AJ Four Ways:
Full View (by category) | Text Only (by date) | Text (by category) | headlines only
DANCE
Montreal Metro Bans Ballet Company’s Ad, Saying It Could Incite Violence
"The provocative image of dancer Vanesa Garcia-Ribala Montoya striking a pose, covered in blood with a nail through her foot, was chosen to advertise [Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal's] performance of Stabat Mater, set to a score by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi." … [Read More...]
Bolshoi Says Cancelled Nureyev Ballet Will Premiere In December
Performances of the new biographical work were abruptly called off just a couple of days before the scheduled premiere on July 11 - allegedly, though not officially, because the piece would have violated Russia's notorious anti-gay "propaganda" law. Meanwhile, the ballet's creator, avant-garde stage director Kirill Serebrennikov, is under house arrest on unrelated charges, and the premiere may proceed without him. … [Read More...]
Now That He’s In A Big Movie, Is Sergei Polunin Going To Give Up Ballet For Acting? Naah
"A few months ago, I was sure that I was going to stop dancing to become a good actor. But then when I was by myself for a week, I asked myself, What are you doing? You have that talent. Use it to the fullest. And if I can use that talent as well as acting, that's magical to do both. Would I be happy just to be an actor? I don't think I would." … [Read More...]
Half A Dozen Black Women Who Paved The Way For Postmodern Dance Today
"We're highlighting some of the influential black women who came before, and have been changing the game in the downtown dance scene for almost four decades. They continue to thrive and survive, although in [one case], posthumously. As young dancemakers, we have to know the shoulders on which we stand." … [Read More...]
How Hull Became Britain’s Ballet Talent Engine
Skip back a generation or two, and those to have emerged from other Hull dance schools include former Royal Ballet principal Mark Silver and ex-Birmingham Royal Ballet principal Robert Parker. Hull seems to have a particularly good record with male dancers. … [Read More...]
IDEAS
Do You See Yourself As A Visual Learner Or An Auditory Learner? Turns Out There’s Little Scientific Evidence For Either
"The idea that people have different styles of learning - that the visually inclined do best by seeing new information, for example, or others by hearing it - has been around since the 1950s, and recent research suggests it's still widely believed by teachers and laypeople alike. But is there scientific evidence that learning styles exist? 'The short answer is no,' says Daniel Willingham, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville." … [Read More...]
What Does It Mean To Change As A Person?
"Every worldly example of continued personal identity involves tremendous transformations – whether it is developing language, sociality or morals; discovering a hidden passion; coming out of our closets; changing careers; falling in or out of love; growing or finding a family. Such dynamism does not throw our identities into question; instead, these changes represent some of the most significant aspects of our selves." … [Read More...]
What Can We Learn From The Progress Of Civilization?
"The news here is that the lives of most of our progenitors were better than we think. We’re flattering ourselves by believing that their existence was so grim and that our modern, civilized one is, by comparison, so great. Still, we are where we are, and we live the way we live, and it’s possible to wonder whether any of this illuminating knowledge about our hunter-gatherer ancestors can be useful to us." … [Read More...]
One Thing Futurists Don’t Challenge In Projecting The Future (And Maybe They Should?)
No matter how radical these predictions are, they tend to take the long-term durability of capitalism utterly for granted: Responding to decades of stagnating wages and sliding labor force participation, the Institute for the Future’s report “10 Strategies for a Workable Future” (which is in many ways quite sharp and informative) acknowledges deep problems with our current labor ecosystem and digs into important issues of benefits, collective bargaining, and education. But it doesn’t even consider the idea that the challenges it identifies are inherent to a system whose primary objective and value is capital accumulation, not equity and the common good. … [Read More...]
How ‘Anglo-Saxon’ Became The Term For So Many Of France’s Bêtes Noires
Le monde anglo-saxon. Le modèle anglo-saxon. Le capitalisme anglo-saxon. L'hégémonie anglo-saxonne. You hear and read the term more and more in France these days, almost always for something opposed to the way the French do things and usually for something undesirable or worse. Yet before the mid-19th century, "anglo-saxon" was used in France only to refer to pre-Norman Conquest England. Emile Chabal lays out how the word went from historical designation to disparaging epithet. (It's not really about English-speakers at all.) … [Read More...]
ISSUES
EU Ranks Creative Cities. Edinburgh Tops List
"Selected cities in 28 European Union (EU) countries plus Norway and Switzerland have been ranked in a new report and online tool called the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor. It uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative studies to give a comparative assessment of the cities’ levels of engagement with culture and creativity." … [Read More...]
Seattle Is The Fastest-Growing City In America. Its Arts Community Is Struggling To Keep Up
For decades, Seattle has been a good arts town, with theatres, dance, music and visual artists prospering in a healthy arts scene. But rising rents, a huge influx of new residents and a changing culture are changing the city's culture. … [Read More...]
How To Fix New York’s Much-Debated Cultural Plan? Here Are Some Ideas
We need a cultural plan matching the scale of the crisis, proposing bold, courageous action — but Mayor de Blasio’s “CreateNYC” Cultural Plan disappoints, with its cosmetic and feel-good narrative. Where’s the activist mayor who pledged to fight Albany so that New York City could collect higher income taxes? Where are the City Council members who faced arrest protesting the 2015 expiration of the rent laws? … [Read More...]
