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Andrew Litton Talks About Conducting For Ballet

It’s very hard to explain to musicians who don’t know ballet, but “One” is everything to a dancer — even though it may have nothing to do with the “One” in the score. - The New York Times

A “Pre-Colonial” Africa Never Existed

The concept of ‘precolonial’ anything hides, it never discloses; it obscures, it never illuminates; it does not aid understanding in any manner, shape or form. - Aeon

How Will Women Conductors Change The Culture Of Conducting?

What is authority as it pertains to conducting? If music itself cannot be gendered, why has the conductor’s role been gendered? - Aeon

Nazi Loot Claim On Van Gogh Worth $250 Million

In 1987 the work was auctioned for £25m, but the heirs of the German Jewish banker Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, who owned it until the 1930s, now value it at a staggering $250m. - The Art Newspaper

The Imelda Marcos-David Byrne-Fatboy Slim Immersive Disco Musical Is Coming To Broadway

"Here Lies Love will be produced in the fully immersive, mostly standing-room format that was an essential element in its world premiere engagement ... and subsequent productions. That immersive setting had posed the greatest challenge in getting the show on Broadway, where ripping the seats out is not an every-year occurrence." - Variety

Studies: How Making Theatre Helps You Think

Theater involves “active learning” — getting up on your feet to take in information, rather than merely sitting at a desk. “When you put something in your body, it’s more durable, it lasts longer, and you remember it longer.”  - Washington Post

Lessons From Hamline University: Who’s Really In Charge?

Does academic freedom really only mean as much freedom as your most sensitive students can stand, and the careers of scholars in the hands of students who are inexperienced in the subject matter, new to academic life, and, often, still in the throes of adolescence. - The Atlantic

Studying Conducting Is Very Expensive — Except In This L.A. Garage

"The Los Angeles Conducting Co-op is a new organization founded by violinist and producer Lisa Liu, conductor Christopher Rountree and violist, curator and broadcaster Nadia Sirota. Their mission is straightforward: 'Pool resources to defray the costs of studying symphonic conducting.'" - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)

We Sometimes Forget How Words Evolve

Sentence structure aside, so much of the challenge posed by James’s prose is that words often had different meanings around the turn of the century than they do now. This quiet evolution of language is a facet that can be damnably hard to notice day to day, yet its importance is hard to overstate. - The New York Times

Kevin Spacey Pleads Not Guilty To Latest Counts Of Sexual Assault In London

"The hearing focused on additional charges brought against Spacey in November, including three ... of indecent assault, three of sexual assault and one of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. They are all related to a male complainant and cover from 2001 to 2004." - The Hollywood Reporter

Lessons From Hamline University’s Firing Of An Art History Lecturer

Standing up for a religious minority’s right to exist, believe, and worship freely does not mean leaving all your other values at the door, and allowing the most vocal and conservative members of that minority to demand censorship or compliance with their views. - Slate

The “Romeo And Juliet” Lawsuit: “Paramount, Don’t Pay Them One Thin Dime”

"(Olivia) Hussey has spent the last 50 years not just telling the story of how the nude scene came to be shot, but defending it. … Are they imagining that, had the movie been made without the nude scene, they would have had better careers? Because … why?" - San Francisco Chronicle

Will AI Robots Narrating Audiobooks Put Human Narrators Out Of Work?

That's certainly the worry professional audiobook readers have, and there's also the worry that someone's voice will be sampled without their consent. Yet, writes Laura Miller, "after listening to selections from more than 25 A.I.-narrated …, I'm convinced that the technology still has a long way to go." - Slate

Tamara Rojo’s New Plan For San Francisco Ballet

"She is already eyeing possible significant changes, like negotiating a more flexible venue-sharing arrangement with the San Francisco Opera. ... That would allow the Ballet season to be spread across the year rather than crammed into four consecutive months, logistics hard on the dancers and, Rojo speculates, the audience." - San Francisco Chronicle

The Most Popular Podcast Genre? Comedy (And News Is No Longer Number Two)

"Edison Research's quarterly analysis of the top genres shows Comedy continues to have the most listeners. The bigger surprise could be that despite the fall election season, the News genre lost ground. It slid back to third place (behind) the all-encompassing Society & Culture." - Inside Radio

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