To an outsider, the dancers at Malashock Dance the other afternoon seemed to speak their own language. I’d just watched six dancers run through one of the scenes of their upcoming piece, “The Floating World,” and artistic director John Malashock was giving them notes on things they should tweak for the next time.
They gestured and waved their arms and spoke in vague grunts and half-formed sentences. But, remarkably, this shorthand lingo of people who make art together all the time worked: They all knew what part they were talking about, and what each other meant. Malashock has been opening its studio doors for the last several weeks to let the public in on this new piece headed for performances next month at the San Diego Museum of Art. We stopped in on a couple of rehearsals, one with photographer Sam Hodgson, and one with a videographer from NBC San Diego, to see the dancers work to turn these grunts and gestures into fluid narratives.
You’re reading the Arts Report, our weekly collection of San Diego arts stories, from our pages and elsewhere. You can stay in the loop the rest of the week by checking our Behind the Scene blog, following us on Facebook, or following me, @kellyrbennett, on Twitter.
Locals:
• Making inflatable sculptures — or, balloon animals — is just one of Dan McLellan’s jobs. He’s also a Chargers reporter for CBS Sports and elsewhere.
• Engineer-turned-photographer Joseph Rubenson, a former trustee of the Museum of Photographic Arts, self-published a book of photographs of Julian in 2005, the rural community he’d called home since buying an apple ranch there in the mid-1980s. He died last month at age 90. (Union-Tribune)
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• Famed UCSD neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran speculates 20 percent of art can now be explained by brain science. (The Smart Set)
On Stage:
• The Old Globe Theatre’s two current shows had to replace a cast member at the last minute in each play. (Union-Tribune)
On Twitter, I asked how often this happens.
Jim Hebert, the U-T’s theater critic, chimed in:
“I’d say unusual but not unheard of. Globe’s ‘Whisper House’ replaced 1 actor in previews & another in midrun last year. … But haven’t seen it happen this late with 2 actors in 2 separate shows. Appears to be just an unfortunate coincidence.”
The Globe delayed its opening of one of those plays, “Rafta, Rafta,” by a few days to give the new cast member more rehearsal time.
• Actor Malcolm Gets, who plays the depressed Uncle Frank in La Jolla Playhouse’s “Little Miss Sunshine,” has been sitting out “a number of performances” of the show due to a throat infection. (L.A. Times)
• A costume designer works with “garish and kitschy” as guides — definitely not “pretty” — as she builds the wardrobe for Cygnet Theatre’s upcoming production of “Cabaret.” (KPBS)
• For that play, Cygnet is twisting the usual casting to have a woman play The Emcee — its artistic director hopes to convey the “seductive quality of fascism and Nazism and nationalism.” (Union-Tribune)
Music:
• The San Diego Symphony’s board chairman believes the symphony is growing a “younger, hipper” audience. (U-T)
• Bay Area horn player Darby Hinshaw, 31, won last week’s audition for the San Diego Symphony.
Visual Art:
• Photos of a new, vibrant Chor Boogie mural atop the Horton Plaza parking structure. (The Boogie Blog)
• Which neighborhood has better murals, North Park or Normal Heights? (U-T)
• The LA Times’ Leah Ollman reviews the Museum of Photographic Arts’ current “Streetwise” exhibition as “tempered and tame.” (LAT)
Museums:
• Escondido’s mayor wishes the children’s museum wouldn’t have taken “Escondido” out of its name, since the city gives the museum money. (U-T)
• Bead it! The formerly Glendale-based Bead Museum is closing its doors and giving the Mingei Museum in San Diego 11,650 beads and beaded items — “considered the most comprehensive public collection in the world.” (Glendale Star)
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Please contact Kelly Bennett directly at kelly.bennett@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.325.0531 and follow her on Twitter: @kellyrbennett.