“Because perfectionism, judging by the raft of books and listicles on the subject, is something Americans have generally decided is a negative trait. Much of the research backs this up, even going so far as to suggest that perfectionism can be potentially dangerous, leading to anxiety, depression, and, in extreme cases, possibly suicide.”
Colorado Musician’s Double Bass Snapped In Two By Airline
Normally, a fiberglass travel case is almost indestructible. One possibility that the airline suggested was that the case had fallen out of a baggage cart or fork lift and had been run over.
What Writers Need To Get Better, Says Ursula K. Le Guin, Is To Understand Grammar
“If I said, ‘Hey your syntax is a little ‘wonky,” they didn’t know what syntax was. And this makes it kind of hard to discuss writing if you don’t have the vocabulary of the very elements of your work – which is how the English language is put together, and what constitutes a sentence and a non-sentence and so on. And they were really afraid of semicolons! The semicolon struck terror into the hearts of many grown women.”
Dancers Over 50 Now Have Their Own Devoted Documenter
“Emmaly Wiederholt, a 29-year-old dancer and journalist, rejects the notion that dancers have an expiration date and that the acme of their careers only occurs when their technique is at its finest. She has collaborated with photographer Gregory Bartning to capture the voices of 50 professional dancers ages 50 to 95 along the West Coast who have transcended the physical limitations of their bodies and continue to contribute their artistry to the dance world in meaningful and fulfilling ways.”
We Know How To Achieve Happiness On A Societal Scale – And We’re Destroying It Instead
“It is hard enough to judge, in our personal lives, what will make us happier. The difficulties in deducing the consequences of political programmes on our happiness, especially those whose connection to our own life is hard to judge, are significant.”
The Rise And Fall, And Potential Rise Again ,Of Damien Hirst
“His star fell sharply after he committed an art-world taboo by bypassing conventional sales channels—selling works slowly through galleries—and auctioned off nearly $200 million of his work directly at Sotheby’s in 2008. While the sale was successful and proved his popularity, it became his undoing.”
Philadelphia Theatre Company Gets Its Theatre Back After Bank Foreclosed
“The troupe on Thursday bought its space at Broad and Lombard Streets for $5 million from TD Bank, which had taken possession of its Suzanne Roberts Theatre after PTC stopped making mortgage payments in 2012; the bank later foreclosed.”
LA Grows An Emerging Arts District
With its slower pace of revitalisation, downtown LA may have found a unique way to remake itself.
The 11 Longest-Running Shows On Broadway
Mama Mia closes this week after 14 years and more than 10,000 performances on Broadway. So which are the longest running shows?
Carnegie Hall Board Shocked By Turmoil, Chair Resignation
“One member of Carnegie’s board said Mr. Perelman might have decided to step aside next month because he was unlikely to be re-elected. The board member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the trustees had felt blindsided this summer when Mr. Perelman briefly suspended Mr. Gillinson. The board member added that while they would investigate the concerns he raised, they did not believe that Carnegie had governance or transparency problems, and denied that the board had been dragging its feet on hiring a lawyer to investigate.”
The Broad Museum – A Play For Greatness That…
“Some of America’s greatest museums have been made when great collectors and great architects clicked, from the Frick Collection in New York to the Menil Collection in Houston. Though it is a pleasurable place to view extraordinary art, the Broad is not in the same class.”
‘War Horse’ To Close On West End After Seven-Year Run, Despite Ongoing Popularity
Said Rufus Norris, director of Britain’s National Theatre (which originated the production), “We could keep it going for longer, we could put a new cast in and drag it out, but our subsidy is to make work here and to reach out to audiences around the country.”
The Tolstoy of the Zulus. The Citizen Kane of Video Games. Subsumptive Analogies Are the Hitler of Figurative Speech!
“If garden-variety similes serve to equate two things, these lopsided comparisons force one term to exert twice the gravitational pull of the other. Call them subsumptive analogies. Condescension is usually baked right in.”
David Willcocks, Who Led Choir Of King’s College, Cambridge To Worldwide Fame, Dead At 95
With dozens of recordings, the globally beloved Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols on Christmas Eve, his decades directing London’s Bach Choir (Britain’s most prominent large amateur chorus), and innumerable descants for church hymns, Willcocks was one of the most influential choral conductors of the 20th century.
