Dancers we love …Tanaquil LeClercq 1
Nov
6
2011
Tanaquil LeClercq, American ballerina (1929 – 2000). Watching the “American Masters” docu on Jerome Robbins and learning of the close friendship and artistic relationship between Robbins and LeClercq … then finding this Irving Penn study of the New York City Ballet ballerina, who was a great natural beauty.
Back to school for Herb & Lani
Benefactors Herb and Lani Alpert joined education and community leaders on a nippy Friday morning in Santa Monica to celebrate completion of the steel framing for the Performing Arts and Leadership Center that forms the centerpiece of the innovative Herb Alpert Educational Village. [slideshow id=42] Herb and Lani Hall Alpert New Roads School students ...
Wim Wenders in-person at Aero Theatre retrospective
Nov
5
2011
Director Wim Wenders began his career as a member of the new German cinema movement of the 1970s; along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Werner Herzog, he brought German culture and film to an international audience. Throughout his career, Wenders has been interested in identity and landscape, coupled with a deep sense of observation and ...
Hollywood’s dance super-agent, Julie McDonald, to be honored 3
Julie McDonald, on the right, hanging out with a cool kitty, Toni Basil, and a cool cat, Kenny Ortega, both stellar clients of her body shop. That would be McDonald Selznick Associates, the premier talent representation agency for dancers and choreographers in television, commercials, music videos and film. Julie and her partner, Tony Selznick, created ...
Diavolo’s skateboard escapade, part of Pacific Standard Time
Nov
4
2011
Diavolo Dance Theater, the Los Angeles based dance company led by artistic director Jacques Heim, will have a residency with Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at the Music Center as part of the 2011-2012 season, to create “Transit Space,” a new work inspired by skateboard culture — a sport and an art form invented in Southern ...
Fare-thee-well, Laemmle Sunset Five, and thanks for the memory
A happy announcement couched in some sad news: Laemmle Theatres will open a new seven-screen complex in North Hollywood, alas, concurrent to the closure of Sunset 5 after almost 20 years of operation. From the Laemmle folk, It is with deep regret that we announce that Laemmle will be ending its operation of the Sunset ...
James Brown’s third set in Shrevesport: “I Feel Good” before “Man’s World” 1
Pictured above [click on it for detail], a boggling play list of a James Brown set, dating from the 1970s. Scrawled in Brown’s handwriting on Holiday Inn Shrevesport Louisiana letterhead, it’s part of the James Brown tribute exhibition now at the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles. The show includes costumes, memorabilia, video of the ...
Nacho Duato rehearses his new Sleeping Beauty in Petersburg
Nov
2
2011
It’s hard to not be smitten by the deeply artistic looks of the Spanish choreographer, Nacho Duato, who headed up Spain’s Compania Nacional de Danza for 20 years before making the radical move of joining a Russian company, the Mikhailovsky Ballet. Duato is the second foreign choreographer to run a major Russian company—the Frenchman Marius ...
Goldsborough to mine gold for Miami City Ballet
Pictured, on the right, above, is Nick Goldsborough, a treasured member of the Los Angeles dance community. The photo was taken on the opening night of “Windows,” a wonderful one-act play about the world of Bill Gates, which Nick produced. Nick is a gentleman whose mother instilled in him the love of ballet, and whose ...
Stitching Marilyn Monroe together . . .
From “Let’s Make Love” (1960), a somewhat entertaining movie, if a bit of a mess. Bing Crosby and Gene Kelly put in good cameos, and Yves Montand, who is wonderful, escapes the Monroe challenge unscathed. In the photo below, tucked behind La Marilyn, the ubiquitous Jack Cole, on alert. Director George Cukor used the choreographer ...