She hasn’t blogged from the road before, but The Leaf will give it a shot. Needless to say, she is happiest when traveling around the world (she loves interviewing cool peeps, too, such as Javier Bardem, Jane Fonda, Chris Pine, etal., but that’s another kind of happiness, one found with KUSC-FM radio), so since she overslept today and missed the first Gaga class (that’s Gaga as developed by the amazing choreographer/dancer Ohad Naharin, whose troupe Batsheva will be performing in Montpellier anon), and is meeting a friend for lunch on this glorious Saturday, here are a few more musings re that lovely lowlands burg, Amsterdam.
Click here to read her Dispatch From Amsterdam for the Los Angeles Times.
From Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Labyrinth, a world premiere seen in Amsterdam with Dutch National Ballet
Life is good! Actually, life is great! Enjoy…and eat more frites with mayo!
In less than 24 hours The Leaf will be winging her way to Amsterdam, where she once had a houseboat – The Victoria L (on the Prinzengraacht; it seems that every canal reveals something fabulous) – while the performing arts scene continues to compel in Holland. And much as she would love to attend the four-day Dance Camera West festival – founded by Lynette Kessler and currently celebrating its 10th anniversary – alas, The Leaf won’t be in town June 16-19.
But she did write a story for the Los Angeles Times, chronicling this year’s offerings, with a special nod to the wonderful filmmaker, Mike Figgis, who is probably best known for helming Leaving Las Vegas, the only film in which The Leaf can abide Nicolas Cage. The good news is that Figgis will be at the screening – the U.S. premiere – of his, The Co(te)lette Film.
Portrait of the artist as a cool filmmaker
Relentless, with award-winning choreography by Ann Van den Broek, the 55-minute Co(te)lette – literally – “a piece of meat,” is a kind of postmodern Showgirls meets Fight Club with a dance marathon vibe.
Figgis to The Leaf: “So you saw the film then?” “Oh, yeah.”
And who knew that Figgis is a huge dance aficionado? C’est vrai, as he previously helmed docs on William Forsythe and a trio of Flamenco women. Adding to his CV, in February Figgis directed his first opera, Lucrezia Borgia, for ENO, which was also telecast in 3-D. During his chat with The Leaf, Figgis talked about how the concept of Renaissance Porn could also be found in Co(te)lette.
Portrait of Lucrezia Borgia (and an example, perhaps, of Renaissance Porn)
Heady stuff, fersure. In any case, click here to read the LAT story while The Leaf gets back to her packing. And Angelenos, you’re gonna love, love, love DCW. It’s one of the great festivals that combines dance, film, movers, shakers and all that is good about the City of Angels. Au revoir!
Being a straddler of high and low arts (where culture and kitsch meet – one of the taglines for The Looseleaf Report cable TV show, which died an ignominious death when the city of Los Angeles pulled the plug on Public Access in December 2008), The Leaf is not loathe to admit that she absolutely adores donuts, any Lifetime television movie starring Gary Cole, and getting a few laughs from a night in the theater. In this case, it’s Superior Donuts by Pulitzer Prize and Tony award winner Tracy Letts. Okay, full disclosure: The Leaf didn’t care for Letts’ epic August: Osage County, which snagged said awards in 2008, so she was more than pleasantly surprised to chuckle and contemplate a fine ensemble cast assaying Letts’ deftly written dialogue at The Geffen Playhouse (through July 10), all handily directed by Randall Arney.
Turns out that there’s more to this junk food than meets the glazed eye.
Indeed. Aging hippie/boomer Arthur Przybyszewski (Cole, playing up the laid-back pot-smoking schtickster with lackadaisical charm and conviction, bad ponytail aside), has been running his family shop, Superior Donuts, for years in an iffy Chicago neighborhood. Soon, though, Arthur’s hum-drum life will be upended when a young Black dude, Franco Wicks (the über-impressive Edi Gathegi), asks for a job after the donuteria has been vandalized.
Cool; now bring on the crullers.
