"Women dressed as priestesses are at the heart of the ceremony, first held for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Leading the group is an actress who performs the role of high priestess and makes a dramatic appeal to Apollo ... for assistance moments before the torch is lit." - AP
A flop year remains valuable for the feedback it gives us. Remove the noise of a once-in-a-lifetime, Beychella-esque headline performance and you can take stock of the tradition as a whole. - The Guardian
After six years dancing with the Philadelphia Ballet, Emily Davis moved to Glasgow in 2021 to do a PhD degree in dance health. Her focus is how dance classes can help patients with multiple sclerosis — of which Scotland has one of the world's highest incidence rates. - BBC
The leader in charge of the reconstruction efforts says the giant project is within budget and on schedule, with official reopening planned for this December 8. Here's a run-down of what's been achieved, including some important historical and architectural discoveries. - Deutsche Welle
The 13 "Mays," large-scale 17th-century paintings which had hung in the cathedral's side chapels, were evacuated from the burning edifice with only a bit of water damage. After conservation, they're being shown alongside 17th-century tapestries and the rarely-seen chancel rug, which has been used only a few times. - The Observer (UK)
"The network on Monday announced that the series, (titled The Gates and) following the lives of a wealthy Black family in a posh, gated community, will debut in January 2025. The specific time period, launch date and other details will be revealed later." - The Hollywood Reporter
In the wake of last week's Vulture/New York magazine article reporting details of an alleged drugging/rape while the orchestra was performing in Vail in 2010, Philharmonic management has confirmed that principal oboe Liang Wang and associate principal trumpet Matthew Muckey will remain offstage for the time being. - The New York Times
"Artist Ruth Patir said the exhibit ... 'will only open when the release of hostages and ceasefire agreement happens' in a statement shared on Instagram Tuesday. Patir said she would raise her voice 'with those I stand with in their scream, ceasefire now, bring the people back from captivity.'" - CNN
"Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted in March by a jury on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. … The judge said anything less than the maximum sentence (of 18 months) would not be appropriate given Gutierrez-Reed’s recklessness." - AP
“Prehistory is about the present day; it always has been. Over the 250 or so years that human origins have been pursued, studied, and taught, the countless stories and theories proposed have said a lot more about the current moment than the distant past.” - The Wall Street Journal
“It is probably the deepest and most existential crisis it’s ever been in. The writers are losing out. The middle layer of craftsmen are losing out. The top end of the talent are making more money than they ever have, but the nuts-and-bolts people who make the industry go round are losing out dramatically.” - Harper's
Ozawa refused to live in Boston, raising his family in Tokyo and commuting when required. His English was never more than functional. Most musicians grasped what he wanted; any who protested did not last long. - The Critic
GenAI can benefit musicians as well as the general public. Songwriters are no longer limited to the instruments they can play or a recording process they know, and beginners can more easily learn a new instrument with natural language processing and through conversational prompts. - ZDNet
“A lot of young people are moving away from conventional ideas of education and the workforce to pursuing things we genuinely enjoy in life. “We know what’s best for us – we’re willing to stand up and say ‘this is our future, we’re not going to allow our lives to be dictated’.” - The Guardian
Armed with snobbish hipster fury and signage that read “God Hates Renoir,” “ReNOir,” and “We’re Not Iconoclasts, Renoir Just Sucks At Painting,” the group briefly received considerable media attention—though none from the institutions it was heckling. - Artnet
