Eiko & Koma’s “Event Fission” before the twin towers of the World Trade Center (1980) 2
Sep
10
2011
How did these two artists foresee that there would be hell to pay on this site? Who knows? They’re artists. They probably don’t know themselves. “Event Fissions” took place at sunset at Battery Park Landfill in Manhattan, which was created from sand dredged from New York Harbor and earth excavated during the construction of the ...
The Agnes & Cecil Show 1
From Empire of Dreams: The Epic Life of Cecil B. DeMille, by Scott Eyman, published by Simon & Schuster, 2010, page 307-308. Agnes deMille was struggling in London to make ends meet when Cecil hired her for six weeks at $250 a week to create the dances for Cleopatra. It ended badly, but then it ...
Eyman hits a bull’s eye; his “Empire of Dreams” wins prestigious theater book award
Not just because he’s a friend of arts•meme, and a fellow toiler in the bowels of Brigham Young University’s Harold B. Lee Library, the resting place of the massive Cecil B. DeMille archives… [… a humongous trove of cinema-memorabilia prodigiously overseen by archivist James d’Arc...] The well regarded film historian, Scott Eyman (Lion of Hollywood: ...
The Juilliard School tells you everything you always wanted to know about Swan Lake but were afraid to ask
The survival, let alone the mystique, of the ballet, Swan Lake, is a phenomenon few would have predicted at its premiere in Moscow in 1877 — which was a flop. Wikipedia notes [with added commentary]: The premiere of Swan Lake on March 4, 1877, was given as a benefit performance for the ballerina Pelageya Karpakova ...
America’s greatest immigrant: the Georgian, Giorgi Melitonovitch Balanchivadze 1
Sep
2
2011
What a man, what an artist! It’s not a glower, it’s not a gloat; what on earth is that expression? [click on photo for better view.] It’s brains, bearing, and class. It’s the look of pure culture. But whatever was going through his mind, there stood Balanchine, majestic Georgian gentleman that he was, photo courtesy ...
California design celebrated in clear context @ Design Museum event
It’s the cusp of autumn in Los Angeles and that means one thing: Museum of California Design director Bill Stern is cooking a glorious plein air event that’s sure to add beauty and aesthetics to our existence. Another year, another magnificent, architecturally significant California home where Bill will host his annual benefit and fundraiser. It’s ...
Don’t ask Terrance McKnight to dance. He won’t. Even though he’s throwing a radio dance party. 4
Aug
31
2011
To the waning notes of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” overture, WQXR disc jockey Terrance McKnight tugs gently on a control panel lever. He segues into a romp by Luigi Boccherini, noting that the 18th century cellist/composer was an “insubordinate employee”; a typical McKnightian factoid drop-in. The former Morehouse music professor’s dark velvet voice paves the ...
Talk about sibling rivalry! “Mozart’s Sister” at NYC’s Cinema Village 3
Just suppose that you’re young and gifted; hey, you’re a freaking musical prodigy. Not only that, you are extremely beautiful. You play the harpsichord like an demon, fiddle with the best of them, sing angelically, and “hear notes in your head” even though you’re not quite sure how to “write them down.” You’re well on ...
After strong out-of-town previews, “Irene” bombs in NYC
Aug
29
2011
Bewildered international tourists departed the normally ballsy New York City confounded by a five-day terror campaign in advance of a robust wind-and-rain storm that moved through town on Sunday. The fear was transmitted in coordination by civic government and media. Head for the hills, New Yorkers, and batten down all hatches, the media carped. It ...