8/31/19 O&A NYC ITS SATURDAY- ANYTHING GOES: Naomi Campbell “My Emotional Return To The Maison Valentino Runway During Paris Fashion Week”

“See how the Maison Valentino show during Paris Fashion Week came to life and witness up close, Pierpaolo’s creative genius and his beautiful creations. Closing this show for the legendary Valentino house after 14 years, with the most unbelievably diverse cast, was an experience and an honor I will cherish forever.”- Naomi Campbell Continue reading

6/3/22 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Tango Scene-Rudolf Nureyev & Anthony Dowell- Valentino (1977)

Valentino-PosterRudolph Nureyev is Valentino. The world’s greatest lover dances the tango with the world’s greatest male dancer Vaslav Nijinsky (Anthony Dowell).

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3/1/17 O&A NYC DANCE: Rudolf Nureyev as Valentino (1977) Tango Scene ft. Rudolf Nureyev & Anthony Dowell

Valentino-Poster

Rudolph Nureyev as Valentino, a biographical drama film very loosely based on the life of Rudolph Valentino, directed by Ken Russell in 1977. In this scene former dance hall performer Rudolpho Valentino dances a tango with dance legend Ballet Russe star Vaslav Nijinsky.

Rudolf Nureyev & Anthony Dowell- Valentino (1977)

2/12/16 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: First Look At Misty Copeland Channeling Edgar Degas For Harper’s Bazaar

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Misty Copeland, principal dancer American Ballet Theatre, appears in the March issue of Harper’s Bazaar to recreate iconic ballet inspired paintings and sculpture from impressionist painter Edgar Degas. Congratulations to Copeland for once again disrupting the historical whiteness of ballet. 

56bca4611a00009c01ab2736Copeland as Swaying Dancer (Dancer in Green); Oscar de la Renta dress, $5,490

Photographers Ken Browar and Deborah Ory captured the world-renowned dancer for the eye-catching editorial spread. The resemblance to Degas’ original works of dancers at the Paris Opéra Ballet is uncanny. Copeland nails the graceful poses while dressed in high fashion designs by Valentino, Alexander McQueen, Carolina Herrera, and Oscar de la Renta that look like they were literally plucked from each painting and sculpture.

56bca4091a00009c01ab2735Copeland as Degas’s Dancer; Carolina Herrera top, $1,490, skirt, $4,990

In the article, she explains why she love to dance. “I was drawn to ballet and performing for a reason that I think a lot of people can’t really understand or relate to,” she says. “People think it’s like, ‘You’re out there,’ or ‘You’re exposed.’ But I felt safe when I was on the stage, like no one could get to me. It was the first time in my life that I felt protected.”

56bca4b81800002d0080bc14Copeland as Degas’s Little Dancer Aged Fourteen; Alexander McQueen dress, $4,655, and corset, $4,525

At 33, she’s in the midst of the most illuminating pas de deux with pop culture for a classical dancer since Mikhail Baryshnikov went toe-to-toe with Gregory Hines in White Nights.

56bca3aa1a00009c01ab2734-1Copeland as Swaying Dancer (Dancer in Green); Oscar de la Renta dress, $5,490

Degas’s ballet works, which the artist began creating in the 1860s and continued making until the years before his death, in 1917, were infused with a very modern sensibility.  He offered images of young girls congregating, practicing, laboring, dancing, training, and hanging around studios and the backstage areas of the theater. 

1454957845-hbz-030116-welldegas10Alberta Ferretti dress, $28,090

Copeland is engaged to Olu Evans, an attorney, who she’s been with for more than a decade. They live together in an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. She admits to an “intensifying” designer-footwear addiction, and while she’s still working out the details of her nuptials, she confesses giddily that Christian Louboutin is making her shoes for the occasion.

1455035644-hbz-030116-welldegas03Roberto Cavalli skirt, price upon request

Misty Copeland- The Art Of Dance

Video shot by Sandy Chase

Photography by Ken Browar and Deborah Ory of the NYC Dance Project

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1/9/16 O&A NYC Its Saturday- Anything Goes: Valentino Menswear Spring Summer 2016

It is Saturday

Valentino, Spring Summer 2016 Menswear Paris

For their spring/summer 2016 menswear collection at the helm of Valentino, designers Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli infuse a youthful appeal into the whole offering, sending on the Parisian runway an army of young boys, dressed for success in eclectic looks.”Cultures become one culture—that’s what we find exciting,” said Chiuri . “At the end there is no real reference. We love to go around with our mind and our inspiration to create.” Continue reading

4/4/14 O&A NYC DANCE: Rudolf Nureyev as Valentino (1977) Tango Scene ft. Rudolf Nureyev & Anthony Dowell

Valentino-Poster

Rudolph Nureyev as Valentino. A biographical drama film very loosely based on the life of Rudolph Valentino, directed by Ken Russell in 1977. In this scene former dance hall performer Rudolpho Valentino dances a tango with dance legend Ballet Russe star Vaslav Nijinsky. Continue reading