Lewitzky doc to open Dance Camera West at Barnsdall Art Park
I was delighted to learn that the annual DANCE CAMERA WEST festival will take place this year, the weekend of January 19, in the cozy underground theater of Barnsdall Art Park, one of the truly happy places of our fair city. The urban-rustic setting fits well with the California theme of the Festival’s opening film, ...
post sponsored by Pepperdine Arts
Pilobolus at Pepperdine: Dance’s Favorite Fungus Turns Fifty
Dec
27
2022
Fifteen times performing at Pepperdine University in Malibu! Pilobolus approaches that benchmark, bringing a show on January 25 entitled “Big Five Oh,” in celebration of the beloved acrobatic dance troupe’s fiftieth birthday. With seven diverse works presented on stage, it should be a party. Musing on this occasion, I found myself wondering about the company’s ...
Divas of our lifetime! Dionne Warwick, Chita Rivera on stage
stellar ladies of the arts, one singer, one dancer She’s a beloved American cultural icon. She’s beautiful and well preserved. AND she has a new movie, a documentary. Dionne Warwick began singing professionally in 1961. Discovered by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, the marvelous songbird went on to record 18 consecutive Top 100 singles (Don’t ...
Ruth St. Denis sightings
Dec
5
2022
miss ruth 1914 As time marches on, the figureheads of the 20th century dance fall from our reach. But a surprising number of dance devotees in Los Angeles had contact, however minimally, with the great modern-dance pioneer, Ruth St. Denis. Forever known as “Miss Ruth,” she spent her final decades in our city. First up ...
Warmth, beauty, diversity: ABT’s ‘The Nutcracker’ at Segerstrom Center 1
From Act I of Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker. Photo: Rosalie O’Connor. The world has started to feel at tad more normal, right? One key way that is so important for us all, but especially for our children is the return to the theater. Yes, the careful among us still wear face masks — totally fine. ...
An infusion of ‘now’ into Trisha Brown Dance Company
Dec
1
2022
judith sánchez ruíz credit: arnaud beelen Interesting news from Trisha Brown Dance Company (TBDC) in New York: the 50+ year-old dance company has announced its first creative commission since the death of its founding choreographer Trisha Brown in 2017. Cuban-born choreographer Judith Sánchez Ruíz, who was a TBDC member from 2006 to 2009, has been ...
Elizabeth! OC arts patron honors exiled Russian ballet dancers in Segerstrom gala
Nov
15
2022
“Reunited in Dance,” was a gala so glorious, so glamorous, so grand that it would normally take a village to produce. But perhaps you haven’t met Elizabeth Segerstrom. A Polish-born, Russian-speaking dynamo who holds a doctoral degree in psychology, she is an accomplished entrepreneur and published author. Elizabeth (everyone calls her that) threw a ballet ...
Jacopo Tisi nails grand jete in ‘Corsaire,’ part of ‘Reunited in Dance’ 1
Nov
15
2022
That’s a grand jete that packs a wallop. Just sensational. Every element of the Italian-born danseur noble Jacopo Tisi‘s position is proper. His legs are equally rotated outward in his hip joints; his feet are fully stretched; the arcing curve in his spine that finishes at the top of his head is sublime; his arms ...
The joy of ‘Nutcracker’ puppetry, courtesy of Bob Baker Marionettes
Where puppet-theater is concerned, the “fun for kids of all ages” slogan is almost a cliche. And yet, it really applies. I am enchanted by the stringed shenanigans that are standard fare at Bob Baker Marionette Theater. Cuz, you get two shows in one, right? You get to watch the cleverly coiffed-and-garbed herky-jerky puppets … ...
Notes on ‘Dance Reflections’ by Van Cleef & Arpels in Los Angeles
It was quite an evening. As part of an elite, invited audience hosted by France’s sui generis luxury jewelry purveyor, Van Cleef & Arpels, I attended a specially curated program delivered under the rubric of “Dance Reflections,” the retailer’s newish dance initiative. (It had a big rollout in London this past spring.) The evening took ...