AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
- Former Dance School Comptroller Pleads Guilty In Million Dollar Fraud Case
Sophia Kim, former comptroller for the Kirov Academy in Washington, D.C., “gambled with funds she was overseeing as the academy’s comptroller. Over nine months in 2018, investigators say, Ms. Kim wrote checks to herself and used her academy bank card 120 times to withdraw cash and pay off losses at the MGM Grand Casino near her home in Temple Hills, Md.” – The New York Times
- Where Tap Dance Came From, And Where It’s Going
It’s a long history, and a new generation is reviving the art even during the pandemic. – CBS News
- Matthew Bourne Starts New School To Prepare Minority Dancers For Professional-Level Work
Cygnet School, based in Canterbury, “is designed to bridge a gap that Bourne had noticed between young people who excel in dance at a grassroots level and those who are able to proceed with vocational training. ‘A lot of the young people who were coming to us for auditions were quite raw – the talent was there but they weren’t quite ready to go into a professional show. … [They] slip through the net’, said Bourne, particularly if they come from low-income backgrounds.” – The Guardian
- A New York City Ballet Principal Writes About Returning To The Studio
Russell Janzen: “This [2’11” segment] is the longest I have danced with someone else in quite some time, and after running it in this first rehearsal I am winded. … [I’m] happy we’re back but disappointed by how impersonal it feels to dance masked. I had been anticipating that the return to this work would be emotional, precious, but with the quick clip of the excerpt we are dancing, and the fact of our masks, it feels unfamiliar, almost like we’re dancing next to each other but not with each other.” – The New York Times
- New York Times Dance Critic On Writing About People’s Bodies
Gia Kourlas: “Generally, it doesn’t feel fraught, but at the same time I am aware of the sensitivity it takes to write about the body and how easily something could be misconstrued. I don’t want to hurt someone — and that’s not to say that I haven’t — but I try my best not to be cruel. And while I might love the way a dancer’s leg is shaped or the length of an arm, I don’t like to fetishize the body or dancers. To write about them as creatures or objects is really distasteful to me.” – The New York Times
IDEAS
- Songwriters Are Getting Screwed By Streaming Too
Last month, Midia Research, which specializes in music and digital media, released a study, “Rebalancing the Song Economy,” that was commissioned by Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus. It includes some surprising findings — in a survey, twice as many streaming users said a song mattered more to them than the artist who performed it, rather than the opposite — and sounds an alarm about the need to reform the economics of streaming to better support songwriters. – The New York Times
- UK Government Slashes Funding For “Creative Subjects” In Universities
The government has said subjects like music, dance, drama and performing arts, art and design, media studies and archaeology are “not among its strategic priorities”, according to the Office for Students, which distributes government funding to universities. – BBC
- Muti: COVID Year Was An Experiment In Global Culture
Riccardo Muti called the experience of the past year “an unnatural global experiment” that had “stunned” the world. “If we truly took into account how we are living, we would all go crazy. We try to maintain the illusion that we are living a normal life. It is the only way to reach the end of this absurd path,’’ he said. – Toronto Star (AP)
- The Compromises Of Live-Streaming
Livestreaming adds an additional layer of technical complexity and cost but doesn’t necessarily improve the audience’s experience of the play itself. Pre-recording allows the various elements of the production – editing, sound, etc – to be fine-tuned in advance. But then why not go the whole hog and just release an actual film? – Irish Times
- Inside The Museum Of Disgusting Food
As with the Museum of Sex, in New York City, and the Museum of Ice Cream, in San Francisco, the Disgusting Food Museum is conceptually closer to an amusement park than to a museum. There are eighty-five culinary horrors on display—ordinary fare and delicacies from thirty countries—and each tour concludes with a taste test of a dozen items. – The New Yorker
ISSUES
- UK Government Slashes Funding For “Creative Subjects” In Universities
The government has said subjects like music, dance, drama and performing arts, art and design, media studies and archaeology are “not among its strategic priorities”, according to the Office for Students, which distributes government funding to universities. – BBC
- Doctor Who And Torchwood, And Men Behaving Badly
First there were reports that Noel Clarke, who played Mickey from 2005-2010 on the Doctor Who reboot, was a serial sexual harasser and bully. Now come reports that John Barrowman of Doctor Who and Torchwood repeatedly exposed himself on both sets. – The Guardian (UK)
- Hollywood Publicists, Netflix, And Amazon Push Golden Globes Group To Reform
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s released list of “reforms” didn’t impress anyone much. Instead, the list set off “a remarkable cascade of criticism toward the embattled HFPA, plunging the group into further turmoil as it attempts to weather a crisis that has imperiled its awards show and its very existence. By Friday evening, two of awards season’s biggest power players — Netflix and Amazon Studios — distanced themselves from the organization, revealing that they would cut ties with the HFPA until it goes further in its plan to remake itself.” – Los Angeles Times
- NYC To Launch $25 Million Artist Corps Program To Hire 1,500 Artists
