Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet

Dance · Reviews
The golden light in which gifted choreographer Ohad Naharin bathes his all-female quintet in “Decadance” is Mediterranean. It brings to mind the color of the air when frenetic Tel Aviv calms itself in the withering heat of the afternoon sun. Visions of Israel inevitably surface while watching “Decadance” Naharin’s perennial greatest-hits collection of choreographic output ...

Emanuel Gat, cool choreographer 3

Dance · Reviews
Two similar-looking guys .. black tee-shirts and trousers … dance on a stage. Together. For an hour. That’s the Tweet on Monday night’s world premiere of choreographer Emanuel Gat’s “Winter Variations” at the American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina. [I am attending the ADF as part of a three-week long Dance Criticism Institute run ...

Maurice Ravel, meet Billy Childs

Music · Reviews
One of better-kept secrets of Los Angeles cultural life is Pacific Serenades, the chamber music series now 23 years in existence, but who knew? I was the privileged guests of artistic director Mark Carlson at an utterly civilized outing that combined a ripping string quartet, well-chilled chardonnay, and little fruit tarts. What could be better on ...

A very cool cat: Burt Bacharach 3

Music · Reviews
We got a lot of joy from “Back to Bacharach and David,” the retrospective of the songs of composer Burt Bacharach and his lyricist Hal David dating from 1960-70. Originally produced off-Broadway in 1992, the revue had its first Los Angeles showing at the Music Box, an old vaudeville house located on a tough stretch of Hollywood Boulevard.  ...