Classical Music

By far one of the greatest opening sequences of any film ever made is Woody Allen’s Manhattan. Yes, it’s the photography, the voice-over narration, the shots of New York City at its finest, but more than anything, it’s George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” The undertow of buzzing clarinet and twinkling piano, combined with the slow, celebratory build of the entire orchestra induces a simultaneous feeling of hopeful anticipation and relaxed confidence. In Gershwin’s own words: “I heard it as a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America, of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our blues, our metropolitan madness.”

No, no. Too expected. Too pretentious. Calls too much attention to the movie. Try it again.

By far one of the best pieces of music to completely and flawlessly capture the essence of an entire season is “Summertime,” by George Gershwin. Originally conceived for the ‘folk-opera,’ Porgy and Bess, the aria—which has been covered more times than “Blackbird”—manages to somehow smell like summer. You need an iced tea when you hear it. And what better time, what better place than the Hollywood Bowl…

No. Just get to the point, Josh. You’re supposed to be giving away tickets. That’s all people care about. Just do your job.

This Wednesday, August 25^th at 8:00 PM at the Hollywood Bowl, the LA Philharmonic presents Gershwin Across America, an all-star, all-genre tribute to the legendary composer and upcoming CD of the same name. Artists include Jason Mraz, Monica Mancini (daughter of film composer Henry Mancini), gospel singer Bebe Winans, Grammy Award-winning Nancy Wilson), St. Vincent (for the hipster fetishists among us), and an accompanying big band and strings section feautring the Shelly Berg Trio, Gordon Goodwin, Tom Scott, Arturo Sandoval and more.

To win two tickets to this summertime rhapsody of sorts, all you have to do is enter your first name, last name, and e-mail address into the form below,and you will automatically be entered into the running for this concert, as well as our next three ticket giveaways.

I guess that’s good enough. Why make a blog longer than it needs to be? Why even write these things? God, it’s hot out… I wish I could play the piano…

- By Joshua Morrison

The Ford Amphitheatre, located not a stone’s throw away from the Hollywood Bowl off the 101, is a good venue to stage a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, or possibly Into the Woods. The sandstone sloped arena, where the audience sits, collides onto a central platform—to be had by the performers—which is backed by a lush, green, jungle-like mountain-side. It’s a little like one of those alternate dimensions you see characters in science fiction movies walk into, and it provides a sense of imminent danger. It’s perfect for Shakespeare, for fairy tales, and as was evidenced in the case of this past Sunday night, for Jews.

As a card-carrying member of Jewish tribe, who has attended my fair share of family Passover dinners, I know all too well the importance of a real or perceived threat (historical oppression, a gentile daughter-in-law, an infamously inedible recipe, etc.) in accommodating the success of a large-form, Jewish get-together. It creates unity. And the effect was no different on Sunday evening at the Ford Amphitheatre when the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony performed their latest melange of classical numbers, entitled “Cinema Judaica,” for a sold out audience of almost all geriatric Jews.

A woman two rows in back of me: “It wouldn’t be a Seder without Bubby’s kogl.”

Another woman holding two fingers together: “Our daughters and Sherri are like this!”

About the conductor: “She let her hair grow longer.”

And indeed the conductor, Dr. Noreen Green—also the founder and Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony—did have long locks of blonde hair that bounced neatly atop her shoulders as she walked casually out to the central, elevated plank, and initiated a  rousing rendition of Alfred Newman’s “20^th Century Fox” theme, arguably the best known musical score in cinema. It was after the piece finished, however, that Dr. Green started in with her second role of the night (equally integral), which was quiz master and all-around emcee.

“What movie won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1956?” she asked aloud to the crowd, following a brief introduction of the program on bill.

“The Ten Commandments,” screamed back some sporadic (though passionate) voices from the audience. But they were wrong. Cecille B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments did not win Best Picture that year; it was just nominated. But it was first up on the night’s listing of Jewish-composed/themed film scores—the composer of this piece being the great Elmer Bernstein.

He was supposedly hired by DeMille after another composer dropped out, and is still credited with changing the face of music for cinema. Hearing his epic “Ten Commandments Suite” played live by truly professional musicians—depsite the summer-camp vibe—I could make out the roots of Laurie Johnson’s Dr. Stangelove score, or even early John Williams.

