Lula Washington’s “tutu raffia” bids 2011 adieu
A highlight of the blistering Kwanzaa show staged by Lula Washington Dance Theatre at the Nate Holden Theater this weekend was a sinewy solo by Haniyyah Tahirah bedecked in what the choreographer Lula Washington calls a “tutu raffia.” It’s a clever cultural mash-up combining Africa & classical ballet. The eternally creative Washington explained: “The look ...
Edward Villella … just because
Dec
31
2011
Because we love him, a marvelous photo of Edward Villella in the beautiful ballet digs he built for his company in Miami Beach. We wish him a Happy New Year. [photo is clickable] photo: Al Diaz/Miami Herald
Next up for Meryl Streep: Maggie T. takes cooking lessons 1
Dec
26
2011
We’re just back from the local multiplex. Yes, we double-dipped. We first watched a reenactment of an historical movie moment. An American actress, Michelle Williams, portrays a prior thespian, Marilyn Monroe, in her struggle to collaborate with Sir Laurence Olivier in the filming of “The Prince & the Showgirl.” Kenneth Branagh plays Sir Larry in ...
“I love you, ” says Groucho Marx
Dec
26
2011
Like this? Read more: Groucho Marx loves Lydia the Tattooed Lady.
Jack Cole invites you to a ball 4
From MGM’s “The Merry Widow” (1952) Jack Cole’s beautifully calibrated waltz sequence pours forth. Minutes and minutes of on-screen dancing. Audiences apparently used to like this; I guess they don’t anymore. Enjoy! Cole’s gigs at MGM were fewer then at Columbia or Fox (at MGM: Kismet twice: 1944, 1955, Les Girls 1957, Designing Woman 1957). ...
Balanchine invites you to a ball
What a dream is the performance (video below) of a duet from George Balanchine’s “Vienna Waltzes” sublimely danced by Karin von Aroldingen and Peter Martins. “Vienna Waltzes” had its premiere at New York City Ballet on June 23, 1977. Original cast: Karin von Aroldingen, Sean Lavery, Patricia McBride, Helgi Tomasson, Sara Leland, Bart Cook, Kay ...
L.A. traffic jam inside Caroline Graham’s home 2
Super-publicist Caroline Graham’s holiday party in Santa Monica last night was akin to the 405 freeway bumper-to-bumper. Navigating the human traffic-jam conjured Blake Edwards’s party scene in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” It took a full forty minutes to cross Caroline’s cozy living room to greet a friend. It took just as long in the other direction ...
Odette/Odile for a discerning audience — kids
Dec
22
2011
You live or die in front of an audience like this — London schoolkids watching a lecture demonstration of “Swan Lake.” Because unlike adults kids don’t fake being interested. Ursula Hageli and Richard Slaughter coached in Swan Lake by Svetlana Beriosova with the Michael Basset at the piano at a lecture-demonstration/performance under the auspices of ...
Transferring high art in a forlorn ballet studio, Svetlana Beriosova
Dec
21
2011
The great Royal Ballet prima ballerina, Svetlana Beriosova, coaches Richard Slaughter and Ursula Hageli in a photo by Linda Rich taken at Dance Works, in London, 1989. Beriosova’s obituary here. Thank you Richard Slaughter for sharing your photo.
Twentieth century’s greatest male dancers
Dec
19
2011
I was born mid-century. So I wasn’t around for the first half. I missed Nijinsky. But here are my candidates for the four most influential male dancers of the twentieth.