Arts & Culture

DANCING THROUGH COVID-19 PDT FIGHTS THE PANDEMIC WITH AN ONLINE AUCTION

BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI

The Pasadena Dance Theatre annually offers “The Nutcracker” to school children in Los Angeles County. Many times, it’s their first ballet.

asadena Dance Theatre, like most arts organizations, is hoping to make it

Pthrough the COVID-19 pandemic. To do so, the Pasadena fixture is hosting an online fundraising auction through 6 p.m. Saturday, September 5.

Donors have contributed more than 90 items, from vacation spots to designer jewelry, toys, gift cards, private dance lessons and online conversations and group classes.

“We have a lot of really great items,” said Jessamyn Vedro, an instructor and long-time dancer. “The value is up there. We have items that exceed $15,000. We have vacation homes, rentals and we’ve also ensured that almost all the items are redeemable through the end of 2021.”

Winning bidders will enjoy their purchases and knowing they helped sustain a well-loved performing arts institution.

“We’re hoping that people will be generous and recognize the value of the Pasadena Dance Theatre to the community. We do regularly host auctions as part of our fundraising efforts,” said Vedro, who is an attorney.

“We’ve done them in years past. We have done some online auctions, but they culminate in in-person gala fundraisers as well. Because of COVID, we can’t do that, really. We are focusing on trying to make the online auction a greater fundraising source this year. We don’t have that in-person event possibility anymore.”

Continuing its mission

The Pasadena Dance Theatre is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support, foster and advance the art of dance through professional performance and educational programs.

It opened its current facility in Central Pasadena in 1997, under the artistic leadership of Cynthia Young and Laurence Blake. The facility houses Pasadena Dance Theatre’s Conservatory training program and provides rehearsal space for its professional company. Students trained in its conservatory continue to dance, choreograph and teach professionally around the world.

“We’ve had a lot of students who have had professional ballet careers,” Vedro said. “There are others who still count PDT as one of the most important aspects of their young lives, even if they didn’t go on to be dancers for their profession.”

One such person is Vedro. She trained at PDT starting at age 8 and is still involved 30 years later.

“Literally, it’s the most important organization in my life,” Vedro said. “I see that in students who are currently studying at PDT. It’s made such a huge impact on them.”

For Vedro, it instilled the confidence she needed years later to become a lawyer.

“Ballet gives you a confidence that there’s something you know that’s unique,” she said. “That isn’t something everybody knows. That is beautiful. They can’t take that away from you.”

The theater’s professional company annually hosts a production of “The Nutcracker,” as well as full-scale productions of classical ballets such as “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Graduation Ball” and “La Fille Mal Gardee,” and new works like Cynthia Young’s “Beauty and the Beast” and “Cinderella.”

“We have an annual ‘Nutcracker’ that has included up to 80 children every year,” Vedro said.

“We’ve done full-length performances of classical ballets as well as chamber dance performances and contemporary ballets. We do a lot of outreach into the community, too.”

For example, “The Nutcracker” offers a chance for school children in Los Angeles County to see “what’s maybe the first ballet they’ve ever seen in their lives,” she added.

“This year, we’re not able to do a live ‘Nutcracker,’” she said. “We’ve had to cancel our whole season. However, in order to provide the excitement and value to our student and professional dancers, we are planning and implementing a virtual ‘Nutcracker’ this year. We’re still working out the details at this time. It will be exciting, new, different and reimagined.”

The performance will still involve students in the conservatory—with safety measures in place. The organization has planned an outdoor production in spring 2021 of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

“Hopefully we can have live performances with social distancing in an outdoor venue come April/May of next year,” she said.

PDT has been hosting online classes since the shutdown, so it could continue to educate students in dance.

“Everything pivoted to a Zoom environment,” Vedro said. “We offered all of our ordinary classes and put together a fully virtual summer intensive program for the conservatory that included guest teachers from the American Ballet Theater and the Houston Ballet. It was really exciting and special because we were able to get teachers who aren’t local to impart their wisdom and experience to our students.”

PDT’s students have been “real troopers” through the pandemic, Vedro said. They’ve all set up spaces in their homes to practice and hone their craft. The fall, all-virtual trimester for preprofessional adult is open and a threshold division for 3 to 7 is starting now.

