Still blazing after all these years: Mel Brooks at 100

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The director of The Producers hits his century as a uniquely beloved entertainer who embodies his conviction that ‘comedy is the opposite of death’ Mel Brooks’ story is that of the US and Jews and American Jewish comedy. He was born on the kitchen table of a tenement in Brooklyn a century ago in the same month Marilyn Monroe made her own entrance on the opposite coast. The son of European immigrants, Brooks was brought up by his mother after his father died when Melvin was just two years old. He was a small, sickly child and the youngest of four brothers, perhaps an explanation for an almost pathological desire for attention. In the words of his colleague Larry Gelbart : “Mel thought when he got slapped in the ass by the doctor who delivered him that was applause, and he has not stopped performing since.” In his youth, Brooks’ preferred method of making a noise was playing the drums and he was actually taught the instrument by Buddy Rich. Neither could possibly have known at the time t...
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Dance Revolutionaries review – performers dance like nobody’s watching

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This two-part homage to dance greats Robert Cohan and Kenneth MacMillan captures the intimacy of live performance

Here is a two-part documentary that pays homage to dance greats Robert Cohan and Kenneth MacMillan. Directed by David Stewart, Dance Revolutionaries essentially presents two pieces performed by dancers from the Yorke Dance Project and the Royal Ballet, and with the noble intention of making modern dance immersive and accessible.

The first part, Portraits, is choreographed by Cohan (who died in 2021) and aims to “explore life’s private moments” in six solo performances created in collaboration with its cast. In theory, you’d think a dance film would fail to capture the intimacy of a live performance, but somehow Portraits accentuates it; the uninhibited passion of the dancers and lack of direct performance to the camera make it borderline voyeuristic. Each dance is set in a public but desolate place, from office buildings, and a seafront to a graffiti-scrawled tunnel, creating a sense of vulnerability and familiarity. You feel you are peeking in on an individual’s emotional turmoil that can only be expressed through dance, and it’s hard to look away.

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