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Business

‘It’s Magic What We Do.’ Film Theaters Get Starry-Eyed As soon as Extra.

Cinemark, for example, lost $ 208 million in the first quarter of 2021. “However, I am pleased to announce that we are now actively on the recovery path,” said the company’s CEO, Mark Zoradi, during a call for earnings.

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May 19, 2021, 2:36 p.m. ET

There are also reasons for moviegoers to be enthusiastic. “Fast and Furious 9” debuts on June 25th. (It opens in China this weekend.) The musical “In the Heights,” adapted from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway show, opens on June 11th. Marvel’s “Black Widow” will be released on July 9th, while Disney’s “Jungle Cruise” will open on July 30th. (Both will also be available immediately on Disney + for an additional charge, a detail that was not included in Wednesday’s presentation.)

According to the exhibition research company National Research Group, around 70 percent of moviegoers will be happy to return to the theater from Monday. The box office for April was $ 190 million, up 300 percent since February. This is a welcome relief for the South African director Neill Blomkamp, ​​whose new horror film “Demonic” from the indie outfit IFC will not be released until the end of August.

“I enjoy that,” he said in a video message. “I want people to be scared in a darkened theater.”

One benefit of the pandemic was a more flexible approach to movie release. For years, exhibitors demanded around 72 to 90 days of exclusive theater exhibition before a film could be made available via a streaming service or premium video on demand. The pandemic has collapsed and the new window of exclusivity is 45 days.

For Ms. Taylor, who joined Alamo in late April 2020 after more than two years as President and Chief Operating Officer of United Planet Fitness Partners, the outdated relationship between the theater chains and the studios surprised herself even during a pandemic.

“Studios 1,000 percent control the product,” she said. “And as an exhibitionist, you have no control. It’s really difficult. “

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Entertainment

Assessment: Reveling within the Faucet Magic of Ayodele Casel

Generosity is an overlooked virtue of a dancer, but shouldn’t it be as valuable as raw talent? It enlivens a stage where a performer is dancing, not only for the audience but also for those who share it. I’ve always known that Ayodele Casel, a tap dancer and choreographer of exceptional depth, was that type of artist, but it took a pandemic to drive her home. Who can bring the stage to life like Casel? And who can bring a virtual work to life as if you were there in person? She is amazing.

“Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic” is a solemn portrayal of artistic encounters: how after a lost year they stay exactly where you left them.

Polished in look and spontaneous to the touch, this virtual production, presented by the Joyce Theater, focuses on Casel who surrounds herself with a variety of staff including modern day choreographer Ronald K. Brown, jazz musician Arturo O’Farrill and the drummer Senfu Stoney. It is a journey – of music and dance – on which Casel brings musicality and nimble feet to every stop along the way.

Directed by Torya Beard, who keeps the show moving wonderfully while recognizing the right spots to slow down and pause, “Chasing Magic” was shot in Kurt by Kurt Csolak, a tap dancer and filmmaker. There is no sad sentimentality that has shaped other virtual presentations here and elsewhere. The theater has never looked so fresh and promising.

The program unfolds in chapters, starting with “gratitude”. Here Casel reveals a premiere with Annastasia Victory on the piano, “Ain’t Nothin ‘Like It”. At first we see Casel’s upper body and only hear soft knocking and brushing on the wooden board; but soon the camera pans to show her whole body – small but strong, sharp and yet fluid.

Casel is more than a container of sounds, as articulated as her emphatic feet; As the music gains momentum and momentum, it uses its entire self – a self full of vibrations – to soften and deepen the pitch and tone.

As we step into the landscapes of “Friendship” and “Joy” there are older works including two collaborations with tap dancer Anthony Morigerato that include recordings of “Fly Me to the Moon” and “Cheek to Cheek”. If you watch the dancers together, you will see two highly sensitive instruments in play. Morigerato jumps lightly across the floor with stocky grace in footwork that braids and opens his feet; In “Fly Me” it culminates in a solo with a devilish twist. While Casel fixed on his feet with joy. She can’t stop smiling, but then again, she never stops smiling. That’s the way it is. And it’s contagious.

Two other dancers, Naomi Funaki and John Manzari, play with Casel and Morigerato in a bubbly quartet playing O’Farrill’s arrangement of “Caravan”: it’s like watching the most incredible band – tight enough to play loosely. But the connection between O’Farrill’s music and Casel’s dance, as seen on her 2019 Joyce debut, is the next level. In “Chasing Magic” they meet again, first for a short conversation in which they talk about what it is like when they perform together.

“When I think of magical moments,” says Casel, “it’s like this complete belief and trust that everything that will be will be.”

In “The Sandbox”, in which O’Farrill plays the piano and Casel dances in front of him, the balance between groove and lightness becomes almost feverish as the tempo of both becomes faster and Casel’s dance takes on a blistering intensity. Meanwhile, the camera moves around them, showing different angles and perspectives of the theater itself – revealing it and also worships it as a container of magic.

As the program progresses, Casel opens the stage to more guests, including Brown, a choreographer known for his poetic amalgamation of contemporary dance moves rooted in African traditions, including West African and Afro-Cuban dance. In “Meeting Place: Draft 1” Brown in head-to-toe white including his sneakers and Casel – later together with Funaki and Manzari – seem to absorb and energize parts of each other while they dance, his body sways and sways like waves made of silk. It is lineage and rhythm, the past and the present that come together in what one hopes will be the beginning of a greater collaboration.

In “The Magic,” singer-songwriter Crystal Monee Hall plays the theme song while the camera flashes at all of the cast and finally the dancers, including Amanda Castro, are spread across the stage for a rousing, joyful finale that spices up the floor with brisk knocks in unison.