“We’re going to hire artists, musicians, performers, and they’re going to be out in communities doing public art, public performances, pop-up shows…creating murals, you name it,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “We want to give artists opportunities, and we want this city to feel the power of our cultural community again.” – Gothamist
- New York Launches $25 Million City Artist Corps
“The program … will give money to artists, musicians and other performers to create works across the city, whether through public art, performances, pop-up shows, murals or other community arts projects. … [The effort] is expected to create jobs for more than 1,500 artists in New York City.” – The New York Times
MEDIA
- Director Barry Jenkins Says Maybe America Never Has Been Great
The director of Moonlight took on a 10-part adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad partly because it was such a wellspring of fear. “Jenkins was surprised, he says, of the extent to which the retelling of that history affected him. ‘There’s no blood, there’s no fire on set,’ he says. ‘And yet, we were on an actual plantation in Georgia. And as we’re recreating some of these moments, this feeling seeps into your body that things like this happened here. And even worse things.'” – The Guardian (UK)
- How Sesame Street Went From Radical Experiment To Mainstream Success
When the show premiered, it wasn’t the beloved Big Bird and Elmo experience that people think of today. “In 1969, Sesame Street unveils and there is a African American couple who live in the same neighborhood with their white neighbors — yes, with Big Bird and several other Muppets — but it’s a very integrated cast. The first time this [was] ever seen on television in Jackson, Miss., the public television station received a lot of complaints and they stopped airing the show. Miraculously, a commercial station in Jackson said ‘if the public station won’t air it, then we will.’ This is just an example of how groundbreaking this was.”- NPR
- Can These Movies Save The 2022 Oscars?
Yes, it’s a bit early to start placing bets, but still: “There are many nervous insiders hoping the post-pandemic pendulum will swing back toward those big mainstream movies. So here’s an early look at the presumptive awards field, starting with the very movies the Academy is surely hoping will save the Oscars.” – Vulture
- Why American Remakes Of Foreign Films Don’t Always Go To Plan
Art house films in particular bear the marks of their specific directors and writers – and that often doesn’t translate (sorry, Another Round and Leo DeCaprio). “This may explain why so many international films optioned for remakes never get made. Paramount’s version of German Oscar nominee Toni Erdmann (2016), DreamWorks’ planned adaptation of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Like Father, Like Son (2013), or Tom Hanks’ U.S. take of A Man Called Ove, the Swedish sleeper from 2015, remain, as of this writing, in development hell.” And then there are international streaming services. – The Hollywood Reporter
- The Big Screen Experience Is Unparalleled
No matter what you’ve got in your house, there’s nothing like watching a movie in the theatre with scores of other people. Then there are the prices: “The fact that I know I’m being ripped off is, somehow, part of the charm. Have you got a statistic about the ludicrous mark-up on popcorn for me? Have you got a story about seeing it loaded into the back of the cinema in a dozen bin bags? Ooh baby, yes: talk nasty to me.” – The Guardian (UK)
MUSIC
- Songwriters Are Getting Screwed By Streaming Too
Last month, Midia Research, which specializes in music and digital media, released a study, “Rebalancing the Song Economy,” that was commissioned by Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus. It includes some surprising findings — in a survey, twice as many streaming users said a song mattered more to them than the artist who performed it, rather than the opposite — and sounds an alarm about the need to reform the economics of streaming to better support songwriters. – The New York Times
- Muti: COVID Year Was An Experiment In Global Culture
Riccardo Muti called the experience of the past year “an unnatural global experiment” that had “stunned” the world. “If we truly took into account how we are living, we would all go crazy. We try to maintain the illusion that we are living a normal life. It is the only way to reach the end of this absurd path,’’ he said. – Toronto Star (AP)
- Spotify’s Imposter Problem
That new album by your fave, the one you haven’t heard hyped on social media or in music magazines? It’s probably by a deliberate Doppelgänger. “Inside Spotify’s borderless musical landscape, you’re never more than a playlist transition away from a fake-out. … There’s always someone trying to game the system.” – Slate
- La Scala Is Opening Again
With a 500-person limit, a record high in private funding, new digital streaming infrastructure, and a mandate to be more ecologically conscious, the Milan opera house and its new artistic director, Dominique Meyer, are ready to put the horrible experience of 2020 behind them. – The New York Times
- Bandwagon Is Changing The NY Phil’s Relationship With The City
Instead of the whiff of noblesse oblige and platitudes about the uplifting nature of classical music, this is about working together. “The key phrases when Bandwagon 2 was announced last month were the desire to ‘center the voices of our partners’ and ‘utilize the Philharmonic’s resources to amplify the work of our collaborators.’ In less fancy terms, the orchestra is stepping back, giving over its stage and its money rather than hogging them.” – The New York Times
PEOPLE
- Songwriters Are Getting Screwed By Streaming Too
Last month, Midia Research, which specializes in music and digital media, released a study, “Rebalancing the Song Economy,” that was commissioned by Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus. It includes some surprising findings — in a survey, twice as many streaming users said a song mattered more to them than the artist who performed it, rather than the opposite — and sounds an alarm about the need to reform the economics of streaming to better support songwriters. – The New York Times
