I’m planning a several-part series comparing three ballerinas in the lead role in “Swan Lake,” and changing styles in dance and art. I got the idea after an evening of surfing around on YouTube and watching old favorites and new … Continue reading →
A friend sent me two videos of the precocious preteen dancer, Israeli Gaya Bommer. The first featured Bommer in the sort of weird, techno, robotic, gymnastic sort of choreography that’s known as “contemporary” but that I don’t quite get and … Continue reading →
There have been a lot of articles lately about Obama’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week. The “private sector is doing fine” remark seems to have been a catalyst, but there have been a host of other indications lately … Continue reading →
Perhaps you’ve never seen Suzanne Farrell dance. Perhaps you’ve never even heard of her. She’s sixty-six now and retired from performing for over twenty years. But in her heyday she was unique, and choreographer George Balanchine was besotted with her. … Continue reading →
I saw the Boston Ballet perform last night. The first dance was forgettable, the second a great classic, Jerome Robbins’ “Fancy Free.” That alone would have been worth the price of admission, with its Bernstein music, its swingy 40s ambiance, … Continue reading →
It’s what you really want, isn’t it? For me to leave behind all the tedious blather about Obama, and offer some tedious blather about “Dancing With the Stars” instead? So let me just say that I’m sad today because the … Continue reading →
A fun juxtaposition, sent to me by a reader: Madonna’s got absolutely nothing on Rita Hayworth. Watch Hayworth make an incredibly sensuous strip tease out of taking off a single glove: Hayworth couldn’t sing; all her movie songs were dubbed, … Continue reading →
[Hat tip: rdbrewer at Ace’s.] Tom Brokaw comes up with a new way to mock Romney: I’d never heard that expression “white man overbite” before, although I did see “When Harry Met Sally,” the film that put it on the … Continue reading →
I came across this video by accident, because YouTube in its infinite wisdom had recommended it for me. I was struck first by the beauty of the piece, then by the intensity of the performers, then by the gorgeous youthfulness … Continue reading →
Edward Villella’s position at the helm of the Miami Ballet appears to be in trouble. You might ask: Who? What? If you read the piece, you’ll see that the issue seems to be one that pervades the arts these days, … Continue reading →
Yesterday commenter “davisbr” offered the following slogan for the blog, “Come for the politics, stay for the dance.” I love it—and not least because it can so easily be reversed, “come for the dance, stay for the politics.” Politics is … Continue reading →
Indulging in one of my favorite pastimes, surfing on YouTube, recently led me to a clip of a 2007 rehearsal of a new production of the musical “West Side Story.” The sequence begins with the cast of the 2007 revival, … Continue reading →