LA renames César Chávez Day, Channel Islands bald eagles make a comeback, State of ballet in LA— Afternoon Edition

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Today on the LA Report, Los Angeles officially renamed Cesar Chavez Day following abuse

allegations against the Latino labor icon.

After disappearing from SoCal, the bald eagle population in the Channel Islands is now

growing strong.

And we'll check in on the state of ballet following actor Timothy Chalamet's controversial

comments.

It's Thursday, March 19.

I'm Nere Thamoreno, and you're listening to the LA Reports after new in addition from

LAS News.

Cesar Chavez Day in LA has been officially renamed to Farmworkers Day, which is March 31st

or the last Monday of each March.

Mayor Karen Bass signed the proclamation this morning and says she spoke with the Chavez

family who support the move.

So I want us to remember that while we go through this difficult period.

The flag and the struggle of the Farmworkers continues on, and we will honor that.

That audio is from our media partner, CBS LA.

This is in response to a New York Times report alleging that Chavez sexually abused young

women and minors for years.

Bass also said that the city is considering other changes, including plans to rename streets

and buildings.

LA County is expected to take similar action with supervisor Hilda Salisein, she'll introduce

a motion on Tuesday.

Big Bear's famous bald eagles are often in the spotlight, but they're not the only

wild nests in so-cal capturing human attention.

There are more than 20 bald eagle nests on the Channel Islands clinging to cliffs and

tree-like bushes from Catalina to Santa Cruz.

Brian Huggins is with the Institute for Wildlife Studies.

He says the nonprofit reintroduced eagles to the islands after the population dwindled

as a result of DDT pesticide pollution.

There's this great success story of nature coming back, and it's happening really close

to one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the world, and that's kind of cool.

He says there were no bald eagles left in so-cal several decades ago, but now the Institute

estimates 60 birds live across the Channel Islands, with as many as two dozen eagles leaving

the nests each year.

Coming up, how local ballet and opera companies are embracing the spotlight following Timothy

Chalamet's comments, stick around.

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The passionate reaction sparked by actor Timothy Chalamet's dismissive comments about

ballet and opera came to a head at the Oscars over the weekend with a joke from host Conan

O'Brien.

Security is extremely tight tonight.

I'm told there's concerns about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities.

And a performance by world renowned ballet dancer Misty Copeland who grew up here in Los

Angeles.

That appearance was planned before Chalamet's comments went viral, but it got us here

at LA is thinking, what's the state of ballet in LA right now?

LA is producer Monica Bushman joins us now to discuss.

So Monica, who did you talk to here in LA?

I talked to the executive director of the 20-year-old Los Angeles Ballet, Julia Rivera,

and also Lincoln Jones, the founder and artistic director of American Contemporary Ballet,

which he founded here 15 years ago.

And Rivera said she would describe the state of ballet in LA as appreciated, valued, and

growing.

The company received its first seven-figure gift from an individual donor just last season.

She said the more ballet that is offered in LA, the more audiences want.

And she said it is a challenge always to make sure the organization is funded sufficiently.

It's a nonprofit and a lack of funding for the arts we know is an issue.

At American Contemporary Ballet, Lincoln Jones said they have people coming from all over

to see what they're doing because it's unique.

And it's trying to bring ballet from the 19th century, which most people are familiar

with, to the 21st.

One thing is they don't perform in theaters.

They use unconventional spaces like sound stages instead.

So the audience is much closer to the dancers.

And he explained it as sort of like ballet in IMAX.

And if people want to go see the ballet here in LA, what should they know?

American Contemporary Ballet has performances of a pair of Balanchine Ballets downtown this

weekend, actually, today through Saturday.

And next Thursday through Saturday also.

And Balanchine is from George Balanchine, who has considered the foremost contemporary

ballet choreographer.

And Los Angeles Ballet has performances of Giselle, beginning April 30th at the Amundsen

Theatre Downtown.

That's a ballet from the 1800s.

Also starting in June, the Music Center is hosting the New York City Ballet for the

first time in 20 years.

And they are offering a 20% discount on tickets with the code Chalamet as a nod to the controversy.

That's LA is producer Monica Bushman.

Monica, thank you.

Yeah.

Thanks for listening to the LA Report.

I'm Nédei de Moreno.

This podcast is produced with help from Jillian Moran Perez.

Our engineer is Donald Bass.

LAest and the Moth are joining forces for a new live show and you have two chances to

see it.

Come see the globally beloved storytelling institution live on stage in downtown LA at

the Orphium Theatre, and in Orange County at the Irvine Barclay Theatre.

The Moth main stage shows are on Wednesday, April 15th in LA, and Thursday, April 16th

in Orange County.

That's two chances to experience the Moth Live.

Get tickets now at laest.com slash events.