The Late Claudio Abbado Gets A Final Honor: Gramophone Record Of The Year
“Three years ago he was honoured with the lifetime achievement award, but this week conductor Claudio Abbado made a final posthumous appearance at the Gramophone Awards as his last recording – Bruckner’s symphony no 9, with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra – was awarded the prestigious recording of the year prize.”
San Francisco’s Historic Curran Theater To Be Renovated And Reopened By Top Broadway Producer
After parting ways with SHN, a producing firm that brought touring Broadway shows to the city, Carole Shorenstein Hays has taken over the Curran and begun restoration work. Work on the 1,650-seat house should be complete in 2017; meanwhile, Shorenstein Hays will present a series of non-traditional works in the building.
The Persuasive Power Of Repeated Falsehoods (Goebbels Was Right)
“Statements you’ve heard many times are easier to process, and this ease leads people ‘to the sometimes false conclusion that they are more truthful,’ the researchers write. Their key – and disheartening – revelation is that they found examples of this unfortunate dynamic ‘even when participants knew better.'”
Cleveland Ballet Comes Back To Stage After 15-Year Hiatus
“Should the new Cleveland Ballet now taking shape succeed and endure, it will mark not only the third official use of that name, but also the beginning of a potentially glorious age: the return of professional ballet to Northeast Ohio after a gap of nearly 15 years.”
Seven Decades Into His Career, George S. Irving Is Still Acting At 92
The first of his 33 Broadway shows was the original Oklahoma!, he acted under directors Gower Champion and John Gielgud and opposite acting legends Vivien Leigh and Liv Ullmann, and he got a death threat for his performance as Richard Nixon in a Gore Vidal satire.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 09.17.15
John Perreault, 78
As many of you will now know, the author of this blog, John Perreault, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday, September 6. I first got to know John in the late 1990s when he came to … read more
AJBlog: Artopia Published 2015-09-17
Images within Images within Images
Wayne McGregor’s Tree of Codes turns the Park Avenue Armory into a 21st-century phantasmagoric playground. read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2015-09-17
Remember that one time, when I blogged?
It’s been a long, long while since I posted to this blog. For those who were annoyed by that, apologies. For those who didn’t notice, hello. Truth is, I’ve been doing other things. … read more
AJBlog: The Artful Manager Published 2015-09-17
Hyperrealism: Chamber Music from Mars
You may not have heard of Noah Creshevsky (born 1945), but he is, and has been for decades, one of the most amazing figures in current American music. His music, all electronic as far as … read more
AJBlog: PostClassic Published 2015-09-17
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Carnegie Hall Chairman To Step Down After Accusing CEO And Board Of Bad Governance
Less than a day after the leak of an email in which board chair Ronald Perelman said that executive and artistic director Clive Gillinson had shown “a troubling lack of transparency” and that the Board of Directors was failing to provide “appropriate oversight,” Perelman told the board’s executive committee he would not stand for re-election next month.
Dance As Protest: Pretty Big Movement
“Pretty Big Movement, seven big women who seamlessly blend African dance with hip hop, plan to stage a protest dance for Black Lives Matter this month. They’ll perform in front of a police precinct down the street from where they rehearse at the Harlem YMCA.”
Study: There’s A Difference In The “Promiscuity” Of Audiences
“New research drawn from Audience Finder, based mainly on performing arts data, shows that the most highly engaged attenders, those who made six or more bookings per year, account for less than 12% of all bookers in the last three years. This select group is, however, responsible for making more than half (52%) of all the bookings made in the last three years. At the same time, 54% all those who have attended the arts in the last three years have only booked once. At 17.3% these one-time bookers are responsible for making less than a fifth of all bookings made during that time.”
An Odd Opera Racial Tradition Now Coming To An End At The Met Opera
That leading opera houses have continued to use blackface into the early 21st century, long after minstrel shows and similar performances have been rejected as racist, may be more surprising to many people than that the practice is now being ended by the Met, after 124 years, for the new production of “Otello” that will open its 2015-16 season on Monday, Sept. 21.