post sponsored by the Carpenter Center
A minute + five years: ‘A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham’ to Long Beach 1
Dec
19
2019
Drive (2017) It’s been a minute since Kyle Abraham’s velvety, street-smart choreography hit the dance-friendly stage of the Carpenter Performing Arts Center. In 2015 at the Center, Abraham was one of four choreographers to partner ballet goddess Wendy Whelan in the much-heralded “Restless Creature.” That minute has now extended to five years. On January 25, ...
Bravo~! to the boyz of ballet
courtesy christian holder Former Joffrey Ballet dancer, costume designer, and choreographer Christian Holder, based in London, is a renaissance man of the arts in a way reminiscent of his very famous uncle Geoffrey Holder. It was my pleasure to see the indelible Holder dance with the Joffrey Ballet. And he has many further accolades beyond ...
Prop poster portrays choreographer’s bad-taste pinnacle
This prop poster from The Producers (1968) is displayed outside the theater during the premiere of “Springtime for Hitler,” and is also visible at greater length in the “Playhouse Outtake” on the DVD. It is on auction December 10 at Bonhams as part of the TCM presents: 1939, Hollywood’s Greatest Year sale. “Springtime for Hitler” ...
Sin in style! High-fashion pre-Code double-bill at The Egyptian
Made between 1930, when the restrictive Production Code was adopted, and 1934, when it was in full effect, “pre-Code” films are beloved for their provocative content and risqué style. A Sunday double-bill screening program devoted to pre-Code films is hosted by the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles. The afternoon begins at one p.m. with ...
Be with Merce — in books, films & classes
498 Third Avenue, photo courtesy of James Klosty, “Merce Cunningham Redux“ Looking in the rear view mirror, it appears that no artist in our great century of American dance — the 20th — had a more revolutionary impact on the art form as did Merce Cunningham. His genius (it long endured; he lived and worked ...
Reviewing ‘The Report’: Adam Driver to next play Martha Graham? 2
The two faces of Martha We just endured the earnest-but-meh new movie, The Report (2019), written and directed by Scott Z. Burns with the backing of producer Steven Soderbergh. The film’s noble mission is to recount yet another norm broken in our once-shining nation: the Geneva Convention. A ‘backstage drama’ (an underground “scif” in CIA’s ...
Sean Spicer can’t dance? Sez you! 1
Nov
7
2019
Sean Spicer and Lindsay Arnold on the first week of “Dancing With the Stars.”credit: Eric McCandless/ABC The last person on earth I thought I’d ever defend is the former flame-throwing, feisty-and-fuming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, now a television celebrity bursting from his lycra costume on “Dancing With the Stars” on ABC. [update: Spicer ...
Thank you, Robert Evans, for ‘Serpico’ scene at Lewisohn Stadium
In this snippet from Serpico (1973), fellow cops Tony Roberts and Al Pacino haggle in the eerie ghost town of a grand structure where so much New York art and culture — famously, summer concerts by the New York Philharmonic — met an avid audience. It’s the 8,000-seat-capacity Lewisohn Stadium on the campus of City ...
Balanchine’s rainbow of “Jewels” met by Mariinsky pristine classicism 1
Oct
27
2019
“Emeralds,” to Faure They may not thrust, propel, and hit marks with the velocity and modern shapeliness of their colleagues in New York City Ballet. Why would they? They are differently trained. Speed was hindered by lugubriousness. Idiosyncratic details went undervalued. Still, it was beautiful to observe the purity of classical technique that Mariinsky Theatre ...
post sponsored by The Soraya
Farruquito, flamenco master, brings troupe to The Soraya
Juan Manuel Fernandez Montoya, aka Farruquito Ed. note: This article was commissioned and first published by The Soraya for Farruquito’s November 9, 2019 performance there. It is reprinted on artsmeme with permission. The brilliance was there from the start. At age 11, Juan Manuel Fernández Montoya, the reigning superstar of flamenco who performs under the ...