Bernstein’s composition for The Chosen was next was on the agenda (after, of course, a second round of the ever-more-crowd-pleasing Quiz Show with Dr. Green.) This film demanded both jazz and traditional klezmer, in addition to Bernstein’s classical model. What emerged on stage was a swirling mixture of all three genres. Like a practiced jam band, the bass-players plucked swinging jazz riffs, while the clarinet and synthesized harpsichord snapped along with the klezmer, allowing for improvised sax solos and piano doodles. Never before had I considered the obvious connection between jazz and klezmer; they both rely on similar tools, such as off-key sharps and flats, to attain a colorful, upbeat music of the oppressed.

“There’s so much stuff up here,” kvetched Dr. Green once her second finely-conducted number was finished. The audience laughed, and watched her fiddle with cue-cards, batons, and god knows what else before launching into the most complex piece of the whole night: Jerry Goldsmith’s suite from the six-and-a-half-hour miniseries QB VII. Quick, unexpected changes in tempo, along with diverse instrumentation—congas, xylophones, electric guitars, and the entire Ford Festival Choir—combined for what I can only describe as Sciezmer, a perfect combination between between sci-fi and klezmer. Where the string section appeared semi-bored during the last Bernstein bout, their eyes were locked onto their music stands for this piece. Finishing off the suite with Goldsmith’s purposefully fragmented version of the Mourner’s Kaddish, the music was mesmerizing to say the least.

But just in case it wasn’t exactly a “greatest hit,” the orchestra went on to perform the instantly recognizable theme from Schindler’s List, as composed by John Williams, with Mark Kashper, Associate Principal Second Violinist for the L.A. Philharmonic, playing the solo. This piece was so moving, the couple sitting next to me (who must have been in their 70’s) started holding hands. And they kept them held together all through Charles Fox’s “Victory at Entebbe Suite,” a powerful, pop-y, Phillip Glass-inspired melody, as well as Israeli pianist Andy Feldbau’s own solo arrangement of Alan Menken’s “A Whole New World” from Aladdin. All this before intermission. No one ever said the Jews didn’t know how to squeeze in a good show.

However, Dr. Green and the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony’s directors must have been counting on the majority of the audience falling asleep during the second half, because it simply was not up to par.

First was Danny Pelfrey’s suite from Joseph: King of Dreams, which was rousing if only because it seemed like one long crescendo of music. After that came the song “Trinkt L’Chayim” from Elmer Bernstein and Sylvia Neufeld’s score for Thoroughly Modern Millie. This piece was sung by Ariella Vaccarino, who’s gift lies in her voice, not in her fashion sense (she was wearing a sparkly, red strapless dress that was a bit too Broadway for the event).

And what kind of Jewish symphony would it be without the conductor’s own daughter performing a solo? That’s right: Hannah Drew, the gorgeous (and might I add, finely dressed), 13-year-old seed of Maestra Green sung the title song from Disney’s The Prince of Egypt, as composed by the legendary Stephen Schwartz. I hesitate to critique her performance, because, after all, she’s only 13. But then again, why is her mother hoisting her up on stage at such a fragile age? All I’m going to say is that while Hannah was, for the most part, brave and astonishing, she was clearly a product of intense coaching. In other words, she’s in training, as she should be at 13.

Luckily, the most inspired and fun composition of the night, written by Yuval Ron for the Oscar-winning short film West Bank Story, came next. Ron, himself, played the oud live with the orchestra, and his passion for the Arabian/klezmer/Israeli/show-tune music was palpable. Along with his colleague Jamie Papish on drum, he was on fire.

Lastly and appropriately, the show ended with a reprise of Jerry Goldsmith, this time from his score for the film Masada. It cleanly showed off the overall unity of the orchestra, the immense responsibility it takes from each and every musician to come together as a cohesive and beautiful whole. I looked around the audience, and not a seat was empty. Everyone, even the oldest and the youngest, were still present and awake. I realized that a symphonic piece of music like Goldsmith’s is not a bad metaphor for Masada, or even Jewishness in general. Because group unity (borne from individuality) is what’s it’s all about.

- By Joshua Morrison

Photography by Guy Madmoni.

