“The coolly elegant and craftily enigmatic French actress … drew acclaim for performances in the Oscar-winning films Babette’s Feast and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie as well as many dramas by her husband, director Claude Chabrol.”
Archives for March 2018
Top Posts From AJBlogs 03.27.18
Frames
There are two basic facts I must acknowledge in my work: … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2018-03-27
Some Confusion Between Real And “Unreal” (Are We Already In A Simulation?)
“It’s a big question, when the word ‘real’ makes sense. An interesting possibility is that the whole distinction between real and unreal is misguided.”
Small Study: Music Lessons Boost Children’s Cognitive Skills
Researchers followed 147 Dutch schoolchildren—half of whom took supplemental music-education classes, along with their regular curriculum—for two-plus years, beginning at age six. “Children who received music lessons showed improved language-based reasoning, and the ability to plan, organize and complete tasks, as well as improved academic achievement. This suggests that the cognitive skills developed during music lessons can influence children’s cognitive abilities in completely unrelated subjects, leading to overall improved academic performance.”
Report: Creative Jobs In UK Projected To Grow Twice As Fast As Other Industries
Creative industries employment is predicted to increase by 5.3% over the next six years, double that of the average rate of employment, which will rise by 2.5%. Creative jobs will also grow faster than employment in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) by 2024, which has a projected increase of 5.1%.
TV Networks Discuss Reducing Number Of Commercials To Compete With Netflix
Airing fewer commercials could mean less revenue for the networks — unless they can convince advertisers that it’s worth it to pay more to have their spots running in a less cluttered program. The topic is being debated ahead of the upfront market, where most of the advance ad time for the 2018-19 TV season is sold.
When Artists Have Jobs Outside Art (Is The Art Better?)
For these creators, a trade isn’t just about paying the bills; it’s something that grounds them in reality. In 2017, a day job might perform the same replenishing ministries as sleep or a long run: relieving creative angst, restoring the artist to her body and to the texture of immediate experience. But this break is also fieldwork. For those who want to mine daily life for their art, a second job becomes an umbilical cord fastened to something vast and breathing. The alternate gig that lifts you out of your process also supplies fodder for when that process resumes. Lost time is regained as range and perspective, the artist acquiring yet one more mode of inhabiting the world.
How Technology Is Changing Dance
What if composers, instead of translating into music what they see in dance and dancers, could build scores directly from their own bodies? Dancers master the art of embodying existing music in such a way as to reach and affect their audience. How much more of an impact could work be when dancers can literally craft the score to their movements?
Are Boards Of Directors Up To Leading Our Arts Organizations?
In light of recent high-profile controversies, questions have been raised in the industry about what boards and their trustees actually do – and whether the current model is suited to the challenges presented by the modern theatre industry. What is clear is that in Britain’s subsidised theatres and theatre companies they are absolutely pivotal in defining the shape of the sector.
Regime Change: When Arts Organizations Change Leaders
Who appoints artistic directors, and how? How does regime change work, behind the scenes? How do you turn a struggling institution around, or (even more daunting) live up to your predecessor’s apparently faultless reputation? And what happens when – one thinks of Emma Rice’s brief, ill-starred tenure at the Globe – pretty much everything seems to go wrong?
Why Is The New York Times’ History Of Gay Theater All Plays By White Men?
Alisa Solomon: “How deeply and daily disappointing that the paper of record erases the same people and perspectives that are ever more disdained by the current regime. That for me, at least, goes some way toward explaining the outsized irritation – my own and that of many colleagues – that greeted Jesse Green’s recent 5,000-word essay ‘A Brief History of Gay Theater,’ which ran in [the Men’s Style issue of] T: The New York Times Style Magazine on Sunday, March 4.”
China Moves Regulation Of Movie Industry To Propaganda Department
The move is likely to interpreted as a further tightening of regulatory control of the film and TV sectors, and increased involvement of the Communist Party in media matters. That would be in line with recent trends in China.
Two Unpublished Manuscripts By Charlotte Brontë Headed For Print
“Written in the Jane Eyre author’s own hand, the 77-line poem and a 74-line story were found in the leaves of a book belonging to her mother and sold to [The Brontë Society] in 2015.”
Diversity Dominates Hollywood Box Office In 2018 So Far
Films with women or minorities in lead roles have led the box office 11 out of 12 weekends this year, according to data from Box Office Mojo, a site that tracks box office revenue. In the same 12-week period in 2017, only five weekends were dominated by films with women or minorities in the lead. “Hidden Figures” led for two weeks, “Get Out” for one and “Beauty and the Beast” for two.
