Paula Kerger: Some in urban centers like New York and Washington, DC, might be able to get by with the money they get from other sources, including corporate underwriters and individual donations. But the threat is a more “existential” threat for stations in rural areas that “are not going to make it … unless there is some federal support.” – recode
The Paradox Of Pointe
Classical ballets present a contemporary challenge: “Ballet, like so much else in our current society, is infused with sexist elements that are also elements of beauty. To tease these apart is impossible and should give us pause to contemplate the mixed nature of art and how hard it is to condemn past inequity and abuse when its codification persists in so much of our cultural expression.” – The Smart Set
‘A Republic Of Readers’: Mexico’s New Chief Literary Minister (Yes) Is A Bomb-Thrower Who Aims To Transform Its Book Industry
The Fondo de Cultura Económica is a huge government-funded publishing house, influential throughout the Spanish-speaking world, and its boss basically is Mexico’s minister of literature. And the man whom populist president Andrés Manuel López Obrador chose for the job, famous radical author Paco Ignacio Taibo II, “is a full-time provocateur … imagine a somewhat younger Noam Chomsky being appointed US Secretary of State, and you’ll get the drift.” – The Nation
Using Ballet Classes To Help Break Through Peru’s Class Barriers
“The class led by Maria del Carmen Silva, a former professional dancer, is bringing classical ballet dancing to children from impoverished communities where leotards and shiny pink pointe shoes are seldom, if ever, seen. The 52-year-old teacher says her mission isn’t just to teach girls how to plié, but to prepare them for a future outside the boundaries of their poor neighborhood.” – Yahoo! (AP)
For First Time In UK, Deaf Actor Goes On As Understudy For Hearing Actor In Hearing Role
Charlotte Arrowsmith, who joined the Royal Shakespeare Company last year to play Cassandra in Troilus and Cressida, stepped in for a colleague last week and played Vincentia in the RSC production of The Taming of the Shrew. (She normally takes the role of Curtis in the staging.) – The Stage
What To Do With A Great Ballet Choreographer’s Turkeys?
“Modern dance companies dedicated to a single choreographer generally have audiences ready to invest in the artist — even when not successful — as much as the art,” but it’s not so simple for classical ballet companies. “What happens when a choreographer of stature misfires? Should the work remain in the repertory? And what about a work that fails on some levels but not others?” Hanna Rubin talks to the leaders of a couple prominent ballet companies about the issue. – Dance Magazine
The Greatest Dance Teacher Who Never Told You **Anything** — Students Remember Merce Cunningham
Karole Armitage: “Merce did not talk to anyone, ever. He gave no corrections, no communication.” Michael Cole: “He never admonished anybody. … We rehearsed completely in silence.” Valda Setterfield: “He always said: ‘I don’t tell people what to do. If they don’t ask me questions, they’re not ready to hear the answer.'” – The Guardian
The World Order Was Created For Nations. But Increasingly Cities Are Taking The Lead
No, Chicago isn’t about to negotiate with North Korea. And London isn’t making a mutual defense treaty with New York. But on a range of issues from climate change to workers’ rights, cities are making pacts with one another. – CityLab
Over The Next 20 Years Trillions In Wealth Will Be Inherited. How Will This Change Philanthropy?
One report last year estimated that transfers to Gen-Xers and millennials over the next decade alone could yield more than $2o billion a year in new grants to nonprofits. – Inside Philanthropy
Why We Love Music? A Battle Between Order And Disorder
Human beings have a conflicted relationship to this order-disorder nexus. We are alternately attracted from one to the other. We admire principles and laws and order. We embrace reasons and causes. We seek predictability. Some of the time. On other occasions, we value spontaneity, unpredictability, novelty, unconstrained personal freedom.
