9/28/19 O&A NYC SATURDAY MORNING CONCERT: Motown Returns to The Apollo (1985)

Motown Returns to The Apollo (1985) a star studded celebration of the 50th anniversary and re-opening of The Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York. Proceeds from the concert went to the Africare/Ethiopian Relief Fund. The program received a 1985 for Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Program. Continue reading

9/22/19 O&A NYC DANCE- REVIEW: Legacy- Creative Outlet and Deeply Rooted at BAM Fisher

By Walter Rutledge

Legacy, a shared concert between Brooklyn based Jamel Gaine’s Creative Outlet and Chicago’s Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, presented a well curated evening of dance theatre works at BAM Fisher on Friday and Saturday September 13 and 14, 2019. Founding directors Jamel Gaines and Deeply Rooted’s Kevin Jeff (both Queens natives and Bernice Johnson Dance School alums) presented a concert of shared dance philosophies. The evening had a kindred aesthetic; presenting seven works spanning thirty-five years. Continue reading

9/16/19 O&A NYC HOLLYWOOD MONDAY: Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth Dance So Near and Yet So Far (You’ll Never Get Rich – 1941)

You’ll Never Get Rich (Columbia Pictures) is a 1941 Hollywood musical comedy film with a wartime theme directed by Sidney Lanfield and starring Fred Astaire, Rita Hayworth. The picture was very successful at the box office, turning Hayworth into a major star, and provided a welcome boost to Astaire who felt his career.
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9/15/19 O&A NYC SUNDAY AFTERNOON JAZZ CONCERT: Bad Blood- Ulysses Dove

ulysses-doveBad Blood received its World Premiere, in 1984 on Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal. Featuring music by Laurie Anderson (Gravity’s Angel and Walking and Falling) and Peter Gabriel (Excellent Birds) the work in an erotic tour de force battle of the sexes. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre premiered the work in 1986. It is one of seven Dove ballets in the Ailey Company repertoire.  Continue reading

8/3/19 O&A NYC DANCE: A. Piazzolla- Libertango

Libertango is a composition by tango composer Astor Piazzolla, recorded and published in 1974 in Milan. The title is a portmanteau merging “Libertad” (Spanish for liberty) and “Tango”, symbolizing Piazzolla’s break from Classical Tango to Tango Nuevo.  Continue reading

8/4/19 O&A NYC SUNDAY AFTERNOON JAZZ CONCERT: The Kings Of Tap- Gregory Hines, Bunny Briggs, Buster Brown, Jimmy Slyde and Sandman Sims


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Gregory Hines hosts tap legends Jimmy Slyde, Bunny Briggs, Buster Brown and Sandman Simms for the 1989 PBS special Gregory Hines’ Tap Dance in America. Continue reading

6/26/19 (REPOST) O&A NYC DANCE: Michael Jackson- Billie Jean (Outstanding Live Performance)

The King of Pop Michael Jackson is in great form in this live concert version of his classic Billie Jean. Continue reading

6/21/19 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Svetlana Zakharova and Roberto Bolle in Swan Lake (Black Swan Variation)

Svetlana Zakharova and Roberto Bolle in Black Swan variation from the 1953 Bourmeister rendering of Swan Lake. Continue reading

6/7/19 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Le Jeune Homme Et La Mort

Le Jeune Homme et La Mort, the iconic masterwork choreographed by Roland Petit featuring Nicolas Le Riche and Marie-Agnès Gillot as Death.

With a libretto by Jean Cocteau and choreography by Roland Petit, the 1946 ballet Le Jeune Homme et la Mort is a highly theatrical mix of post-war existentialism and chic. It has an explosive star part for a male dancer, all soaring jumps and writhing gymnastics, and a vampish figure of death. This rendition set in 2005 for the Paris Opera is a very sensual interpretation probably staged by Petit who died in 2010. 

Le Jeune Homme Et La Mort

5/17/19 O&A NYC SHALL WE DANCE FRIDAY: Nicholas Brothers- Lucky Number (1936)

The Black Network (1936) the all-black musical short starring Nina Mae McKinney and including this dance number with the Nicholas Brothers, a fifteen-year-old Harold and twenty-two-year-old Fayard Nicholas, perform the song Lucky Number.
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