REVIEW: Go to ‘Royal’ hell, in Wayne McGregor ballet
edward watson & artists of the royal ballet, photo: cheryl mann In the first of my two viewings of choreographer Wayne McGregor‘s explosive and brilliant dance collaboration with composer Thomas Ades and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, “The Dante Project Part 1 [Inferno]” danced by The Royal Ballet as a world premiere for Glorya Kaufman Presents ...
Get your gaze on.
Installation view of Donna Huanca: OBSIDIAN LADDER. Courtesy the artist, Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles and Peres Projects, Berlin. Photo by Joshua White/JWPictures.com In the past we would look. And sometimes we would see. But now, in the art world, the operative word is “gaze.” That’s nothing new, the expression “gaze” has been in use ...
University action fails to address racism of ‘The Birth of a Nation’
Jul
8
2019
Bette Davis and Lillian Gish in The Whales Of August (1987) Ed note: The following is an excerpt from a long interview with film marketing strategist/producer-director Mike Kaplan, a friend of artsmeme, concerning the removal of the name of Lillian and Dorothy Gish from a screening auditorium at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. The ...
REVIEW: ‘Mayerling”s tornado at the Chandler
Kiss of Death: Natalia Osipova as Mary Vetsera, Ryoichi Hirano as Rudolf in Mayerling at the Royal Opera House. Photograph: Helen Maybanks Last night, at 8:20 pm, most of Los Angeles experienced a 7.1-magnitude earthquake. But those viewing Kenneth McMillan‘s sprawling historic dance-drama, Mayerling, performed by the Royal Ballet at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of ...
From the politically toxic Lillian Gish
Jul
1
2019
Friend-of-artsmeme Mike Kaplan shares an image of a movie poster personally autographed by Lillian Gish. Kaplan produced THE WHALES OF AUGUST (1987), which starred the then-elderly but still luminous Gish, in marvelous scenes that convey her screen magic with Bette Davis, who also stars in the film. Featured here is a Gish movie from another ...
Time to reassess Lewitzky? 1
Jul
1
2019
photo: frances chee That was my takeaway after viewing Luminario Ballet‘s wonderful performance, Sunday June 23 at the Skirball Cultural Center, of two absorbing works by choreographer Bella Lewitzky. Pictured are excerpts from “Inscape” (1976). The work is driven by its marvelous costumes — stretch “duotards” designed by Rudi Gernreich, who, prior to his vigorous ...
Beautiful, bountiful Baroda Wall for County+USC Medical Center
Jun
29
2019
It’s fanciful and fun. It’s generous, grand, and gorgeous. It may bring a welcome distraction–solace or even levity–to a public space where the less fortunate among us traverse weighty health issues with perhaps troubling or stressful emotions. This gift to our city by philanthropist David Bohnett got a lovely launch party this week on the ...
The new American intolerance: Gish Film Theater shorn of name 2
ed. note: With a heavy heart, we publish words submitted by Mike Kaplan, a friend of artsmeme whose peerless collection of dance movie posters now hangs at the National Dance Museum in Saratoga Springs. Mike, the producer of ‘The Whales of August’ (1987) starring Bette Davis and Lillian Gish, is at the forefront of controversy ...
Transcending ‘correctness’: Lillian Gish
Jun
24
2019
I’ve never been in style, so I can never go out of style. – Lillian Gish