“A story may be things that happened, embellished for interest, but that’s not a book. Many stories don’t get good until the end. Some stories — true ones even — are hard to believe. Other stories are just too short, don’t have enough tension, or frankly aren’t that interesting. The stories we tell that enrapture our friends and families may be extraordinarily boring to those who don’t know us. Those stories are not a book.”
Alex Ossadnik Named Artistic Director Of Ballet Wichita
“Ossadnik was a principal dancer with the German National Theater from 1987 to 1991, after which he danced in France with the Ballet Theatre de Bordeaux from 1991 to 1995. Since moving to the United States in 1995, he has worked with various companies across the country and maintains a relationship with the Balanchine Trust.” For the last decade, he was ballet master at Ballet Idaho.
Most Academic Texts Aren’t Written To Be Read. Why?
“After I earned my doctorate in 2015, I was left with a persistent disquiet about how people read and write in higher education. Because gutting or breaking a book easily is only possible if books are written in a way that allows them to be gutted easily.”
There Are Three Movies About The Demise Of Gawker In The Works – What Do Ex-Gawker Staffers Think Of Them?
“It’s unclear how many of the projects, if any, will end up panning out, but drafts of the first two have been going around the film and media worlds for a few months now. … But what do the people who lived through the whole ordeal think? We decided to ask the Gawker diaspora, a cadre of writers who were never shy about sharing their opinions, what they thought about the idea of a movie about the demise of their beloved site.”
A Literary Agent Wants You To Know That You Really Do Not ‘Have A Book In You’
Ouch, but also, too real: “Every story is not a book. A story may be things that happened, embellished for interest, but that’s not a book. Many stories don’t get good until the end. Some stories — true ones even — are hard to believe. Other stories are just too short, don’t have enough tension, or frankly aren’t that interesting. The stories we tell that enrapture our friends and families may be extraordinarily boring to those who don’t know us. Those stories are not a book.”
How Opera Became A Tool For Empowering Young People In South Africa’s Townships [PODCAST]
The founder of Umculo, an organization that uses musical theatre and opera to get both young people and adults interested in the power of the music for social change, was inspired by El Sistema in Venezuela.
New Technology Could Finally Make Lightweight Braille Books And E-Readers Workable
“Harvard researchers … [have] crafted reprogrammable braille that could eliminate the need for unique pages without the bulk of a display. The concept is straightforward. The team compressed a thin, curved elastic shell using forces on each end, and then made indents with a basic stylus (similar to how you print a conventional braille book). Once you remove the compression, the shell ‘remembers’ the indents. You can erase them just by stretching the shell. … There’s no lattice holding it up, and it works with everything from conventional paper to super-thin graphene.”
Patrick Williams, Grammy-Winning Jazz-Band Leader And Emmy-Winning Composer, Dead At 74
“Williams was among the most versatile composers of his generation, earning an Oscar nomination (for adapting opera in Breaking Away, 1979), four Emmys (for dramatic music including Lou Grant, 1980) and two Grammys (for arrangements including his classic jazz album Threshold, 1974) during more than 50 years of music-making in New York and Los Angeles.”
A Sistema For Opera, Founded By A Music Critic, In South African Townships
“Inspired by the successes of Venezuela’s music education programme El Sistema in effecting social change, South African-born [Shirley] Apthorp was convinced that opera could be a tool for empowering people. She founded Umculo, an organisation that brings music theatre to young people and adults alike, working with professional singers and instrumentalists to give performances that have garnered international acclaim. (podcast)
Iranian Gallerists Released After Paying $10 Million Bail
The couple, who own the Aun Gallery in Tehran, were arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in July 2016. In January this year, the couple were sentenced to draconian jail terms of 16 years for Neyssari, and 27 years for Vafadari on accusations that have ranged from “assembly and collusion against national security”, “spreading corruption”, “storing alcoholic drinks” and “dealing in indecent art.”
We Need New Ways To Measure Pleasure
“In fact, there are two standard ways to compare different pleasures with each other – the ordinal and the cardinal. The ordinal criterion simply tells us which of two pleasures is more pleasurable, and nothing about how much more pleasurable it is. The cardinal criterion, on the other hand, tells us how much more, or less, pleasurable one activity is compared with the other; for instance, does someone find reading a book twice as pleasurable as drinking a Coke?”
