Alonzo King Lines Ballet: Opening the Door for Dancers of Color
ENTERTAINMENT & Culture -A review of Alonzo King's newest ballet, "The Propelled Heart"
By Claudia Sanchez
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| Alonzo King Lines Ballet's Kara Wilkes and singer Lisa Fischer |
Ballet has always been something exclusive. Because it is considered to be “high art,” ballet classes, particularly those for children, are incredibly expensive, as are costumes, and performance tickets. This makes ballet an unattainable dream for many low-income people, particularly people of a lower income who are also systematically oppressed.
The rise of Misty Copeland, a Los Angeles native, to become a principal ballet dancer for the American ballet company, has revolutionized the ballet world. However, there is a San Francisco company which not only hires amazingly talented dancers of color, but is also one of the few dance companies run by an African American man.
The company’s head, Alonzo King, is a visionary and one of the best ballet choreographers alive today, with the honorary degrees and Kennedy Center awards to prove it. His newest ballet “The Propelled Heart,” is a view into his creative subconcious. The surreal and emotional ballet is made up of sixteen small pieces which all connect to tell a single story.
Inspired by Lisa Fischer, a Grammy winning singer [“How Can I Ease the Pain?” won “Best Female R&B Vocal Performance,”] her decades long career, and multi instrumentalist JC Malliard, King choreographs a ballet about confusion, oppression, and the ultimate freedom that comes from escaping these things.
Lisa Fischer, wearing a dramatic brown duster with a feathered hem, sings throughout the entire performance and interacts with the dancers, playing the role of prima ballerina. Her magnificent voice echoes through the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts as she uses two microphones to create vocal effects for herself. Her singing varies from groans and moans, to singing spirituals, to singing her Grammy winning song. Fischer is a scene stealer, but the dancers hold their own against her.
The twelve dancers, all of whom have been classically trained, perform seemingly impossible feats onstage. Dressed in minimalist draped clothing in sheer pastel and neutral colors, the dancers let their performances be the center of attention. They float weightlessly across the stage as they jump and turn through the stage.
King’s exquisite choreography has the dancers switch from effortless dancing, to forced and painful looking poses. The choreography which varies between all of the dancers, becomes layered and more emotional as the ballet continues. The dancers emote beautifully, even yelling, howling, and singing in times of importance.
The stage is bare and is meant to direct the audience’s attention to the dancers and Fischer, a scene stealer. The slightly gloomy and mysterious lighting helps add an ethereal quality to the show, which fits both the ballet and the company perfectly.
Alonzo King’s ballet company proves that you can create a marvelous ballet with African American, Latino, and Asian dancers without fear of casting less talented dancers. Hopefully, this kind of company will eventually become the norm instead of an anomaly in the dance world.
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An Unlikely Ballerina: The Rise of Misty Copeland
By Rivka Galchen for The New Yorker-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An Unlikely Ballerina: The Rise of Misty Copeland
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| Misty Copeland portraying Odette in the ABC's production of "Swan Lake" |
--Posted by Claudia Sanchez
By Claudia Bauer for The San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfchronicle.com/performance/article/Jess-Curtis-Gravity-15-years-of-6674031.php
A performance of Gravity's prior show "Under the Radar"
This article focuses on Jeff Curtis' dance company Gravity. Gravity is unique because it is made up of untrained dancers, some of which have disabilities which would make it impossible for them to dance anywhere else. His newest work, "Intercontinental Collaborations #6" is about destroying preconceived notions and creating new ones based on merit. His work is experimental and doesn't fit within the confines of conventional dance. “Intercontinental Collaborations #6” is being performed on: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Dec. 11-12; 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13. Gray Area Art + Technology, 2665 Mission St., S.F.
--Posted by Claudia Sanchez
Dance Top 10 for 2015: Women Had an Outsized Role On This Year's ListBy Laura Molzahn for The Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/dance/ct-best-dance-2015-ae-1213-20151210-column.html
Song of the Jasmine, one of the pieces featured in this article
According to this article women have been the leaders of the dance field this year. More and more women choreographed ballets, directed them, and became principal dancers this year than ever before. This article then shows 2015's top 10 best women led dance pieces from around the world.
--Posted by Claudia Sanchez
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TYP: Art for All
By Katherine Achterman
SAN FRANCISCO—I make my way through a nondescript doorway, leading me through a graffitied wall in SOMA. I’m immediately met with ribcage rattling tones of experimental electronic music and the scent of burning palo santo—a South American tree used for mystical purification, apparently.
I’ve just arrived at the winter TYP Artist Collective showcase, a celebration with offerings spanning from visual art, live music, zines, and, as the event bill touts, “dopeness.” This is their last party of the year, and they’ve pulled out all the stops: in one room, a clown performs. In another, I see a man practicing sound healing with gongs.
