Fame or Famine

In college, my partner in crime AJ Niehaus and I once drove the 5 hours to Minneapolis to hear Bill T. Jones speak at the Walker. I remember him having a loose energy, relaxed, his deep basso profundo voice and his eyes transfixing the audience.
And if you’ve never seen Still/Here, or any of the many documentaries on his life with Arnie Zane, well…you’re missing one of the most beautiful love stories of our time.
Meanwhile, enjoy this clip from “Blind Date”, a great example of technology and dance integrated incredibly well. And read the interview at Broadway World, too.

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I’ve been the Special Events Coordinator for an event in Chicago, that’s where. It was a great event that I won’t go into here, except to let you all know that I both witnessed and taught about performances, and amongst all the intense, stylistic changes that were there (the conference was about Japanese Performance Art) one very salient, forgiving point came up.
It’s a point that I think we all forget in our daily life. It’s the idea of the "ultimate goal." Where are you going with this? Why are you performing?
The answer, most of the time, is that you’re doing …read more

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This evening I was watching the E! coverage of the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie premiere, and when Joey Fatone and Kym Johnson were on the red carpet…well, they seemed to be a little strained in their smiles, and their comments about firing each other. And Fatone’s most positive thing to say about the evening: "Well, we’re not practicing…" Not exactly the most sunny outlook…
See what you think of their samba:

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I attended a banquet last night honoring students in Wisconsin who have been active in promoting Gay-Straight Alliances in their schools. The GSAs help LGBTQ students feel safer and less discriminated against in the schools by educating staff & students in things like hateful speech patterns (“That’s so gay!”) and other issues.
My daughter received the “Community Activist of the Year” award. I’m quite the proud poppa, hearing her acceptance speech: “Education is my passion, activism is my medium, and I can do anything.”
Less enjoyable was the intro, given by a teacher, for another student. She was relating an anecdote …read more

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This is the third try at this post. The other two crashed my computer. I don’t know why, but I’m desperate, and late, so:
Go look at Snappy Dance Theater. Note how they’re cool. Then go to Boston and see their new show "String Beings". It, too, will be cool. And with luck, my computer won’t crash again.

"Now in its 10th year, the company has toured to 18 States and was chosen as one of three US companies to perform at the “We Love Dance” Festival in Tokyo, Japan, in August 2004. In June 2004, the Celebrity Series commissioned and presented …read more

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I’m having a love/hate relationship with the internet and the arts. Love because I can catch glimpses of fun events and even feel connected to them, somewhat, through the very personal reviews of people like Tonya Plank . I can even, through the magic of YouTube and such, watch some of the action (not to mention catch up on the latest episodes of Dancing With the Stars).
But let’s face it. It’s not being there. So while I can appreciate the glimpses I get, and even occasionally be able to afford trips to the Madison Ballet (their upcoming Cinderella sounds sweet, …read more

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You know, I think I’ve got a new definition of the word virtuoso. It comes from a couple of recent pieces I’ve read – one in the business blog "Slow Leadership", and one in Greg Sandow’s ArtsJournal blog on the future of classical music.
He writes of hearing an opera singer – not just any opera singer, but a name – sing at a party:

…heard in a living room, this soprano was just about mesmerizing. Somehow the pianist and singers got started on The Sound of Music. A lyric soprano sang the title song. And then the Tosca soprano sang "Edelweiss." …read more

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I missed recording it, but yesterday Pilobolus performed on the Oprah Winfrey show. I missed it, unfortunately, but if anyone has video available of it, I’d love to not only see what they performed but also what Oprah said about it.
Meanwhile, I’m not sure if I’ve posted this link before, but this is absolutely my favorite TED talk of all. Even if I posted it before, enjoy it again:

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Via Turbulence (the page my browser always opens first) I learn of "mech[a] output", which is as big a mashup of sources as I’ve ever seen:

"mech[a] is a dance of restraint, based on koosil-ja’s study of the dances of the Noh-play DOJOJI. Through rigid adherence to the original choreography of DOJOJI, she treats the form itself as the subject, rather than as a medium. Simultaneously, the group transposes the work into their own aesthetic context."

"The group" is a conglomerate of punk rockers, dramaturgs, engineers, software designers, video artists, and choreographers.
One of the reasons I think that this piece, more …read more

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Let’s face it, you take a boxer’s aggressive training and precision, and then lay a cha-cha on it, and Dancing with the Stars suddenly has my complete attention:

Thanks to Terpsichore Musings for the updates!

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