Author Archives: Victoria Looseleaf

About Victoria Looseleaf

Victoria Looseleaf is an award winning arts journalist and regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times, KUSC-FM radio, Dance Magazine, Performances Magazine and other outlets. She roams the world covering dance, music, theater, film, food and architecture. Have pen - and iPad - will travel! Her latest book, "Isn't It Rich? A Novella In Verse" is now available on Amazon. Thank you for reading! Cheers...

Dancing on the Dacha

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Victoria Looseleaf

By Victoria Looseleaf Groucho Marx would have had a great time at The Bright Stream. More than Karl Marx, in any case. A comic ballet in two acts, this Stalinist era romp was made in 1935 by Fyodor Lopukhov, head … Continue reading →

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Dance, Drink, Whatever

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Victoria Looseleaf

By Victoria Looseleaf The Leaf traveled a lot in one of her past lives (her second book, Whorehouse of the Mind: A Novel of Sex, Drugs and the Space Program, chronicles some of those sojourns), and though it’s taken a … Continue reading →

Posted in BRASSAI, DANCE MAGAZINE, DRUGS AND THE SPACE PROGRAM, FOIE GRAS, GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE, LESTER HORTON, MACARON, MONTPELLIER DANSE, PERRIER MENTHE, SWISS WINES, WHOREHOUSE OF THE MIND: A NOVEL OF SEX | Comments Off on Dance, Drink, Whatever

Lang Lang: Feel the Love

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Victoria Looseleaf

By Victoria Looseleaf He’s got both his groupies and garden-variety fans – as well as the whole world (or most of it, in any case) – in his precious hands: those hands that plunk out everything from Mozart, Rachmaninoff and … Continue reading →

Posted in BACH, Beethoven, CHOPIN, GOLDBERG VARIATIONS, GUSTAVO DUDAMEL, LANG LANG, LIBERACE, LISZT, LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC, MARK ZUCKERBERG, Mozart, OLYMPICS, PROKOFIEV, RACHMANINOFF, STEINWAY, TIME MAGAZINE | Comments Off on Lang Lang: Feel the Love

Au Revoir, Roland Petit

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Victoria Looseleaf

By Victoria Looseleaf Just a few words to say ‘merci beaucoup, Monsieur Petit,’ for having given the world some of its most indelible choreographies, including 1946’s Le Jeune Homme et La Mort, followed by Carmen, the most sizzling cigarette girl … Continue reading →

Posted in ALICIA ALONSO, BARYSHNIKOV, BING CROSBY, DANNY KAYE, FRED ASTAIRE, JEAN BABILEE, LESLIE CARON, MITZI GAYNOR, NATALIA OSIPOVA, NIKOLAY TSISKARIDZE, NUREYEV, ROLAND PETIT, ZIZI JEANMAIRE | Comments Off on Au Revoir, Roland Petit

Goodbye, Betty Ford

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Victoria Looseleaf

By Victoria Looseleaf She was one of our most outspoken, dynamic, fearless and memorable First Ladies. She was Betty Ford, née Elizabeth Anne Bloomer, in Chicago in 1918. Her improbable ascent to First Lady as the wife of Gerald Ford, … Continue reading →

Posted in BARYSHNIKOV, BETTY FORD, FIRST LADY, GEORGE CARLIN, GERALD FORD, HALSTON, IVAN MOFFAT, LARRY FORTENSKY, LESLIE NIELSON, LIZ TAYLOR, LIZA MINNELLI, MARTHA GRAHAM, STEVE ALLEN, TIMOTHY LEARY | Comments Off on Goodbye, Betty Ford

Diavolo’s Derring-Do

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Victoria Looseleaf

By Victoria Looseleaf It’s no secret that Diavolo, founded in 1992 by French-born Jacques Heim (his grandfather, also named Jacques Heim, was a couturier who co-invented the bikini and dressed Edith Piaf, among other notables), is Los Angeles’ most popular … Continue reading →

Posted in BACH, BIKINI, CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, DAVID SHINER, DIAVOLO, EDITH PIAF, GRAND PERFORMANCES, JACQUES HEIM, JOHN ADAMS, LOS ANGELES MUSIC CENTER, ROBERT LEPAGE, VALLEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER | Comments Off on Diavolo’s Derring-Do

Remembering Ivan Moffat

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Victoria Looseleaf

By Victoria Looseleaf Yes, I’m guilty. Guilty of giving my dear friend, the great raconteur/screenwriter Ivan Moffat, a cigarette (American Spirit), when he was in Cedars-Sinai after having had a small stroke in the parking lot of Le Dome. That … Continue reading →

Posted in BLACK SUNDAY, CEDARS-SINAI, CURTIS MOFFAT, ELIZABETH TAYLOR, GAVIN LAMBERT, GEORGE STEVENS, GIANT, IRIS TREE, IVAN MOFFAT, JAMES DEAN, PANTHEON, ROCK HUDSON, SHANE, TENDER IS THE NIGHT | Comments Off on Remembering Ivan Moffat

Hi-Def Dance

Posted on July 2, 2011 by Victoria Looseleaf

By Victoria Looseleaf Having just jetted back to the City of Angels from a quick (16 days, boo hoo), European jaunt in search of high art, culture, haute cuisine and the meeting of fabulous new peeps, preferably those who are … Continue reading →

Posted in DANCE MAGAZINE, DAVID CHASE, DVR, FOX, HELIOS DANCE THEATER, MELISSA SANDVIG, NIGEL LYTHGOE, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE, THE SOPRANOS, TIVO | Comments Off on Hi-Def Dance

From Montpellier Avec Amour

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Victoria Looseleaf

By Victoria Looseleaf How do I love thee, Montpellier Danse, let me count the ways: I love thee on opening night (June 22 – July 7, 2011), when old colleagues come together again, especially over beautiful French Champagne and tournedos … Continue reading →

Posted in ALBAN RICHARD, BARTABAS, BATSHEVA DANCE COMPANY, ISRAEL GALVAN, JEAN-PAUL MONTANARI, MONTPELLIER DANSE, OHAD NAHARIN, PERCUSSIONISTS OF STRASBOURG, RAFAEL NADAL, WIMBLEDON | Comments Off on From Montpellier Avec Amour

On Zürich, Zeitgeists and Zingers

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Victoria Looseleaf

By Victoria Looseleaf As you can tell, The Leaf loves alliteration – but there’s not much with the letter ‘Z,’ save in Scrabble and the OED. She could mention that Zürich, the lakeside hamlet she recently visited for the first … Continue reading →

Posted in CHANEL, HANGOVER 2, Los Angeles Times, MONTPELLIER DANCE FESTIVAL, OED, SCRABBLE, SWITZERLAND | Comments Off on On Zürich, Zeitgeists and Zingers