- UK Government Slashes Funding For “Creative Subjects” In Universities
The government has said subjects like music, dance, drama and performing arts, art and design, media studies and archaeology are “not among its strategic priorities”, according to the Office for Students, which distributes government funding to universities. – BBC
- Muti: COVID Year Was An Experiment In Global Culture
Riccardo Muti called the experience of the past year “an unnatural global experiment” that had “stunned” the world. “If we truly took into account how we are living, we would all go crazy. We try to maintain the illusion that we are living a normal life. It is the only way to reach the end of this absurd path,’’ he said. – Toronto Star (AP)
- The Compromises Of Live-Streaming
Livestreaming adds an additional layer of technical complexity and cost but doesn’t necessarily improve the audience’s experience of the play itself. Pre-recording allows the various elements of the production – editing, sound, etc – to be fine-tuned in advance. But then why not go the whole hog and just release an actual film? – Irish Times
- Inside The Museum Of Disgusting Food
As with the Museum of Sex, in New York City, and the Museum of Ice Cream, in San Francisco, the Disgusting Food Museum is conceptually closer to an amusement park than to a museum. There are eighty-five culinary horrors on display—ordinary fare and delicacies from thirty countries—and each tour concludes with a taste test of a dozen items. – The New Yorker
PEOPLE
- Songwriters Are Getting Screwed By Streaming Too
Last month, Midia Research, which specializes in music and digital media, released a study, “Rebalancing the Song Economy,” that was commissioned by Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus. It includes some surprising findings — in a survey, twice as many streaming users said a song mattered more to them than the artist who performed it, rather than the opposite — and sounds an alarm about the need to reform the economics of streaming to better support songwriters. – The New York Times
- UK Government Slashes Funding For “Creative Subjects” In Universities
The government has said subjects like music, dance, drama and performing arts, art and design, media studies and archaeology are “not among its strategic priorities”, according to the Office for Students, which distributes government funding to universities. – BBC
- Muti: COVID Year Was An Experiment In Global Culture
Riccardo Muti called the experience of the past year “an unnatural global experiment” that had “stunned” the world. “If we truly took into account how we are living, we would all go crazy. We try to maintain the illusion that we are living a normal life. It is the only way to reach the end of this absurd path,’’ he said. – Toronto Star (AP)
- The Compromises Of Live-Streaming
Livestreaming adds an additional layer of technical complexity and cost but doesn’t necessarily improve the audience’s experience of the play itself. Pre-recording allows the various elements of the production – editing, sound, etc – to be fine-tuned in advance. But then why not go the whole hog and just release an actual film? – Irish Times
- Inside The Museum Of Disgusting Food
As with the Museum of Sex, in New York City, and the Museum of Ice Cream, in San Francisco, the Disgusting Food Museum is conceptually closer to an amusement park than to a museum. There are eighty-five culinary horrors on display—ordinary fare and delicacies from thirty countries—and each tour concludes with a taste test of a dozen items. – The New Yorker
THEATRE
- The Compromises Of Live-Streaming
Livestreaming adds an additional layer of technical complexity and cost but doesn’t necessarily improve the audience’s experience of the play itself. Pre-recording allows the various elements of the production – editing, sound, etc – to be fine-tuned in advance. But then why not go the whole hog and just release an actual film? – Irish Times
- The Improbable Survival Of Seattle’s Annex Theatre
“Our motto is ‘big, cheap theater.’ ” “I’d rather make a glorious failure than an apologetic win.” “We’re the cockroach of the arts — we may be ugly, but we’re really hard to kill.” – Seattle Times
- Cirque De Soleil Is Back, Almost
The pandemic forced Cirque to shutter 44 shows all over the world. Now, performers are getting ready – as ready as they can, within their apartments – to return to Las Vegas this summer and London in January. But: “At a time when the pandemic is still raging and uncertainty remains about people’s willingness to return to large theater venues, the attempted comeback by the former behemoth is a litmus test of sorts for the live entertainment industry.” –The New York Times
- Streaming Theatre Will Do For Now
But nothing can replace the live experience. “Call it immediacy or authenticity, unpredictability or uniqueness, but it’s part of the reason people pay more to attend a single concert than they will to purchase the entire recorded works of the same musician.” Live streaming theatre, though, is tricky. – Irish Times
- Broadway Reopens In Four Months, But Theatre Workers Still Need Help
A survey released by the Actors Fund says that “40% of the arts and entertainment respondents reported being more food insecure during the pandemic, 28% were behind in rent or mortgage payments and 20% had been forced to change housing” – and nearly 80 percent could use some mental health help as well. – Broadway News
VISUAL
- Inside The Museum Of Disgusting Food
As with the Museum of Sex, in New York City, and the Museum of Ice Cream, in San Francisco, the Disgusting Food Museum is conceptually closer to an amusement park than to a museum. There are eighty-five culinary horrors on display—ordinary fare and delicacies from thirty countries—and each tour concludes with a taste test of a dozen items. – The New Yorker
- Could New York Get A Really Good Penn Station?
