Austrian choreographer Florentina Holzinger "presents women’s ability to endure discomfort as something to be celebrated, but also questioned. Our resilience is mighty and formidable by way of our nature, but also because we’ve had to survive oppressive systems." - Arts Hub
"The Met sold 66% of tickets during the season that ended Saturday, up from 61% during the 2021-22 season. Sales were lower than budgeted because of a cyberattack in mid-December. … The average age of its single-ticket buyers, which comprise 75% of sales, decreased to 44 from 50." - AP
"Representatives from several (Philadelphia-area) arts groups report selling tickets through Brown Paper Tickets only to be left hanging for weeks, months, or, in (one) case, 2½ years (and counting). Emails to the Seattle-based company asking about payments have gone unanswered, groups say." - MSN (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
"Both were among the losing bidders to Penguin Random House's $2.2 billion offer. PRH's acquisition, of course, was blocked by the government last fall." - Publishers Weekly
"Facing a significant budget shortfall, Center Theatre Group on Thursday announced that it would lay off about 10% of its full-time staff and pause season programming at the Mark Taper Forum ... through the 2023-24 season, (although) there is no confirmed end date yet." - Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
Three protestors from the British group Just Stop Oil used air horns and glitter cannons to interrupt Thursday's performance of Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites at the Glyndebourne Festival. They were escorted away within one minute and the performance resumed after 20 minutes. - The Guardian
"His time in charge (has) seen 10 Culture Secretaries come and five Prime Ministers come and go as well as the impact of Brexit and the pandemic. 'It's a blessed relief to see how we're emerging intact after the most challenging time in our history,' he added." - London Evening Standard
In a letter to Culture Minister Lord Parkinson, Mr Rotheram and Liverpool City Council leader Liam Robinson said it would be "an honour" to bring the English National Opera (ENO) to Liverpool, a city with "an unmatched musical heritage". - BBC
In this country, nothing indicates cultural importance more than cash, and seeing this much of it handed out to creators of television said as much about the state of the art as it did about Rhimes’ and Murphy’s success within it. - Los Angeles Times
Gottlieb, who died on Wednesday, at the age of ninety-two, may have been the most important book editor of his time. Caro was just one of hundreds of authors he ministered to. Gottlieb had passions––among them literature, ballet, music, and the movies––and those passions were reflected in his long list of authors. - The New Yorker
For example, if we talk about “wasting” or “saving” time, we treat time as if it were a commodity. Or, if we say that we’re “going through” a difficult period, we’re treating time as if it were space through which we move. Like time, language is one of these really complex concepts. - The Conversation
In a culture that demands overcoming against all odds, even failure has been commodified by the American self-help industrial complex: rebranded not as a devastating and possibly life-altering event but as a blip en route to a chest-thumping achievement, accomplishment, or acquisition. - Yale Review
Libraries were once places to access books. They are now places to access everything? The last place to access anything? As the social safety net has frayed, libraries have found themselves filling in the gaps. - The Walrus
"Every element of the natural world tremored with significance in Vincent van Gogh's world. Sunflowers were his symbol of joy and devotion. Stars were glimmers of heaven. Why did cypress trees become his symbol of fortitude?" - BBC
With movie ticket sales still lagging behind pre-pandemic highs, multiplex operators across Asia have begun deploying unconventional strategies to generate excitement and attract people back to the cinema. -
