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- “Improvement makes strait roads, but the crooked roads without Improvement, are roads of Genius.” — poet/engraver/visionary William Blake
- “You can’t dance in a long dress.” — Tina Turner
- Happy Birthday, Emir Kusturica
- “What’s the difference between an exile and an expatriate? It seems to me that an Englishman in France is an expat, but an Irishman is an exile.” — Irish poet Derek Mahon
- Posters in Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves (2023)
- “[I wish] to trace the gradual action of ordinary causes rather than exceptional.” — George Eliot
- “There were so many things I wanted to say, stream-of-consciousness things, designs and patterns while listening to music. I felt I might be able to say [them] if I had an unending canvas.” — pioneering experimental animator Mary Ellen Bute
- The (Fractured) Male Gaze
- “Being understood is not the most essential thing in life.” — Jodie Foster
- Happy Birthday, Graham Parker
Recent Comments
- Chris on “There were so many things I wanted to say, stream-of-consciousness things, designs and patterns while listening to music. I felt I might be able to say [them] if I had an unending canvas.” — pioneering experimental animator Mary Ellen Bute
- Mitch Berg on “What’s the difference between an exile and an expatriate? It seems to me that an Englishman in France is an expat, but an Irishman is an exile.” — Irish poet Derek Mahon
- Sean Giere on “I don’t like being approached by people who look at me too intensely, who needed something from me that I didn’t have. I don’t represent anything.” — Liz Phair
- Jessie on Review: May December (2023)
- Jessie on Review: Holy Frit (2023)
- Jessie on She’s not a bad person. Honest she isn’t: Kerry O’Malley in David Fincher’s The Killer
- Ginny SH on “There’s nothing you can tell me about guilt.” — Martin Scorsese
- Clary on The (Fractured) Male Gaze
- sheila on “I don’t like being approached by people who look at me too intensely, who needed something from me that I didn’t have. I don’t represent anything.” — Liz Phair
- SeanGiere on “I don’t like being approached by people who look at me too intensely, who needed something from me that I didn’t have. I don’t represent anything.” — Liz Phair
- sheila on She’s not a bad person. Honest she isn’t: Kerry O’Malley in David Fincher’s The Killer
- Melissa Sutherland on She’s not a bad person. Honest she isn’t: Kerry O’Malley in David Fincher’s The Killer
- sheila on “There’s nothing you can tell me about guilt.” — Martin Scorsese
- sheila on “There’s nothing you can tell me about guilt.” — Martin Scorsese
- sheila on Review: May December (2023)
- sheila on Talking 1953 movies with Jason Bailey and Mike Hull: A Very Good Year podcast
- sheila on Review: Holy Frit (2023)
- sheila on “Given as much to the gutter as to the gods” — Nick Tosches
- sheila on She’s not a bad person. Honest she isn’t: Kerry O’Malley in David Fincher’s The Killer
- sheila on She’s not a bad person. Honest she isn’t: Kerry O’Malley in David Fincher’s The Killer
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Tag Archives: dance
“The hope is that in rediscovering Chicago, audiences will rediscover what theater was. It was sophisticated, complicated, adult.” — Ann Reinking
It’s her birthday today. When she died last year, the outpouring of tributes and appreciation was truly heart-warming to see. Here’s what I wrote. Ann Reinking’s talent was like her performance persona: larger than life, epic in scope, intimidating. She … Continue reading
“The energy doesn’t end at the hands. I want such intensity that it feels like light is streaming from every finger.” — Bob Fosse
It’s his birthday today. His work as a director – in films as diverse as Cabaret, Lenny, All That Jazz, and Star 80 is getting a lot of chatter from film critics, and of course that makes sense. I love … Continue reading
“To me, Martha Graham is one of America’s few authentic geniuses.” – Bette Davis
For Martha Graham’s Birthday: First: Joan Acocella wrote a wonderful profile of Graham for The New Yorker. I discussed it – and Graham – here. In researching this post, I came across a beautiful piece about the time Helen Keller … Continue reading
Happy Birthday, Rudolf Nureyev
Joan Acocella, dance critic for The New Yorker: Almost everyone who describes Nureyev eventually compares him to an animal. They bore you to death with this, but it was true. Rudolf Nureyev’s solo debut on American TV, 1963 All quotes … Continue reading
“I am not descended from flesh. I am God.”: It’s Vaslav Nijinsky’s Birthday
From Tennessee Williams’ semi-autobiographical last play, Something Cloudy, Something Clear: CLARE. [to Kip] I’m about to deliver a lecture to him on making concessions in art. KIP. For or against? CLARE. I think any kind of artist — a painter … Continue reading
“Have you ever noticed how a cat stretches after a nap? We can learn from watching animals.” — Cyd Charisse
Legs for weeks, not days. While there are so many classic and unforgettable dance numbers to choose from, the “Girl Hunt” number from Band Wagon is my favorite. Please read this wonderful tribute to Charisse by my friend, Dan Callahan. … Continue reading
Review: Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones And D-Man In The Waters (2021)
This documentary – about Bill T. Jones’ seminal dance “D-Man In the Waters” – is so good. As history lesson, as art appreciation, AND – best of all – a realistic look at the creative process. I loved it. I … Continue reading
Photo of the Day: Above the fray
This is one of my faves of all the photos I’ve taken. This is a dance studio a couple blocks south of Port Authority on 8th Avenue. A place that gets (or used to get) crazy foot traffic. Total human … Continue reading
2020 Books Read
What a year, huh. What a dumpster-fire year. I read a lot, mostly in the mornings, and it helped create rituals for the days, which often seemed endlessly the same, interchangeable. I read a lot of long and challenging books … Continue reading
Posted in Books
Tagged Austria, ballet, Ballets Russes, Belfast, Biography, books read, culture, Czechoslovakia, Czeslaw Milosz, dance, Elinor Lipman, Elizabeth Bishop, Eminem, essays, Ezra Pound, fiction, H.D., Hannah Arendt, history, Hitler, Ireland, Jane Austen, Jean Arthur, Marcel Proust, Nick Tosches, nonfiction, Olivia Laing, poetry, Poland, politics, Rebecca West, Robert Kaplan, Robert Lowell, Roman empire, Russia, Ryszard Kapuściński, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Shirley Jackson, Stalin, true crime, Ukraine, war, WWII, Yugoslavia
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Year in Review: Shooting My Mouth Off in 2020, Part 2
Here’s part 1, a list of things I’ve written for other outlets. This list, then, is a hodge-podge of the things I’ve written here this year. Anyone familiar with this joint knows that I do tribute posts for people’s birthdays. … Continue reading
Posted in Actors, Books, Movies, Music, Personal, writers
Tagged A. E. Housman, Alexander Pope, Andrew Marvell, Anna Karina, Anne Spencer, Austin Clarke, Ballets Russes, baseball, Basil Bunting, dance, Eminem, England, France, Frances Farmer, friends, Harlem Renaissance, Hediyeh Tehrani, Hope, Iranian film, Irish poetry, John Donne, Melvin B. Tolson, Nick Tosches, Nijinsky, Philip Larkin, poetry, Poland, Rhode Island, Robert Frost, Romania, Scott Walker, Stanley Kubrick, women directors, year in writing
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