Justin Davidson refuses to relinquish hope. “The MTA, Amtrak, and NJ Transit have jointly released not one but two possible visions for rebuilding the rest of the Dantesque complex. And, lo and behold, they are both aspirational and realistic. The design … amalgamates the jumble of bureaucratic fiefdoms, decades’ worth of duct-tape fixes, and a thicket of conflicting agendas into a rail hub that might one day be a thing of, if not quite beauty, at least satisfaction — maybe even pride.” – Curbed
- Cryptoart Isn’t New, And It Isn’t All NFTs
Instead, it’s a way for independent digital artists to make a living. “Beneath the glossy auction houses, breathless headlines and outrage, there is a global ecosystem of crypto artists who entered the once-niche NFT art space motivated by passion and curiosity. Most aren’t raking in millions or leading major sales. But many are making a decent living — ditching side gigs, supporting families, paying for college, buying houses — all by selling art in a form most of us hadn’t even heard of until the Beeple sale.” – Washington Post
- NFTs Are The Newest Tulipmania
“Art NFTs put me in mind of film auteur Werner Herzog’s distinction between the ‘truth of accountants’ and ‘ecstatic truth.’ NFT mavens wax lyrical about the ‘authenticity’ of these tokens as if they are trading a semi-divine quality, yet the authenticity encoded by an NFT is the same kind encoded by a transaction number on a credit card statement. They are a dressed-up species of bookkeeping. What art needs is less auditing and more ecstasy.” – Los Angeles Times
- Getting At Reality Through Blurred Photos
When artist Tabitha Soren had her third child, a friend suggested she photograph the experience. “Time can turn photographs into metaphor or allow them to become a symbol instead of a documentary picture; at this particular moment, mothers’ needs are on the minds of the country. [The resulting project] is about what mothers don’t show: the emotions and psychological states that we’ve all been socialized to bury.” – The Atlantic
WORDS
- The Culture Of Citations That Props Up Writing
“Like many systems that appear meticulous, the writing of citations is a subjective art. Never more so than in fiction, where citation is an entirely other kind of animal, not required or even expected, except in the “acknowledgments” page, which is often a who’s who of the publishing world. (Also a good way to find out who is married to whom.) But in the last two decades, bibliographies and sources cited pages have increasingly cropped up in the backs of novels.” – The Drift
- A Wild Spoof Sends Up The Absurdity Of Academic Science Publishing
“Take a bunch of clever, ambitious people and tell them to get as many papers published as possible while still technically passing muster through peer review … and what do you think is going to happen? Of course the system gets gamed: The results from one experiment get sliced up into a dozen papers, statistics are massaged to produce more interesting results, and conclusions become exaggerated. The most prolific authors have found a way to publish more than one scientific paper a week. Those who can’t keep up might hire a paper mill to do (or fake) the work on their behalf.” – The Atlantic
- Charles Dickens Hid A Lifelong Grief In A Locket
Dickens’ 17-year-old sister-in-law collapsed one night as she returned from the theatre, and died in the arms of the writer. “A failure of Hogarth’s heart was blamed, but today an aneurism, or stroke, is suspected as the more likely cause of death. It was a shock that altered Dickens for ever, throwing a shadow over his imaginative life.” – The Observer (UK)
- Writing, It Turns Out, Can Be Rather Difficult
Masterful essay writer Elissa Mashuta: “This is the dilemma at the heart of the process: writing would be easier if I had an assured end point to aim for, but the essay only works if I begin without knowing what I’ll find as I advance through the paragraphs. I want to control everything, but the essay won’t let me.” – LitHub
- Emma Donoghue ‘Toned Down The Horror’ In Room
Those who read the book or saw the movie may not quite believe it, but the real-life case from which the author drew her inspiration was far worse. Then there were her own kids. “I had three and a half years’ worth of things to say. About what a huge gap separates an adult and a small child, with only curiosity, humour and love to bridge it. About how a mother is her baby’s captor and prisoner, sometimes both at the same time. About how you long to give your growing kid freedom while somehow, impossibly, keeping them perfectly safe.” – The Guardian (UK)
