Martha Graham Dance Company Review: Its Founder's Long, Lithe Shadow
New York
'Dances of the Mind,' the Martha Graham Dance Company's program at the Joyce Theater through Sunday, comprises 11 works in three different mixed bills and celebrates the troupe's 99th season. It is dominated by four landmark Graham creations that the innovative choreographer and dancemaker (1894-1991) arranged as compelling, stream-of-consciousness theatrics that unfold in nonlinear time.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Miami Herald
13 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Carnival Cruise Line testing new dining option passengers want
Cruise ship dining has evolved quite a bit over the years. In the classic days of cruising, dinner was almost always a formal affair, and meals were slow paced. Dinner was something that most passengers looked forward to, and no one was really in rush to get through it. Related: Carnival cruise passengers reject central Royal Caribbean element Although formal nights are still a thing on some cruise lines today, dress codes are no longer strictly enforced. Main dining room menus have also changed as cruiser palates have evolved. Now, passengers who want something different than the main dining room experience have options, too. On Carnival Cruise Line ships, for example, the buffet is open for dinner, and most ships feature a variety of casual, quick-service dining options as well. Additionally, main dining room dinner seatings are a little more flexible now. On Carnival ships, passengers can choose from a traditional preset dining time with the same table assignment each night or a first-come, first-served 'Your Time' open seating dinner option. Still, despite the increased dining flexibility on most cruise ships, passengers often complain about one aspect of the main dining room experience that hasn't changed as much with the times. Sign up for the Come Cruise With Me newsletter to save money on your next (or your first) cruise. Whether you choose the traditional set dining time or 'Your Time' Dining on a Carnival cruise, the main dining room experience typically lasts for about one hour and 30 minutes. For some passengers today, that's just too long. "I don't know of anyone in real life who wants to spend one and a half hours in the dining room," a passenger named Graham recently wrote to Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador John Heald. Carnival's brand ambassador responds to hundreds of passenger questions and comments on his popular Facebook page every day, and he often receives messages like this one. Related: Carnival Cruise Line shares dress code enforcement plans "We had two nights in our cruise last week where we left at the one hour and 35-minute mark. I would say the average cruiser wants to be in and out of the dining room in under an hour at the very, very least. Most Carnival cruisers want this from the people I have seen and spoken to," Graham insisted. Although Heald himself would love to hold on to the cruise tradition of lingering over dinner with family and friends, he understands that a speedier style of dining is something that passengers increasingly value today. Be the first to see the best deals on cruises, special sailings, and more. Sign up for the Come Cruise With Me newsletter. In response to passenger feedback about the main dining room experience, Carnival is now testing a new Express Dining option on one of its ships. "Some people do want to be in and out, and that's why we're testing something on the Carnival Vista," Heald noted in a recent video for his followers. "This is what we are calling Express Dining." Only available on Carnival Vista at this time, Express Dining is something passengers can choose to enjoy if they select 'Your Time' Dining. Carnival's Express Dining is intended to be a 45-minute dinner experience, and it features a smaller menu than the other main dining room options. More Carnival cruise news: Carnival Cruise Line cracks down on unsupervised kidsCarnival Cruise Line shares new ban on popular travel itemCarnival Cruise Line gives hurricane season update for cruisers An sample Express Dining menu that Heald shared included the following choices: Appetizers: Roasted duck rollsShrimp cocktailCaesar saladTomato soup Entrees: Szechuan shrimpCornish game henBraised short ribSirloin steak Desserts: CheesecakeNavel orange cakeChocolate melting cake Heald noted that if Express Dining proves popular on Carnival Vista, it may roll out to other ships. "We will see if it's popular, and if it is, we will take a look, and then we will let you know if we're trying this on other ships," Heald explained. (The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a cruise.) Make a free appointment with Come Cruise With Me's Travel Agent Partner, Postcard Travel, or email Amy Post at amypost@ or call or text her at 386-383-2472. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Los Angeles Times
