Dancing Shoes

New York choreographer Doug Elkins, after a month-long residency at the Lobero as part of DANCEworks 10th anniversary, put on a fan-tastic 40 minute performance Kintsugi as the culmination of his creative stay in our Eden by the Beach.

The 10-year-old company’s six talented dancers – Carolyn Cryer, Alexander Does, Cori Marquis, Donnell Oakley, Eric Parra and Elias Rosa – cavorted across the stage, using bright-red fans to add great expression to the inventive show, part of the innovative collaboration between Dianne Vapnek‘s SUMMERDANCE Santa Barbara and the Lobero Theatre Foundation.

For the second half, eight former resident choreographers – Adam Barruch, Larry Keigwin, Mark Dendy, Nicole Diaz, Doug Varone, Jason Cianciulli, William Briscoe, and Brian Brooks – performed an eclectic selection of five-minute works following a video by David Bazemore to celebrate the DANCEworks decade.

Play It Forward

The last time I saw Equus playwright Peter Shaffer’s delightful play Lettice and Lovage, itwas at Broadway’s Ethel Barrymore Theatre 28 years ago with the incomparable actresses Maggie Smith and Margaret Tyzack.

Clearly, not much has changed when local theater group Drama Dogs presented the comedy at the Center Stage Theater featuring the dynamic duo of E. Bonnie Lewis and Meredith McMinn.

The entertaining production, ably directed by Ken Gilbert, tells the tale of a fiery alliance between two British women driven by the same aesthetic, a total distaste for modern architecture.

An absolute delight, though the use of scripts by the two principals was distracting.

On the House

Despite being sold out in 48 hours, the Great Gatsby gala at Bellosguardo, the former estate of copper heiress Huguette Clark, next month now has a waiting list of more than 1,000 wanting $1,500 tickets to catch a glimpse of the imposing oceanside estate, I’m reliably informed.

“We are grateful the community has responded so loud and clear that they really want Bellosguardo as an art and cultural venue for our future,” says event co-chair Sandi Nicholson.

Other events planned for the future include a $1,500 ticket lunch and a three-hour tour of the 24-acre estate on December 5 with Bill Dedman, New York Times best-selling author of the book Empty Mansions, a dinner party in the baronial dining room, and a Speakeasy-style bash in the Carriage House.

An Easter egg hunt, a July 4 celebration, and a plein-air artist picnic on the grounds overlooking the Pacific are also being scheduled.

Check out www.bellosguardo.org