We also learn that Arthur’s a loner (he speaks of his past – a dead ex-wife, a daughter he hasn’t seen in years and the defining moment of his life, splitting for Canada to avoid being shipped off to Nam – in monologues addressing the audience), while Franco’s past saw him writing, what else – the Great American Novel.
And what would a duh-duh-donut shop be without cops (Mary Beth Fisher, Damon Gupton), a few more regulars (Ron Bottitta’s Russian businessman next door, Kathryn Joosten’s winning alcoholic bag lady), lots of coffee and all that glorious junk food. (An aside: What happened to Krispy Kreme? The Southern-based chain made such a splash in L.A. over a decade ago and then seemed to disappear…). Whatever. It’s the midwest, it’s snowing (John Arnone’s fantastic set design is worthy of Edward Hopper) and Franco, young and still filled with unmitigated hope, has a back story replete with gambling debts, albeit unbeknownst to Arthur. What Arthur does know is that after reading Franco’s tome, America Will Be, he’s mightily impressed.
Unlikely comrades, Arthur and Franco fit together like a worn pair of, well, Earth shoes, as theirs looks to be the beginnings of a beautiful friendship. But debts must be paid, fingers will be chopped off, and an extended fight scene, played for laughs and cringes in a balletic Sopranos kind of way, ensues.
Edward Hopper’s Automat
Will Arthur break out of his shell? Will Franco’s book serve as some sort of redemption? Will Superior Donuts still pack an artery-hardening sugary punch? Do we care? Yes, yes and yes.
It was a glorious evening on all counts when Los Angeles Ballet presented its first Giselle. This is a particular ballet favorite of The Leaf’s, not least because it features a second act with a host of Wilis, Slavic for ‘vampire,’ or what The Leaf prefers to call, well, ‘jilted damsels.’ (Click here to read her Dance Magazine review.)
Not only did the troupe, co-directed by Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary, pull off this Romantic masterpiece with aplomb, but it also hosted a fabulous gala with a Midsummer Night’s Dream theme. Chaired by Lori Milken (and friends), designed by Billy Butchkavitz (The Leaf loved the yellow roses), and catered by onsite chef du jour, Wolfgang Puck (the lamb chops were plump and pink, in other words, perfectly succulent), this was a beautiful night, and certainly one to remember.
Helping ensure that the troupe, which just finished its fifth season, keeps onbourréing, was Ryan Kavanaugh, head of Relativity Media. A comparative newbie to the art of the toe shoe, Kavanaugh, who is engaged to LAB dancer Britta Lazenga, sponsored several dancers that night at $25K a head (or foot, so to speak). Whatever: It’s fabulous that Hollywood should finally begin picking up the mantle of serious dance in Los Angeles. Oui!
Quel couple: Ballerina Britta Lazenga and fiancé Ryan Kavanaugh
Other prominent peeps in attendance: Kiernan Shipka (she plays Sally Draper on the brilliant TV show, Mad Men), and Michael Milken, husband, of 42 years, to Lori. The couple are LAB board members, with Michael also serving as auctioneer for the post-dinner proceedings. Kudos to Milken, then, for helping raise a tidy sum, as well as injecting a bit of, er, humor into the event: When Milken thanked former Governor Gray Davis for committing to a pair of autographed pointe shoes ($1K), he added, “So how come your people, Governor, didn’t know that your opponent had a child out of wedlock?”
Ah, the merging of politics and art: Davis had lost the 2003 recall election to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Fast Forward to spring 2011, when the nation learned that the Terminator has a teenage son running around whose mother is not, gulp, Maria Shriver. Would California have had a Governator had that dish been uncovered? Oy!
That said, bring on more wine, desserts – sumptuous chocolaty things – and the gift bags. (Gotta love those totes, especially ones featuring several skin care products, a sequined toe shoe and an extra large LAB t-shirt commemorating the night.) The symbol for a fifth anniversary is wood, so happy anniversary Los Angeles Ballet – and wood that you have many, many more!
