“We found the bottom part of the whistle; the top, which is missing, would have formed a small reservoir for water with a spout for blowing through. The warbling effect is created as the air bubbles through the water. These type whistles may have been used for sound effects in theatrical performances. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, staged at the Curtain Theatre in the late sixteenth century, there are numerous references to bird song.”
The Australian Ballet’s First Indigenous Dancer
“Ms Havelka made headlines in 2012 when she was invited to join the prestigious ballet, but behind the curtain, she had a difficult journey to the stage.”
Why It’s Important To Broadly Define Philosophy
“So which is it? Is academic philosophy in danger of withdrawing ever further into itself? Or is philosophy, in daily practice and in the academy, at a high point—accessible to more people than ever, and spilling over its disciplinary boundaries?”
The World’s Largest Collection Of Braille Music Is Finally Being Digitized
“Digitizing braille music isn’t as easy as just scanning the page. The tactile notations require multiple steps for accurate transcription, and their history of touch means the dots are sometimes smashed or otherwise unreadable.”
‘Cloud Atlas’ As Published In US Is ‘Astonishingly Different’ From UK Version
“Shortlisted for the Man Booker prize in 2004, Cloud Atlas is already complicated enough: telling the story of six interlocking lives and hopping back and forth across centuries and genres. But differences between the US and UK editions highlighted by [a professor] in a journal article published on Wednesday on the Open Library of Humanities run to 30 pages of examples.”
Serial Drama Made The Age Of Peak TV; Why Is The Genre Running Out Of Steam Now?
Matt Zoller Seitz: “Every revolution has casualties. In this one, it’s the hour-long, serialized drama that unveils its story over multiple seasons, and that fueled the so-called Golden Age of serious-minded, scripted TV; a form that, until recently, moved the needle on TV as an art form and dominated the cultural conversation. When discussing the serial drama in 2016, you can feel a sense of fatigue settling in.
Meryl Streep Explains Our Fascination With Florence Foster Jenkins
“In 1944 at the age of 76, Foster Jenkins sold out Carnegie Hall – more than 2,000 people were turned away from the door – with a recital of opera arias that she performed off key. Listen to Streep recount this history in the audio above and watch the entire interview in the video below.”
An Unknown Language Was Discovered Three Years Ago, Hiding In Plain Sight In A Big City – And Now There’s A Race To Save It
The leader of the effort to preserve Hawaiian Sign Language is being led by its last native user. But there are conflicts – cultural and personal as well as practical – making the job even more difficult.
Meet The Keeper Of Frederick Ashton’s Ballet Legacy
Carrie Seidman talks with Anthony Russell-Roberts, Ashton’s nephew and the inheritor of the rights to his works, about preserving and reviving his dances, what Ashton loved about New York, and how Sarasota, Florida became the modern-day standard-bearer for Ashton’s choreography.
Art Dealers In $2 Million Lawsuit Over Mysterious Work That May Not Yet Even Exist
“An unnamed artwork by a mysterious artist is at the center of a $2 million lawsuit against dealer David Zwirner by Old Master dealer Fabrizio Moretti via his the London company, Blue Art Limited, which accuses Zwirner of breach of contract, fraudulent concealment, and inducement.”
TV Reporters Press CBS TV Exec: You’re Doing Terrible At Diversity!
“You guys have been aware of this diversity problem for a while. We’ve been talking about it at press tours for years. How can you come up with a slate where every star is a white male? You don’t have any showrunners of color, and you’ve had years to fix this.”
Warning: Oversupply Of TV Shows Could Deflate TV’s Second “Golden Age”
With a greater supply of U.S. television than can be profitably produced, the industry is “ballooning into a condition of oversupply” that will likely peak in the next two years and then slowly deflate.
When Women Were Barred From The Ancient Olympic Games, They Created Their Own
“The Heraean Games, a separate festival honoring the Greek goddess Hera, demonstrated the athleticism of young, unmarried women. The athletes, with their hair hanging freely and dressed in special tunics that cut just above the knee and bared their right shoulder and breast, competed in footraces.”
