French auctioners continue marketing Native American sacred objects

Despite Legal Challenges, Sale of Hopi Religious Artifacts Continues in France
by Tom Mashberg, The New York Times, June 29, 2014

Allen Grossman, 82

Allen Grossman, a Poet’s Poet and Scholar, Dies at 82
by Bruce Weber, The New York Times, June 29, 2014

Meshach Taylor, 67

Meshach Taylor, Actor on TV’s ‘Designing Women,’ Dies at 67
by Emma Fitzsimmons, The New York Times, June 29, 2014

Courage of his convictions: Jean Guéhenno in Nazi-occupied Paris

Shedding Light on Nazi-Occupied Paris
David Ball’s Translation of ‘Diary of the Dark Years’
by Alice Kaplan, The New York Times, June 25, 2014

Chelsea gallery surveys post-Fukushima theme of Japanese artists

On View | Japanese Artists Respond to Fukushima
by Sylvia Rupani-Smith, The New York Times, June 26, 2014

Esther Bejarano: Her voice rings clear, still

Amid the Rap Music, Echoes of an Orchestra Playing in a Dark Past
Survivor of Auschwitz Ensemble Teams Up With German Hip-Hop Duo
by Sally McGrane, The New York Times, June 27, 2014

Mary Rodgers, 83

Mary Rodgers, Author and Composer in a Musical Family, Dies at 83
by Bruce Weber, The New York Times, June 27, 2014

Bobby Womack, 70

Bobby Womack, Royalty of the Soul Era, Dies at 70
by Paul Vitello, The New York Times, June 27, 2014

Robert Gardner, 88

Robert Gardner Dies at 88; Filmed Cultural Practices
by Bruce Weber, The New York Times, June 27, 2014

Julius Rudel, 93

Julius Rudel, Longtime Impresario and Conductor of City Opera, Dies at 93

by Robert McFadden, The New York Times, June 26, 2014

 

 

 

Teenie Hodges, 68

Teenie Hodges, Soul Guitarist and Songwriter, Dies at 68

by Ben Sisario, The New York Times, June 25, 2014

Eli Wallach, 98

Eli Wallach, Multifaceted Actor, Dies at 98

by Richard Berkvist, The New York Times, June 25, 2014

InfiniteBody http://infinitebody.blogspot.com

Binah Shah: when arts cross the divides

From an Indian Muslim’s Brush ...

by Bina Shah, The New York Times, June 20, 2014

Gerry Goffin, 75

Gerry Goffin, Songwriter With Carole King, Dies at 75

by William Yardley and Peter Keepnews, The New York Times, June 19, 2014

John Adams opera stirs concerns, Met cancels simulcast

Met Opera Cancels Simulcast of ‘Klinghoffer’

by Michael Cooper, The New York Times, June 17, 2014

Ruby Dee, 91

Ruby Dee, a Ringing Voice for Civil Rights, Onstage and Off, Dies at 91

by Bruce Weber, The New York Times, June 12, 2014

Artists advocate Creative Time boycott

Over 100 Artists and Intellectuals Call for Withdrawal from Creative Time Exhibition
by Mostafa Heddaya, hyperallergic.com, June 10, 2014

I love you Raja Feather Kelly

Raja Feather Kelly
has been doing some more thinking
about Andy "Drella" Warhol.
(photos by Andy Toad)

The name of this winning and humorous ensemble piece from dance artist Raja Feather Kelly might be The Feath3r Theory Presents: Andy Warhol's DRELLA (I Love You Faye Driscoll), as it appears in promotional materials, or The Feath3r Theory Presents: Andy Warhol's DRELLA (I Love You Faye Driscoll) Black by Popular Demand, as it appears in the black-on-pink program notes. Either way, you get the picture: a mashup of race, gender, the cult of personality, runway models in white face, drag and house culture, karaoke, mad juggling of archetypes and stereotypes and ebullient ballet steps performed in dirty ankle socks. Let's call this craftily messy beauty Drella for short--that name itself a shortening of Dracula and Cinderella and an invocation of Warhol.



