Author Archives: Skye Mayring

The familiar pounding of six Sabar drums drew nearly every villager to a pulsing circle of dancers. Small children rushed to the center of the circle, eagerly starting the first dance performance of the evening. Typically, Sabar, a Senegalese dance event, showcases one gender through traditional dance. But that particular night featured the modern dance […]

Diana Ross “Blue” MOTOWN RECORDS Most mothers soothe their newborns to sleep with nursery rhymes or seemingly innate lullaby standards. In 1971, just months after leaving The Supremes, Diana Ross lulled her month-old Rhonda to dreamland by singing light-hearted versions of songs about domestic violence, depression and betrayal popularized by Billie Holiday. “Blue,” the ultra-jazzy […]

Chad Stevens adjusts the harness connecting him to his inexperienced student and conducts yet another examination of the equipment that will save two lives in the next few minutes. The hand on his altimeter points to 12,000 feet as the faces surrounding him vacillate between fear and elation. Stevens points to the airplane window and, […]

Shoveling horse manure in Los Feliz does not typically serve as a gateway into movie stardom, unless your name is Tab Hunter, the Warner Bros.’ strategically devised heartthrob of the 1950s. Hunter’s affinity for horses herded him into the company of Hollywood influentials who frequented the stables for studio business, steering Hunter through the capricious […]

With eight reporters on the scene, the Daily Bruin fulfills its yearly duty and offers to everyone who was (all 60,000) and wasn’t there the fourth annual Coachella diary. 2:45 p.m. As I stand near the back of the Sahara Tent (the “dance tent,” as those giant disco balls prove), feeling every bit of myself […]