A timeline of Sly Stone's career in 10 essential songs
Sly Stone's hit-making era lasted all of six years — from the end of 1967 to the end of 1973 — but the music he made over that half-decade helped map the future. The singer, songwriter, producer and style icon, who died Monday at 82, came up as a DJ in San Francisco before putting together the Family Stone: a multiracial band of men and women that melted the lines between funk, R&B, pop and psychedelic rock. The group's music went on to influence multiple generations of artists, among them Prince, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Outkast and the Roots; as a source of countless samples, Stone's songs represent a crucial part of hip-hop's DNA. Here, in the order they were released, are 10 of his essential recordings. 'Dance to the Music' (1967) Stone is said to have hated his breakout single, which he supposedly made at the behest of Clive Davis after the record exec requested something more commercial than the Family Stone's coolly received debut LP, 'A Whole New Thing.' Six decades later, though, 'Dance to the Music' still communicates a sense of boundless joy — even as it puts across a flicker of doubt about going so nice-and-smiley. Yowls trumpeter Cynthia Robinson in the song's bridge: 'All the squares, go home!' 'Everyday People' (1968)In the pantheon of catchphrases sprung from pop songs, few loom larger than 'Different strokes for different folks,' a perfectly casual bit of come-together sociology from the first of the Family Stone's three Hot 100-topping singles. Also worthy of canonization: Larry Graham's thrumming one-note bass line. Twenty-four years later, Arrested Development put 'Everyday People's' groove back on the charts in its 'People Everyday.' 'Sing a Simple Song' (1968)Funk as pure — and as low-down — as funk gets. 'Stand!' (1969)It's impossible to say too much about Stone's rhythmic innovations. But the title track from his 1969 LP — a platinum-seller enshrined in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry — is perhaps his most impressive harmonic achievement, with a key change in the verse that lends a touch of melancholy to the song's message of protest. 'I Want to Take You Higher' (1969)Issued as the B-side of the 'Stand!' single, this bluesy psych-rock barnburner went on to become the high point of the Family Stone's set at Woodstock: a pummeling barrage of brass and wah-wah delivered at around 4 in the morning. 'Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)' (1969)Stone's second No. 1 boasts two indelible riffs likely familiar even to listeners born a decade or two after 'Thank You' came out: In 1989, Janet Jackson sampled the song's pulsating guitar lick for 'Rhythm Nation'; in 1995, Brandy borrowed Graham's pioneering slap-bass part for 'Sittin' Up in My Room.' 'Everybody Is a Star' (1969)True to its title, this shimmering midtempo number features strong lead-vocal turns by Stone, Graham and his siblings Rose and Freddie. (That said, Rose Stone all but steals the show.) 'Family Affair' (1971) Stone's 1971 album 'There's a Riot Goin' On' is widely regarded as a turn toward a darker style shaped by the musician's drug use and his political disillusionment. And certainly the dry croak of his singing voice in the LP's lead single suggests he'd enjoyed healthier times. Yet the musical invention at play in 'Family Affair,' which spent three weeks atop the Hot 100 — and helped drive 'Riot' to Stone's only No. 1 showing on Billboard's album chart — makes clear that he hadn't lost his creative drive: It's a startling piece of experimental R&B with Billy Preston on organ, Bobby Womack on guitar and a primitive drum machine coughing up a mutant funk beat. Beautiful if foreboding. 'If You Want Me to Stay' (1973)With Stevie Wonder having supplanted him as soul music's premier visionary, Stone was flailing by the mid-1970s, and not unself-consciously: It's easy to interpret his final Top 20 pop hit as a warning to the record industry that he's prepared to take his ball and go home. ('You can't take me for granted and smile / Count the days I'm gone / Forget reaching me by phone / Because I promise I'll be gone for a while.') Funny — or is it? — how free he sounds. 'Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)' (1973)A churchy rendition of Doris Day's signature song by a man who truly knew too much.