For more information about Ford Amphitheatre events, please visit www.fordamphitheater.org, or call 323-461-3673.

http://www.spike.com/video/2828991Bactrian camels, Arctic wolves, Pakistani snow leopards, oceanic whitetip sharks, and one coat-tailed conductor; that’s a lot to pack in anywhere, even the Hollywood Bowl. But this Friday and Saturday at the legendary amphitheatre, the LA Philharmonic will perform live musical accompaniment to selected footage from the spectacular BBC television series Planet Earth. Conducted by none other than the shows’ composer himself, George Fenton, the orchestra promises to match the stunning high-defition footage, as projected onto the Bowl’s big screen.

Planet Earth, which first premiered on the BBC in 2006, and was re-broadcast in the U.S. in 2007, compiles extraordinary, cinematic scenes of nature from all over the world, in eleven different habitats. It’s probably the best reality show you’ll ever see, if only because it’s completely devoid of humans. Yet, the series is without a doubt a distinctly human feat, and would be half as exciting were it not for the power of a fully human, orchestral score.

And yes, Fine Arts LA has two tickets to give away to hear this score performed live by the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl this Friday, July 23^rd at 8:30 PM, alongside footage from BBC’s Planet Earth. George Fenton conducts, you and your date cuddle up, while the entire audience is transported to the places far beyond even Hollywood’s imagination. Just write in your first name, last name, and e-mail address into the form below, and you can be eligible to receive these Planet Earth passes, as well as the next three ticket giveaways we do. Safe travels.

Fireworks have the ability to conjure up about as many disparate meanings and memories as the number of spokes in their shooting spiral light displays. In China, they’re thought to scare away evil spirits. In America, they’re billed as patriotic—provoking heckles of “ooh’s” and “aah’s” and “hell yeah’s” from admiring crowds. In zombie movies, they’re often used as weapons of distraction. In the Middle East, they’re not much different than the sights and sounds of air bombs. And in romantic relationships, they’re either explosive celebrations of symbolic ecstasy, or nostalgic reminders of dying light.

Whatever meaning you may attach to them, fireworks do possess a universal power. And on this July 4^th, FineArtsLA.com is giving you and a lucky date the chance to witness the magic close-up at the best Independence Day pyrotechnics show this city has to offer. Live at the Hollywood Bowl, with special guest Vince Gill (does is get more patriotic?), and the U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West (apparently it does), the Los Angeles Philharmonic presents the famous July 4^th Fireworks Spectacular. Simply write in your first name, last name, and e-mail address into the form below, and you will automatically be put in the running to win two free tickets to this year’s show (and as always, your name will be added to the lottery of the next three FineArtsLA.com ticket giveaways).

Sure, you could catch the lights from a distance off the side of the 101. But why not immerse yourself in the Bowl this year, and join the true fireworks show, which of course has nothing to do with gunpowder, but rather the thousands of individual sparks that fly up from our own collective subconscious.

I wrote about the Los Angeles Film Fest last year, and made a day-by-day list of the movies and events I was looking forward to go see (as evidenced by this link). And while I would love to do the same thing again this year, there’s a problem. A lot more films on schedule are films I had no idea even existed. Maybe with the Festival’s move from UCLA to Downtown, and with the supposed scale-back of this year’s Sundance, the LAFF also got more “indie?” Or more likely, the marketing budget for independent features went way down this year. Regardless, and out of a resounding sense of selflessness, here’s a list of movies playing at the Los Angeles Film Fest that seem interesting to me:

Down Terrace: Bristish writer-director Ben Wheatley first got noticed with a ten-second viral video he made called “Cunning Stunt.” It’s short, one shot, surprising, and insanely realistic. Wheatley borrows this same attitude, storytelling prowess, and predilection for genre-molds to his first feature, Down Terrace, which he shot in only eight days. It tells the tale of a father-son ex-con team who decide to go after the man they think snitched them out. But when a hit-man, his 3-year-old child, and a bossy matron get involved, what could be a simple, maybe humorous crime farce turns ugly, gritty, and extremely dark. Wheatley is the latest figure in the the long-standing “kitchen sink” tradition of British filmmaking, where much like in “Cunning Stunt,” the mundane and passingly familiar transcend into deeper realms.

