A century after the Ballets Russes took Paris, London and Berlin by storm, choreographer Andris Liepa talks about recreating Mikhail Fokine’s Russian Seasons repertoire for 21st-century audiences.
How Far Will Human Beings Go To Keep Themselves Distracted? (Zap!)
“Considering the many challenges life has to offer, entertaining yourself with your own thoughts for a few minutes seems like one of the easier hurdles to overcome. … But it turns out that people find this assignment incredibly hard. And, according to new research, they’ll even resort to giving themselves electric shocks to keep themselves entertained.”
‘Star Wars’ Becomes A Malay Shadow Play
The art of shadow puppetry may be thriving in Bali and Java, but the Malaysian version has been steadily losing ground to films and video games. So a video game creator and an old master puppeteer decided that George Lucas’s sci-fi saga is as epic a myth as the Ramayana – and that Luke, Leia and Darth Vader are more audience-friendly than Rama, Sita and Ravana. (includes video)
A Festival’s Censorship Exposes A Polish Culture War
“On June 20, the organizers of the Malta International Theater Festival, which takes place annually in Poznan and is one of the largest such events in this part of Europe, gave in to a coalition of Catholic fundamentalists and right-wing hooligans and canceled the performance of “Golgota Picnic,” after repeated accusations that the play was blasphemous.”
Never Mind: YouTube Backs Off Blocking Indie Record Labels
“YouTube has postponed a controversial plan to block certain record labels from its video platform, following an outcry from the creative community and growing scrutiny from European regulators.”
What Will Happen To English As More And More People Worldwide Speak It?
“Interestingly, about two-thirds of English-speakers are not first-language speakers of English. … What happens to a language when it becomes everybody’s? Shaped by the mouths of billions of non-native speakers, what will the English of the future look like? A look into the past can give us an idea. English is of course not the first language [to have been] learned by lots of non-natives. When languages spread, they also change. And it turns out, they do so in specific directions.”
Truth In Classical Music (And Opera) Advertising?
“The Opera America ads taken as a whole tell a story. Is it the story of a groundswell of new works among a vast array of companies that would seem to no longer take their cue from the Met? Is it a story of the end of fear of the new driving programming decisions?”
Walter Dean Myers, Who Brought Stories Of And To Kids Of Color, Dies At 76
“Painfully shy, a stutterer and facing bleak prospects as an man in the segregation era, Mr. Myers dropped out of the elite Stuyvesant High School and joined the Army on his 17th birthday. He wrote in his memoir, ‘Bad Boy’ (2001), that books were his friends as he fought despair.”
What’s It Like To Be A Docent In The Hellhole Factory Where You Used To Work?
“Shelton is the only volunteer on the floor of the provocative [Kara Walker] installation who ever worked at Domino’s sugar refinery. Of the several ‘interpreters’ who are on hand to answer visitor questions, his is the only intimate connection to the factory. He found out about the exhibit through an article in the New York Times and knew immediately he wanted to be involved.”
Hard Day’s Night Was A Hard Act To Follow For Music Documentaries
“Not only was it an astute embodiment of the phenomenon we might call ‘Beatletime’ – frantic, fractured, breathless and intoxicating – it was born of speed itself. To be ready when the lights went down for the command performance before Princess Margaret in London in July, 1964, the movie had to be shot and completed in only four months.”
When A Famous Dubstep Dancer Gets His Ballet On
“No one knows nerves like dancers, no matter if they’re in high tops or pointe shoes. Though the rest of us may want to move like dancers and look like dancers, the performers themselves don’t always feel so enviable.”
When Playwrights Take On Prison Culture, The Drama Is Different
“There is something pernicious about these prison shows offering the most diverse casts of any other entertainments but then having them portray characters that bolster alienating stereotypes.”
We Love To Blame Our Caveman Ancestors For Our Violence, But There’s A Problem With That Idea
“Too often, when it comes to gender behaviour, what sounds like hard science falls much closer to slapdash speculation.”
The NY Philharmonic’s Superstar Trumpeter Retires
Philip Smith. “For the past thirty-six years, Smith has presided over orchestral trumpet playing, with a resonant, clarion sound and a reputation for never missing a note.”
Scientists Discover Consciousness On/Off Switch In The Brain
“Scientists have been probing individual regions of the brain for over a century, exploring their function by zapping them with electricity and temporarily putting them out of action. Despite this, they have never been able to turn off consciousness – until now.”
New York City’s New Arts Education Plan
“New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña announced on Tuesday their plan to put $23 million toward hiring 120 new arts teachers and boosting arts resources in public schools across the city. The plan uses additional money from this year’s budget to guarantee the growth of arts programs in 2015.”
What We Can Learn From The Worst Movies Ever Made
“At the very least, the worst movies ever made offer some comfort: Even in absolute disaster, there’s something to be learned about why we make entertainment, and how it can go wrong. Occasionally, the failure even succeeds, albeit on a different rubric than the one it originally had in mind.”
Milestone: “Transformers” Movie Has Bigger Box Office In China Opening Week Than In North America
Michael Bay’s fourth Transformers installment racked up $134.5 million in its first five days in China, which is higher than the $121 million it had earned in North American theaters by July 1. – See more at:
Artist Rolf Harris Was Convicted For Indecent Assault. And Now His Art Is…
“Everything with a Rolf Harris signature or name, from large-scale oil paintings and music albums to manhole covers in a council car park, are now being cast in a new light.”
2014’s Biggest Selling Album? Could Be The Sountrack From “Frozen”
“The album is the biggest-selling film soundtrack since Mamma Mia!, and is on course to become the bestselling album of the year.”
TV Networks Now Making More Money Per Viewer From Streaming Ads Than From Ads On TV
“We actually make more money per viewer streaming than we do on television. If you stream our programming online, you’re seeing a full complement of advertising—you can’t bypass it.”
NY Public Library Looks To Reinvent
“The library hasn’t selected an architect for the project, which will include traditional reading rooms and bookshelves. But officials said they also want to create fun, collaborative spaces, stocked with tools for creative projects. It hasn’t been decided whether these spaces would be located in the Schwarzman building, the branch across the street, or both.”