TYP is the latest and well-lauded creation of Bay Area artists Rio Garcia and Katya Bitar, both USF graduates. TYP is “a San Francisco based artist collective,” according to Garcia, and one that is unique in that it is intentionally anti-theme. “The goal for us is to bring all of these different artists with all of their different mediums and all of their different personalities and experiences, the goal is to bring them together and with that, all of their people, so we get a mix of diversity,” says Garcia. We just want people to be inspired from people who make art that’s completely different from their own.”
At this point, TYP generally manifests as art shows, gatherings, collective sharing of art in one-off celebrations. Such was the case the winter night that I wandered into the showcase, which took place at Merchants of Reality, a communal artist studio, residence, and gallery. Because TYP doesn’t have a brick and mortar location, for now, their shows take place in spaces like this: they collaborate with existing artist collectives to inspire and create together. Says Garcia of the collaboration, “I went to Merchants of Reality one night, met one of the directors of the space, and we just really liked each other. I told him we wanted to throw a show here, and he just said ‘okay. Let’s do it.’” The results of this conversation came to fruition in a show that included art as varied an interactive time machine and a homemade liquor bar.
This kind of collaboration is reflective of the aims of TYP as a whole—it is, at its core, radically inclusive. The inclusiveness manifests in membership, in attendance, and in how expression of creativity abound. “At each of our shows, we’ve had artists whose art we didn’t even see prior,” says Garcia. “We just liked them and wanted them to feel included.” Contributions are not held to any set of criteria, nor do they have to go through an approval process. “We’re not here to judge, we’re here to give you a wall. We’re not here to be selective, that’s what we’re against.”
This non-selectivity was borne initially of the friendship between Garcia and Bitar. The two describe each other as, to quote, “best fucking friends. A ride or die, until the end, love each other forever type of friendship.” The relationship seems crucial in forwarding TYP’s message of inclusiveness. “It comes so easily, and it’s so much fun,” says Garcia. “It’s not work because we love each other. We want to keep the artist community alive, we want to keep people inspired. We intend to let people know that they don’t have to audition for anything and they don’t have to be any particular type of special, and they don’t have to look a certain way and their art doesn’t have to be a certain way. We give them that wall, and that’s fucking rad. We’re going to stick with it because it feels pretty good, and it feels pretty right.”
Garcia thinks this push towards uniqueness extends to TYP’s name as well, though that wasn’t the original intention. Originally a zine created by Bitar and friend Paul Krantz, when the idea of the art collection came into fruition, the name stuck. Originally standing for ‘Transcendental Yogi Partiers,’ as it stands, TYP the acronym is open to interpretation by the user. Some examples include Turnt Young Philosophers, Tickle Your Pickle, Talented Young People, and Tantalizing Yummy Peaches. “The term artist collective can be a little intimidating sometimes,” says Garcia. “This helps.”
When questioned about the ultimate motive of her creation, Garcia was adamant—“I just want everyone to know, you don’t have to be an artist to come kick it with you. You don’t have to be anything. Anybody and everybody is welcome at anything we throw, ever. Without question nor doubt. We’re just here trying to make people really fucking happy.”
If you would like to learn more about TYP, you can follow them on Instagram @typ.artistcollective
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No Tie-Dye Required: Bay Area Millenials Are Flocking to Communes
By Sheila Marikar/ The New York Times
Analysis: In a well-researched article spanning a wide range of San Francisco communes, Marikar here paints the world of communal living in the Bay Area fairly. While touting the benefits like cheaper rent and enviromental impact, she questions the obvious negatives that arise in community living in the city: male-dominated homes, gentrification, and a tech-bias.
As a reader, this article is extremely well-written. It deftly pairs direct quotes with anecdotes and facts, and seems to depict the scene accurately. Though Marikar does a good job of maintaining journalistic objectivity, it seems that ultimately she feels slight distain for communes, and she easily influences her audience to feel similarly.
--Posted by Katherine Achterman
Another San Francisco Art Commune Battles Eviction, Guess Who They're Up Against?
By Dieter Holger/ Huffington Post
Analysis: A rather poorly written article that make little attempt towards objectivity, this HuffPo entry tells the tale of an art commune in the midst of losing their Tenderloin space due to rising rent costs. This is really less about the value of art and communal living, and more about the politics of gentrification and legislation surrounding rental laws in San Francisco. However, it brings up legitimate debate surrounding the dying art scene in the city due to high expenses.
--Posted by Katherine Achterman
Why I Loved and Left the Commune
By Emily Chew/ The Bold Italic
Analysis: A personal account of one woman's experience living at The Convent, one of San Francisco's most famed communes, located in Lower Haight. Written linearly, this article walks the reader through Chew's journey and all of the emotions associated with each stage of the communal process. An entertaining read that offer's an insider perspective, as opposed to the more business-like approach of the first two articles.
--Posted by Katherine Achterman
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Historical and time period films seldom include the complex, intertwining issues that create social movements within nations, between the parameters in which the length must bob within to the explanations too complicated for regular moviegoers to sit through and watch. Audience members like suspense, conflict, emotional interest, and most of all, resolution. These are all the basic dynamics of an engaging film, and Trumbo more or less possesses most of these qualities. However, the complications of battling oversimplification while holding the attention of paying customers is an eternal balance that producers and directors alike cannot ignore, and rarely succeed at.
