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An Oscars to be remembered

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Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith during the live ABC telecast of the 94th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, on Sunday, March 27, 2022 (Richard Harbaugh / A.M.P.A.S. photo) Ariana DeBose poses backstage with the Oscar for Actress in a Supporting Role during the live ABC telecast of the 94th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, on Sunday, March 27, 2022. (Michael Baker / A.M.P.A.S. photo)

By MARGRIRA

Special to the AmNews

The Oscars came roaring back after two years of COVID-19 lockdown under the direction of uberproducer Will Packer and from the very start, he promised us a memorable show, jump-starting the excitement when he engaged three female comedians to host—Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes—who kept the show moving using their own comedic stamp.

The big winner of the night was the little indie film “Coda” (Apple) which consisted of a mostly deaf cast and won the best picture which surprised some insiders who suggested that the quality of the film was just a few bars away from a made-for-television movie. It also won the adapted screenplay prize for its writer-director, Sian Heder, and the supporting actor award for Troy Kotsur. There is an opportunity to read the screenplay courtesy of Indie Film Hustle. But nothing moved the evening as much as the “slap” heard around the world—literally when Oscar winner Will Smith slapped comic Chris Rock after he made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith’s, bald head. Smith later went on to accept his Oscar for Best Actor in a dramatic speech for the Best Picture nominated film, “King Richard.” Tears flowing, Smith apologized to the Academy.

“Richard Williams was a fierce defender of his family,” Smith said in a tearful speech following his win for portraying the Williams sisters’ father in “King Richard.” “In this time of my life, in this moment, I am overwhelmed by what God is calling on me to do and be in this world.

“I know to do what we do, you’ve got to be able to take abuse,” he said. “You gotta be able to have people talk crazy about you. In this business, you gotta be able to have people disrespecting you, and you gotta smile, and you gotta pretend like that’s OK. … I want to apologize to the Academy; I want to apologize to all my fellow nominees.”

Later in the evening—via Twitter immediately following the telecast—the Academy said it “does not condone violence of any form” and made the point that the night is to celebrate the winners who “deserve this moment of recognition from their peers and movie lovers around the world.”

The LAPD confirmed that Rock declined to file a police report about the slapping, offering in a statement,

See OSCARS on page 17

An Oscar first: Afro Latina Ariana DeBose wins Best-Supporting for ‘West Side Story’

By MARGRIRA

Special to the AmNews

Sometimes, you have to ask yourself the hard questions, like are there significant changes in Hollywood around the issues of racism particularly when it centers on the Latino and Afro-Latino communities.

I use as an example Ariana DeBose’s Oscar win for Best Supporting Actress playing the role of Anita in “West Side Story.” Imagine, it was 60 years ago that legend Rita Moreno became the first Latina to win an Oscar (1962), for that same role of Anita. Together, they are the first pair of women ever to accomplish this.

DeBose, who identifies as “Afro Latina,” is also an openly queer woman, and is now the first to win for her acting, and the only to be nominated.

Just 31, DeBose joins a very small list of Latina women who’ve been nominated for acting awards at the Oscars, including four for Best Actress and less than a dozen for Best Supporting Actress.

In her acceptance speech, DeBose was quick to point out the facts about the world. “Even in this weary world that we live in, dreams do come true,” said DeBose. “To anybody who has ever questioned your identity…I promise you this, there is indeed a place for us.”

DeBose has appeared in LinManuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” and Netflix’s ensemble “The Prom.”

Here is what Ariana DeBose had to share about winning her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in ”West Side Story.”

AmNews: You started your career as a dancer on Broadway. How did you get here?

Ariana DeBose: A lot of hard work, a lot of determination, a lot of active choices to take my rejections as redirections. I was just saying, you know when I was in the ensemble of “Hamilton,” mind you, as an ensemble member, I had a role that barely spoke. All I did was dance. But I chose at some point to try for more and, to be frank, it wasn’t met with, you know, thunderous applause. Some folks kind of looked at me like I was crazy, and I had to choose to believe that I was deserving of more and go and train to be better. And, honestly, just choosing, choosing myself and choosing to believe that I was worthy and do the work, that’s how this happened. This is magic, but it’s magic that did not come without effort. AmNews: The win is historic. You won this Oscar for playing the same role [Anita] that Rita Moreno won for as well. A full-circle moment?