Mahler on the Couch: It may be the year for ‘famous-figure-meets-other-famous-figure’ biopics. First there’s Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky, and then from Germany, there’s Mahler on the Couch, the meeting of composer Gustav Mahler and father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud. In this richly stylized interpretation of actual events, writer-director Percy Adlon—who also made Bagdad Café and Sugarbaby—relates the story of the complex, doomed marriage between Mahler (a supposed manic-depressive) and his wife, as seen through the oddly comic psychotherapy sessions with the most influential figure in 20^th century art and thought.

Marwencol: It’s important to see at least one documentary in any film festival, because frankly, they’re usually the best. The 2010 LA Film Fest is certainly not lacking in good-looking docs, either. But Marcenwol is by far the most curious. It’s the story of Mark Hogencamp, who suffered acute brain trauma after being attacked by a group of local teenagers. The damage left him a near-amnesiac, and he was forced to re-construct a new life for himself. This led to Marwencol, a 1/6 scale model of an imaginary, WWII-era Belgian village that Hogencamp took four years to build in his back-yard. He infused intricate storylines for his action-hero and barbie-doll villagers, many of whom stand in for characters in Mark’s real life. And just as anyone who saw Exit Through the Gift Shop can testify, every good story ends with a visit from the imperial art-world.

Café Noir: Even if you don’t speak Korean (which I do not), I recommend watching the trailer to this feature-debut from former South Korean film-critic Jung Sung-Il. The dialogue and action are deliberate and sparse, the photography is beautiful, and the editing destroys any American-borne notion that the more frantic the preview, the better the movie. In this story of unrequited love, Jung Sung-Il instead takes a page from the Godard school of filmmaking, folds it up into an airplane, and flies it over Russia into South Korea. Along the way, he references Bollywood, Goethe, Dostoyevsky, Christianity, politics, and the entire history of South Korean cinema. This is a movie that foreign-film buffs, nostaligic French New Wavers, and eager dilettantes like myself shouldn’t miss.

Tiny Furniture: This, in my opinion, is probably going to be the smash-hit of the festival. It’s the semi-autobiographical story of 23-year-old, writer-director-star Lena Dunham, a film-studies post-graudate in search of herself. It co-stars Alex Karpovsky (the lovable romantic lead in my favorite movie of last-year, Beeswax), as well as Dunham’s own sister playing, well, Dunham’s sister. I’ll admit, the bitterness in me arouses suspicions of cliché about this movie, but at the same time, I’m looking forward to a young female-helmed movie that shows off young females in a more realistic light than Juno. Who knows?  It may turn out to be my generation’s The Graduate, or (and what I hope), it will turn out to be something more specific, something personal and true, something a fellow-former film/writing major can watch and say, “that’s interesting.”

The 2010 Los Angeles Film Fest runs until June 27^th. For tickets, times, and more information, please call (310) 432-1240, or visit www.lafilmfest.com.

http://www.vimeo.com/10734020

New Wave LA marks the 4th time I have seen the Los Angeles Ballet (LAB) perform. I was lucky enough to see their debut performance four years ago when they performed The Nutcracker. They were so new on the scene they had guest dancers perform most of the important roles. This past December, I saw LAB perform The Nutcracker once again and I’m happy to report that their formative years are almost behind them. So when I saw that choreographers from the show So You Think You Can Dance—of which I am a huge fan—were also choreographing for a live show to be performed by LAB, I was delightfully surprised, and bought tickets right away.

The first number, choreographed by SYTYCD favorite Mandy Moore, was entitled “Wink.” Okay, internet dating has now infiltrated all art forms, even dance. It was very clever and sweet and did not remind me at all of the few internet dates I myself have been on. Too bad, maybe they know something I don’t. The piece opened with the dancers in a line on the lip of the stage, and each was spotted with a voiceover of their dating profile: their astrological sign, a few facts about them, etc. (to which we all got a good laugh). We then followed the different couples as they met, got to know each other, got to like or hate each other, became intimate (which is always just so pretty when interpreted by dancers as opposed to real life…), and found true love. It really was very enjoyable to watch.

