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Alexei Ratmansky and his wife Tatiana went to Kyiv to make ballets with the Ukrainian National Ballet during one of the worst stretches of the war, rehearsing between runs to the bomb shelter (The New York Times).
The Kennedy Center board voted to shut the building indefinitely after a phone call from the President that one member described to CNN in terms we can’t print (The New Republic). The resolution itself cites “certain fiscal collapse within weeks” (Washington Post). Kyiv dances through air raids; the national cultural center closes over a board meeting.
Two stories about what buildings are for. Japan has 77,000 temples, and 17,000 of them no longer have a resident priest — the structures outlived the practice, and the question now is what a sacred space becomes next (Deutsche Welle). And Josh Goldblum on why museums increasingly have difficulty presenting complexity (Josh Goldblum).
A look inside how Washington’s theatres assembled their 2026–27 season partly by sharing productions across companies — a constraint turned into collaboration (Washington City Paper).
Burning Man is 40, and so are the Burners: 40% over 40 last year, 10% in their twenties (The Guardian). The counterculture is having a demographic problem like everyone else.
All of our stories below.