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Cuban Ballet: A Paradise Of Sorts, Trapped In Limbo The school of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba "is now world-famous, gathering its students from the island's rural poor and urban delinquent," and its training "is also world-class." But while ballet is "a national entertainment" in Cuba, the country's "political, economic and cultural limbo" means its astounding dancers have very few choices. - The Guardian (UK) 02/08/10

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Canada's National Ballet Reschedules To Avert Kirov Clash "After discussions with the Sony [Centre] and attempts to have Toronto city hall officials intervene, the ballet company created a later slot for its own Russian program," though it still worries that the Kirov's visit in March of next year will be a drain on its box office. - Toronto Star 02/09/10

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Ohad Naharin's Counsel To Critics "Don't let a point of reference prevent you from having a moment of a fresh new experience," he advises. And: "Connect to physical pleasures of life." - Dance Magazine 02/10

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Kirov In Conflict With Canada's National Ballet "This feels like a Mack truck falling out of the sky and hitting us," says Kevin Garland, executive director of the National Ballet of Canada. "It's great to have the Kirov coming to Toronto, but the timing couldn't be worse for us, and we didn't hear anything about it in time for us to plan accordingly." - Toronto Star 02/08/10

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How DC-Area Arts Groups Weathered The Storm "Many of the city's museums and theaters went dark over the weekend" as the mammoth snowstorm struck, but the Newseum remained open, and "despite the snowdrifts and lack of public transportation, the show did go on at a few area venues." So did some rehearsals. - Washington Post 02/09/10

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Brooklyn Cultural District Construction To Begin "The projects include the long-awaited new building for Theatre for a New Audience; a renovation of the Strand Theater building; [and] a third theater venue for BAM.... But the nascent arts neighborhood has had so many setbacks, it's easy to question whether these projects will be completed as scheduled, especially during a major recession." - Crain's New York Business 02/07/10

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The USA's Sixty Biggest Donors Arts givers in 2009's top 10: Michael Bloomberg (No. 4), Louise Dieterle Nippert (No. 5) and Eli and Edythe Broad (No. 7). - Slate 02/05/10

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Obama Names Chuck Close, Jhumpa Lahiri To Arts Panel Newly appointed to the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, Chuck Close and Jhumpa Lahiri "will become the first visual artist and writer on an advisory panel weighted with actors and business people." - Los Angeles Times 02/05/10

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Why 3-D Movies Make Some Viewers Queasy "The problem, studies indicate, is that the films often cause unnatural eye movements. ... [A] 3-D object flying off the screen causes sensory conflict. The eyes rotate inward to follow it, but they must also maintain a fixed focus on the display surface." - The New York Times 02/09/10

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Tea Party Convention: Altman's Nashville Come To Life? The populist platform embraced by the presidential candidate in Robert Altman's 1975 movie "included forbidding lawyers from serving in Congress ('Did you ever ask a lawyer the time of day? He told you how to make a watch, didn't he?'), taking on oil companies, abolishing the Electoral College and eliminating farm subsidies." - Los Angeles Times 02/07/10

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MTV Officially Isn't 'Music Television' Anymore With a redesigned logo unveiled Monday, "[t]he network -- known more for its scripted reality show programming these days than the music videos and industry it revolutionized -- dropped the 'Music Television' tagline from the Frank Olinsky-designed original." - TheWrap 02/08/10

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Dante's Inferno, The Video Game "There is no reason this game could not be set in any of the hundreds or thousands of generic hells that have hosted video games over the years. What Electronic Arts has done, quite transparently, is appropriate Dante's brand to use as a light marketing skin on top of the God of War clone the company so clearly wanted to make." - The New York Times 02/09/10

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Three Reasons Film Forum Survived As Others Failed "The largest is the creative freedom allowed by nonprofit status. Another is Film Forum's rigorous selection process. ... And then there is the emphasis on marketing." - Wall Street Journal 02/09/10

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Readers' Tastes Have Been (What's This?) Underestimated "I would have hypothesized that there are two basic strategies for making the most-e-mailed list. One, which I've happily employed, is to write anything about sex. The other, which I'm still working on, is to write an article headlined: 'How Your Pet's Diet Threatens Your Marriage, and Why It's Bush's Fault.'" Not so, researchers have found. - The New York Times 02/09/10

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At Berklee, Prodigy With Autism Becomes Serious Musician "[A]fter years of specialized therapies and dietary changes, [Matt] Savage navigates a daily maze of classes, practice sessions, homework assignments, and dorm life at Berklee," and he fits in performances when he can. "[T]he Matt Savage story is rapidly evolving from youthful prodigy with a disability to seasoned performer with a bright future." - Boston Globe 02/09/10

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Long-Lost Prokofiev Music Gets New York Premiere "When it comes to the music of Prokofiev, pianist and Yale University professor Boris Berman is the go-to guy. He's recorded the composer's complete piano works, written a book about his sonatas and founded the Prokofiev Society of America. Still, until recently, Berman had never seen or heard Music for Athletic Exercises." - NPR 02/09/10