A Sucker Born Every Minute – Here’s Why People Fall For It
Why do people fall prey to these scams? My colleagues and I set out to answer this question. Some of our findings are in line with other research, but others challenge common assumptions about fraud.
In A World Of Mispronounced Words, Is This The Most Mangled?
There is to my mind one word that is so uniformly mispronounced all around the world that it should clearly be a linguistic crime, if not an outright human rights violation. And so without further ado, I give you the winner in the category of the most mispronounced word in the world.
The Surreal Life Of Gala Dalí
It’s not just that she was the wife of the most famous Surrealist artist. Gala (née Elena Ivanovna Diakonova) was at the very center of the early Surrealist movement, having friendships, love affairs, or personal conflicts with many of its key members. Then there was the castle in Spain that Salvador Dalí bought for her – and the rules she placed on his presence there.
Composer Refuses State-Funded Commission Because She Was Offered 20% Less Than Male Composers (Alas, It’s Not That Simple)
Siobhán Cleary won a commission, funded by the Arts Council of Ireland, from two choral organizations; when she saw that the men who had received the same grant in previous years had been offered more money, she turned the work down. Problem is, Cleary “has actually opened a can of worms that goes well beyond the issue of gender inequality. One of the core problems with the council’s music commission scheme is that it is set up in a way that simply cannot deal with the principle of equal pay for equal work.” Michael Dervan reports.
Artists Demand Their Work Be Removed From Show After Museum Hosts Arms Company Event
“The Design Museum in London is facing a firestorm of criticism for hosting a private reception for Italian aerospace company Leonardo on July 17 in conjunction with the Farnborough International Airshow. The Campaign Against Arms Trade has called the airshow an arms fair, and has published an open letter from artists who are demanding the museum remove their work from display by the end of the month.” The museum shouldn’t be too surprised: the show in question is “Hope to Nope: Graphics and Politics, 2008–2018” and includes posters for the likes of Occupy Wall Street and Hong Kong’s “Umbrella Revolution”.
‘Indecent’ – Haruki Murakami’s Latest Novel Censored In Hong Kong
“Hong Kong’s Obscene Articles Tribunal announced last week that the Chinese-language edition of Murakami’s Kishidancho Goroshi, or Killing Commendatore, had been temporarily classified as ‘Class II – indecent materials’.” This means that the book cannot be sold to minors and must be sold in a warning wrapper.
Troubled Univision Cuts Staff And Will Refocus Operations
Numbers are not specified in the company-wide memo, but a source close to the company tells Deadline 7% of jobs will be eliminated. Before the reductions, the company had a workforce of about 4,000 people.
Old Misery at The Daily News
The decimation of the New York Daily News brings back memories of the two-and-a-half miserable years I worked there.
Propwatch: the drip in ‘Allelujah!’
‘I’m just taking my friend for a walk,’ says Mary, an elderly patient in Allelujah!, Alan Bennett’s fascinating bumpy ride of a new play at London’s Bridge Theatre. She refers to the drip she lugs behind her as she crosses the stage.
A First: Special Kennedy Center Honor Will Go To “Hamilton”
It’s the first time the annual awards have honored a work of art rather than an artist. “Hamilton” and its creative team — composer-lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Thomas Kail, music director Alex Lacamoire, and choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler — will receive a special honor Dec. 2 in a ceremony that also salutes the lifetime achievements of composer Philip Glass, singer-actresses Cher and Reba McEntire, and jazz musician Wayne Shorter.
Order Your Own Bespoke Production Of A Play (If You Have The Cash)
“Billed as an exclusive private theatre offering, each of Revels in Hand’s productions will be specially created for a private client and chosen for the space in which they will be performed. Go People, the company behind the plans, said this could range from a dinner party or a yacht to corporate events and weddings, and would incorporate all styles of play including Shakespeare and modern classics. Clients can also commission new work if they wish.”
Writers’ Festival In Australia Under Fire For Disinviting Politician And Germaine Greer
“[Their publisher] said dropping the controversial feminist and the outspoken former New South Wales premier from the September program [of the Brisbane Writers’ Festival] ‘seems counter to the ethos of freedom of speech’. The festival claimed it was merely trying to ensure a balance within the program in one case, and responding to the decisions of a partner organisation in another.” (Greer, of course, had some choice words on the matter.)
Announcing the new ArtsEngaged.com
While new is always (well, often) fun, what is most important to me about this website upgrade is the opportunity to share many more resources with the community engagement field.