Barrie Chase meets Fred Astaire once again
Hollywood dancer/actress Barrie Chase, in New York for appearances at “All That Jack (Cole),” the historic film-retrospective now on offer at The Museum of Modern Art, burst into a spontaneous expression of physical joy at the sight of the Fred Astaire caricature in Ed Sorel’s mural at The Monkey Bar on East 54th Street. Barrie, ...
Barrie Chase: a beautiful doll who danced for Jack Cole
She’s a dancer’s dancer, a real stunner. The ballet-trained Barrie Chase was the leggiest creature since Cyd Charisse to hit the Hollywood gypsy-dance circuit when she got a gig as a chorus dancer in Vincent Minnelli‘s KISMET (1955). The choreographer? The great Jack Cole whom The Museum of Modern Art is honoring in All That ...
Connoisseur’s choice: Saturday January 23 @ MoMA
1:00 pm. Introduced by Barrie Chase, Les Girls. 1957. USA. Directed by George Cukor. Screenplay by John Patrick. Music by Cole Porter. Dances by Jack Cole, Gene Kelly. With Kelly, Mitzi Gaynor, Kay Kendall, Taina Elg. 114 min. Backed by an MGM budget, Cole contributes dances of Cukor-esque sophistication. The multifarious “Les Girls” number accommodates ...
MoMA curator Roy gives context to Cole retrospective
Why should The Museum of Modern Art undertake a comprehensive retrospective of the works of a film choreographer? MoMA Chief Film Curator Rajendra Roy shares his well-articulated thesis behind the museum’s upcoming Jack Cole retrospective with writer Hilary Lewis of The Hollywood Reporter. Explains Roy: In late January … we’re honoring Jack Cole, who was ...
Jack Cole, Jerry Robbins put dancing sailors into the zeitgeist, 1944-5
The war was just over — September 2, 1945. The streets of the nation, especially the big cities like New York and Los Angeles, had been teeming with military men. So it’s not that unusual that choreographers were putting these figures into their dances. And yet, it’s odd, isn’t it, that a trio of sailors ...
Happy holidays from arts•meme … and Betty Grable!
Dec
22
2015
Just back from shopping at Bullock’s Wilshire! Wishing you and yours Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Love, Betty * * * They don’t make movie stars like Betty Grable anymore. She was a massive star, a household presence, a vivacious hoofer, a charismatic singer/dancer/commedienne. We’ll honor Grable by screening two of three movies she ...
“All That Jack” talk a key element of Cole retrospective 2
It is exciting to share ideas, feelings and observations with a savvy audience about a master of cinematic dance. That’s Jack Cole, whom I have been researching, writing and giving talks about for eight years. Where better place to pay tribute to this influential, mid-century American artist than The Museum of Modern Art? And that ...
MoMA announces ‘All That Jack (Cole)’ films 2
It’s historic. Never before has the brilliant Hollywood choreographer’s cinema output been compiled in a single, curated exhibition. The rare opportunity to grasp and assess the entirety of Cole’s talent and influence is in store for New York audiences from January 20 through February 4, 2016. Over the course of two weeks, 18 films (most ...
Jack Cole’s “Down to Earth” recast as Kenny Ortega’s “Xanadu”
I like this freewheeling, highly cinematic dance number for nine women, “I’m Alive,” choreographed by Kenny Ortega for Xanadu (1980). Its hyper-realism, fresh swapping of perspective, and other charming trickery prove what the camera can do with dance that’s not possible on stage. Smooth editing and special effects enhance the number. “I’m Alive” and the ...
Reading tap 1
Dancing, like writing, is a craft before it is an art. Rare is the professional who excels at both; the thousands of hours of practice necessary to make an artist rarely allow time for rigorous training in another genre. Somewhere between the craft and the art, though, lie scholarship and criticism, and the world is ...