DeBose: I see it as a historical moment. It’s a layer on a layer on a layer, and I think this is the first time that a female role has been honored twice, but I think it’s really important to note that our Anita, as well, shares a name. They are different women, you know. Her Anita is iconic and legendary and will always be, and now mine has been shown light upon in this way, and I’m very proud of that because I set out to create 60

DTH Company in "Passage" (Photo by Theik Smith)

By ZITA ALLEN

Special to the AmNews

Spring is in the air and the Dance Theatre of Harlem, the world-renowned Black ballet company, is back in New York with live performances at New York’s City Center on April 5, 8, 9, and 10th and an exciting program of works that includes two New York premieres, live musical accompaniment and a company of 18 extraordinarily talented ballet dancers headed by Artistic Director Virginia Johnson.

Following over a year of performances that both commemorated its 50th anniversary and paid tribute to its late, legendary co-founder, Arthur Mitchell, the company quickly pivoted to a digital platform amidst COVID19 shutdowns and continued to innovate in the world of dance while keeping its artists, staff, and audiences safe. Now, Dance Theatre of Harlem continues Mitchell’s monumental legacy as a participating company of the inaugural City Center Dance Festival with a bill of forward-thinking contemporary works and treasured classics that will take the esteemed organization into the next half century.

Virginia Johnson and DHT’s Resident Choreographer and head of the DTH School Robert Garland took time off from a hectic rehearsal and teaching schedules to talk to the Amsterdam News about the company’s long-anticipated return to live performances. “We’re just excited to get back to City Center,” Johnson said. “You know it’s thanks to City Center that this is happening. We’re part of their Festival so City Center is presenting us. We’re sharing the week with the Graham company,” she adds, explaining that Opening Night, Tuesday, April 5th, DTH, is followed by programs on Friday, April 8 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, April 9, at 2 p.m. matinee, and Sunday, April 10 at 5 p.m.

Dance Theatre of Harlem will kick off its homecoming season with its annual Vision Gala on Tuesday, April 5, 2022 with an evening titled “With Gratitude…,” celebrating DTH’s return and expressing the company’s immense thanks to all who supported them during this time of extraordinary change, all of the programs being presented at City Center are the same.

Johnson explains, “We have several wonderful works, including the New York premiere of Robert’s ‘Higher Ground’ and Claudia Schreier’s ‘Passage,’ which is really a magnificent work. ‘Passage’ and Robert’s piece are works that I think deal with really key questions: what is this art form, what are African Americans saying in this art form, what can it say and what should it be saying? You know we are ballet dancers and we love this art form so much, we believe in it, and dedicate our lives to it but you know that it doesn’t live in the 19th century alone (when ballets like ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and ‘Swan Lake’ were created) it lives now. That is what Dance Theatre of Harlem is about, showing how ballet can live in the 21st century. It can be meaningful, it can be relevant, and it can touch you in ways that you need to be touched at this time.”

Robert Garland makes the point that “DTH is dedicated to speaking to our community through dance,” as he explains his new work “Higher Ground” set to the amazing Stevie Wonder classic of the same name. “Originally, ‘Higher Ground’ was supposed to premiere in March of 2020 in Detroit, the home of Stevie Wonder and Motown. But we didn’t do that because of COVID. The ballet was choreographed in the summer of 2019 and if you remember that was a very turbulent time and I just got a feeling that the music of Stevie Wonder’s ’70s period, post-Civil Rights, reflected the feeling in the country.” At first Garland wasn’t sure if, after a change in government, the piece would still be relevant. But, he says, “then George Floyd happened and I was amazed that for the ballet to premiere these many years later and I’m finding that its message still resonates. If Black people are the conscience of America, then Stevie Wonder is the conscience of Black America. And, Dance Theatre of Harlem is committed to speaking to our community through dance.”

