If a four-day workweek were made the federal standard, working less would no longer be a disruptive experiment undertaken by a few startups. Instead, it would be an option that employers would have to justify not offering—a justification that might become harder to sustain as more studies indicate the potential benefits of fewer workdays. - The New Yorker
"Louise Glück’s … mode of lamentation was her signature, and it seems fitting that one of her poems occasions the end of this column after nine years." - The New York Times Magazine
In dance, numbers matter. I’m thinking of two choreographers whose brilliant use of numbers are very different: George Balanchine and Trisha Brown. - Wendy Perron
"While the rush to do something about A.I. might feel new, it’s really just a continuation of a yearslong conversation about the unintended consequences and harms of algorithms. A.I. is just the latest 'genie' that won’t go back into the bottle. … There have been many others." - Slate
Although there’s still plenty of fear about the consequences of unbridled artificial intelligence, the technology has now attracted so much funding, opened the door to so much creative potential and accumulated so much power that artists in every discipline are largely reconciling themselves to co-existing with it for the rest of their lives. - The Art Newspaper
"In a year in which the festival (had) its budget halved, … a roster of local artists might have been an easier sell. But that would undercut the ethos of Under the Radar, which has always mingled international artists with local ones in pursuit of ... 'the global downtown.'" - The New York Times
An “exclusive negotiating agreement” was approved during a December 6 Las Vegas City Council meeting to develop a parcel of land in the city’s downtown, paving the way for a major cultural institution in a destination known primarily for gambling and entertainment. - Hyperallergic
"The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society has reached an agreement with the Broadway League on a new four-year contract that covers associate directors and choreographers for the first time. … (They) had been one of the rare non-unionized groups on Broadway." - The Hollywood Reporter
For the 50 largest companies, the average salary for both positions is over $200,000, and the gender gap in pay averages 17% for artistic directors but only 3% for executive directors. - Dance Data Project
After hiding from authorities for seven months, Nicholas Dombek appeared at a Scranton, Pa. courthouse. He's one of nine alleged members of a ring that stole valuable sports memorabilia, art, and other items from 20 venues including Scranton's Everhart Museum, from which a Warhol and a Pollock were taken. - ARTnews
"Her imaginative collages and assemblages have drawn on, not just borrowed — and sometimes edited — quotations by everyone from Milton to Kerouac and Gershwin, and also her recycling of such unexpected raw material as silverware, pressed flowers, seashells and discarded brooms." - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
Under Wayne Brown, the company "has placed itself at the center of operatic conversation, … broken fund-raising records, (and) drawn first-time ticket buyers by the thousands," writes David Allen. What's more, says Deborah Borda, "He has a kind word for all, which is quite unusual in our business." - The New York Times
The analytics firm Gower Street estimates that global sales of movie tickets in 2023 add up to $33.9 billion, an increase of 31% from 2022 but still 15% behind the last three-year average before COVID. - The Hollywood Reporter
In the US, Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover, Brecht's Threepenny Opera, Virginia Woolf's Orlando, and Dreyer's Passion of Joan of Arc. In the EU, Canada, and Latin America, works by Dylan Thomas, Django Reinhardt, and Hank Williams. In most of Asia and Africa, everything by Picasso and Tolkien. - The Public Domain Review
For 31 out of 52 weeks, female acts topped the chart either as solo artists or in collaboration with other musicians. Miley Cyrus had the biggest song of the year, with the break-up anthem Flowers attracting 198 million streams. But new music was largely absent from the year's top 10 best-selling albums. - BBC
