Best COVID-19 short video: Mark Morris Dance Group’s ‘Lonely Tango’
It’s unclear whether Morris and his gang (MMDG) assembled this Ode to Isolation prior to the pandemic or thereafter. I *think* I see a face mask in the grocery-shopping sequence. But it’s not that important: The dead-and-deader spirit suits the moment well. This is a COVID-era-disseminated short video — utterly witty in its minimalist approach ...
Don’t just sit there … jive with your hands!
Ed. note: We’re pleased to feature a fun item contributed by an expert in American popular dance, Julie Malnig. Take it away, Julie! The Hand Jive was one of the most popular rock and roll group dances of the late 1950s and became a hit on televised teen dance programs of the era such as ...
Ready, set … go back to the movies!
They could open, but they didn’t open, last Friday. Confusion reigns in the largest cinema market in the country, Los Angeles, which also happens to be a hotspot of COVID-19 infection. The MPAA website mentions nary a word about movie theater re-openings. Here are the California Department of Public Health guidelines: Limit attendees in the ...
‘Instead of dance, it’s choreography,’ gripes choreographer Robert Alton 1
danny kaye, ‘choreography’ number from white christmas (1954) Danny Kaye, in the screenshot above, performs a send-up of Jack Cole‘s Hindu-Jazz in Robert Alton‘s “Choreography” number in WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954). The number is primarily a spoof on Martha Graham, and I imagine Kaye inserting this little fillip just for fun. Kaye worked extensively with Jack ...
John Garfield, glimpsed twice by his daughter’s oil paints
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The Postman Always Rings Twice: Portrait of John Garfield (2020)artist: Julie Garfield Haunted by the father she lost at a young age (he died at 39 in 1952 when she was just six) artist Julie Garfield paints her way to the essence of a great American actor via frozen cinematic moments from two of his ...
Memorial Day 2020: Los Angeles theaters we miss 1
coveted during covid quarantine – the egyptian theatrethis spectacular photo of the egyptian’s balcony by morgan glier for the ucla daily bruin It all feels surreal — but my essential problem during the theater shutdown of the Covid-19 pandemic is that for me, art happens at night. Rarely during the day, sometimes at matinees, and ...
Marvelous new ‘Folies Bergere’ poster punctuates Dave Gould dance number
To commemorate the first-ever Oscar for Dance Direction, awarded to Dave Gould at the Eighth Academy Awards for his spectacular “Straw Hat” number from FOLIES BERGERE (1935), dance-movie-poster maven Mike Kaplan in tandem with the National Museum of Dance has introduced a new poster. The poster, created by a young artist, was part of the ...
Raconteur remembered: Orson Bean
In celebration of a life fully lived, memorial services will be held on March 14, 2020 for Orson Bean (1928 – 2020). A consummate raconteur, actor, voice artist, writer, and undisputed triple threat on stage, Orson Bean has been a familiar name to people across the country for decades. On February 7, Mr. Bean was ...
On Super Tuesday: ‘For the People’ movie marathon
Heck, we go to the movies all year round. We go on Tuesday, bluesday; we go any day. But a special free-to-the-people invitation to activist/feminist/film director-producer Ava DuVernay‘s cool screening room and production digs in Echo Park gets our interest. Ms. DuVernay is offering, free to the public (ahem, after you vote, guys!), a “For ...
Toni Basil ‘does the Pony, does the James Brown’ on CBS
We loved seeing Toni Basil, 76, doing the pony and the James Brown on CBS Sunday morning on Oscar Day 2020.