For a few additional clues, I snipped this passage from the artist's statement on the beloved Faye Driscoll's Web site:

I am obsessed with the basic problem of being "somebody" in a world of other "somebodies," and in my work I attempt to pull apart this daily performance of self. I do this by enacting it in excess, blowing it up to the extreme in order to reveal its edges and create more space, more possibility for who we can be.

Likewise, Raja Feather Kelly is about creating more space and, from the looks of things, he knows exactly what to do with it.

Last call to see The Feath3r Theory in Drella at The Invisible Dog in Brooklyn is tonight, 7:30pm. The show runs 70 minutes, and there's not a dull minute among them.

Seating is very limited. Check here for possibilities or, if you can't get in, do as some neighbors did last night: Catch it all through the center's storefront window!

Drella afterparty tonight at 9pm (free and open to the public). Information here.

The Invisible Dog
51 Bergen Street (between Smith and Court Streets), Brooklyn
(map/directions)

Brantley on Branagh's "Macbeth"

Rushing Headlong Into the Hurly-Burly
A Fast and Furious ‘Macbeth’ at Park Avenue Armory
by Ben Brantley, The New York Times, June 5, 2014

With new leadership, El Museo del Barrio moves forward

At Museum Born of Politics, New Chief Faces Economics
El Museo del Barrio, Stabilized, Expands Its Mission
by Holland Cotter, The New York Times, June 5, 2014

Dance/USA: Fall 2014 paid internships, fellowships

Dance/USA, the voice for the professional field of dance, offers internships to aspiring arts administrators based at the national office, located in Washington, DC.

Dance/USA Internships are available in the following departments for the Fall 2014 Term:

·         Communications
·         Development
·         Government Affairs

Fellowships are available in the following departments:

·         Research

To apply, interested candidates must email their resume and a cover letter outlining internship interests, career goals, and availability to Melissa Lineburg, executive administrator.

Dance/USA’s Fall 2014 Internship Application Deadline is Friday, August 1, 2014, and the Fall Term runs September 3, 2014-December 5, 2014.

Recent college graduates, current college juniors/seniors, and graduate students are eligible to apply! Those accepted will receive professional, on-the-job experience that is needed in today’s job market by working with and assisting our national office staff.

Part-time and full-time internships are available. Stipends or university credit are also available.

With questions, email Melissa or call the Dance/USA national office at 202.833.1717.

Melissa L. Lineburg
Executive Administrator
Dance/USA
1111 16th Street, NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20036
202.833.1717 ext. 100
mlineburg@danceusa.org

McKnight Artist Fellowships in dance awarded in Minneapolis

Northrop is an epicenter of discovery and transformation that connects the University of Minnesota and communities beyond by celebrating innovation in the arts, performance, and academics. 

Northrop is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2014 McKnight Artist Fellowships for Choreographers and the McKnight Artist Fellowships for Dancers. With the generous support of the McKnight Foundation, Northrop awards fellowships to individual mid-career dancers and choreographers. Support for individual artists has been a cornerstone of the McKnight Foundation’s arts program since it began in 1981. The foundation recognizes that the arts cannot flourish or enhance community life without the ideas, energy, and drive of individual artists, and that artists cannot make these contributions without unfettered creative time. Fellowship awards are made in 10 disciplines through 8 arts organizations and presenters.

McKnight Artist Fellowships for Choreographers: 2014 Recipients

Penelope Freeh

Wynn Fricke

Joanie Smith

Choreographers Selection Panel:

Janet Lilly, Professor and Head of Dance, UNC-Greensboro (Greensboro, NC)

David Shimotakahara, Executive/Artistic Director, GroundWorks Dance Theater (Cleveland, OH)

Sarah Slipper, Artistic Director, Northwest Dance Project (Portland, OR)

Eva Yaa Asantewaa, Arts Journalist (New York, NY)

McKnight Artist Fellowships for Dancers: 2014 Recipients

Kenna-Camara Cottman

Sally Rousse

Max Wirsing

Dancers Selection Panel:

Joan Karlen, Professor and Dance Program Coordinator, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (WI)

Christopher Morgan, Artistic Director, Christopher K. Morgan & Artists; and Director, Dance Omi International Dance Collective (Washington D.C.)

