Honoring Jimmy Smits, Matthew Goldstein, and BEAT

When he started at Brooklyn College in the late 70s, Jimmy Smits was an education major, but by the time he graduated in 1980, he had switched to theatre. When he wasn’t in class or rehearsing, one of his favorite pastimes was waiting in line at the TKTS booth in Times Square, hoping to score discount tickets to a show.

Thanks to TKTS, Smits got tickets to see famous Hispanic performers like Raúl Juliá and Priscilla Lopez. They inspired him as an actor and activist who identifies strongly with his Puerto Rican roots, and he hoped that one day he could be like them.

He succeeded. Smits rocketed to fame on TV series like L.A. Law and NYPD Blue, and he earned 12 Emmy nominations along the way. He even co-starred with Lopez in an off-Broadway play in 1983 and again in Broadway’s Anna in the Tropics in 2003.

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Chunky Move changes the rules of dance

There’s a massive paper net hanging over the floor. It’s suspended in the air by dozens of strings, and when they move, the net springs to life, undulating like a wave or swinging like a pendulum.

And then there are dancers. They move beneath the sculpture and beside it, creating elegant shapes with their paper partner. It’s an eerie, beautiful effect, and it makes Connected, the latest show from the Australian dance company Chunky Move, a striking part of the Joyce Theater’s fall season.

“[The sculpture] is mesmeric and organic,” says Gideon Obarzanek, the company’s founder and artistic director. “When it first moves, the audience gasps, giggling in awe. It’s very gratifying.”

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Our friends at DancePulp have a fantastic video series that features the best contemporary dancers and choreographers talking about their careers. From time to time, we’ll be sharing excerpts from our favorite videos.

To kick things off, we’ve got an excerpt from DancePulp’s recent interview with Matthew Bourne (pictured above) whose visionary production of Swan Lake wowed audiences when it returned to New York last year. (He also choreographed and co-directed the Broadway musical Mary Poppins.)

Bourne is extremely candid about his own background, and it’s fascinating to learn that he got such a late start as a dancer. Take a look and tell us what you think. (To see the rest of the interview, just go here.)

[watch the video after the jump]

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How Kyle Barisich mastered 20 roles in the classic Broadway musical

Queens Hindu Community Center iexperiences  Broadway for the first time.

See what happens when members of the Hindu Community Center in Queens go to see the Broadway revival of “Chicago.” (Part of TDF’s New Audiences for New York program.)  [Read more →]