The Improbable Story Of The Guy Who Bought A $1K Painting Over The Internet And Sold It As A Leonardo Worth $500M
Today, of course, the contents of Lot 664 are worth far more than that: The picture has since sold once for $127.5 million and again, in a record-setting auction at Christie’s, for close to half a billion dollars. It has been held up as the “male Mona Lisa” and the “Holy Grail of old-master paintings” and derided by this magazine’s art critic, Jerry Saltz, as a “two-dimensional ersatz dashboard Jesus.” – New York Magazine
American Museum Of Natural History Backs Out Of Event For Brazilian President Bolsonaro
When word got around last week that a private group was renting the AMNH for an evening honoring Jair Bolsonaro, who has been making aggressive plans to open the Amazon rainforest for logging, mining, and farming, museum staffers, donors, and even board members objected. It seems they’ve been heard. – The New York Times
On April 16, 100 Solos For Merce Cunningham’s 100th Birthday (And You Can Watch Them Anywhere)
“One night. Three cities. Seventy-five dancers. And three unique sets of 100 solos, all choreographed by Merce Cunningham.” And if you can’t be in London, New York, or Los Angeles to watch in person, here’s how to stream them live. – Dance Magazine
Nôtre-Dame-De-Paris Fire: What We Do And Don’t Know About The Damage
As President Macron said, “The worst has been avoided” — meaning that, at least, the walls and the twin front towers didn’t collapse and there were no deaths. Here’s the current info. – The New York Times
An Eyewitness Account Of The Nôtre-Dame-De-Paris Fire
Rachel Donadio: “I was standing in a hushed, pained throng along the Quai d’Orléans of the Ile Saint-Louis facing the back of the basilica, and when I watched the spire fall, I gasped and choked back tears. In this, I was not alone.” – The Atlantic
Actress Georgia Engel, Known For ‘Mary Tyler Moore Show’ And ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’, Dead At 70
“She could get a laugh on literally every line you gave her,” remembered Raymond‘s creator. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” She received three Emmy nominations for her work on that series and two others for her performance as Georgette, the sweet-but-dim girlfriend of anchorman Ted Baxter, on MTM; she had an extensive stage career as well. – The New York Times
Ellen Reid’s ‘p r i s m’ Wins Pulitzer Prize For Music
“The Pulitzer jury described the winning piece as a ‘bold new operatic work that uses sophisticated vocal writing and striking instrumental timbres to confront difficult subject matter: the effects of sexual and emotional abuse.'” Here, along with sound samples, is a Q&A with the composer and reporter Tom Huizenga. – NPR
Jackie Sibblies Drury’s ‘Fairview’ Wins Pulitzer Prize For Drama
And Vox‘s Constance Grady says the play “made me the most uncomfortable I have ever been inside a theater. In a good way.” – Vox
Aretha Franklin Awarded Special Posthumous Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer board gave the late singer a Special Citation “for her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades.” She is the first individual woman to receive the Special Citation in its 89-year history. – Detroit Free Press
Carlos Lozada Of Washington Post Wins Pulitzer Prize For Criticism
The Post‘s nonfiction book critic was honored “for his ambitious and innovative essays that range across politics, presidential history, immigrant memories, national security reporting and feminist analysis to probe national dilemmas.” – The Washington Post
Powers’s ‘Overstory’, Stewart’s ‘The New Negro’, Blight’s Frederick Douglass Bio, Griswold’s ‘Amity And Prosperity’ Win Literary Pulitzers
The 2019 Pulitzer Prizes for freestanding books went to The Overstory by Richard Powers (fiction), Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America by Eliza Griswold (general nonfiction), The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke by Jeffrey C. Stewart (biography), Frederick Douglass, Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight (history), and Be With by Forrest Gander (poetry). – Publishers Weekly
Researcher Claims To Have Discovered Shakespeare’s Home In London
“The place where Shakespeare lived in London gives us a more profound understanding of the inspirations for his work and life. Within a few years of migrating to London from Stratford, he was living in one of the wealthiest parishes in the city, alongside powerful public figures, wealthy international merchants, society doctors and expert musicians.” – The Stage
Why Hollywood’s Writers Are Firing Their Agents En Masse
Short answer: The Writers Guild of America asked them to. Longer answer: The Guild says agency practices have evolved to the detriment of writers and that writers are earning less as agents expand their businesses, creating conflicts of interest. But it’s difficult. Writers depend on agents to work on their behalf and have close relationships with them. – Los Angeles Times
The Singularity Is Complete: Tyshawn Sorey Glues Together Jazz And Classical (And Whatever Else Appeals To Him)
Sorey’s work eludes the pinging radar of genre and style. Is it jazz? New classical music? Composition? Improvisation? Tonal? Atonal? Minimal? Maximal? Each term captures a part of what Sorey does, but far from all of it. At the same time, he is not one of those crossover artists who indiscriminately mash genres together. – The New Yorker
Catastrophic Fire Rages At Nôtre-Dame Cathedral In Paris
The blaze in the great medieval cathedral broke out before 7 pm local time. While no human casualties have been reported, the church’s spire and most of its roof have collapsed, smoke is pouring through the historic stained-glass windows, and crews are rushing to salvage what they can of the building’s art. – The Guardian