Marisa HayesDanceParis,
Between 1974 and 1996, Jerome Robbins personally oversaw the staging of twelve of his ballets for the Paris Opera Ballet. Attracted by the dramatic qualities of the dancers and their technical rigor, the American choreographer is said to have considered the POB a second home after the New York City ...
Paula FarmerFilm
One of the highlights of the Mill Valley Film Festival 2018, and a sure-to-be-hit of the upcoming movie season - as in race for the Oscars - is “Widows,” a heist suspense movie starring Viola Davis. In fact, to leave this just at a description as “suspense” is an understatement. ...
Toba SingerFeaturesBerkeley,
News of Hurricane Sandy’s projected landfall gives New Yorkers little time to prepare, but whatever the mysteries of nature, certain New Yorkers, the poor, and working class, mostly members of oppressed nationalities, mostly the women among them, know one thing for sure: the deck is stacked against them. With ...
Emily S. MendelArt & ArchitectureSan Francisco,
Ever since His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al Thani of Qatar visited in 2009 the “Maharaja: The Splendour of India's Royal Courts” exhibition at London’s V & A Museum, the 30-something Sheikh wanted to collect bejeweled Indian treasures. During the following five years, he procured over 6,000 items for ...
David E. MorenoDanceSan Francisco,
Dark Beauty
Every dance performance should follow Bobbi Jene Smith’s lead of offering a 45-minute dance class to ticket-holders before a performance! In this case, a Gaga People’s class that everyone, seasoned dancers and newbies alike, could attend. After all, when you think about who it is that ...
Emily S. MendelTheaterSan Francisco,
In 1869, one-armed Civil War veteran Major John Wesley Powell, with nine other men and four wooden boats, explored the Green and Colorado rivers, in the first official U.S. government-sponsored expedition of the area. He kept a diary of the three-month ordeal (“The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its ...
Andrew OsborneTelevision
There's a fair amount of death in this pensive collection of grim prairie tales from Joel and Ethan Coen, but the Western itself is alive and well -- critically, at least, if not financially given the recent disastrous box office fortunes of director Jacque Audiard's masterful big screen ...
Emily S. MendelArt & ArchitectureOakland,
When the names of husband and wife, Charles Eames (1907-78), and (Bernice) Ray Eames (1912-88) are mentioned, most think of the unique mid-century plywood and fiberglass chairs still sold commercially today. But as the captivating, comprehensive and stylish exhibit at The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) demonstrates, their talents ...
David E. MorenoDanceBerkeley,
Anyone fortunate enough to walk into Zellerbach Hall this weekend will not be surprised to learn that choreographer Sasha Waltz is the daughter of an architect. Everything about “Körper” (German for “bodies”) is about architecture--that designed by humans and the miraculous anatomical and biological design of the human body. ...
Josh BaxtTheaterSan Diego,
For a history geek like me, there are few greater joys than a Julius Caesar production. The play is a picture postcard from that stunning moment when reasonable men thought drastic acts could save the Roman Republic. This year’s Old Globe/University of San Diego MFA production delivers a taut ...