National African American Museum Breaks The Mold On DC’s National Mall (First Look)
“The building is a stark — and welcome — departure from the neoclassicism for which D.C.’s architecture is known. And while it is not yet complete (scaffolding still covers the building’s broad entrance), the museum nonetheless cuts a daring profile on the Mall, where its stacked trapezoidal forms appear to erupt from a grassy plain between the obelisk of the Washington Monument and the columnar façades of the Herbert Hoover Commerce Department Building.”
Seattle Public Library Now Allows Patrons To Download Local Musicians’ Music
“PlayBack is open to all Seattle-area musicians who record or perform in the city of Seattle and have had an album produced within the last five years. PlayBack is intended to be an ever-expanding collection of Seattle’s musical culture, and a total of 100 new albums will be available each year through the Library’s catalog.”
Kansas City Symphony Sets Attendance Records, Virtually “Selling Out” Its Season
“The symphony reported a record of nearly $5 million in total ticket revenue for its 2015-16 season, with $2.9 million of that in subscriptions. Perhaps more impressive, the symphony series performances sold 95 percent of available tickets, on average.”
A Philadelphia Theatre Goes Pay-What-You-Wish (There Are Risks, Of Course)
“While their programming is exciting and admirable, these plays and their popularity are untested. There is always the chance new audiences will walk out unsatisfied and withhold their contributions. And how will this strategy reach Philadelphians who don’t already have Azuka on their radar? It’s one thing to offer up more accessible theatre, but if the same theatregoers are the only ones taking advantage, where’s the progress?”
Joining Slow Food And Slow TV, We Now Have Slow Games For Our Phones
“Slow games are less ubiquitous and straightforwardly tantalizing than traditional mobile games. They often seem to lack any point at all. Instead, they invite players to engage in simpler virtual pleasures – taking a stroll, watering plants, feeding stray cats.”
Ernst Neizvestny, 91, Sculptor Who Stood Up To Khrushchev – And Then Designed His Tombstone
“In 1962, Neizvestny met Khrushchev at an art show held by the Moscow Manege. Khrushchev derided the sculptor’s work for being ‘degenerate'” – to which Neizvestny, a burly war hero, replied, “I’m not afraid of your threats.” The sculptor emigrated to the U.S. in 1976, and went on to have public works on three continents.
The Chinese City With A Hundred-Year History Of Western Classical Music, Brought By Russian Jews
“The arts – and especially classical music – flourished here throughout the early 20th century. Nicknamed the St. Petersburg of the East, Harbin was home to a thriving Jewish community that helped build a rich cultural scene, including China’s first symphony orchestra, [founded in 1908 and] made up of mostly Russian musicians.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 08.10.16
Who wants performance metrics in the arts?
Today we have a story from The Atlantic on schools and tests – or, “assessments” – measuring creativity. With all the problems that come with standard testing, who would want such a thing? Well … read more
AJBlog: For What It’s Worth Published 2016-08-10
Ystad: Joe Lovano, The Bohuslän Big Band & Others
As the Rifftides staff flies home, digital magic allows us to continue reporting on highlights of the 2016 Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-08-10
Trump’s Partner in Opera
Last fall I wrote a blog, The Operatic Republican Characters, in which I compared the Republicans seeking their party’s nomination for the Presidency. In it I compared Donald Trump to Dr. Dulcamara … read more
AJBlog: OperaSleuth Published 2016-08-10
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Montreal’s Classical Spree – A Way To “Save” Classical Music?
“At the Virée classique, at just about the time an ordinary person starts to wonder when the concert will end, it ends. The audience disperses for lunch or some shopping or whatever, and then regroups in different combinations at another hall nearby for another shot of music.”
Can You Really Create A Standardized Test To Grade For Creativity? (Some Schools Are Trying)
“This spring, with a six-district pilot, New Hampshire joined a small but growing list of at least a half-dozen states experimenting with large-scale arts testing. Educators prefer to call the new exams “assessments,” because they’re so different in form and format from traditional standardized tests. The goal, though, is to create a common “test”—often in the form of a project—that can be given to students in different classrooms across the state and used to help compare the performance of schools and districts.”