The second piece was choreographed by the only non SYTYCD choreographer, Josie Walsh. Hers was entitled “Transmutation” and she described it as “the male and female energies as they provocatively interact until total integration occurs manifesting into a heightened state of balance and harmony.” Okay I’ll just say it. This piece was  phenomenal. From the moment it started, the music (Paul Rivera Jr.) completely captured me and Walsh’s brilliant choreography made me want this dance to never end. It was very tribal and caveman/woman-like, but with a splash of gothic. Six dancers—three women on pointe in skin-tight red short body-suits and three men in gray matching outfits—they alternated between dancing by gender and by couple. Fast jumps and turns paired with slow and languid movements; I was at the edge of my seat. Right before it ended, the women balanced their backs on the men’s and held their legs in splits while both sets of arms moved up and down Swan Lake-style. The lighting was such (designed by Ben Pilat) that it looked ethereal. As soon as the music stopped, I immediately wanted to see it again. It was so strong and solid, and so powerful and impressive that even the old man in front of me (who was sighing loudly for the first dance) gave it a standing ovation.

The third piece was choreographed by SYTYCD former contestant, Travis Wall. When he was on the show’s second season—which he should have won but placed runner up—he was known for his contemporary dances, which were always rich with emotion (as were the ones he choreographed for the new dancers in his return in 2008). But what he does that most of the choreographers on the hit show do not do, is invent new ways of getting from point A to point B. Sometimes they are awkward and sometimes they flow, but they are always interesting. His piece in this show was entitled “Reflect. Affect. Carry On…” Eight Dancers remained on stage the entire time, all at a party, and each had a label. “The Oblivious” “The Greedy” “The Heartbreaker” “The Invisible” and so on. It was innovative but maybe had too much going on at once for me. I definitely felt the emotion there, and what each was going through. It was very interesting to watch, but I was distracted by the constant movement and wanted a focus for myself. When the piece ended I turned to my friend and said “That was so Travis.” Then I heard that sentence repeated back to me in my head. Are there such things as SYTYCD nerds?

Finally, “The Back and Forth” by SYTYCD eccentric, Sonya Tayeh. I usually like her dances on the show because they are so different, but this particular effort more traditional. Again, like in Walsh’s, it was three couples with the women on pointe. The dancers were great and the dance teetered on tango at times, but the emotion wasn’t there. It was enjoyable to watch and if it had been the second dance, I would have liked it better. But the set-up was too similar and the execution was not as powerful. It was, I suppose, not the “Sonya” I thought I knew.

As far as the talent of the dancers was concerned, LAB has an impressive company, no doubt. But unlike most ballet companies of their stature, they have not been around for decades and are not world renowned. So the crème de la crème don’t necessarily flock to LAB in the “ballet draft.” Not yet anyway. I was trying to explain this to my non-dancer friends after The Nutcracker and again tonight. In numbers where there are three sets of couples doing the same thing, almost always one couple is just a beat behind. And usually one dancer stands out as being the best instead of all being equally good. Also, sometimes their balances are shaky and they adjust the foot they are balancing on. In the opening number I even saw an arabesque held for about five seconds and the dancer didn’t bother to point her foot. It’s just these little things that make me feel like I shouldn’t be paying the same price for a ticket as I would for ABT, SF Ballet, or The Joffrey.

In its entirety, New Wave LA was a great night for dance. It’s exciting that LA finally has their own dance company and I look forward to seeing many more LAB performances. But something about their shows is just not top notch yet.

- By Deidre Moore

New Wave LA runs next weekend as well at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica. For more information, please call 310.477.7411, or visit www.losangelesballet.org.

On hearing a name like Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin, there are a number of typical silent film songs that pop into your head – mostly of the slapstick, bumbling, parodying varietal.  Films from the twenties, that roaring decade before the era of the “talkies” with flickering motion pictures of flappers and hapless hopeless romantic gentlemen who can’t quite seem to get anything right, were accompanied by live orchestras in the cinema.  The musicians would play upbeat, complex melodies that would stick in your head as exactly what Charlie Chaplin sounded like when he’d accidentally let another gentleman caller intercept a bouquet of flowers just before presenting them to a lady-friend.   Or they’d play downtrodden songs to suit a dejected Buster Keaton as he walks away from a car that’s inexplicably fallen apart beneath him.