When it’s all over, you don’t know exactly what happened: Casel’s theater brand feels real even from a distance. She leaves a farewell note as an homage to all artists who danced in basements, corners of a room, garages, on roofs, 2 x 4 and 4 x 4 pieces of wood. We are superheroes. Pa’lante! Typing is magic. “

And Casel too. Did you know your picture will be on a stamp this summer? Get to know you. She doesn’t have to chase magic. It chases them.

Ayodele Casel: Chasing Magic

Until April 21st on JoyceStream; joyce.org.

Categories
Business

Black girls should make their very own magic with their funds

andresr | E + | Getty Images

“Black Girl Magic” is a movement popularized in 2013 by CaShawn Thompson. The idea that was born to celebrate the beauty, strength, and resilience of black women quickly caught on.

How could it not be since we’ve seen incredible contributions from black women to American culture (actress Tracee Ellis Ross), society (Vice President Kamala Harris) and the workforce (Mellody Hobson, President / Co-CEO of Ariel Investments)? And of course, young poet Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb” was a new example of this magic. Her performance was so breathtaking that it fascinated a nation and represented hope, change and the promise of a better America.

Why does America continue to fail because of black women, especially opportunities to improve our economic position?

We know all too well that the black and white wage differentials increase as wage inequality increases. By then, black women in the US are getting an average of 38% less than white men and 21% less than white women, according to a recent report by Lean In.

More of Invest in you:
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Black leaders offer several important steps to fill the racial wealth gap

As black women continue to endure the excruciatingly slow pace of change, I encourage us all to continue down the same path of creating our own magic with our finances and our lives. Let us be confident that we are managing the money under our control. Let us selectively determine how we use our full time and resource capacity and direct this energy towards our goals and dreams. Let us take possession of our own lives, our voices, and our joy.

If we continue to be “boss”, let this mantra extend to how we respect and indulge money and know its power.

Beyonce said it best: “Always be gracious, the best vengeance is your paper.”

Yes, black women have more barriers than most when it comes to getting what is due and we have to make more sacrifices than most when it comes to stretching what we have.

The key is to find ways to get these assets up and running. This means that you have to build up financial buffers across your checking, savings, investment and retirement accounts and formulate a strong short-term and long-term safety net that encompasses your life and even that of future generations.

Also, you need to know where the money is and why it is there.

  • Checking account: Have enough to cover the cost of a month’s expense plus the cost of an unexpected expense (threshold of $ 1,000).
  • Saving account: Build up to at least six months of living expenses. Also use this account to raise funds for annual spending goals, vacation, down payment for a car, stove replacement, and more.
  • Investment account: Invest cash from every paycheck and with lucky breaks to build that asset for long term goals, retirement, and wealth transfers. Live off the interest and dividends in retirement and pay low capital gain rates when you sell your cherished assets.
  • Qualified retirement account (employer-based): Take advantage of the maximum amount allowed annually by the IRS ($ 19,500 in 2021). If you are 50 years or older add an additional $ 6,500. Decide whether you want to contribute deferred tax (traditional) or after tax (Roth) or a combination of both.
  • Individual retirement account: Also, if you fall below the IRS Gross Adjusted Income for IRAs, you can save up to $ 6,000 or $ 7,000 if you are 50 years or older.

Let’s not stop there. These assets aren’t the only way to generate income. Why not add real estate, business property, and intellectual property (e.g. books, licenses, etc.) to your portfolio? Black women are the queens of the hustle and bustle and getting things done. Pass that energy on to some assets that can and should work for you on time and overtime.

Build your finance squad

Klaus Vedfelt | DigitalVision | Getty Images

Reject any notion that you can “do badly all by yourself” and build your finance squad. The right team of financial professionals hired by you can take care of you by growing and protecting your wealth.

With that in mind, find a certified financial planner (look for fee-only trustees), tax advisor (CPAs and EAs), and an estate planner to work closely with you to help you achieve your life and financial goals.

When was the last time you talked about finances with your partner, children, parents, or even yourself?

Most companies hold staff meetings to discuss goals, objectives, and performance. Why shouldn’t you do the same with your own financial situation?

Open conversations about money eliminate the fear, obligation, and guilt associated with your financial decisions.

Tireless energy and work performance do nothing if there is no plan to convert our assets into a residual income.

Lazetta Braxton

Co-Founder and Co-CEO of 2050 Wealth Partners

The money “FOG” blocks healthy beliefs about money. It slows the progress necessary to increase, maintain and distribute wealth, to sustain the life a woman desires for herself as well as for those she loves and supports.

If you take the time to review your bank accounts and debt balances, income streams and assets, and set goals for where you and your family want to be, you can be sure you’re staying on the right track.

The conversations will also enable all generations to understand the basic principles of wealth creation and how they will support you all at different stages of life. Conversations also help set the terms of engagement and avoid financial sabotage in the family by setting boundaries and expectations about the sharing and use of money.

We have to think about where we are going to put all this extra money. Let’s take some time out for the grind culture and the sideline. Tireless energy and work performance do nothing if there is no plan to convert our assets into a residual income.

As we have just completed Black History Month, celebrating International Women’s Day, and ushering in Women’s History Month, I continue to indulge in the achievements of black women and hold space for the incredible journey that we have yet to come.

While we continue to build our allies, share our experiences, and uncover these startling economic realities, there is still much to be done. But the echo chamber gets louder. Keep using your platforms and speaking your truth. Make your own black girl money magic.

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