballet
It is the stuff paparazzi’s dreams are made of: Jackie O, balletomane. Here we see Mrs. Bouvier-Kennedy-Onassis, posing, giggling, and shmoozing, on sidewalks, at banquets, and backstage with Rudik and Misha. Jerry Robbins is in there too. They are but a few of samples of the 50 works of the super “Rudolph Nureyev – Mikhail ...
Justice & joy united by Contra-Tiempo 1
Contra-Tiempo’s new work joyUS justUS is exuberant, activist dance-theater. Say the title out loud and you hear “joyous justice.” Dig deeper, and you discover it takes a stand on topics that are on the boil in America today: immigration, resistance, the power of women, and what it means to be Latino. It’s by and about ...
The sound – and sight – of silence courtesy of Montreal’s Cas Public
Oct
17
2018
These beautiful shots by photographer Damian Siqueiros intrigue me to go see the Montreal-based Cas Public at the intimate Theatre Raymond Kabbaz, associated with Le Lycee Francais de Los Angeles, presenters of artists of the French diaspora. Known for its eloquent dance, Cas Public houses an atypical performer, Cai Glover, who overcame a hearing impairment ...
Leaping Jerry Robbins 1
Oct
13
2018
His birthday is over so it is back to business. To admire the work of Jerome Robbins (he is currently being deified, similar to Balanchine) is to stumble upon his borrowings, and lack of crediting of others. This is so sensitive — and it’s a difficult-to-discern thin line of how the artistic process happens. Again ...
Happy birthday, Jerry! Love, WSS kids
When was the last time a film clip got a standing ovation? Well, it happened last night. The audience at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills erupted in appreciation after watching Rita Moreno and George Chakiris, on screen, kicking it to Leonard Bernstein’s thumping music and Stephen Sondheim’s wicked lyrics (all still ring ...
On Robbins’s 100th, his biographers raise a glass
I’ll leave the kudos for Jerome Robbins on this auspicious day — his 100th birthday — to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts now hosting an exhibit, Voice of My City: Jerome Robbins and New York; New York City Ballet with its planned Robbins repertory evening tonight (Afternoon of a Faun, Other ...