“We’ve been pleased to note that these students have improved in many, many ways, notwithstanding the challenges we’re all facing,” she said. “They were all really proud of their efforts. We’re trying to put extra effort into our fundraising, so we can provide these opportunities to students who have been working so hard to push through this and not let it get them down. We want to model ourselves on their resilience.” n

Pasadena Dance Theatre pdtconservatory.org For the auction, visit biddingowl.com and search for Pasadena Dance Theatre.

The Perfect Fit

MAXWELL SIMKINS JUMPED ON NETFLIX’S ‘THE SLEEPOVER’ BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI

Actor Maxwell Simkins felt there was something special the first time he read the script for Netflix’s “The Sleepover,” which debuts on August 21.

“It was really out there,” said the 13-year-old Philadelphia native.

His father, John, added, “The script and the story was something we really enjoyed and we’re grateful to have the opportunity.”

In the family adventure-comedy, Maxwell plays Kevin, the brother to Clancy (Sadie Stanley). The two discover their stay-at-home mom, Margo (Malin Aker- man), is a former high-end thief in a witness protection program.

When her mom and dad (Ken Marino) are kidnapped, the siblings must team up to rescue their parents in one night. Directed by Trish Sie (“Pitch Perfect”), the fast-paced “The Sleepover” also stars Joe Manganiello as Margo’s former flame.

John said Kevin is a lot like his son.

“They’re both really outgoing and adventurous and kind,” he said. “He was able to use his own experiences and personality with Kevin.”

Maxwell, who steals the show in “The Sleepover,” isn’t so sure.

“My character is a little more over the top,” he said. “He’s like me after a Capri Sun or two.”

Maxwell has been acting since he was 6 years old, when he starred as Caleb in the Diane Keaton and Michael Douglas film “And So It Goes.” He’s inspired by the late Cameron Boyce, who died at age 20 in July 2019 due to complications from epilepsy.

“I’ve been an actor ever since I saw Cameron Boyce for the first time,” he said. “I was really bullied at times. I want to make people laugh, just as he did. That’s the goal.

“I actually met him once. I almost peed myself. It was an out-of-body experi- ence. He was so nice. It’s so tragic.”

Maxwell not only wants to make people laugh, but he wants to entertain them. He’s been rapping for a bit.

“My mom shared the movie ‘8 Mile’ and there’s just something about they use poetry to express their thoughts,” he said about rapping.

“I just fell in love with it immediately. Ever since then I’ve been inspired by Dr. Dre and Rakim and Nas—all the original rappers. The OGs really influenced me.”

Up next for Maxwell is the Disney+ series “The Mighty Ducks,” a reboot of the 1992 movie.

“I’m from Philly, so I skated a bit back east,” he said. “They did put me in a boot camp for skating in Vancouver and we’re going to do it again.”

In the meantime, Maxwell hopes fans enjoy “The Sleepover.”

“I hope everyone learns from the movie that, through thick or thin, friends will be friends and family comes first,” he said. n

TRAX BY BLISS

FANTASTIC NEGRITO, Have You Lost Your

Mind Yet? (Cooking Vinyl): HHHH With a title echoing everyday conversations nationwide (from opening stomper “Chocolate Samurai”), the resilient Oakland artist’s urgent new release taps into 2020’s chaos and ground-shifting change. He still reaches back to blues like a rejuvenating touchstone — his 2016 and 2019 Grammy Awards were both for Best Contemporary Blues Album — but these 11 tracks revel in funk, hip-hop and soul grooves and rock swagger. He’s polished his roots-braiding sound, segueing from streetwise lyrics and handclap percussion into prog-sounding guitars and time signatures. Put this one on replay. Highlights: “I’m So Happy I Cry” with New Orleans dynamo Tank Ball, “How Long” (“Out there screaming all alone/ Full of shit, full of hope, holding on/ We can repeat the same old lies/ ’Til they make us feel alright”). fantasticnegrito.com

TURNING JEWELS INTO WATER, OurReflectionAdornedby Newly

FormedStars(FPE): HHH More tightly focused than last year’s “Map of Absences,” this globally conscious set plays with time via percussion colored and shaped by digital effects. Indian-born, Brooklyn-based drummer/composer Ravish Momin collaborated remotely with Haitianborn percussionist/turntablist Val Jeanty in Boston, with guest vocals from Iranian daf player Kamyar Arsani and South African multi-instrumentalist Mpho Molikeng — so this spring’s shutdown didn’t impede recording. But it does seem to have drained the music of the rubbery warmth of “Map of Absences”; save for the deftly patterned “Kerala in My Heart” and tense title track, it’s more angular than melodic. turningjewelsintowater.wordpress.com