University Of North Carolina School Of The Arts Unveils Plan For City Of Arts
“Here in the ‘City of Arts and Innovation,’ I’d like to see UNCSA lead the branding and development of a vibrant ‘Arts Quarter’ to complement what Wake Forest University has done so brilliantly and beautifully in the city’s Innovation Quarter,” he said. … [Read More...]
Why We Need Artists In Politics Now More Than Ever
"If there was ever a time that the world needed artists, it is now. We need their radical ideas, visions, and perspectives in society. ... The world [can] only be changed by those willing and able to conceive of reality in a holistic and intuitive manner." Hans Ulrich Obrist, artistic director of the Serpentine Galleries in London, sounds the call, with reference to artists from Joseph Beuys and John Latham to Theaster Gates and Tania Bruguera to Edi Rama, they mayor who had the dingy old buildings of Tirana, Albania repainted in bright colors and transformed the mood of the city. … [Read More...]
MEDIA
Industry Report Says Exodus From Pay TV Services Are Accelerating…
While “virtual multichannel video programming distributors” like Hulu, YouTube TV and Sling TV are poised to grow, they’ll significantly cannibalize the existing base of traditional pay-TV customers, according to RBC’s analysis. About 15% of the addressable market for “vMVPDs” will come from legacy cable and satellite subs, with 10% from “cord-never” broadband-only households. … [Read More...]
The Movie ‘In & Out’ Predicted The Progress Of Gay Rights 20 Years Ago…
Alyssa Rosenberg: "In & Out feels both like a slightly embarrassing artifact of its time and an ultimately correct argument for how (lots if not all of) America would change in the decades since its release." On the other hand, "if [the movie] were released today, it would be drowned in an actual flood of think pieces." … [Read More...]
‘Mother!’ – What Does It Mean? Its Director And Stars Explain Hollywood’s Weirdest Movie In Years…
Melena Ryzik talks to Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, and Darren Aronofsky. And no, they don't agree on what the film means, or even necessarily what it's about. … [Read More...]
‘Mother!’ – Darren Aronofsky Tells How He Made This Strange Film (And Got Hollywood To Let Him Do It)…
"Say what you will about Darren Aronofsky, but the guy knows how to get a reaction out of people. ... We caught up with Aronofsky a few months before the film's premiere, while its contents were still top secret, to talk about its allegorical meaning, its startlingly unusual use of Kristen Wiig, and the surprising difficulty of its postproduction process." (Warning: spoilers included.) … [Read More...]
For All The Chaos In Venezuela, Its Cinema Is Thriving (For Now)…
"La Soledad is the latest in a glut of Venezuelan films telling unflinching, complex stories of life in the troubled Andean nation. It might seem surprising, given the increasingly authoritarian regime of Nicolás Maduro, that these films have often benefitted from state funding. ... A major reconfiguration came in 2005 with a reform to the country's national cinematography law. This dictated quotas for the proportion of Venezuelan films in theatres, initiated a tax on cinemas and distributors to fund Venezuelan film-makers and granted tax exemptions for private-sector support of Venezuelan films. Since the new law came into effect, more and more Venezuelans have been going to cinemas: a record 4.2m did so in 2014." … [Read More...]
MUSIC
Opera Takes Over Philadelphia – And It’s A Hit
"Opera Philadelphia has been planning this for a couple of years: Now, the O17 festival has begun, turning the city into a giant opera stage for 12 days. The company is striking a huge blow for the idea that arts organizations do better to add new, exciting things than to tread with financial caution. The festival is one of the most enjoyable additions to the fall calendar in years; it’s attracting opera fans from all over; and so far, it looks like a success." … [Read More...]
What London’s Philharmonia Orchestra Learned With Its Virtual Reality Project
"Creatively, VR felt like a natural progression for us, and I believe it’s a fantastic medium for orchestral music. 2D video and stereo audio can struggle to convey the complex dynamics and visceral energy of a live symphony orchestra. This could be why livestreaming orchestral performances to cinemas has not had the widespread success enjoyed by theatre and opera companies. An orchestra just comes across as too flat, with the players at risk of looking detached and remote from the viewer." … [Read More...]
Washington National Opera Lands A Star General Director
It is indeed a major step for Washington; Timothy O’Leary is one of opera’s leading lights. Having taken over in St. Louis when he was only 33, he has led that company — one of America’s best summer festivals — with notable strength, at once building its artistic profile with an interesting array of work and securing its finances. … [Read More...]
English National Opera’s ‘Rescue’ CEO To Step Down Early
"The former McKinsey management consultant [Cressida Pollock] took over running of the crisis-hit company in September 2015 after Arts Council England placed it in special measures and demanded the recruitment of a leader who would turn the business around. … [Read More...]
How The National Symphony’s New Music Director Got Through What Should Have Been, But Wasn’t, The Busiest Summer Of His Career
"He and his wife called a taxi to get him to his orchestra engagement. But when the taxi pulled up to deliver him to the theater, he couldn't get out of the car. He had to be taken away by ambulance. 'You have to be operated on within 72 hours,' the doctor told him." Anne Midgette writes about how Gianandrea Noseda coped with an enforced 50-day break due to a herniated disc. … [Read More...]