Ruth St. Denis sightings

Dance
miss ruth 1914 As time marches on, the figureheads of the 20th century dance fall from our reach. But a surprising number of dance devotees in Los Angeles had contact, however minimally, with the great modern-dance pioneer, Ruth St. Denis. Forever known as “Miss Ruth,” she spent her final decades in our city. First up ...

Hollywood Heritage’s Halloween hangout with ‘glamour ghoul’ Vampira 2

Dance · Film
She was born Maila Nurmi, which seems ghoulish enough. But she went by the mononym, Vampira. For those of us who did not grow up in Los Angeles watching this strange, mysterious lady host horror movies on late-night television (I grew up in Pittsburgh, where our Vampira was not nearly as sexy: “Chilly Billie” Cardille, ...

Alvin Ailey in 1984: I’ll pass on Black ‘My Fair Lady’

Dance
Alvin Ailey, the renowned dancer/choreographer and founder of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, was interviewed in 1984 for a televised series called “Dance On” hosted by jazz-dance specialist Billie Mahoney. Ms. Mahoney started the series at the height of the “dance boom” on a New York City cable access channel in 1980. She interviewed dozens ...

Carmen de Lavallade remembers Rudi Gernreich, Lester Horton dancer

Dance · Fashion
artsmeme’s exclusive interview with the peerless modern dancer Rudi Gernreich with Peggy Moffitt modeling the “Marlene Dietrich”pantsuit, 1964.Photograph © William Claxton, LLC, courtesy of Demont Photo Management & Fahey/Klein Gallery Los Angeles, with permission of the Rudi Gernreich trademark. Rudi Gernreich papers (Collection 1702). Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA. The establishment, ...

The wow factor: Paul Steffen Dancers in Italy, 1964 4

Dance
After a European tour circa 1950, Jack Cole dancer Paul Steffen — a member of Cole’s resident dance company at Columbia Pictures who performed in Cole’s Rita Hayworth pictures and more — settled in Italy for the rest of his life. There he made this work — a great youtube ‘find’ for this researcher. The ...

Ticket to dance, courtesy of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Dance
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During the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater‘s winter season in New York, ticketed dancegoers should hang onto their ducats! For 60 days following the Ailey performance you attend, your stub will be good for one free class at the Ailey Extension program. Those classes happen in the company’s glam, window-walled, mid-Manhattan building. You’ll get to ...

An artist embraced: Carmen de Lavallade

Dance · Theater · Visual arts
The amazing, still gorgeous, always regal Carmen de Lavallade — born in New Orleans, raised in East Los Angeles — exemplifies an Empress of dance, the kind of royalty spawned in Vernon, California. Thursday night, De Lavallade returned to Los Angeles — where she and chum Alvin Ailey attended Thomas Jefferson High School, where she ...

Don Martin, 80, instructs youngsters in Lester Horton technique 4

Dance
Saturday’s showcase of the Los Angeles County High School of the Arts (LACHSA) dance program, which included marvelous snippets of Jiri Kylian choreography, also featured a serene demonstration of Lester Horton technique as taught to the next generation by master instructor Don Martin. Says Martin: “Lester was a genius. He was ahead of his time. ...