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Maestro Is Pittsburgh's Ambassador To Foreign Businesses "When Pittsburgh tries to lure a foreign company, it often turns to maestro Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra to close the deal. ... For foreign executives, the orchestra adds a touch of sophistication to a city many still associate with smokestacks." - Bloomberg 02/09/10

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Scandal, Embezzlement, Attempted Suicide Mar Salzburg Festival "The week-long Easter festival has been shaken to the core after an apparent suicide attempt by its technical chief and the disappearance of the director amid allegations of a massive fraud totalling over €2m (£1.7m)." - The Independent (UK) 02/06/10

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Dave Eggers: The Real McSweeney Has Died "McSweeney's was told by Timothy's family that he passed away after a 'long struggle with illness' on 24 January, aged 67. 'As a young man, Timothy was an artist of tremendous talent. The canvasses he leaves behind are ... filled with a palpable desire - to be heard, to connect, to be understood better by others and himself.'" - The Guardian (UK) 02/09/10

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Opera Chief Gets Lordship "Royal Opera House chief executive Tony Hall has been awarded a peerage in the House of Lords. His precise title has not yet been confirmed, but Hall, who is also chair of the Cultural Olympiad board, has been appointed as a non-party political peer." - The Stage 02/08/10

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UK's Indie Bookstores Shuttering At Rate Of Two Per Week "With independents blaming increased competition from the internet, supermarkets, a declining British high street and the credit crunch for their troubles, figures from the Booksellers Association show that 102 independent stores closed in 2009, leaving just 1,289 left in the UK - a decline of 27% since 1999." - The Guardian (UK) 02/09/10

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In Japan, Cellphone Novels Find Their Way Into Print "[L]ast year, 15-year-old 'Bunny' became one of Japan's top authors of a genre called keitai -- cellphone -- novels." Likened to "Harlequin romances for young girls," keitai novels aren't great literature, but the audience for them is passionate, and it seems to be quite large. - Los Angeles Times 02/09/10

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iPad Strengthens Publishers' Hand Against Google, Too "Now, as publishers enter discussions with the Web giant Google about its plan to sell digital versions of new books direct to consumers, they have a little more leverage than just a few weeks ago -- at least when it comes to determining how Google will pay publishers for those e-books and how much consumers will pay for them." - The New York Times 02/09/10

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The Curtain Has Descended On Pasadena Playhouse "'Tonight we are closing this theater,' Executive Director Stephen Eich told the crowd of over 600 audience, board members and well-wishers from the stage on a night that also saw the closing of the Playhouse production of 'Camelot.'" He said the theatre is "absolutely optimistic that it will in fact reopen." - Pasadena Now 02/07/10

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Performance Art Piece: Marrying A Stranger, For Real Orlando performance artist Brian Feldman "has a pretty strong motivation for marrying a woman he doesn't know. ... He's trying to point out the craziness of a state system that will allow near-strangers to marry, as long as they're of opposite sexes, but will not allow marriages for committed partners of the same sex." - Orlando Sentinel 02/08/10

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Stew And Heidi Write A Show (About Their Breakup) Heidi Rodewald and Stew split up before their musical, "Passing Strange," got to Broadway. A year after it closed, "Stew starts writing breakup songs. His friends tell him they're great, but you know what would be really great? Have Heidi sing about her side of things." Now St. Ann's Warehouse is staging the new show. - New York Magazine 02/07/10

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Broadway Surprise: Backers Haven't Backed Away "Looking ahead, the faces of those swimming in the investor pool have changed, but basically the same number of check writers are afloat. Says producer Roger Berlind ('A Little Night Music'), 'There are more producers above the line who are enthusiastically contributing -- no shortage of people playing that role.'" - Variety 02/05/10

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RSC Plans 6-Week Summer Sojourn In NYC Next year, the company will bring five plays to the Park Avenue Armory, where they will perform on "an exact copy of the company's Royal Shakespeare Theater, which is being built in Stratford. The reproduction will be shipped in pieces to New York and assembled in the Armory's monumental Drill Hall...." - The New York Times 02/09/10

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A Math Prof's Digital Method For Flagging Suspect Art "Until now, [Dartmouth College mathematics department Chairman Daniel] Rockmore has only tested his program on Bruegel drawings, but he says there is no reason it could not be used for other artists. While it can identify suspicious works, it cannot definitively prove that they are fake." - NPR 02/09/10

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When Real-Life Details Matter In An Artist's Work "All artists who focus on wildlife, historical and nautical scenes are confronted on a regular basis by people who are knowledgeable in these fields" and who are "looking for mistakes. ... How to research is not taught in studio art classes, but it is a skill artists in the accuracy trade need to acquire." - Wall Street Journal 02/09/10

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