SYLVIE SIMMONS, Blueon Blue

(Compass): HHH½ The disarming humor and intelligence that brighten the celebrated music journo’s prose also gleam through this poetic follow-up to her eponymous 2014 album debut. “Waiting for the Shadows to Fall” unfolds like a memory shared between songs at one of Simmons’ concerts, her graceful natural images and ukulele burnished by Brian Lopez’s evocative guitar solo and fills. A deceptively cheery melody and Simmons’ unaffected vocals sharpen the surprise of “The Thing They Don’t Tell You About Girls” (“Since you’re gone I keep away/ From bridges, trains and razor blades”), while “Nothing” devastates with spare simplicity and her inner hippie hits the honky-tonk for “1000 Years Before I Met You,” a good-natured duet with producer Howe Gelb. sylviesimmons.com

DENT MAY, LateCheckout

(Carpark Records): HHH Breezy, AM-style pop from a native Mississippian turned Angeleno with a knack for hooky pop melodies. Dent’s fifth album is brightened by upbeat ’70s guitar and electric keyboard sounds and ear-catching arrangements that cushion his earnest tenor. In a time of high anxiety, balmy tracks such as “Bungalow Heaven” (“I can’t wait to grow old here”), “L.A. River,” the almost topical “Bless Your Heart” and ingratiating summer confection “Sea Salt + Caramel” offer a sweet antidote. RIYL the Morning Yells, Andrew Gold, Beach Boys. dentmay.com

GORDON KOANG, Unity(Music in Exile/

Light in the Attic): HHH½ Gracefully plying the unwieldy, box-like thom, South Sudan’s “King of Music” and percussionist cousin Paul Biel deliver genuine uplift with their 11th album — their first since seeking asylum in Australia when civil war exploded in South Sudan in 2013. Blind since birth, Koang sends money back to his family, a situation addressed on the hopeful “Te Ke Mi Thile Ji Kuoth Nhial (We Don’t Have a Problem With Anyone).” Themes of peace and tolerance define this cheery set, energized by Australian rock musicians whose supportive brio mostly offsets their lack of finesse with the central African rhythms driving tracks such as “South Sudan” and infectious anthem “Stand Up (Clap Your Hands).” gordonkoang.bandcamp.com

CIDNY BULLENS, Walkin’ Through This

World (self-released): HHHH Bullens’ ninth solo album traces his transgender journey from androgynously styled, Grammynominated pop-rocker Cindy to gritty-voiced Cidny, a transition that previously inspired his one-person show “Somewhere Between: Not an Ordinary Life.” Handsomely co-produced with Ray Kennedy — sonically, the album sounds like a lost Lucinda classic, flecked with slide and 12-string guitars and harmonies from guests including Rodney Crowell, Mary Gauthier, and Bullens’ daughter Reid — melodic standouts such as “Purgatory Road,” “Sugartown” and “The Gender Line” translate that emotionally complex source material into universally relatable hopes and desires. cidnybullens.com

RB MORRIS, GoingBacktotheSky

(Singular): HHH½ Playwright, poet, producer, songwriter, actor, editor: the numerous hats the Knoxville Renaissance man’s worn throughout his respected career shaped his vision and the 14 narratives he spins here with atmospheric support from guitarist/co-producer Bo Ramsey, violinist David Mansfield and harmonica ace Mickey Raphael. Inviting melodies and lyrics braided with metaphor and sly humor make for a satisfying musical journey, particularly if you’ve a taste for Hayes Carll, Malcolm Holcombe and Mickey Newbury. Highlights: “Red Sky,” “Missouri River Hat Blowing Incident,” the Morris-Ramsey co-write “Montana Moon” (“We’re rolling slow Dustbo, running on faith and fumes/ Looking for somewhere, anywhere, got to be something soon”). RBMorris.com

RUTH ORHIUNU, …They’llSayI’mTalking

(self-released): HH½ The UK soul singer’s debut EP is uneven but it’s clear she has a lot to say, and a compellingly sultry voice with which to make herself heard. Her ex-texting neediness threatens to overwhelm the pensive hip-hop rhythms of “Sometimes,” where she asks hard questions (“Who do we become when we forget ourselves”) before making excuses for herself (“I let my demons take me out sometimes/ I always come back to my senses in the end”). She strikes a steadier balance with “Loving Goes Down” and “Love Is Blind,” slow-burn jams that occasionally recall Soul II Soul. ruthorhiunu.bandcamp.com