What Our Accents Signify, And Why People Try To Change Them
“After all, you can wear professional-looking clothes and behave in a way appropriate to your job, but as soon as you open your mouth, your accent betrays your upbringing. As the linguist Chi Luu explained …, research shows that we are quickly judged based on how we speak.” (Especially in Britain.)
The Science Of Crowd Behavior: Every Crowd Has A Psychological Personality
Crowd psychology has been around since the 19th Century. But it’s only in the last few decades that there’s been a major shift to seeing crowds as more than mindless masses. “The crowd is as psychologically specific as the individual,” says the University of Sussex’s John Drury, an expert on the social psychology of crowd management.
Lawrence K. Grossman, Chief Who Transformed PBS And Defended NBC News, Dead At 86
“Mr. Grossman moved to Washington in 1976 to take charge of PBS, at the time little more than a loosely aligned group of hundreds of locally controlled educational TV stations around the country. During his eight-year tenure, he maintained financial stability while giving PBS more of a national presence, largely through cultural programming and news. … He introduced such programs as Live From Lincoln Center and concerts from the White House and the Kennedy Center and approved production of a 13-part series on the history of the Vietnam War. He led efforts that expanded The MacNeil/Lehrer Report to a full hour in 1983, making it the first hour-long nightly newscast on any network.”
What’s The Most Cultured City In The US? If You Go By Engagement, It’s Not NY, LA Or DC
“We looked at the 30 most visited museums in the US in our 2016 survey and found that, while places such as Chicago might have more museumgoers, residents of cities such as Minneapolis, Grand Rapids and Bentonville are more engaged with their local institutions.”
CDs And Vinyl Are Once Again Outselling Digital Downloads
“The RIAA released its 2017 year-end revenue report on Thursday, showing that revenue from digital downloads plummeted 25 percent to $1.3 billion over the previous year. Revenue from physical products, by contrast, fell 4 percent to $1.5 billion. Overall, the music industry grew for the second straight year. And with $8.7 billion in total revenue, it’s the healthiest it has been since 2008.”
Forget Chasing Youth – Venues Should Focus On Older Audiences To Survive: Study
“Arts organisations will need to focus more on older audiences over the next 10 years to cater for England’s ageing population, new research has claimed. Engagement with audiences by theatres and other cultural organisations, along with their workforces, business models and use of technology, is set to change over the next decade, according to a report by development agency Nesta commissioned by [funder] Arts Council England.”
Audiences Are Really Like Murmurations Of Starlings
Matt Trueman: “A few years ago, I learned how birds fly in flocks. It’s a complex science. When they murmur, seemingly so completely in sync, starlings are in fact steering themselves independently: each to its own. There’s no leader, no one follows, but the flock falls into line because each bird reacts to those around it. … If one flinches, those next to it follow suit; climb and the whole flock climbs with you. Every individual impulse ripples through the group and it grows as it goes. Audiences are the same.”
Those Brown Spots On The Murals In King Tut’s Tomb? No Reason To Worry, Say Getty Conservators
“For decades, visitors to the world-famous tomb of King Tutankhamen in Egypt have noticed ugly brown spots covering the wall paintings lining the burial chamber. And for years the Egyptian authorities worried that these blotches might be microorganisms fueled by humidity and the sweaty bodies of tourists. Now, scientists from the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles have completed an analysis – determining that the spots are not alive and not a threat to any of the tomb’s illustrious attractions.”
Seattle Symphony Musicians Extend Contract, Get 12% Pay Raise
“The musicians’ annual base pay, currently at a minimum of $98,100, will increase each year of the [four-year] contract by 3.9 percent, 2.5 percent, 2.4 percent, and 2.6 percent, respectively, reaching a final base salary of $109,745 in 2022.”
Appeals Court Throws Out Olivia De Havilland’s Defamation Lawsuit Over ‘Feud: Betty And Joan’
“Whether a person portrayed in one of these expressive works is a world-renowned film star – ‘a living legend’ – or a person no one knows, she or he does not own history,” said the unanimous ruling from a three-judge panel. “Nor does she or he have the legal right to control, dictate, approve, disapprove, or veto the creator’ portrayal of actual people.”
Brazil Has One Jackson Pollock – And Its Museum Is Selling It To Keep Itself Afloat
“The Museum of Modern Art (MAM) in Rio de Janeiro announced on Sunday that it is selling the only Jackson Pollock painting currently on public view in Brazil. The museum expects the work, Nº 16 (1950), to sell for around $25 million, which would help the museum sustain itself for at least 30 years. This will be the first time a museum in Brazil has deaccessioned an artwork to pay off debt. MAM currently has a deficit of 1.5 million reais (roughly $454,170), and because it’s a private institution, it does not receive any governmental assistance.”