Welcome to Conversation Pieces, where Flavorpill curates five articles from the past week that you should read. Some are long, others are short. Some are from major publications, others aren’t. The only thing all these articles have in common is that they’re interesting. This week we examine cures for writer’s block, what being a Luddite originally meant, robots that think they’re human, the virtues of solitude, and more. After the jump, find something exciting to discuss this weekend in the home, at the bar, or on the street.
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If you’ re like us and enjoyed the delirium of your Thanksgiving food coma in a movie theater, you almost certainly saw a trailer for Darren Aronofsky’s ballet thriller, Black Swan, which opens this Friday. It looks highly creepy (what is that barbed thing Natalie Portman pulls out of her shoulder?) and totally engrossing. But Aronofsky’s not the first director to mine the ballet world’s psychological depths. To achieve prima status, dancers must endure years of rigorous training, personal scrutiny, and ruthless competition. This creates lots of shades of crazy, many of which have been documented on film. After the jump,we provide a field guide to cinema’s various (and fascinating) ballet bitches.
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Barack Obama’s administration is groundbreaking not only for African Americans but, as it turns out, for ballet dancers as well. This week, the media is aflutter with the news that Rahm Emanuel, Obama’s pick for White House chief of staff, was a classically trained dancer who could have gone pro but opted for politics over pirouettes.
The Daily News calls the pugnacious Emanuel “living proof that ballet dancer and macho man aren’t mutually exclusive,” while popular DC-area dance blogger Maria wonders whether he is the first White House chief of staff with a ballet background. (We’d venture to guess that he is — unless John Sununu was hiding something.)
Either way, he scores points with us. Current chief of staff Joshua Bolten can play electric bass in a rock band all he wants, but the fact that “Rahmbo” used to be a tights-and-slippers-clad danseur is way more badass.
In all the years we’ve been debating the question of dance as art versus entertainment, no one has nailed it quite as succinctly as DANNY KAYE in WHITE CHRISTMAS. In a catchy little number called “Choreography”, Kaye playfully mocks the self-seriousness of modern dance artistes while lamenting the decline of good old-fashioned hoofers. “Chicks who did kicks aren’t kicking anymore,” he sings. “They’re doing choreography.”
By the end of the song, a group of unsmiling modern dancers is making like MARTHA GRAHAM alongside a flashy tap-dancing couple — a quirky pas de deux that highlights the differences between the forms while demonstrating their ability to coexist. A similar phenomenon is playing itself out today on television screens and stages across the country.
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“Often enough, the three boys sharing the role will have only recently received the news themselves, as the schedule is constantly being rejiggered based on their health and readiness. However nervous this makes them — and just before curtain they are sometimes nearly hyperventilating — onstage they give startlingly confident, and different, performances: one suave and beamish; one brooding and heartbroken; one blisteringly angry, dancing as if his limbs were bats cracking baseballs out of the park.” [NYM]
Joffrey’s Arpino dies at 85: GERALD ARPINO, co-founder of the JOFFREY BALLET, died last night at the age of 85. Arpino established the ballet company with ROBERT JOFFREY in 1956 and took the reins after Joffrey’s death in 1988, moving it from New York to Chicago. Arpino choreographed more than one-third of the world-famous company’s ballets, including ROPES and BILLBOARD. [BBC]
Graham goes East: The MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY is set to perform in China for the first time in its 82 years of existence. The company will present 10 different repertoires at the BEIJING NATIONAL CENTRE FOR PERFORMING ARTS November 27th through 30th. They will dance on the themes of “Mythology and Fable” and “American Chronicle.” [China View]
Mamet on for Kurosawa remake: DAVID MAMET is writing again, but this time for a movie. Working with director MIKE NICHOLS (THE GRADUATE, CATCH-22), he’s remaking AKIRA KUROSAWA’s HIGH AND LOW, a noir flick that examines a kidnapping first from the perspective of the victim, and then shifts to that of the kidnapper. MARTIN SCORSESE is also rumored to be on board as executive producer. [Paste]
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Word on the street is that with TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES picked up for an entire season, DOLLHOUSE, the new project from BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER creator JOSS WHEDON will be delayed — perhaps permanently.
But we’ve got a plan.
Terminator star SUMMER GLAU was working with Whedon on an original ballet (we’re imagining something similar to his fantastic direct-to-web release, DOCTOR HORRIBLE’S SING-ALONG BLOG), but progress was held up by prior commitments to their respective FOX series.
While Dollhouse star ELIZA DUSHKU is a few years older than Glau, they both have a similar tough-but-hot vibe, plus Dushku and Whedon are already BFF from working on Buffy and ANGEL. We ownBRING IT ON; this girl has got moves.
Make it happen Whedon.