Trumbo, released in late November, attempts to link audience interest and cinematic suspense to historically significant and highly tense political events that took place in the United States in the late fifties. Positioning the audience smack dab in the middle of anti-Red sentiment and fearful atmosphere, the film delves into the issues of anti-communism and deep distrust of anything outside of American patriotism. The government plays as a big brother type that indirectly recruits and convinces the public to join in forces against evil, foreign ideals, and anything that is a supposed threat to the nation. Dalton Trumbo, along with other successful, respected screenwriters were brought to trial, an official stand against practice of political freedom, and blacklisted, and unofficial way of ensuring nobody was to practice political freedom. Through media such as films, conferences, newspapers, and magazines, individuals who were registered communists or suspected of supporting communism. It was through media, both misrepresentation and intentional installment of fear against the unfamiliar, that the majority was able to repress those who they perceived as disloyal and unpatriotic, therefore dangerous. The film brings us through the trials and the unsaid repercussions of standing for what you believe in, which included loss of work and the gaining of social pariah status for those in question. It wasn't only the screenwriters that were put to the test, but countless individuals that were demanded to come to Washington and testify as to what they believe and who they support. The audience sticks with Trumbo specifically as he goes to jail for this beliefs and his perceived image, loses opportunities for social connection and employment, and finds somewhat lighthearted, comical ways to produce work even though he has been blacklisted.
Trumbo is only a glimpse into the witch hunt and distrust of the government and of society, especially when the nation was in a fragile state left from World War II and the Cold War. However, there are two sides of the spectrum of reason presented with films such as this. On one side, there's an aspect of knowledge and depth that films like this provide, whether they miss certain points or aspects or not. However, there is somewhat of an injustice done to the complex issues that aren't simple enough to be understood in a two hour film. The film does important, key work in bringing into light social issues that were an important part of America's political realm and life.
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I. Google Changes to 'Fight Piracy' by Highlighting Legal Sites
BBC News article addresses Google making changes and placing new limitations on its search engine to lessen online piracy of music and media. They have been under pressure by several organizations, especially music trading group BPI, fighting for the rights of artists and producers. Google is hoped to demote online piracy links in their search engine and encourage the use of other legal alternatives to obtaining music, such as Spotify or Google Play for both movies and music. A movement towards better legal services, or more convenience and accessibility to Netflix and Itunes in addition to other mediums, is the solution that Google and other companies hope will contribute to decrease in use of illegal sites and applications. Many sources hope to encourage other search engines, such as Bing and Yahoo, to follow in suit.
Analysis: Obtained from a commonly known, unbiased news source, the article reports on the facts of what Google and other organizations are both asking for and giving. The article doesn't state opinions that are separate from direct quotes or statements by organizations and representatives.
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I. Google Changes to 'Fight Piracy' by Highlighting Legal Sites
BBC News article addresses Google making changes and placing new limitations on its search engine to lessen online piracy of music and media. They have been under pressure by several organizations, especially music trading group BPI, fighting for the rights of artists and producers. Google is hoped to demote online piracy links in their search engine and encourage the use of other legal alternatives to obtaining music, such as Spotify or Google Play for both movies and music. A movement towards better legal services, or more convenience and accessibility to Netflix and Itunes in addition to other mediums, is the solution that Google and other companies hope will contribute to decrease in use of illegal sites and applications. Many sources hope to encourage other search engines, such as Bing and Yahoo, to follow in suit.
Analysis: Obtained from a commonly known, unbiased news source, the article reports on the facts of what Google and other organizations are both asking for and giving. The article doesn't state opinions that are separate from direct quotes or statements by organizations and representatives.
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29689949
II. Transgender 'Tangerine' Star Mya Taylor is Making the Most of her Moment
The LA Times article promotes a transgender film actor Mya Taylor's personal life and contribution to Tangerine and the zeitgeist of gender fusion/transition. We follow a brief description of the making of the film, the idea behind it, and the significance towards trans issues today.
Analysis: The article is strongly positive, focused mainly on the promotion of a transgender film actor. It credits the actor as a positive contribution to the trans community, and explores Tangerine as a vessel for positive influence and exposure of a serious social issue at hand.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-tangerine-mya-taylor-20151124-story.html
III. CBS Replaces Episodes After Paris Attacks, Movie Studios Cancel Premieres
The Fox News article notes on production companies and movie studios reactions to the Paris attacks through their modes of media, centering around the issue of sensitivity. Movie premieres were silenced, episodes with plot lines that related to bombings or attacks were replaced, and many music concerts worldwide, especially in Europe, were cancelled out of respect.
Analysis: The news article addresses the facts of the situation: that production companies, organizations, and representatives took it upon themselves to alter their actions according to the current political climate. The article addresses the relationship between the arts, who's producing and who's receiving, and our duties as cultural and political observers.
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2015/11/16/cbs-cancels-episodes-after-paris-attacks-movie-studios-cancel-premieres/
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