Frolic the Hall of Mirrors with Louis XIV in “Versailles”
In the dance world, we know King Louis XIV for his balletomania, which led to the first formal classical ballet, “Le Ballet de la Nuit.” Louis himself danced the lead role, embodying a character modestly called ‘The Sun King.’ (As Mel Brooks sagely noted, it’s good to be king.) A reenactment of the performance appears ...
Dark days. Can the arts address what ails our nation?
Saturday night’s attack on a benign throng of club dancers, all young people on a fun night out not hurting anyone, is only somewhat ameliorated by the memory of yet another gathering, in Los Angeles, at the beginning of the week. Last Monday evening, I arrived to the marquee of the Kirk Douglas Theatre for ...
Travis!
Sep
2
2015
An interview with Travis Wall, dancer/choreographer for “So You Think You Can Dance,” and his concert dance company, “Shaping Sound,” which has two October showcases at The Broad Stage. Wall is under consideration in his fifth consecutive Emmy nomination for Outstanding Choreography. Read my interview with Travis Wall, just published on the website of the ...
Interviewing top television talent Jeff Eastin
Jun
24
2015
On arts•meme, we keep a pretty strict focus on the performing arts, sometimes neglecting our most respected and hardest working of artists: writers. We recently interviewed one of the top successful writer/producers now working in the hot medium of television. He’s Jeff Eastin, and his series, “Graceland” launches into its third new season Thursday night ...
In last night’s “Emmys” dance number, gloved arms by Jack Cole 1
Sep
23
2013
In last night’s Emmy broadcast, dance maker Spencer Liff opened his “Number in the Middle of the Show,” with a filip right out of Jack Cole’s playbook: black opera-length gloved arms reaching through holes in a wall … a distinctive design element that Cole used repeatedly. Below, he uses it in “Tars & Spars” (1946) ...
Choreographers move “on camera” at Sunday’s Emmy award show
Sep
20
2013
In an historic first, the Emmy Award for Outstanding Choreography (nominees here) has been moved to the Primetime Emmys, that is, the on-air show, widely broadcast this Sunday evening, giving the art of choreography yet another creative boost in Hollywood. In past years, the choreography Emmy has been presented during the “Creative Arts” Emmys the ...