Heidi Geier, Dance Artist and Educator (St. Louis Park, MN)

Nic Lincoln, Dance Artist and Activist (St. Paul, MN)

Sharon Picasso, Dancer, Choreographer, and Performance Artist (Minneapolis, MN)

For further information on the McKnight Artist Fellowships for Choreographers and Dancers and bios for this year's recipients, please click here.

Elodie Lauten, 63

It is with deep sadness that Lower East Side Performing Arts, Inc. (LESPA) announces the passing of its Founder and Executive Director, composer Elodie Lauten on June 3, 2014. She had been suffering from a very aggressive form of cancer and died in Manhattan's Beth Israel Hospital.

Lauten's death came two days after the debut performance of her now-definitive version of Waking in New York, an opera with the libretto created for her by poet Allen Ginsberg about New York City and the diversity of its people, at the Church of St. Mark's in-the-Bowery. 

Read more here.

Lucy Sexton on what makes a family

I Married the Gay Father of My Child
an interview with performance artist and Bessie Awards producer Lucy Sexton
by Anna Sale, Death, Sex & Money, WNYC, June 4, 2014

New works by Ronald K. Brown, Asha Thomas at The Joyce

Shayla Caldwell in The Subtle One
(photo by Ayodele Casel)

After looking at Ronald K. Brown's aesthetic for years, I find that I'm no longer closely watching movements--which are largely familiar by now, a smooth and juicy contemporary blend of kinetic styles from regions and eras of the African diaspora--or even Brown's broader and equally familiar thematic tendencies. Instead, the just-opened spring run of Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company at The Joyce Theater draws my attention to how Brown uses movement to deploy energy. After all, this season's world premiere, The Subtle One, set to a beautiful score by jazz pianist Jason Moran, is all about angels--and the idea of angels is all about activated energy.

And I see Brown as holding his dancers--and his people, mine, too--in a place of angelic condition, angels earthbound. A faithful and purposeful community, activated and engaged with the Radiant Invisible somewhere high and offstage, just along an oblique, illuminated path. Earth angels, as in his 2001 Ife/My Heart, in white costumes that swing and float and extend the body's flow into space. (White is the essential color of spiritual purity in African/Afro-Atlantic traditions.) As in all of his work, the body rises and falls and rises to connect levels of external and internal being. The arms lash circles and drives of energy along a variety of planes. A polyrhythmic conversation--with spongy moves and countermoves and arching suspensions--erupts between body and music across ground and air. Often moving to irresistible music, the lush dancing has a heightening and tranquilizing effect.

Looking at the work this time, I suddenly get why I'm often on the fence about Brown's dancemaking. I realize that I'm often seeing something very much like club dancers neatly arranged in shifting lines across space; each man or woman dancing in his or her own bubble of air, even when they move as one. I might enjoy the look, get into the feel, but I wonder if there isn't a little more that can happen.

Ife/My Heart and, to an extent, last year's Torch--specifically due to the uncanny, shapely, lighter-than-air dancing of Annique Roberts in Torch--are dynamic examples of Brown doing what he loves to do. By comparison, The Subtle One, opening Program A, seems thin and juiceless and bearing the company's most dispiriting tendencies towards earnestness, clearly not up to the responsibility of being a program's climax--and so, it isn't. Instead, IFE/My Heart and Torch conclude the show.

Guest artist Asha Thomas's New York premiere, Ghazals, which follows The Subtle One, opens with an annoying (because difficult to hear over the music) spoken word performance by Thomas while guest artist David Gaulein-Stef makes his entrance by gradually rolling across the floor from the opposite end of the stage. The lanky, rubbery Gaulein-Stef, a multi-talented native of French Guyana, is a marvel throughout. But the piece only picked up interest for me in its final moments when, for some reason, the dancers turned playful in a daffy way. Good for Thomas (who credits Brown as a special collaborator in this piece) for resisting making this closing passage an obviously romantic one. The horsing around here looks more like an exchange between two giddy siblings or two peers who have become really close friends. It looks real, and that's affecting. If Thomas does not provide a decisive theatrical conclusion to her duet, at least we take away and savor what appears to be a genuine feeling.

Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company continues at the Joyce through this Sunday on the following schedule:

Program A: The Subtle One, Ghazals, IFE/My Heart, Torch on June 3, 4, 8 at 7:30pm and June 7 at 2pm

Program B: Ebony Magazine to a Village, Dancing Spirit, High Life, Upside Down on June 5, 6, 7 at 8pm and June 8 at 2pm

For information and tickets, click here.

The Joyce Theater
175 Eighth Avenue (at 19th Street), Manhattan
(directions)

Feminist radio lives! Hear choreographer Andrea E. Woods on FM today

Today on KPFK's Feminist Magazine:
stories on Andrea E. Woods, Marissa Alexander and Cat Mendez

Listen today (3pm PDT) when radio journalist Valecia Phillips interviews choregrapher and dance scholar Andrea E. Woods about her new work The Amazing Adventures of Grace May B. Brown--a multimedia production which she describes as a “contemporary praise dance/folk performance." Woods is also celebrating her 20th anniversary as artistic director of SOULOWORKS/Andrea E. Woods & Dancers. Woods will discuss her interest in stretching the intra-cultural and interdisciplinary dialogues between Black women artists.

Also: Why is Marissa Alexander, a black mother in Florida, fighting a potential 60 year sentence for defending herself against an abusive spouse? And an interview with rock singer/guitarist Cat Mendez of ¡Aparato!

Feminist Magazine

on KPFK

Hosted by Lynn Harris Ballen, Valecia Phillips and Abeni Moreno, Tuesdays at 3pm. THIS is What Feminism Sounds Like!

Art chooses you: Mary Anthony, 97 [UPDATE]

Friends, students and colleagues of the beloved modern dance choreographer-educator Mary Anthony have noted her passing on her Facebook page. She is said to have died peacefully in her sleep on Saturday at the age of 97.

Mary Anthony

(November 11, 1916 - May 31, 2014) 

Mary Anthony, a national treasure and legend of modern dance, died in her studio home in the East Village in New York City on May 31, 2014 at the age of 97.  Former company member, Daniel Maloney who is the Artistic Director of the Mary Anthony Dance Theater Foundation, was like a son to her and took care of her to the end.
 Mary Anthony is recognized as one of the leaders of the modern dance movement both as a choreographer and an exceptional teacher .  She was the 2004 recipient of the Bessie Award for lifetime contribution to the field of modern dance. In 2006 she received the Martha Hill Award. Other awards and honors include: Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke’s Balasaraswati Award from American Dance Festival, American Dance Guild Award of Artistry, American Dance Association Award, New York State Dance Education Award, and Channel One New Yorker of the week. In 2004 she was entered into the Dance Hall of Fame as part of an installation for the New Dance Group at the Saratoga Dance Museum and in 2011 she received a Citation from New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer at her 95th birthday, declaring November 11 as Mary Anthony Day.
 Mary Anthony, a native of Kentucky, began her career with a scholarship in dance with Hanya Holm in the early 40’s, eventually joining the Holm Company and becoming her assistant. She was an original member of the radical modern dance organization The New Dance Group in the 1940’s. Ms. Anthony danced in concerts with Joseph Gifford as well as appearing in many Broadway Shows. Her staging of the London production of Touch and Go, in which she danced one of the leading roles, resulted in a long association as choreographer for Italian Musical Theater.
 Ms. Anthony started the Mary Anthony Dance Theater in 1956. Following the premier of Ms. Anthony’s signature work Threnody - for which composer, Benjamin Britten gave his special permission to use his Sinfonia da Requiem - Louis Horst wrote, “Here is the most beautiful and complete dance composition this observer has seen.” Her company performed throughout the United States for over 40 years, including appearances at Jacob’s Pillow, The American Dance Festival, the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood and toured as part of the Dance Touring Program of the National Endowment for the Arts, and for over 30 years presented home season performance in New York City. Jennifer Dunning of the New York Times described Ms. Anthony’s Songs as “hauntingly lyrical with the emphasis on simplicity and ageless craft.” In 1996, Mary Anthony Dance Theater celebrated its 40th Anniversary seasons at The Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse in New York City. In 2004 Ms. Anthony reconstructed one of her oldest works, Women of Troy, on Dancefusion, which was presented in Philadelphia along with her legendary solos Lady Macbeth danced by Mary Ford Sussman. In 2009 her work The Devil in Massachusetts from 1952 was reconstructed by the 360º Dance Company.
 An internationally recognized choreographer, Ms. Anthony has had her works added to the repertory of Pennsylvania Ballet, Bat-Dor Company of Israel, the Dublin City Ballet, Dancefusion in Philadelphia and the National Institute for the Arts of Taiwan. Ms Anthony taught at the Herbert Berghof Studio for Actors in New York City for many years.  Shetaught at her own studio at 736 Broadway for over 50 years, retiring only last year.   In November 2013 a Tribute to Mary Anthony was presented as part of  Fridays At Noon at the 92nd Street Y, honoring her legacy in modern dance and her 97th Birthday.
 Mary Anthony has been an extraordinary presents in the dance community and the artistry and depth of her choreography is timeless. She will live on through the dancers she trained and the people who loved her. Andrea Pastorella, one of her long-time students stated the following, “Mary continued to teach, she never lost her "Eagle Eye" even when the right eye failed she never missed a blink. She would only give a compliment if she really meant it. Her honesty was relentless. One of the things that she loved most was teaching her choreography workshops which culminated twice a year at her studio with performances. She used to say: 'These shows are what I live for'!" 
Mary Anthony loved flowers and still has a bulb that has been coming back for 40 years. It was given to her by Ross Parkes, who was Associate Artistic Director and principal dancer with Mary’s Company for many years. She loved walking in nature, planting and growing her own tomatoes in the dance studio.  She loved cats, nature programs, travel, adventure, Ireland (her parents were from Ireland), hot coffee, a hot bath, taking a sauna, and good food. She spent summer weekends on Fire Island with her good friend of 60 years, Maya Helles with whom she loved watching the "Britcoms" and talk about dance.

