Writer and dancer Lakshmi Thiagarajan explains some of the origins and history of the South Asian classical dance form, the components of a traditional performance, and how a solo dancer can portray multiple characters with no change of costume or makeup. - Psyche
Fiennes, 61, renowned for his roles in Schindler’s List and the Harry Potter films and currently starring in a touring production of Macbeth, said audiences should be “shocked and disturbed”. - The Guardian
"A new UCLA Labor Center study of (the theme park's) employees reveals that … 44% of the workers reported that they worried about being evicted from their homes, while more than half cut the size of their meals — or skipped them — because they didn’t have enough money for food." - The Hollywood Reporter
Music preferences can reflect emotional states and change with life experiences, suggesting a deep psychological connection to the types of music individuals choose. - Neuroscience News
Firestrom Books in Asheville got a call from a distributor asking them to take in eight tons of books rejected by Duval County Public Schools (Jacksonville). Now Firestorm is giving those volumes to anyone who asks — including quite a few Floridians. - The Washington Post (MSN)
Declining enrollment— the main campus had 13,860 students in 2022, down from 15,479 in 2017—and inflated operating costs led to the multimillion-dollar deficit that resulted in eliminating 75 total jobs at the university, which included the art museum’s director and the three other staff members. - InsideHigherEd
First of all, it's something that nobody wants to do. Yet the show's director, who makes the decision, has to balance the interests of winners, the producers, the network, the audience, and the advertisers. (And it's the poor stage manager who gets yelled at by the winners cut short.) - Vulture
"Alejandro Triana Prevez, the man who confessed to the murder of New York art dealer Brent Sikkema, told Brazilian authorities Sikkema’s ex-husband, Daniel Sikkema, offered $200,000 for the killing. … Brazilian authorities … seek to arrest Daniel Sikkema for being the 'intellectual and main author' of the crime." - ARTnews
"Van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise,' which closed last Sunday, brought … in a total 793,556 visitors, or an average of 7,181 each day. The show’s A.I. and immersive V.R. experiences were largely ridiculed in the press, but they proved persuasive to new audiences." - Artnet
So reports Wisconsin Public Radio, which says that the state spends 18 cents per resident, while neighboring Minnesota spends $9.67 (53 times as much) and Illinois spends $5.11 (28 times as much). Still, the Badger State isn't 50th: Georgia's arts funding is 15 cents per capita. - Wisconsin Public Radio
The new venue, on a city-owned plot directly across the Scioto River from the central business district, would have a main auditorium with a capacity of 1,600 (the orchestra's current home, the Ohio Theatre, seats almost 2,800) and nine other performance and event spaces. - The Columbus Dispatch
"(He) stayed at Morning Edition for nearly a quarter-century and became as much a part of the begin-the-day rhythms for NPR listeners as coffee (and) commutes. ... Then, in 2004, a decision by NPR to pull Mr. Edwards from the show touched off an avalanche of complaints." - The Washington Post (MSN)
On Saturday, two young women from an activist collective called Riposte Alimentaire ("food counterattack"), the group responsible for a similar assault on Mona Lisa at the Louvre last month, hurled golden-yellow potage at Monet's Le Printemps at Lyon's Musée des Beaux-Arts. - Le Monde (in English)
I realized the dangers of opera too late to be saved. By ten I had already been corrupted by my parents. Neither of them had ever been to the opera. The notion would have struck them as absurd. But they loved singing, and that included the operatic arias they heard on variety shows. - Hudson Review
“A lot of artists are afraid to approach labels or even question the accuracy of royalty payments. But we’re getting like 17-cent checks. I know artists who have sold millions of records who are having a hard time in survival mode, when money could be sitting in a portal somewhere.” - Los Angeles Times