The brilliant impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, Sergei Diaghilev, is a titan in the dance world. Too bad he never wanted his famed troupe filmed during its brief existence. (Founded in 1909, it was disbanded in 1929 after he died in Venice, where he’s buried.) Hallelujah, then for YouTube, with footage ranging from Anna Pavlova (a three-minute Dying Swan is, well, to die for), and about five seconds of a blurry Nijinsky, to oodles of photographic montages of dead dance stars such as Lifar and Karsavina), all set to übercool music.
But The Leaf also loves the old-fashioned method of watching DVDs in the comfort of her living room on her HDTV set.That’s why she’s grateful for companies like VAI (Video Artists International) and Arthaus Musik in Germany for their fabulous dance catalogues. And while Netherlands Dance Theater may have recently performed in Los Angeles under the direction of Jim Vincent (to read my Los Angeles Times article click here; for my KUSC interview, click here), those who missed the concerts can now experience the troupe performing a slew of Jiří Kilián works courtesy of Arthaus Musik.
A terpsichorean marriage for more than 30 years, the brilliant collaboration between the Czech choreographer Kilián and NDT produced more than 60 – count ‘em – 60 exquisite contemporary ballets. Arthaus’ fabulous boxed collection (with dances from 1980-1984), includes Kilián’s Black & White ballets (hello, Falling Angels and Petite Mort), Kaguyahime – The Moon Princess, a third disc featuring Kilián’s seminal Stamping Ground and Sinfonietta, and a fourth DVD with L’Histoire du Soldat, with music by Stravinsky, who’s also buried in Venice.And speaking of Venice, The Leaf was in the audience in 2008 for the 6th edition of contemporary dance as part of that year’s Venice Biennale, when Kilián was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Who could ask for anything more?The Leaf can. And did. She also loves Arthaus’ 1990 disc, A Tribute to Alvin Ailey, with works such as Ailey’s Memoria, Witness and For Bird With Love rounding out a DVD that also features Ulysses Dove’s Episodes. This is great stuff. And so is the 1991 Houston Ballet DVD that features stellar performances of Christopher Bruce’s iconic Ghost Dances and Journey.Ben Stevenson, erstwhile director of Houston Ballet, also contributes his own work, Image. Flash forward to 2011 and the torch that Ailey had passed to Judith Jamison after he died in 1989, has been handed over to Robert Battle. (Click here to read my Los Angeles Times interview with Battle in 2004, the first with him for that paper.)
The Ailey baton has been passed. Long live Alvin Ailey.
Then there’s Dance Theatre of Harlem. Co-founded in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook, the company had financial difficulties and temporarily shut down in 2004.Happily, it recently sprang back to life with Virginia Johnson at the artistic helm. For those wanting to see the divine Ms. Johnson in her prime, Arthaus has a terrific DVD (from 1989), with works including Agnes de Mille’s Fall River Legend and Lester Horton’s The Beloved.
Love those dancin’ feet…of Dance Theatre of Harlem!
As much as The Leaf loves dance, she loves the fact that she can now see so much of it on her own time, in her own home, thanks to great companies like VAI International and Arthaus Musik. Brava and danke, merci, gracias and thanks. Keep ‘em coming.
Yes, Virginia, there is culture in Santa Ana. Seriously, The Wooden Floor(previously known as Saint Joseph Ballet), is an extraordinary after-school organization that was formed in 1983 and continues to provide tutoring, academic services, counseling and – The Leaf’s particular passion – dance education – to mostly Latino, low-income youth.Nearly 400 students, age 8-18 are currently enrolled and, since 2005, 100% of graduates from The Wooden Floor have gone on to college.
Now that’s impressive.Melanie Rios Glaser, executive and artistic director of The Wooden Floor, is also a professional choreographer whose work has been performed in Mexico, Central America, France, Brazil…and the list goes on.She also commissions contemporary choreographers to make new dances on the kids.Indeed, last year, at REDCAT, a group of students performed excerpts from – gasp – Merce Cunningham’s Roaratorio. Incroyable!
Merce Cunningham’s Notes on Roaratorio, with music by John Cage.
