Election Day 2020: ‘De-polarize for democracy,’ says dancer Dana Caspersen
It seems pretty obvious. We need to tamp down the political polarization in this country. But how do we do that? “They” won’t listen. Let’s put our bodies into it. Assuring us that “We Are Not Doomed,” conflict specialist Dana Caspersen, also a former dancer, has created a special “score,” or physical/mindful exercise, in honor ...
Jonah Bokaer brings dance beauty & meaning to Musee d’Orsay
This piece of choreography by Jonah Bokaer, who grew up speaking French in Tunisia, merits your time; it is simply beautiful. It was curated by Donatien Grau, Head of Contemporary Programs at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris for the Musee’s “Un Ouevre, Un Regard” series. Bokaer’s vivification of Louis Ernest Barrias’ sculpture, “Nubians,” is emblematic of ...
Thank you, New York!
A big bravo to Manhattan, Mecca of the Arts, where I have been in residence since September — aka The Season! I joined the furious tour of the performing arts, hitting the ground running, while on a Fellowship from The Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU. Forays to Lincoln Center, the Joyce Theater, Brooklyn ...
Seeking Jack Cole at the Rainbow Room
It was a lovely holiday event, a swellegant affair. First Republic Bank of New York, generous supporters of myriad arts organizations, threw a reception at the Rainbow Room high atop Rockefeller Center. Rocking the Room were the Fat Afro Latin Jazz Cats, whose youthful big-band sound boomed beneath the clatter of cocktailers while the crazy ...
A dance thinker & do-er: Dana Caspersen
One of many, many highlights of being a Fellow, this fall, at The Center for Ballet and the Arts at NYU has been encountering the dancer/author Dana Caspersen. For three decades, Caspersen was a leading artist with Ballet Frankfurt and the Forsythe Company, and a primary collaborator of choreographer William Forsythe. As a dancer, she ...
Jack Cole’s nightclub act: a talk by Debra Levine Oct 25
A review headline screamed, “Cyclone Hits Slapsy Maxie’s.” The performance? Jack Cole and His Dancers at the Wilshire Boulevard supper club in 1948. In the house: Frank Sinatra, Robert Walker, Jimmy Durante, Lucille Ball, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Jimmy Dorsey, Max Baer. Also attending, according to the review, “Bullets Durgom still without a toupee.” Cole ...
Looking forward: Pam Tanowitz Dance at the Joyce Theater
Sep
24
2016
I like this skulking posture from “Once With Me,” a dance that had its premiere this past May in Buenos Aires. The dancers are stepping out, aren’t they? Only their heads remain, tucked back, with guilt? reluctance? shyness? Lots of mixed messages in their body language. The choreographer, Pam Tanowitz, who is my fellow Fellow ...