By Leda Meredith “If you care so much about the money, you must not care about your art.” That astonishing statement was made by the executive director of a dance company with whom I was about to embark on a six week tour. It was in response to a question I’d asked about when we […]
Living Other Lives Part Four of the Essential Imagination Series by Leda Meredith Photo by Tom Caravaglia, of Leda Meredith and Michael Jahoda in Jennifer Muller’s ‘The Spotted Owl’ This is the article that inspired my quest to bring Leda Meredith to the-vu Jeffrey the Barak, Publisher. Stepping onto the stage, I am living two […]
Make Believe By Leda Meredith Photo by Eduardo Patino of Leda Meredith in Francis Patrelle’s ‘Macbeth’ Several years ago I was coaching a young dancer in a dramatic role and I asked what her interpretation of the character was. She looked at me with utter confusion and then described the mood of the entire ballet. […]
Detail and Nuance by Leda Meredith photo: Tom Caravaglia Make believe No, not fantasy, but truly how to make someone believe. How to make an audience suspend disbelief in what they are witnessing long enough to be moved by what they have seen and to think about it for years afterward. What do you remember […]
By C A Crossman Oh Please, Don’t Make Me Dance… (Confessions of a Closet Dancer) I am not a dancer. Oh I’ve dreamed of dancing, longed for dancing, but more often than not, I have found myself clinging to a table leg and saying in an agonized voice to a confused escort: Don’t make me […]
Essential Imagination By Leda Meredith “It’s just your imagination.” Was there ever a more detrimental thing to say to a child, especially a child who may someday wish to be a performer? Think about it: the computer screen you are looking at would not exist if someone hadn’t imagined it first. The design of the […]
By Leda Meredith photo by Bill Hedberg “There was a child went forth every day, And the first object he look’d upon, that object he became, And that object became part of him for the day or a certain part of the day, Or for many years or stretching cycles of yearsÂ…” When I was […]
by Leda Meredith photo by Tom Caravaglia What if you were to walk down the street and randomly interview passersby with the question, “How often do you buy tickets for dance performances?” Now imagine asking the people who sometimes do, what would motivate them to buy tickets more often. Then imagine asking the ones who […]
By Cherie Magnus August 8, 2000 Tired of going to Europe alone and inspired by romantic films of the Edwardian Grand Tour, I asked all my friends one April, “Want to rent a villa in Tuscany?” And several did. Because it was spring, we had time for monthly planning get-togethers where we decided on which […]
A July 2000 Interview with SWING Choreographer/Director, Lynne Taylor-Corbett By Kim Knode Seated among the rows of celebrity caricature portraits at the renowned Sardis Restaurant in New York City, two-time Tony nominated, SWING Choreographer/Director, Lynne Taylor-Corbett explains, “like a baseball player getting out of the ghetto, dance was my way out.” She began her journey […]
By Cherie Magnus It’s just before dawn, and our small group of Argentines and Americans are tired and filled with reverie after a night of tango. We’re drooped over cafes con leche on an old wooden table in a run-down nineteenth-century coffee shop. The large party over by the dark windows also look like they’ve […]
By Kim Knode Los Angeles, July 2000 Published August 2000 In preparation for my interview with Sally Kirkland, I asked Ron Howard; the director of her recent film, EDtv, to describe the Academy Award nominated actress. Howard observed that, “Sally marches to the beat of her own drummer. There are no half way measures […]
Reporter Kevin Smith wrote this article in September 1998 when Evel Knievel was 59. Although it was a scoop at the time, the world had all but forgotten Evel Knievel, a man who once commanded headlines and airtime in many countries of the world. By Kevin Smith Published in the-vu in August 2000 Evel Knievel […]
In the 21st century, movie star Errol Flynn is a distant memory, but he was so huge in his time, that Arnella FlynnÂ’s drugged and boozed demise seemed to cry out for an investigative trip to the Island. Reported and written by Kevin Smith in Los Angeles in October 1998. ItÂ’s hard to imagine what […]
The electric scooter could one day become as common a sight as the bicycle, if only there were better batteries. By Jeffrey the Barak in Los Angeles. Originally published in the-vu in July 2000 Revised December 2000 and again in August 2003 2000 Phat Flyer by Currie Technologies Bad gas We live in a world […]
By Margarita Dominguez, In Los Angeles They don’t teach you about hair removal in school. What works best in each area of the human body? For the sake of all women and men, we attempt to find out. From the tops of our heads to the tops of our toes, we are literally covered with […]
Is there such a word as Muralist? We talk to a man who does things to walls. An interview with Michael Gullberg by Jeffrey the Barak The wall featuring “…and Then The Goddess Began Conjuring Herself Up Out Of The Palm Of My Hand.” by Michael Gullberg. What is the full title of the piece […]
It’s still there! The Wonders of Southern California’s Historic Ridge Route. By Jeffrey the Barak Horseshoe bend It began with an intriguing map tumbling out of the Los Angeles Times in October 1997. Like a map to hidden pirate treasure, it showed the way to an adventure that would become one of my most memorable […]