Johan Renvall, ABT dancer, no more
Sep
3
2015
This kind of beauty should never perish, and yet … it does. Remembering Johan Renvall, a splendid dancer with American Ballet Theatre from 1978 – 1996. Anna Kisselgoff’s obituary in the New York Times here. A wonderful unposed photo below of Renvall with ballerina Martine Van Hamel, below, shared by arts•meme friend Patsy Tarr. Thank ...
Travis!
Sep
2
2015
An interview with Travis Wall, dancer/choreographer for “So You Think You Can Dance,” and his concert dance company, “Shaping Sound,” which has two October showcases at The Broad Stage. Wall is under consideration in his fifth consecutive Emmy nomination for Outstanding Choreography. Read my interview with Travis Wall, just published on the website of the ...
A chat with The Broad Stage’s new director Wiley Hausam
Prominent in the crowded field of Los Angeles performing-arts houses is The Broad Stage, where a lively smorgasbord of arts offerings forged a high-profile presence since its debut — in an enviable Santa Monica location — in 2008. Wiley Hausam, a newcomer to Los Angeles, will soon take up the mantle of artistic and executive ...
Diavolo meets New West Symphony at Valley Performing Arts Center 2
We live in strong anticipation of DIAVOLO‘s season-opening “L’Espace du Temps” performance at the beautiful, acoustics-rich Valley Performing Arts Center. The performance will enjoy live orchestral accompaniment by New West Symphony, under the direction of Christopher Rountree, of a trio of scores by great composers: Foreign Bodies (2007, Esa-Pekka Salonen); Fearful Symmetries (2010, John Adams); ...
Washington family affair: dance by Lula, music by Kamasi
A new dance work by choreographer and dance educator Lula Washington, who heads up Lula Washington Dance Theatre, now celebrating 35 years of existence, will soon have its premiere. Nephew Kamasi Washington — he of the soaring brilliant career as a tenor saxophonist — provides the score. It’s Re-run home, from Kamasi’s EPIC cd on ...
Mariinsky Ballet: Southern California viewing guide
Aug
18
2015
That life can be difficult is no news. We all have to make tough decisions all the time. The latest? Where to see the great Mariinsky Ballet, also known as the Kirov Ballet, lately reverted to its Imperial Ballet nomenclature, in the ballet-and-orchestra conglomerate’s upcoming visits to Southern California. The Mariinsky ports some of the ...
Jazz the weekend away @ the Aero
Jazz on a Spring Day Stormy Weather Jazz’s greatest artists in vintage shorts, digitally restored by the Cohen Film Collection. Includes: “Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life” with Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday; “A Rhapsody in Black and Blue” with Louis Armstrong; “St. Louis Blues” with Bessie Smith; “Cab Calloway’s Hi-De-Ho”; “A Bundle ...
Rita Hayworth to Jack Cole: You Excite Me
Clearly if Jack Cole excited Rita Hayworth, the feeling was mutual. The above beautiful, posed color still from Columbia Pictures’ marvelous wartime dance-filled musical, “Tonight and Every Night” (1945, chor: Jack Cole) captures “You Excite Me” — a wild rumba-rhythmed concoction Cole cooked for Hayworth. The photo features six of Rita’s dancing colleagues at Columbia ...
Dick Van Dyke to introduce TAP WORLD @ Nuart Theatre
The delicious trailer, above, promotes TAP WORLD, a fun documentary about a special global dance community, the “tapfam,” a winsome and attractive multi-racial, multi-aged, multi-national gang of hoofers ’round the world. “Rhythm is the language of life,” asserts dancer Ted Louis Levy in the documentary’s opening minutes. Further, “It is an American art form.” Amendment: ...
All hail Alan Johnson! 2
This montage of career-choreography by three-time Emmy Award winner Alan Johnson, created for his Lifetime Achievement recognition at the American Choreography Awards, features snippets from Mel Brooks movies, Johnson’s television appearances and stage and commercial work. The clips give evidence of the choreographer’s clean, classic jazz style, his smooth elegance and strong sense of line. ...