"When Lauren Anderson was promoted to principal dancer at Houston Ballet in 1990, she made history as one of the first Black women to be a principal at a major American ballet company." Now, the dancer sees her own story on stage. - The New York Times
"The question shouldn’t be whether a movie should capture Black pain. The problem in film arises when the camera only asks for an audience to witness." - Time
That's important for the planet: "There was this sense of wonder in everything, this sense of awe, not just beauty as some sort of painting you put on your wall, but as a feeling inside of you." - The Rumpus
Fangirls aren't frivolous - or, even if they are, it's in the service of creativity. "A handful of books, documentaries, films and memoirs are celebrating the fizzy, dizzying heights of female obsession and what it offers teen girls and women." - The Guardian (UK)
Tentatively, that is - the workers in the union still must vote to ratify the new contract. "Management compromised on all five of the demands that prompted the strike," and workers vote today (Sunday). - Hyperallergic
"Smells, bells, blood, guts, spectacle, and of course, bodies, bodies, bodies. Catholicism is a deeply theatrical religion based in provocative stories." - The Millions
In a 20th reunion special, Coltrane - who knew he was dying - said, "You could be watching in 50-years time, easy. I’ll not be here, sadly, but Hagrid will, yes." - Variety
Or rather, on the glass protecting it. "'What is worth more, art or life?' said one of the activists. ... 'Is it worth more than food? More than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people?'" - The Guardian (UK)
Britain’s premier contemporary art fair seemed to demonstrate, by sheer weight of numbers, that London’s contemporary art trade is alive and thriving, despite Brexit, a domestic economy in turmoil, a new rival fair in Paris and other challenges. - The New York Times
The love and togetherness wasn’t “Barney” ’s problem. The character himself was uniquely unnerving—more Grimace than T. Rex, somehow dopey and condescending at once—and some of the outrage, I suspect, came from viewers’ impassioned feelings about what good educational TV should be. - The New Yorker
The museum also announced Thursday that its $750-million fundraising campaign has reached the $700-million mark. The public-private partnership includes $125 million in Los Angeles County taxpayer funds. Eighty percent of the funds, the museum said in the announcement, will be paid for by private donations. - Los Angeles Times
In past years it has proven so unpredictable that even one of its winners likened the literary award to “a chicken raffle”. Referring to an Australian custom of raffling poultry as a fundraising activity, the phrase suggests luck, rather than talent, is key to scooping the prize. - The Conversation
Initially, Proust likens telephone exchange operators to supernatural beings, capriciously presiding over the ‘miracle’ of telephony, but then he develops a more sombre analogy between speaking to a loved one on the telephone and communicating with the dead. - Psyche