Donations in Mary Anthony’s memory can be made to the Mary Anthony Dance Theater Foundation and sent to 736 Broadway, New York NY 10003. A memorial service will be scheduled in July please call the studio at 212-674-8191. 

*****

Here is an excerpt from Tonia Shimin's documentary, Mary Anthony: A Life in Modern Dance, and a CBS News interview from 2010.

Dance Legend Mary Anthony: Still Kicking at 93
by Jonathan M.D., CBS News, June 10, 2010

Lee Chamberlin, 76

Lee Chamberlin, ‘Electric Company’ Actress, Dies at 76
by Daniel E. Slotnik, The New York Times, June 1, 2014

Ann B. Davis, 88

Ann B. Davis, Alice on 'Brady Bunch,' dies
By Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN, June 1, 2014

Joe Levasseur: Take a workshop with dance's wizard of lighting

Movement Research presents a workshop with Bessie Award winner Joe Levasseur, lighting designer for dance, at Abrons Arts Center, July 7-11.

Lighting Design for Dance

This classroom and practical workshop will be a technical tutorial and discussion about the process of creating lighting designs for dance. All efforts will be made to demystify lighting in order to promote informative decision making and more easeful discussion in future collaborative processes. This class is designed for anyone interested in dance lighting including dancers, choreographers, and stage technicians. Participants must be present for all workshop dates.

Monday-Wednesday, 6:30-10pm, Thursday-Friday, 5:30-9:30pm
Optional: Tuesday and Wednesday 10am-5pm

Fee: $165

Abrons Art Center
466 Grand Street (at Pitt Street), Manhattan
(map/directions)

Yams Collective on Whitney protest and white supremacy in the arts

The Yams, On the Whitney and White Supremacy
by Ben Davis, artnet, May 30 2014

What's in that Pre-Raphaelite bouquet?

The Secret Victorian Language of Flowers
by Allison Meier, Hyperallergic, May 30, 2014

Gustavo Ollitta: He's got flow

Brazil-born Buugeng juggler Gustavo Ollitta

To learn more about buugeng and S-staffs, click here.