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 ...
Irene gives her regards to Broadway 1
Aug
27
2011
In New York on a visit to the marvelous Library of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, it’s been a five-day, non-stop hurricane watch. No hurricane could possibly be as harrowing as the run-up to Hurricane Irene, which has succeeded in making a nervous wreck out of an entire city. And one visiting dance critic ...
Rita’s dad
Hurricane Irene, heading our direction in New York City, where we are visiting, can prove no match for Hurricane Rita. Lovely Rita’s dancing father, Eduardo Cansino, tangoes here, courtesy of the digital photo collection of the New York Public Library. I spent the last two days in the glorious Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center, ...
Diaper changed, he’s ready for his close-up Mr. DeMille
Aug
22
2011
Foraging around the internet for information on Cecil B. DeMille’s great one, I was delighted to learn about Fraser Heston. A guy of my generation, Fraser, at the tender age of three months, made his film debut playing Baby Moses in “The Ten Commandments.” Now, Fraser mostly had to float around the bullrushes waiting for ...
Met @ Jacob’s Pillow: post-modern dance pioneer Trisha Brown
trisha brown, burt barr, jacob’s pillow dance festival What an honor to meet the great Trisha Brown, who graced Jacob’s Pillow with a three-day visit in tandem with her company’s 40th anniversary performances here. Accompanying the influential post-modern-dance choreographer was Burt Barr, the video artist, and also Brown’s husband. In the photos: Trisha Brown, ...
Another handsome Israeli man surfaces 1
Aug
19
2011
Okay, he’s not quite Israeli, he’s a Roman god, but they found him in Israel. A rare second-century statue of the mythic hero Hercules has been found in Israel, archaeologists reported today. The buff marble masterpiece likely decorated a niche in a Roman bathhouse. The intervening centuries have left Hercules headless, but his bulging muscles ...