“Today there are only two full-time dance critics in the country … For a medium that can be difficult to understand, generalist coverage remains vital to the accessibility of the dance scene. As Deborah Jowitt, the former Village Voice critic, put it: ‘If art is valuable as a reflection – of a time, of a place, of a creation – then dance is just as important as literature or film, even though the audience for it is smaller.”
Museums Are Rebranding. Friendlier Names, Anyone?
On Monday, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts unveiled its new identity. In addition to a new logo designed by Pentagram, the museum announced a name change: from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (plural) to the Minneapolis Institute of Art (singular), and from MIA, an acronym, to Mia, a … nickname?
Committing Fiber Arts (AKA Knitting) In Public As A Radical Act
“People consistently underestimate the power of knitting,” says Sewell. “They don’t recognize its radical properties. They’re always surprised when they talk to us about what why we’re knitting, like, ‘Is she talking about racism right now? Did she really just say ‘police brutality?'”
An Unwitting Young Teen Viral Star Grows Up
“More than any other 18-year-old alive, Rebecca Black is all of our anxieties about oversharing online made flesh: the fact that more than 350 million photos are shared to Facebook each day and 300-plus hours of video hit YouTube every minute; the nagging sense that kids born into a world where social networking exists are worse off — when it comes to college applications, job prospects, romantic relationships.”
New Life For The San Diego Art Institute
“I want people to be proud of this place and not feel as if they live in the shadow of L.A. We want to help them make work, and make money. We aim to be an incubator for artists and want to be in a position to commission work.”
Ready To Declare War On Hollywood (Or At Least Its Sexism)
Rose McGowan: “I feel really bad for that kid that I was who was discovered on a street corner at age 17 and a half. I got battered around, and it was a very treacherous place with no protection. I feel really bad for her, but what I’m trying to do is make it better for the next girl. We need the men to help too. We can do this.”
The CEO Of Joburg Ballet Is Suspended
South Africa’s “largest ballet company said investigations have been carried out and have kicked up concerns about poor corporate governance, financial management and general oversight of the company.”
How Plans For Google’s New Headquarters Could Change How We Think About Offices
“Google has come up with an entirely new idea for the office of the future. The hugely ambitious design breaks open the hermetic office park, dramatically lowers energy use, and invents demountable structural components that could vastly simplify future renovations or retrofitting. These innovations could transform architecture.”
Hip-Hop’s Battle Over Authenticity And Ownership
“Unlike other art forms, the idea of authorship is tied into hip-hop’s DNA. At the birth of rapping, rappers didn’t quite own the music, which was stitched and spliced together by a DJ from breaks. But they did own their lyrics, which were a form of currency. The four elements of hip-hop — MCing, DJing, dancing and graffiti — are all tied into things one can create for oneself. One doesn’t have to follow a fundamentalist’s or purist’s line to accept that — despite the mutations of vocalization, production, movement and art in the genre — the idea of making something from nothing, of authenticity, of realness is tied into hip-hop in a way that is absent in other musical spheres.”
Did The Gardner Museum Theft Have A Dry Run The Day Before? New Video Suggests So
“Never-before-seen video released Thursday shows a security guard admitting an unidentified man into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum the night before the infamous 1990 art heist, adding a stunning new clue to Boston’s most enduring mystery.”
Atlanta Ballet’s Season Had Best Box Office In 20 Years
“$3.1 million in box office sales, the highest ticket revenue for the company in at least two decades (as far back as the company’s records go). … Total season attendance approached 72,000.”
Two London Papers Review First Preview Of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Hamlet, And The Theatre Community Is Not Happy
The culprits were The Daily Mail and The Times, whose critic called it “Hamlet for kids raised on Moulin Rouge” – prompting theatre folk to suggest that the public should be able to read and judge the first drafts of her reviews.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 08.06.15
The Ystad Festival, Part 4
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-08-05
How have you engaged your staff to cultivate new leaders?
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-08-05
So you want to see a show?
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2015-08-06
Dance Died In The 1980s? Get Real
It was a decade that saw the loss of major dance figures. But it was also a decade in which dance renewed and reinvented itself…
How Do Labels Make Their Money In The New Music Industry Landscape?
Catalogue releases — old albums, reissues, greatest-hits packages and the like — are responsible for a big chunk of a label’s revenues.
Study: Women Had Less Than A Third Of All Speaking Roles In Hollywood Movies Over 7-Year Period
The University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism examined the 700 top-grossing films between 2007 and 2014 for the study, released Wednesday. The results, researchers said, reveal “a complete picture of Hollywood’s indisputable bias against featuring females, people of color and LGBT characters on screen.”
By The Numbers: Lack Of Diversity In Hollywood Movies Is Stark
“Even many casual observers may now be aware of the hurdles facing female directors, particularly when they try to storm the big studios. Yet those problems, as this latest study confirms, are simply part of a far larger picture. In 2014, not a single title in the top-grossing 100 fictional films starred a woman over 45.”
Major Shift In How People Pay (Or Don’t) For TV Has Media Companies Scrambling
“Media companies and distributors indicated that more people are cutting the cord and ditching pricey channel packages. Meanwhile, media company executives did damage control, putting a positive spin on the prospect of selling individual channels online.”
What To Do With Your Theatre App? Take People Backstage
“National Theatre Backstage officially launches next week and will curate media from existing outlets that the NT uses, such as YouTube and Soundcloud, alongside specially commissioned content. It will also include articles from the theatre’s archives. The app will enable audiences to buy digital programmes of the theatre’s plays.”
How My Father’s Stradivarius Was Stolen And Recovered 35 Years Later
“My father would dream of opening his violin case and seeing the Strad there again, but he never laid eyes on it again. He died in 2012, but the Stradivarius lived on — somewhere. Then, on the last day in June, I got a call from FBI Special Agent Christopher McKeogh.”
Stradivarius, Missing For 35 Years, Is Returned To Violinist’s Daughter, Nina Totenberg
The story of the Strad’s disappearance and recovery, as told by Nina Totenberg in an interview, is a surreal tale that sounds like a cross between “The Thomas Crown Affair” and a Robert Ludlum novel.
Apple Thinks Apple Music Is A Game Changer. So Far 11 Million Have Signed Up
By comparison, Spotify says it has 20 million listeners who have signed on.
Do Whales And Dolphins Have Culture?
Barbara J. King talks to two scientists who say the answer is definitely yes, although the way they define culture may severely irk some anthropologists.
In Tough Budgetary Times, BBC Proms Are More Important Than Ever
“Because of the Proms’ enviable roster of visiting orchestras, its support for contemporary composers, and its accessibility, there remain few larger forces for musical good anywhere. But it is now operating in an atmosphere of some discomfort: Its parent corporation and fellow musical broadcasters in Europe are under pressure. And the British government remains bent on austerity.”