Make ’em laff! with eccentric dance
Aug
26
2019
ed. note: the opening words, here, from “The Motion Picture Academy Celebrates Eccentric Dance” published by Dance Magazine August 15, 2019. The author is artsmeme‘s Debra Levine. There’s a type of dance you’ve never heard of: It’s called “classical ballet.” The progenitors included Mathilde Kschessinska, Vaslav Nijinsky and Anna Pavlova. The art form passed through ...
REVIEW: Sara Mearns’ deep dance-dig at the Pillow
Sara Mearns in Christopher Williams’ excerpt from “Daphnis & Chloé” Being present for the career arc of a singularly distinctive and memorable dancer is a wonderful privilege. And it’s been a privilege to observe the initial 15 years of Sara Mearns’ career on our dance stages. Primarily, she is a leading light of New York ...
Not a man’s dance-world, says ‘Femme Fetale,’ speaking in bodytalk
Aug
22
2019
Of the three-woman dance crew, ‘Femme Fetale,’ comprised of a Korean, a Mexican and a French dancer, one of the ladies is named Marie Poppins. Femme Fetale dance crew
Strong women of Los Angeles dance set to unfurl at Ford 1
Aug
13
2019
ed. note: This excerpt of a story by artsmeme’s Debra Levine was first published by Ford Theatres A peevish story in The New York Times started the ball rolling for Los Angeles dance producer Deborah Brockus. When Brockus read a lengthy #metoo article decrying the dearth of female choreographers, she felt fired up. But not ...
REVIEW: A ‘Royal’ August at the Joyce Theater
Calvin Richardson, Joseph Sissens in Christopher Wheeldon’s “Within the Golden Hour” The Royal Ballet has come to town – or rather, a small but potent ensemble of eight Royal Ballet dancers, who have taken up residence at the intimate Joyce Theater for the first of four Joyce Ballet Festival programs. Curated by RB artistic director ...
Tarantino & Toni
Toni Basil at home in Los Angeles.Credit Amy Harrity for The New York Times LOS ANGELES — When Toni Basil’s agent told her that an anonymous filmmaker from an unidentified production company wanted to chat, she was intrigued. It was something about the 1960s, she was told, so she mopped her dance-studio floor in case ...
Cinematography & editing enhance Toni Basil choreography for ‘Head’
I have found a new obsession in this brilliant “ear worm” song and early music video, “Daddy’s Song.” This extraordinary dance-film number was choreographed by Toni Basil who appears in the video in tandem with Davy Jones, of the Monkees. It’s from the cult-favorite movie Head (1968) co-written by Jack Nicholson, directed by Bob Rafelson ...
Carmen de Lavallade remembers Rudi Gernreich, Lester Horton dancer
artsmeme’s exclusive interview with the peerless modern dancer Rudi Gernreich with Peggy Moffitt modeling the “Marlene Dietrich”pantsuit, 1964.Photograph © William Claxton, LLC, courtesy of Demont Photo Management & Fahey/Klein Gallery Los Angeles, with permission of the Rudi Gernreich trademark. Rudi Gernreich papers (Collection 1702). Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA. The establishment, ...
Cool blues fuel philanthropy at Fire Island Dance Festival
It sure looks like summer, doesn’t it? The swanky seaside affair had the ultimate emcee, Joel Grey, introducing not the girls of the Kit-Kat Klub, but the Fire Island Dance Festival in its 25th year — an enduring charitable fundraising event on Fire Island Pines Great South Bay on July 19-21. The roster was replete ...
Jets ‘do the hustle’
The filmmakers behind the re-do of WEST SIDE STORY (1961) did not win a lot of internet love upon the release of a production still of Steven Spielberg’s redux filming of Jerome Robbins/Robert Wise’s iconic WSS “Prologue,” with menacing gang members dance-trawling the streets of Manhattan. It’s hard to give fewer points for either the ...