But true. And this year promises to be equally spectacular, with the concert, coincidentally, also called TRUE.At the Irvine Barclay Theatre June 2-4, the program features Rios Glaser’s reworking of her 2010 piece, True or False: I Was Born in the Netherlands, a piece by Alpert Award winner Susan Rethorst, and a work for 97 kids by John Heginbotham. Heginbotham has been a dancer with Mark Morris Dance Group since 1998 and recently performed in Morris’ 1988 masterpiece, L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato. (Click here to read my blog posting on Mr. Morris, one of my all-time favorite artists, and click here to listen to my KUSC interview with him.)
No wonder John works well with kids: Here he is in Central Park, a kid at heart himself.
Having seen a rehearsal of Heginbotham’s Pieces of Wood, The Leaf was duly impressed. Listen to her interviews with Rios Glaser and Heginbotham on KUSC-FM radio (via the YouTube post below). Then get yourselves on the freeway and down to Orange County to check out the accomplishments of The Wooden Floor, a spectacular educational model that should be duplicated throughout the States.
Born to dance! And then some. Jacques d’Amboise has lived the life that most terpsichores can only dream about. Joining New York City Ballet at 15 in 1949 – a year after George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein founded the prestigious troupe – he not only grew up in tights, but also helped popularize ballet in America.
Suzanne Farrell, Jacques d’Amboise and Mr. B in rehearsal.
Premiering numerous roles as Mr. B’s alter (dance) ego, d’Amboise made his mark on the stage, in film (catch his indelible moves in Carousel and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers), and then came up with an equally brilliant second act: In 1976 D’Amboise founded National Dance Institute, an educational initiative that’s impacted more than 2 million children through partnerships with New York City schools and residencies nationwide and abroad. (California Dance Institute, founded in 2001 by former Joffrey Ballet dancer Carole Valleskey, is also thriving.) And as of October, 2011, NDI has finally given up its gypsy status and moved into a new home in Harlem; click here to read the NYT coverage on that wonderful news.
As if that weren’t enough, d’Amboise’s third act finale is equally impressive. After having raised four children with his late wife, Carolyn George – daughter Charlotte d’Amboise has been hoofing on Broadway in such musicals as, A Chorus Line – the man with the chiseled cheekbones and ready smile is also, it turns out, quite the writer.His memoir, I Was A Dancer(Knopf), a delicious tome teeming with balletic dish as it goes behind the scenes of City Ballet, has garnered rave reviews.
Charlotte d’Amboise strutting her stuff as Cassie in A Chorus Line.
And The Leaf was privileged to spend some face time with the dancer who was perhaps the best Apollo of all time, at least that’s what Allegra Kent, has to say about her long-time partner. (Below they’re dancing Jerome Robbins‘ Afternoon of a Faun.) The good news is that d’Amboise has lost none of his charisma, charm or zest for life. Click hereto read my blog posting for the Los Angeles Times, which then links here to my feature story on the one and only…Jacques d’Amboise. And for those wanting to hear the man, himself, click here for The Leaf’s interview with him on KUSC-FM’s Arts Alive program.
How do I love thee, Mark Morris? Let me count the ways. Let’s just say that The Leaf has been a major fan since you choreographed John Adams’ opera, Nixon in China, and the brilliantly hilarious Hard Nut, lo those many moons ago. And, mais oui, she’s wild for your undeniable masterpiece, George Frideric Handel‘s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, which she checked out in 1997 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts – worth the trek – and absolutely adored.
Congratulations, as well, on the 30-year anniversary of Mark Morris Dance Group and may you have another 30 wondrous years. In the interim, for all you Morris aficionados – and they are legion – click here to listen to my KUSC-FM interview with the master of postmodern dance. He talks about creating L’Allegro, which is a first-time collaboration with Los Angeles Opera and runs May 5-8 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. There’s chat, too, about the fact that some of his works feature dancing so natural looking that some people believe anyone can, well, dance them.
