Dancers and Alonzo King-- Rouen, France June 2009
The Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet is one of many extraordinary Ballet Companies in the country, all of which are deserving of support. If you wish, go to their donation page and contribute what you can.
“San Francisco treasure, embodying the best of San Francisco, the creative excellence and diverse culture of this city.” San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom
The key to a great career is to be totally in love with what you do. Helen Mirren must have been in more then 50 movies and a equal amount of plays and TV series. She is remarkably in that she continues to work. Her first credits go back to 1967. 
London’s National Theatre Production of Phèdre starring Ms. Mirren, performed in London and screened at Mann Chinese Theatre in LA yesterday. These kinds of screenings make theatre accessible and affordable again. No travel and no enormous Broadway ticket price.
There is a review on the LA Times blog but there are also tweets by the theater goers. Pretty nice.
"Wind of Drums 2" by Chidi Okoye
What is great about a great city is the abundance and variety of visual and performance art you can enjoy. There is so much to see and enjoy that we become casual about it, as if it’s the morning paper, which is to say go, see and support the arts, it could be gone before you know it.
Picture credit: Andrew Eccles
When living in New York, I would receive as a birthday present every December, tickets to a performance of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. The event was always trans-formative.
“You must enjoy every moment of this,”
Judith Jamison
Congratulations to Judith Jamison, who has done an incredible job and to everyone who is in involved with this wonderful dance company.
There will be another revival of this ground breaking musical as a celebration of its 50th birthday. Previews will begin at the National Theatre in Washington DC on 12/16/08, the same theater where it first opened in 1957. It will then move on to Broadway in March 2009.
I love “West Side Story” and I love that I can revisit the ‘61 film on DVD, on CD and at the occasional theater revival. Based on Shakespeare’s “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet”, it was transplanted to the 50’s west side of Manhattan with music by Bernstein, lyrics by Sondheim, choreography and direction by Robbins.
On its Broadway opening night, Sept. 26, 1957, there was a question as to whether this musical was a hit or a miss. Neither the critics nor the audience were sure of what they had just seen. But in its existing 50 years, it has proven itself to be the perfect meld of dialogue, music and dance. A supreme example of the Broadway musical, “West Side Story” is a successful vehicle for a much used, tragic scenario.
Many of the songs, “Something’s Coming”, “Maria”, “America“, “Somewhere”, “Tonight”, are still being heard today at weddings, song recitals and Jazz venues. Some are universal love songs, but others are just fun – “Dear Sgt. Krupke”, “I Feel Pretty”.
(“When you’re a Jet you’re a Jet all the way – from your 1st cigarette ‘til your last dying day…”)
Going back to those days of hanging out in caves, wall paintings and banging on rocks just looking to tell a good story. A story about ourselves, what we wanted and what we could use a little less of. We also told story in dance, except we didn’t call it dance, it was just talking with our feet.
He knows how to move bodies in space, how to layer his phrases and, above all, how to make dancers look good. GIA KOURLAS NYTimes
Earlier this month Rennie Harris Puremovement preformed in NYC Central Park and in reading the NY Times review along with this photograph of Mr. Harris, I was intrigued. Out here in the desert, during the summer there is no Central Park. Central Park and the free shows, concerts and the park itself are all reason to miss New York every once in while.
YouTube – Behind the Performance Part I.
Mr. Harris who has a powerful presence, like Alvin Ailey with locks, explains what he is after in the this video.