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...]
Teams of Indie Artists Respond to “Einstein on the Beach”
[slideshow] Philip Glass’ symphonic music has grown commonplace on ballet programs, yet more often than not contemporary choreographers will concoct dense, breathless and safe movement phrases to accompany Glass’ launching and looping scores. Maybe you’ll see costumes that express ‘creativity,’ but for the most part the dance feels to be trying to … [Read more...]
La La La Human Steps Premieres Opera-hued “New Work” in U.S.
[This ran in the L.A. Times.] Thirty-plus years after founding La La La Human Steps, Montreal-based choreographer-director Édouard Lock has become a sort of philosopher-king for the fierce and intelligent abstract dance made popular in the 1980s. While other members of that chic choreographic wave (Bill T. Jones, Karole Armitage) have since … [Read more...]
Rufus Wainwright’s ‘Prima Donna’
Back in February, I had the opportunity to see the newly restored Technicolor print of "The Red Shoes" as it passed through Seattle on an international tour. It's a grand, dramatic film with a power that sneaks up on you. It heats so very slowly that by the end the unsuspecting audience finds itself suddenly submerged in a boiling cauldron like one … [Read more...]