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra has long been a fan of remembering those silent film orchestras of the past.  They host an annual Silent Film concert allowing audiences to reminisce the golden days of silent film by screening one or two and providing pitch-perfect accompaniment.   This year, LACO presents two silent, short films: Disney’s Alice’s Wild West Show and Buster Keaton’s iconic film, The Cameraman.  Both represent the joy of filmmaking in that era – a time when newcomers to the cinema actually believed a train was making its way into the theatre and evacuated with great speed in self-defense.

With conductor Timothy Brock at the helm, the LA Chamber Orchestra will play a new work, by Mr. Brock himself, to accompany The Cameraman and the original music that accompanied Alice’s Wild West Show all those years ago by Alexander Rannie. Because who would Buster Keaton be without that wily, horn-heavy soundtrack we all came to know and love?

Performing Sunday, May 23 at Royce Hall at 6:30pm, the concert just wouldn’t be complete without, well, you!  That’s right, welcome to our latest Extra! Extra! ticket giveaway.

A few things of note: by entering into this contest, you’re automatically entered to win our next three giveaways.  (We know, you’re welcome.) All we need is your first name, last name, and email address and voila – is that a newsboy cap you’re wearing?

(Click here if you think contests are for wussies and you’d rather buy your own tickets.)

From May 15 to May 30, the Los Angeles Ballet finishes its fourth season with the unveiling of four contemporary world premieres by acclaimed guest choreographers Mandy Moore, Travis Wall, and Sonya Tayeh of the FOX hit, So You Think You Can Dance, and LA’s Josie Walsh. Titled “New Wave LA,” the program presents cutting edge, innovative movement from some of the brightest beacons on the choreographic horizon.

LAB Artistic Directors Thordal Christensen and Colleen Neary have commissioned new works each season – but presenting four world premiere dances on a single program is all but unheard-of for a classical ballet company. That three of the four young choreographers featured in LAB’s production come from the hit TV show, So You Think You Can Dance is no accident. In 2008, dancers from Los Angeles Ballet made an impressive appearance on the series, and last July, Thordal Christensen choreographed the first-ever classical ballet piece for the show. That some of the show’s resident choreographers return the favor seemed natural.

Mandy Moore’s caffeine-infused, witty “Wink” opens the show. Moore was inspired by “the world of Internet dating – profiles, coffee dates, second dates,” she writes in her program notes,”and all the awkwardly beautiful moments along the path to finding true love.”

In an early rehearsal at the company’s vast West Side studios,  two dancers catch each other’s eyes in passing and chuckle, and Moore hollers, “Keep it!”  Her rehearsal is focused and disciplined, yet full of humor. “Dance is so silly to me when people don’t react to each other,” she tells her dancers. “Don’t just ignore them – especially if they’re cute!” One of the choreographers for Celine Dion’s “Taking Chances” World Tour, Moore’s eclectic style has delighted viewers regularly on So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol.

Down the hall in another studio, Los Angeles native Josie Walsh is working with another group of dancers. Walsh danced with the Joffrey Ballet, Zurich Ballet, and Oregon Ballet Theatre, before returning to LA to found MYOKYO Renegade Rock Ballets in 2000. Her ballet, “Transmutation,” was developed from a piece originally commissioned for LAB’s first choreographic workshop last summer. It evokes the visceral interplay between “the male and female archetypal energies,” she explains, “the friction of opposition creating balance. If we didn’t have opposition, we’d be looking for it, for the wisdom of the middle road.”

Walsh creates movement organically, empathically on the dancers, making changes as she works to achieve integration of body, mind, and spirit. “I don’t like to dictate,” she says. “I use what IS, in the moment. My intention is to cultivate the Presence of each individual dancer.” The music – specially created for this ballet by Walsh’s husband Paul Rivera, Jr – inexorably throbs and pounds, ultimately leading to transcendent stillness. Award-winning contemporary choreographer Travis Wall left home at 12 to appear in The Music Man on Broadway. Runner-up on season 2 of So You Think You Can Dance, Wall later returned to the show as a featured choreographer. This year he was assistant choreographer and dancer for the Academy Awards show, and created a piece featuring New York Ballet principal ballerina Tiler Peck for ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.

