Nana Gollner memories

Dance
  Concerning Metropolitan Opera Ballet prima Nana Gollner (1919-1980), who was trained by Theodore Kosloff, Malcolm McCormick, co-author, with Nancy Reynolds, of “No Fixed Point: Dance in the 20th Century,” said, “Nana Gollner was important in her day. She was the first American ballerina to be accepted abroad, she was strong left-handed dancer, she converted ...

Superb exhibition “Stravinsky and L.A. Dance” to close 2

Dance · Music
Stravinsky & L.A. Dance, located on the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion’s sunlight-strewn mezzanine celebrates the composer’s creative influence on Los Angeles dance-makers of the past. The photos (several by Otto Rothschild) are presented together with reconstruction materials of The Joffrey Ballet’s The Rite of Spring. Curated by Lorin Johnson and Mark Konecny and instigated and overseen by Music ...

Strong women of early L.A. dance highlighted in Dorothy Chandler Pavilion exhibition 9

Dance · Visual arts
It is so thrilling to have a visual arts exhibition accompanying our Joffrey Ballet performances this weekend. Installed at one end of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion’s glittering mezzanine level, the display feels like an historical moment for L.A dance.   Modest in appearance but profound in impact, the exhibit gathers photographs of innovative dance that poured ...

Theodore Kosloff, ballet instructor 3

Dance · Film
The photo above (click on it for detail) shows the talented and charismatic Russian actor-dancer Theodore Kosloff coaching a barre-ful of Paramount Studio chorus girls circa 1922. The ballet master is giving hands-on instruction to silent film star Betty Compson with whom he co-starred in The Green Temptation that same year. Kosloff’s ballet training of Compson led to this ...