In 2017 I wasn't able to get out to the theater often (so I reviewed film and book and other events as well). I maybe saw 10 concerts, including the big bubbly premiere of American Balllet Theatre's "Whipped Cream," the new Alexei Ratmansky creation replete with 3-D ferret-giraffes and Abe-Lincolns from artist Mark Ryden. Many of my friends … [Read more...]
The Society of the Spectacle
Does one really need to see Swiss filmmaker Jean-Stéphane Bron’s “The Paris Opera?” It's opening in L.A. at the Laemmle theaters this weekend. You can already imagine it, right: Venerable themes of youth and beauty and lonely artistic labor, as expressed by the bulging calf muscle and pointed toes of the student at the ballet barre? Or the … [Read more...]
The Red Shoes Are Not Tired
Matthew Bourne's "The Red Shoes" On September 15, the big-ticket fall dance season in Los Angeles begins with the U.S. premiere of Sir Matthew Bourne's award-winning 2016 ballet version of ‘The Red Shoes,’ appearing for a robust two-week run at the Music Center (Sept. 15-Oct.1). As with other recent Bourne visits, the luxe scenic production … [Read more...]
Dance in L.A. Museums Unleashes the Spirits
If you haven't seen dance at a museum lately, some good news. Gone are the days when dancers were brought in like bulky decor to inhabit dead gallery space. Synchronicity abounds, tickets are still low cost (often free) and the payoff can be huge. In fact, some of the best dance I've ever seen has been in galleries. In the last few years, … [Read more...]
Maillot’s Botchy Look at American Dance in “Choré”
Though inspired by and decorated with 20th century American dance styles, Jean-Christophe Maillot's 2013 “Choré” for Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, which had its U.S. premiere at Segerstrom Center in Costa Mesa on Friday, shows integrity only to Maillot’s own sleek neo-classical choreographic voice. This is not a problem unto itself – Maillot … [Read more...]
Boredom Unpacked & the Cosmos Rebuilt: A Week with Forsythe, Noë and de Keersmaeker in L.A
“The proximity of boredom to the work of art is somehow a clue to what art is and does,” said the captivating UC Berkeley philosophy professor Alva Noë during a talk with former Ballet Frankfurt choreographer William Forsythe at Los Angeles' Getty Museum on Nov. 12th. It was a quick, fascinating lecture that also addressed whether choreography can … [Read more...]
Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker Fest in Los Angeles
Resistance is futile: There is no way to rank or prioritize all the myriad events occurring next week during the choreographic & performance feast by Belgium-based choreographer Anne Theresa de Keersmaeker and her company Rosas at CAP UCLA. Every event in "Then & Now" is unmissable -- Tuesday is the only time de Keersmaeker will dance; … [Read more...]
The Communal High of Twyla Tharp in Los Angeles
In advance of Twyla Tharp's 4-day run at the Wallis Theater in Beverly Hills on Oct. 1-4 -- the second stop on the company's 10-week 50th Anniversary tour across the U.S. -- a call went out for public volunteers to participate in a staging of Tharp's 1969 piece, "The Hundreds," to take place on September 29, two days prior the formal concerts. … [Read more...]
NOW Festival 2015 at REDCAT
NEW ORIGINAL WORKS (NOW) FESTIVAL REDCAT Theater, Los Angeles Program One July 30 - August 1 What are you doing for the next three weeks? This year’s edition of REDCAT’s 12th annual New Original Works Festival (NOW) looks to be a colorful debutante ball, with several stunning Cinderella arrivals in the mix. In three program … [Read more...]
Could an L.A. Dance Hub Grow from a Mapping Tool?
The L.A. dance scene of late has felt a fresh momentum. And the decade-long accumulation -- of new companies, new venues, new academies and institutions, prestige teachers and choreographers -- took a leap in cumulative power this past month, thanks to the debut of an elegant digital source called Dance Map L.A. Simple census taking can be a … [Read more...]