Wall’s “Reflect. Affect. Carry On…” for LAB is a bittersweet love story inspired by Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” U2’s “With or Without You,” and Sigur Ros’s “Samskeyti.” His unique style is a seamless hybrid, melding elements of classical ballet and contemporary dance. As he shares his very individual dance vocabulary with the dancers, I am struck with the sense that this remarkable 22-year-old may be the Bob Fosse of his generation.

Her stylized movement relying substantially on aggressive one-on-one physical contact, Sonya Tayeh directs “combat jazz” and contemporary dance as a choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance. Her dances incorporate a personal, quirky style with the essence of contemporary technique, producing startlingly original combinations.

In “The Back and Forth,” Tayeh has created a flamboyant, show stopping finale for “New Wave LA.” With huge appreciation for their virtuosity, Tayeh’s shrieks of “Yes!! Yes!!” goad her six dancers into reckless, dangerous flight to Piazzolla’s “Libertango.” She is completely collaborative with the three couples, igniting fire and passion in their dancing. “When the matador meets the bull, the back and forth begins,” she says.

- By Penny Orloff

Performances of “New Wave LA” are on Saturday, May 15 at 7:30 pm at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center; Saturday, May 22 at 7:30 pm at Glendale’s Alex Theatre; and Saturday, May 29 at 7:30 and Sunday, May 30 at 2 pm at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. For more information, please visit www.losangelesballet.org or call 310.998.7782.

“It’s hard to not to think of just a person playing the violin.” This is how my roommate James Taylor (not that James Taylor) jokingly responded after posing the question, what do you imagine while listening to classical music? James had been hired by classical music radio station KUSC to help come up with a possible interactive visualization tool for the station’s website, and was pondering ways in which to illustrate the complex string section of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.

To help enliven his task, I invited James to come see the American Youth Symphony’s (AYS) final performance of their season at Royce Hall in the UCLA campus. He was unable to join me, but as soon as I sat down and took a look at the program, I realized he should have. The night was entitled, “The Goldsmith Project: The Middle Years (1971-1982)” and was dedicated to the late Oscar-winning film composer Jerry Goldsmith, specifically his works in the golden age of cinema—arguably the peak of his career. It marked the second installment of a planned three-year ‘Goldsmith Project’ the American Youth Symphony was doing in collaboration with the Film Music Society.

The opening number was not from a film, however; it was called “Music for Orchestra,” and was a single-movement commission piece Goldsmith composed for the St. Louis Symphony in 1970. This was the same year Goldsmith lost a wife to divorce and a mother to serious illness. Needless to say, the 8-minute-long dodecaphony expresses some dark themes, and as I examined the young performers (nobody a day past 27) arranged upon the stage, I was afraid the themes might prove too dark. But once I saw internationally-acclaimed conductor, and music director of AYS, Alexander Treger standing up on stage, baton in hand, fully confident in his fresh-faced ensemble, I knew I was in for a professional treat.

And such was the case. The kids—if I may call them that—finished “Music for Orchestra” flawlessly, their faces not showing the slightest hint of consternation, or effort even. As they went on to the next piece, excerpts from Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land (1954), I thought of how when I was the same age as some of the violin section, I rarely did anything without making a mistake. Meanwhile, these musicians—though even that title seems insufficient—flew through the gently epic tones of America’s most celebrated composer like it was breakfast.

Soon the much older members of the Angeles Chorale joined their youthful counterparts for the second movement of Tender Land. And it might have been the Whitman-esque phrasings in Copland’s lyrics, or the brassy Americana of his melodies, but the hall—mainly older folk—started to balloon with such a sense of hope. I couldn’t help but attribute this feeling to the mutual offerings of respect operating between the orchestra, the chorus, the audience, and even Copland himself.

Then came the film score section, led by guest conductor David Newman (that’s right…the man who brought you the legendary scores of Norbit, Scooby-Doo, Galaxy Quest, The Flintstones, and yes, Alvin and the Chipmuks: The Squeakquel). But who am I to kid? If anything Newman’s resume, and his affiliation with AYS, tells me that he’s comfortable catering to younger audiences, as well as adapting older themes into new ones. Which is almost exactly what he did. Under his direction, the young players—does that description work?—breathed life back into the forgotten, and in some cases never performed Goldsmith-penned soundtracks behind such films as Capricorn One and Papillon.

