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By Kim Knode Award-winning filmmaker, Adam Boucher declares, I like to make documentaries like Tango: The Obsession as a discovery process which I can share with the audience. Apparently audiences take pleasure in exploring subjects such as tango in Argentina together with Boucher. After a showing at the Smithsonian Institute in 1999, the Argentine Embassy … Read more
By Kim Knode At a recent Southern California United States Amateur Ballroom Dancers (USABDA) competition (held at the Glendale Civic Auditorium), I caught up with Dr. James Kleinrath. The good doctor, a retired dentist, is the reigning three-time National Senior Smooth Champion along with his dance partner and love of four years, Melody Singleton. (They … Read more
Memorial Day Weekend, One To Remember, for sure! How a novice hiker almost put the Death into Death Valley By Frank Moss Frank Moss is new to hiking but his story, told here in his own words acts as a warning to the inexperienced and a reminder to the accomplished hiker, of just how dangerous … Read more
By Cherie Magnus These days ladies alone do pretty well anywhere in the world they travel. The world has gotten used to women on their own in airports and hotels due to business traveling, and more recently, vacationing. I’ve traveled alone in many countries and I wholeheartedly recommend it for those decisive independents who don’t … Read more
The Coast-to-Coast Meeting of the Champion Minds: Ron Montez and Dan Radler By Kim Knode Just So Stories author and Nobel Laureate in Literature Rudyard Kipling says, East is East, West is West and never the twain shall meet. However, when it comes to the how-tos of garnering championship titles in DanceSport, two top American … Read more
Living and Dancing in San Diego with the Champions A visit to the home of Ron Montez By Kim Knode America is most familiar with Ron Montez as the co-host of the popular PBS series, Championship Ballroom Dancing. In the international DanceSport (ballroom dancing) community, the seven-time U.S. Latin champion is not just a handsome … Read more
A Passion for the Dance: Choreographer Francis Patrelle By Leda Meredith Photo Credit: Eduardo Patino There are few choreographers I know of that are as generous and loyal to their dancers as Francis Patrelle, or who care as much about making sure that each dancer is shown at their best. Dance is a verb, not … Read more
By Leda Meredith Joni Petre-Scholz & Abdul Rasheed in Patrelle’s ‘The Yorkville Nutcracker’. Photo Credit: Eduardo Patino Here is a scene that any dancer would recognize: You are in a studio with a mirror, barres around the walls, a stereo system, a TV and VCR. There is an opening night coming up, and you don’t … Read more
By Leda Meredith Photo by Eduardo Patino of Leda Meredith as Francis Patrelle’s Lady Macbeth I am standing in front of a full-wall tapestry in a museum. It is magnificent. Reading the museum’s pamphlet, I learn that it took three generations of craftsmen to complete. Did they stick to the original design, or add their … Read more
By Jeffrey the Barak In September 2000, in the United Kingdom, there was a nationwide fuel shortage. The roads fell silent as cars and trucks sat around with their engines in hibernation. However, the British public were already used to gasoline which cost as much as wine, so thousands of them were able to continue … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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. … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 years ” When I was … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
In the 21st century, movie star Errol Flynn is a distant memory, but he was so huge in his time, that Arnella Flynns 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. Its hard to imagine what … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more