Discarded Picassos

An oldie but a goodie, finally up for all to see!

more about "Discarded Picassos", posted with vodpod

National Summit on Arts Journalism

Dance a la Mode is helping out by hosting the web stream.

Live video by Ustream

Featuring Jacinto Delgado

I dug up this video clip of the beautiful Jacinto Delgado as the White Knight in The Red King’s Dream.

Why the LA Times sucks

I guess it was about a year ago that the LA Times let go of Lewis Segall, the talented dance critic who has reviewed Los Angeles dance for so long. There was a big bruhaha from the local dance community, a letter-writing campaign, etc., but it appears nothing much came from it. For the life of me, as I click through the LA Times Arts & Culture page, I cannot find one recent article or actual review about local choreographers and dance companies. It’s a huge slap in the face, because local theatre (which dance is paired with on the site) is getting reviewed everyday it seems. If you look at the link above, you’ll see that out for every some 20-odd theatre reviews, there is only 1 dance review. I’m calling shenanigans on that!

We are entering the fall season of dance concerts and performances. I think it might be worth our while to renew our letter-writing campaign and perhaps a new petition. They don’t have to keep someone on staff; I could care less how they manage their staff. My problem is that very few local companies are getting any coverage by the paper. Our dance scene is practically nonexistent to the rest of the world because they don’t cover us. But, of course, when Baryshnikov comes to town, or Twyla Tharp, that’s headline news…hasn’t their time passed? LA has a burgeoning dance scene with eclectic and exceptionally talented, REVOLUTIONARY, choreographers (hello Bradley Michaud, I’m talking ’bout you) and producers (give a shout out to the fantastic and persistent Ms. Jamie Nichols).

I’m not letting this die. I’ve got a bug up my butt, and y’all all know what happens when that happens. For those of you who rallied behind this cause in the past, we can’t give up the fight! Rally up again! More details to come soon!

The Red King’s Dream

Here’s an excerpt for everyone out there hungry for choreography by Amanda F. Lipsey, but impatient for the November 2nd performance.

Come out, come out, wherever you are!

Just want to get it on everyone’s calendar: Dance a la Mode is performing at the Electric Lodge in the November 2nd edition of Max 10. The performance will feature a solo performed by dancer/choreographer Amanda F. Lipsey. The solo is still barely under construction yet. Subscribe to Dance a  la Mode now so you can watch the dance evolve.

We’re moving!

I’m moving this blog to wordpress.com. So you can now find me at dancealamode.wordpress.com. On another note, someone out there copied my name and is calling their blog Dancing a la Mode. She’s a critic, or something like that, and her about section was almost a word for word copy of my first post back in November 2008, which I’ve since deleted (having decided to take the blog in a different direction). Anyways, can’t wait to see you all at wordpress!

Planning for the February World Premiere

Dear Reader:

I use the words “world premiere” loosely. I have no idea what I’m going to call the show or the company, but I’m presenting and, therefore, premiering my work to the world, hopefully at the Electric Lodge if I can get it, in February. And everyone stay tuned because I’m hoping to bring out MariaColacoDance to perform a piece in the show. Maria Colaco is an old college buddy of mine, and her work has always been, aside from a beautiful display of movement, very entertaining. 

The current line-up is, in no particular order, a re-staging of Discarded Picassos (2003) and Fit (2005), and a new group piece. In addition, I hope to finish Still Life on Glass, which premiered as a duet in 2005, but after encouragement from Joel Shapiro, I’m considering adding to the work. 

I hope you’ll all tune in to Dance a la Mode and keep up with the process of producing this show. I hope to see you all in February. 

And the dance goes on…