11/17/18 O&A NYC SATURDAY MORNING CONCERT: Cosby Celebrates Ailey

Cosby Celebrates Ailey conceived, co-produced and written by former Ailey dancer and choreographer George Faison. The program, which was taped more than a year prior to airing, celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; and features Ailey himself dancing in the opening section. Continue reading

11/16/18 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Stormy Weather- Featuring Katherine Dunham And Her Dance Troupe

Stormy Weather is a 1943 film musical produced and released by 20th Century Fox. The movie is considered one of the best Hollywood musicals with an all African-American cast and serve to  showcase of some of the top African-American performers of the time. Continue reading

11/9/18 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Spectre de la Rose- Rudolph Nureyev and Denise Jackson

Le Spectre de la rose (English: The Spirit of the Rose) about a young girl who dreams of dancing with the spirit of a souvenir rose from her first ball. Jean-Louis Vaudoyer wrote the ballet story. Continue reading

11/11/21 O&A NYC DANCE: Bill Bojangle Robinson – Stair Dance- from Harlem Is Heaven (1932)

The Stair Dance featured in Harlem Is Heaven (1932): one of the first movies to ever feature an all-black cast, this film also boasts one of the earliest recorded versions of Bill Robinson’s famous stair dance routine, where he tapped up and down two flights of five steps joined by a shared platform. Continue reading

11/2/18 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Lindy Hop Hellzapoppin

Hellzapoppin (1941) the Universal Pictures adaptation of the Broadway musical  directed by H.C. Potter with a cast that includes Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson who produced and starred in it on Broadway) and Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers. Continue reading

10/13/18 O&A NYC ENCORE PERFORMANCE: Matthew Bourne΄s Swan Lake (2012)

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake was first staged at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London in 1995. The longest running ballet in London’s West End and on Broadway, it has been performed in the UK, Los Angeles, Europe, Russia, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Israel and Singapore.  Continue reading

9/25/18 O&A NYC INSPIRATIONAL TUESDAY: Arthur Mitchell Inspires Students at SAB (May 2018)

By Walter Rutledge

Back in 2014 I received a phone call from Arthur Mitchell. He knew my association with the Romare Bearden Foundation, and that Romare’s archives were housed at Columbia University.  He needed information about the process so he could do the same with his own legacy. “Hold on Sir”, I put him on hold and called Deidre Kelly the co-director of the Romare Bearden Foundation. Diedre gave me the contact information he requested. Continue reading

9/19/18 O&A NYC MILESTONES: Arthur Mitchell Dance Trailblazer Died at 84

By Walter Rutledge

Arthur Mitchell, dancer, teacher, choreographer, social activist and founding director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem passed on Wednesday, September 19, 2018 at age 84 from complications of heart failure. Mitchell’s career can only be described as trailblazing. In 1956 he crossed what E.B. Debois referred to as the “color line” to become the first ballet dancer of African decent to join the international renowned New York City Ballet.

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8/31/18 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Paul Taylor Dance Company- Prometheus Fire (Movement One)

Shall We Dancehudson-valley-dance-festival-2014-paul-taylor-dance-company-02-photo-by-daniel-roberts

Promethean Fire (2002) is my favorable Paul Taylor work and a fitting tribute to the genius of  modern dance’s Gentle Giant.  Continue reading

7/26/18 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY ENCORE PERFORMANCE: Le jeune homme et la mort by Roland Petit (Zizi Jeanmaire & Rudolf Nureyev)- 1966

ENCORE

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Le Jeune Homme et La Mort was choreographed by Roland Petit  choreographed in 1946 to Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 582, with a one-act libretto by Jean Cocteau. It tells the story of a Young Man driven to suicide by his faithless lover. Sets were by George Wakhevitch and costumes variously reported as being by Karinska or Cocteau. Continue reading