Hah! Mr. Morris doesn’t buy it and has some choice remarks to that effect.
The interview is also filled with lots of Morrisisms, including his talking about a new “side” career – conducting, which he does barefoot, cuz his feet sweat. And then there’s his take on Jennifer Homans’ tome, Apollo’s Angels, a wonderfully written history of ballet. But let’s just say that though the Markster and The Leaf agree that while the first 500 pages are stellar, it’s Homans’ epilogue that’s causing a ruckus: The author writes that ballet is dead or dying, and Morris won’t have it. (Nor will The Leaf – Morris is a prime example, helloooo…that ballet is alive and well in the 21st century).
Kicking up confetti in The Hard Nutwith balletic brio.
Indeed, the erstwhile bad boy of dance speaks his mind, but since his remarks on the death of ballet are unprintable – and unairable – those illustrious words, alas, are not included, save in the archives and vaults of The Looseleaf Report. (And speaking of words, check out my 2007 Los Angeles Times interview with Morris here, not to mention that the über-talented multi-hyphenate has also been the subject of a major biography – by Joan Acocella – that was published in 1995, wouldyabelieve.) Now, some 16 years later and still at the top of his game, Mark Morris rules.
Can’t tear yourself away from the ongoing insanity that is/has been/and will, no doubt, continue to be coverage of the event known simply as The Royal Wedding? Somehow The Leaf, who much prefers the Fred Astaire version – Royal Wedding – has managed to escape most of it, notably resisting any urge to turn on the TV at 1 a.m. in Los Angeles to gawk at the proceedings. (And hello – the dress, designed by Sarah Burton, creative director of Alexander McQueen, who offed himself last year – was somewhat of a whoop. The lace, in any case, is supposed to be exquisite; and with the gown now out of the bag, it’s ubiquitously in print, online and on the air.)
Is this a picture of a happy, smiling bride? And what’s with the make-up?
Indeed, this scribe had more important things to do – like writing a review of Pat Graney Company’s reconstructed Faith. Onstage at REDCAT, the bastion of hip at the corner of 2nd and Hope Streets – its own little world within the Walt Disney Concert Hall building – the performance is worth the trek downtown. That said, click here to read my L.A. Times critique, the polar opposite of my Times review from a mere two days ago. To read the verbiage spewed on that – Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg’s Don Quixote, or Fantasies of the Madman – click here.
In any case, it does seem to be a mad, mad, mad world, and one that requires an internal GPS to help navigate life’s rocky roads. That calls for a shot of Macallan 30. Care to join her? Bottoms up, everyone, and cheers!
It’s bad enough having to schlep to Orange County from The Leaf’s City of Angels’ digs, but getting stuck in a construction zone on the way back is murderous. Which isn’t why I was all riled up about Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg’s frenzied production of Don Quixote, or Fantasies of the Madman, choreographed by Boris Eifman in 1994 and revised last year. (How’s that for a run-on sentence?) Actually, The Leaf loved his Anna Karenina, and the 60-some dancers are quite spectacular, if skinny to the point of being heroin chic, but Don Q is one of my least favorite ballets, no matter who does it or how many fouettés the prima manages to toss off. (Hint: it’s usually 32, though our Kitri didn’t come close to that number in the Big Orange. But hey – who’s counting?)
That Eifman chose to set his ballet in a nuthouse was certainly his prerogative, but some, er, restraint(s) were in order. Whatever! As I seem to be the L.A. Times go-to gal for covering performances at the recently re-christened Segerstrom Center for the Arts, I was happy just to have made it back safely and ultimately pound out my thoughts. Click here for my review. (Note: This critique could possibly have the most film references per paragraph of any I’ve ever written.)
P.S. And for those wanting a dose of the Facial Flex, The Leaf is still pondering her sudden internet stardom thanks to the Huffington Post. (I never thought I’d be saying that!) In any case, more to come. Until then, here’s my idea of a baby ballerina. Aww!
By Victoria Looseleaf
From Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Labyrinth, a world premiere seen in Amsterdam with Dutch National Ballet