The real ticker of the night, however, came when they rolled down the giant projection screen above the stage and dimmed the lights, the orchestra members turning on their miniature stand-lights to see the sheet music for the score of the film Alien. Along with Chinatown and The Omen (which was performed later), this is probably one of Goldsmith’s best known works, only we were posed to hear the part of the score never before heard by a large audience—the part edited out of the original cut, yet inserted back in with precision for the night’s performance.

What became immediately apparent to me as I watched Sigourney Weaver and cohorts wrestle their way through a dark spaceship, the encroaching alien behind any corner, was the significance of silence in a film score. Long, sharp notes from an instrument called a serpent (a predecessor of the tuba), followed by just enough space for the action to take precedence over the music. I realized that film scores like Alien, or even more solemn ones like QB VII—another Goldsmith composition for the first-ever miniseries about the Holocaust—aren’t necessarily multi-layered. But they contain a lot of whimsy and neat tricks; they’re more interested in whisking you along the ride, rather than getting you lost inside it. They provide the space for images, so that the audience doesn’t just picture a person playing the violin. A good film composer must be versatile, proficient, and able to bend their distinct voice in service of another artist. Come to think of it, much like a young musician.

The American Youth Symphony 2009-2010 season has ended, but will start up again next year with yet another series of admission free performances at UCLA’s Royce Hall. For more information, please call (310) 470-2332, or visit www.aysymphony.org.

We may be geographically far from, well, everywhere in the world, but that doesn’t mean we can’t keep up with all the arts endeavors across every which pond.  So here’s a bit of news (for the very serious and elite readers) and a bonus round of what’s going on in LA that really deserves your attention (for those who care about little outside LA county).

First, a stop in Paris at the Petit Palais.  The Parisian museum brings to the fore the artistic achievements of none other than Yves Saint Laurent.  Curated by Florence Muller and Farid Chenoune, the exhibit, called Yves Saint Laurent Retrospective features gowns, menswear, some of the designer’s treasured personal items used in creative pursuits, and it highlight themes used throughout the many collections in Saint Laurent’s illustrious career.  One ticket to France, please! {Global Post}

Onto Italy.  In Milan, our very own Placido Domingo’s Operalia competition has commenced.  Founded in 1993, Domingo’s opera competition is meant to find the cream of the crop amongst new talent in opera.  The singers represent not only a range of vocal categories (from coloratura soprano to the lowest bass), but also an array of countries around the world.  The competition ends May 2 (this Saturday), so you’ll have a new vocalist’s career to follow starting Sunday, May 3rd.  We have a feeling it will be meteoric.  {Culture Monster}

Not to shower the French with too much attention, though they don’t mind, Sotheby’s has made quite the announcement prior to the upcoming auction season.  The storied (and once thought lost) private collection of legendary Parisian art dealer Amrboise Vollard is set to meet the auction block.  His career was spent promoting such up-and-comers as Picasso, Cezanne, and Renoir and Vollard’s collection includes not only paintings, but such enticing items as prints, drawings, and artist books.  The sale will be held in London on June 22, so brush up on your British colloquialisms.  {ArtInfo}

Back at home, there is much to celebrate.  Dig into your pockets just a bit to buy yourself a ticket to the Architecture and Design Museum’s official Grand Opening!  For $75, you’ll mingle with a veritable who’s who of the architecture and design world in LA at the reception tomorrow night (April 27), (hint: you can also find them anywhere from Father’s Office to Tar Pit on weeknights), check out the first exhibit, and bid on things at the silent auction.  {A+D Museum}  Also, if you haven’t uploaded his schedule into your iCal already, Gustavo Dudamel has returned to the LA Phil – he’s conducting pretty regularly from now through May 8 on a number of concerts all worthy of splurging for tickets.  {LA Phil} This is your last chance to see LACMA’s exhibit Renoir in the 20th Century.  The exhibit closes May 9. {LACMA} Last, but certainly not least, turns out that parodies of Wagner and his Ring Cycle abound.  LA Times’ Culture Monster shows us the best of the best. {Culture Monster}