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
Only four teenagers have won Emmys. ‘Adolescence' star Owen Cooper deserves to join them
'Adolescence' co-creator Stephen Graham isn't exactly shy when it comes to praising Owen Cooper, the young actor at the center of his hit Netflix limited series. 'This may be a big thing to say, but I haven't seen a performance [of this caliber] from someone so young since Leo [DiCaprio] in 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape,'' Graham tells me via Zoom. 'And I say that because I love Leo and he's a good friend. And that's a performance beyond someone his age. It's the same when I watch Owen.' Not content to leave it at that, Graham later points out that he recently related a story on Graham Norton's BBC talk show about the time he told Cooper's mom that her son was the 'next Robert De Niro.' Cooper happened to be on the show too, taking it all in, smiling shyly. And wouldn't you know it, De Niro was there as well, sitting next to Cooper on the couch, giving him a tender pat on the knee. So, DiCaprio, De Niro ... Do you want to drop a Brando comparison to complete the trifecta? I ask. 'I can't find enough superlatives to describe the boy,' says Graham, who also co-wrote the show and stars as his father. Honestly, I can't either. Apart from Noah Wyle's heroic, beleaguered doctor in 'The Pitt,' you could make the case that Cooper's turn as Jamie, a 13-year-old accused of murdering a classmate, is the year's best work on television. The show's third episode, a two-hander where Jamie is interviewed and evaluated by a psychologist (Erin Doherty) at a juvenile detention facility, is an astonishing showcase, particularly when you consider that it, like all four of the series' episodes, is shot as a continuous scene. It also bears mentioning that 'Adolescence' marks Cooper's professional debut as an actor. He is now 15. It's an extraordinary story, though you have to wonder if some Emmy voters will see it that way. The Emmys have not embraced child actors over the years, with only four teenagers winning trophies: Roxana Zal, 14 when she won for her supporting role in the 1984 TV movie 'Something About Amelia'; Kristy McNichol, 15 and 17 at the time of her two supporting drama actress wins for the 1970s series 'Family'; Scott Jacoby, 16, for the 1972 TV movie 'That Certain Summer'; and Anthony Murphy for the 1971 British limited series 'Tom Brown's Schooldays.' Murphy was 17 when he won and, like Cooper, had never acted professionally. And after 'Tom Brown's Schooldays,' he never acted again, pursuing painting instead and enjoying a long career in that medium. Perhaps that explains Emmy voters' reluctance to go all in and reward young actors. Are they in it for the long haul? Or are they going to do something crazy like go off to college and chase a more stable career, like ... just about any other line of work? With Cooper, such concerns appear to be unfounded. Since 'Adolescence,' he has made a BBC comedy, 'Film Club,' starring Aimee Lou Wood, and just finished playing young Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell's upcoming adaptation of Emily Brontë's 'Wuthering Heights.' Fennell obviously saw the tortured antihero that everyone else did in 'Adolescence.' Easy to see that now. But finding the next De Niro from a pool of 500 to 600 young actors, most of them unknowns, almost all of them around Jamie's age, was a taller order. Graham says the casting team had considered looking for an older boy, given the demands of the role and the show's unsettling subject matter. 'But that age is unique,' Graham says. 'It's that breaking point. Your body is changing. Your voice is changing. We needed that authenticity.' That's all well and good. But what was it like for Doherty, a veteran actor with many credits — including Princess Anne in 'The Crown' — to take on a single-shot, 52-minute episode requiring her to parry and push and prod a young actor on his first job? 'It was definitely the cause of most of my nerves before I met Owen,' Doherty tells me. 'I was so unflinchingly aware that it is a huge ask, even for an actor who has been doing it for 40 years.' Then she met him on the first day of rehearsal, and Doherty, who says she is obsessed with the elements, saw that Cooper was a 'very earthy human being.' Grounded. Present. Real. They rehearsed for two weeks and then spent a week shooting the episode, Monday through Friday, two takes a day. They used the last take. Probably because they felt confident they had already nailed it, Doherty says that last time through was like they were 'doing it for free.' 'There was more of a playful dynamic between the two of us,' Doherty says. 'We were poking each other in ways we hadn't done before.' As Doherty's psychologist nudges Jamie to recognize truths about himself that he doesn't want to acknowledge and admit that he holds certain toxic beliefs, you see Cooper shift Jamie from guarded innocence to explosive rage and then to surrendering desperation. There are a lot of showy moments, but one of the best comes shortly after the two characters meet when Jamie lets out a yawn. 'Am I boring you?' she asks. Look at that self-satisfied smile on his face. 'That was the only time he did that,' Doherty says. 'And Owen was probably genuinely tired. But also, I'm thinking, 'This kid Jamie is really trying to push my buttons.' We were really playing a cat-and-mouse game.' With young actors, there's sometimes the perception that the director is guiding them — which, of course, is the director's job with any actor. But in that moment, you see Cooper using an accident and turning it into something malevolent. 'Owen has an unspoken magic,' Doherty says. 'That's nothing to do with his age. He has something that can't be taught, and it's always going to be with him.'