“That’s what Arthur Mitchell created Dance Theatre to do,” Johnson adds as she continues that legacy and points to another work being premiered on the program which takes a different approach to that same mission. “The genesis of ‘Passages’ is the story of 1619 and what that meant in terms of Africans arriving on these shores and what that meant in terms of challenges but also in terms of purpose and uplift. It’s very much about the journey. It’s important for us to reflect on our history which is so undisclosed and undiscussed. So bringing it forward is something that we can do here at Dance Theatre of Harlem. Another work on the program is 'Balamouk.' That work stems from a very contemporary source, the recent migrations from Africa across the Mediterranean and people risking their lives in search of something better. It’s a very joyous uplifting work choreographed by Colombian-Belgian Anabel le Lopez Ochoa. The music is North African and this season will be performed live by the Klezmatics. This work just erupts with joy, and it’s a very wonderful work.”

At Opening Night’s Vision Gala, Emmy, Golden Globe, and Tony Award-winning dancer, actor, choreographer, director, and producer Debbie Allen is set to receive the Arthur Mitchell Vision Award, which is presented annually to an artist whose legacy is founded on exceptional contributions to the arts community, the award is named for and was inaugurally received by Dance Theatre of Harlem co-founder Arthur Mitchell. Other honorees to be recognized during the Gala Dinner at the Ziegfeld Ballroom include the Reginald F. Lewis Foundation, recipient of the Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Award, and Dr. Wendy Ziecheck, Dr. Donald J. Rose, and the NYU Langone Health/Harkness Center for Dance Injuries Medical Team who will each receive the DTH Chairman’s Award. Of course, it’s important to remember that every night there will be a gala during Dance Theater of Harlem’s upcoming City Center season.

Continued from page 15

“If the involved party desires a police report at a later date, LAPD will be available to complete an investigative report.”

Smith has since apologized to both Rock and the Academy in an Instagram post.

Jane Campion became just the third woman to win Best Director, which is the only prize of the night to be won by “The Power of the Dog;” Kenneth Branagh won original screenplay for “Belfast,” and Jessica Chastain won best actress for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.”

In keeping the eye firmly on the issues of diversity and inclusion Chastain brought up the issue, tip-toeing around the proposed laws targeting the LGBTQ community.

One of the most heartfelt wins was for Ariana DeBose, the first Oscar of the night for Supporting Actress for her role as Anita in “West Side Story” making her the first Afro Latina and openly queer woman making sure to bring this important subject up in her acceptance speech —“An openly queer woman of color, an Afro Latina who found her strength in art…There is indeed a place for us.”

Despite delivering an amazing performance for her nominated Best Original Song entry “Be Alive,” Beyoncé, 40, who opened the show with a bang with her 10-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, lost the Oscar to Billie Eilish and Finneas for their original song “No Time to Die.”

As predicted, Japan’s “Drive My Car” won the award for international feature, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi.

Producer Packer stepped into a nest of controversy when they chose to award eight categories before the live telecast inside the Dolby Theatre where “Dune” won editing, score, and production design. The production team did air an edited-down version of those eight categories, with sound bites from the winners’ speeches, such as “Queen of Basketball” (best documentary short winner) director Ben Proudfoot, who

Will Smith poses with the Oscar for Actor in a Leading Role during the live ABC telecast of the 94th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, on Sunday, March 27, 2022. (Richard Harbaugh / A.M.P.A.S. photo)

used his moment to call for the return of WNBA player Brittney Griner, currently jailed in Russia.

This year’s Oscars, the 94th, arrived as the Academy was attempting to reverse a years-long decline in ratings with some controversial changes, including omitting the eight categories and introducing a “fan favorite” Oscar and “Cheer Moment” prize voted on by Twitter users.

Despite Netflix’s “The Power of the Dog” leading with 12 nominations, in the end, it only won one Oscar—for Campion’s direction. But here’s the really interesting question to ponder, what does Apple’s win for Best Picture before Netflix mean in the streaming space and world of feature films? Netflix paved the way for the streamers to get into the Oscar conversations and they made substantial investments in the award campaigns, expecting to win.

Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Tyler Perry at the 94th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, on Sunday, March 27, 2022 (Richard Harbaugh / A.M.P.A.S. photo)

“THIS PRODUCTION IS MEANT FOR RIGHT NOW.

It’s exciting to me to place a Black family at the center of this massive, epic journey that asks us to trust and hope in each other as we move forward.”

–Lileana Blain-Cruz, Director

BY THORNTON WILDER DIRECTED BY LILEANA BLAIN-CRUZ

Gabby Beans Paige Gilbert Priscilla Lopez James Vincent Meredith

Julian Robertson Roslyn Ruff