Actually, Jewish and Christian theologians have been trying to finesse that question about the Song of Songs (or the Song of Solomon) for 2,000 years — repeatedly arguing that poetry that's obviously about carnal love is really a metaphor for God's devotion to His people. (Yeah, they mean "His.") - The Conversation
Unlike its future-oriented counterpart on the West Coast, the New York Philharmonic is always looking back to its glory days under Mahler, Toscanini, Bernstein, and Boulez. It’s worth noting that many conductors have left the post frustrated, exhausted, or embittered. - The New Yorker
Since Nijinsky created the original in 1913, there have been, starting in 1920, more than 150 different dance settings to Stravinsky's score. Most follow the original scenario, but they draw on such varied genres and vocabularies as American modern dance, flamenco, bharatanatyam, and African dance. - The Guardian
After a 24-year renovation and expansion and a $180m capital campaign (of which $156m has been raised), the Hammer has announced 26 March as the completion date for its building transformation. - The Art Newspaper
For a start, the TV film — titled India: The Modi Question — deals with a very sore subject for the Prime Minister: his role, when he was chief minister of Gujarat state, in the 2002 sectarian riots that saw more than 1,000 people killed, most of them Muslims. - The Guardian
Google was incredibly insecure—always was, and still is. The company, which had toppled a market leader by building better technology, is haunted by the fear of being pushed aside itself. - The Atlantic
Before Pathaan — which just knocked Avatar 2 out of the top spot on the global box office chart — Shah Rukh Khan hadn't made a movie in five years. And Modi's Hindu-nationalist government had been going after him. This new film, unsubtle in many ways, is a subtle retort to Modi. - Vox
This technology “is generating infinite music that isn’t actually composed by anybody, and that’s a terrible, scary, awful way of thinking about where music could go,” says composer Tod Machover. “I mean, really, it’s the worst kind of elevator music.” - Washington Post
"When Florida stripped Disney of its special tax zone around the company's theme parks, it led observers to wonder: Why would Disney cede this long-held ground? What it would come down to is a cost-benefit analysis ... and the results of an internal poll ... showing they're losing two important demographic groups." - TheWrap
"Great advertising does not create success. Great shows do. But advertising can expand success from a limited audience and make it larger. Much larger. But today's advertising needs to understand today's market" — which is not the market of three years ago. - Broadway News
"The community-tied music and dance clubs have always included women, commonly as seamstresses and dancers. They've played the schools' smaller instruments; Carnival queens lead processions in elaborate outfits. But rarely do women call the shots on finances, themes or even costumes." Except, that is, at Turma da Paz de Madureira. - AP
Last year the 67-year-old actor retired after receiving a formal diagnosis of aphasia. His condition has now worsened: he's suffering progressive loss of nerve cells in his brain's frontal and temporal lobes. There is currently no treatment for the disorder. - The Hollywood Reporter
"Before the proposed design had been chosen, the Association of Greek Architects had threatened to (go to) the country's supreme administrative court after it became clear that only award-winning foreign firms with experience in museum work would be permitted to participate." - The Guardian
"The group includes Renoir's 1883 seascape Marine Guernesey, and a study, completed around 1908, for The Judgement of Paris (in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art), as well as Gauguin's Still life with mandolin (1885) and a watercolor titled Undergrowth (1890-1892) by Cézanne." - ARTnews
In 2015 there were 4,803 craft breweries in the US, by 2021 there were 9,118. Equally important is the ideological shift in the beer market they signify. Big beer singularly seeks and values profit. Craft beer, while also motivated by profit, equally values community, quality and independence. - The Conversation
