“Rameau’s Les Indes Galantes was designed to show the triumph of Enlightenment order over the exotic ‘other.’ Can hip-hop dance make it feel less toxic?” – The New York Times
A Team of Curators Designs a System for Indigenous Artists to Thrive In
“The word ‘decolonization’ has been bandied about all over national and regional arts outlets lately, but it is often misused or misunderstood. In Seattle, the term was used frequently to describe yəhaw̓, the first exhibition in the newly retrofitted, 7,500-square-foot Seattle Office of Arts & Culture ARTS Gallery … But you won’t hear its curators call yəhaw̓ a decolonial exhibition. So what is it, if not that?” – Hyperallergic
Does An Actor Always Need Her Own Voice?
Mind you, this isn’t a question of mime or dance. Chris Jones considers the implications of The King’s Speech, in which Britain’s King George VI learns to use his voice properly, and Lucas Hnath’s recent play Dana H, in which the star (brilliantly) lip-synchs to a recording of the playwright’s own mother recounting a horrific experience and its aftermath. – Chicago Tribune
Margaret Atwood’s “Handmaid’s Tale” Sequel Breaks Canadian Bookseller Records
The novel, which is a sequel to Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, sold more print copies in the first week than any other Canadian book since BookNet Canada began tracking sales data in 2005. – CBC
Co-Founder Jann Wenner Steps Down From Rock Hall Of Fame
In time, Wenner, who founded the Rock Hall with the record executive Ahmet Ertegun, became more associated with the institution than any other figure — becoming its top negotiator in the industry, as well as the person blamed, fairly or unfairly, for its shortcomings. – The New York Times
How Tiny Intimate Sounds Have Become A YouTube Phenomenon
Over the past two years, ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) videos have ballooned on YouTube, where some of their creators — known as “ASMRtists” — boast millions of subscribers and hundreds of millions of views. Popular ASMR video-makers include Gibi, Fluffy, Pelagea, ASMR Darling, Sophie Michelle, Tingting, and Caroline. Perhaps the most famous is Maria, whose channel, Gentle Whispering, has more than 630 million views. – Los Angeles Review of Books
Pop-Up Replica Of Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre Collapses; Brexit Gets Blamed
The actual theatre didn’t physically collapse, though: the company that operated the venue in York for the past two summers, with a second replica at Blenheim Palace near Oxford this past summer, has run out of money and is liquidating. Audience numbers this year were barely more than half what was projected; for this, the company’s owners blame Brexit. – BBC
Massive New Zaha Hadid Airport – World’s Largest – Opens In Beijing
The new mega-airport, the second in Beijing, was designed by the late architect Zaha Hadid in the shape of a starfish with five connected concourses. It is said to be the world’s largest single-building airport terminal. At 700,000 sq metres, with four runways, it is expected to be able to handle 72 million passengers a year by 2025. By 2040, the airport is expected to expand to eight runways and accommodate 100 million passengers a year. – The Guardian
How Should Opera Companies Have Handled Complaints About Placido Domingo?
Justin Davidson: “Society has changed, and the Met is limping to keep up. When the news about Levine’s transgressions broke, the company called in lawyers to run an investigation, bury the results, and settle the case. The Domingo protest makes it clear that’s not enough to restore harmony within and trust without.” – New York Magazine
Google Tells France It Won’t Pay Publishers For Search Listings And Will Change How It Shows Results
The announcement pours cold water on publishers’ hopes of obtaining more money from the tech giant for displaying their content under the European Union’s new copyright regime, which France was the first to transpose into national law. – Politico
Time For Peter Gelb To Step Down From The Met Opera
Zoe Madonna: “It’s time for Gelb to go, and take the board with him. Time to bring in a team that wants to reclaim the beautiful living tradition of opera for the 21st century, this messy epoch that people still see as a newborn despite its being old enough to vote and almost old enough to drink. And until that happens, the Met Opera deserves every empty seat inside that house.” – Boston Globe
Stanley M. Freehling, One Of Chicago’s Greatest Arts Philanthropists, Dead At 95
“What was the crowning achievement of Stanley M. Freehling, the extraordinary philanthropist, fund-raiser and all-around arts agitator for the State of Illinois? Was it the saving of the Goodman Theatre? The creation of Ravinia, as Chicagoans now understand it to be? The salvation of the ailing Arts Club? Creating a key foundation for the world-class contemporary art collection at the Art Institute of Chicago? Or was it his offering up arts education for arts-averse Illinois politicians? It all depends on who you ask.” – Chicago Tribune
What Is This ‘Algorithmic Theater’ That New MacArthur Fellow Annie Dorsen Practices?
“Dorsen has an answer, or many answers, depending on how you break down her thoughts on the intersection of computer technology and theater. … Her inspiration came while reading a 1950 essay by the English mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing.” – Los Angeles Times
Homecoming: Marina Abramović Has Her First Show In Serbia In 44 Years
“The artist’s return to Belgrade after nearly a half-century has been an event. … On Saturday, the day the show opened, her face was on the front page of nearly every national newspaper in Serbia. When you turned on the TV news, there she was again, being picked over by pundits with a zest that locals generally reserve for soccer and stories about political corruption.” – The New York Times
Al Franken Is Returning To Talk Radio
Twelve years after he left the (now-defunct) liberal radio network Air America, just under two years since he resigned from the Senate over disputed #MeToo allegations, and two months after a major New Yorker article cast doubt on those allegations, Franken is preparing to launch a new weekly talk show on SiriusXM. – Yahoo! (AP)
CEO Of Utah Symphony | Utah Opera Resigns
Paul Meecham is stepping down, effective next week. “During his three years with the [organization], Meecham worked to expand the Utah Symphony’s reach across the state, … spearheading ‘the Great American Road Trip’ — a 1,200-mile [concert tour] to Utah’s state parks and national monuments.” – Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
Record Low Ratings For Last Weekend’s Emmys – Here’s Why
Various production choices — no host (unless you count Homer Simpson), crummy disco music, a puerile announcer — are partly to blame. But the main problem is the award itself. The Emmys don’t mean much to the American public because last night’s big winners — “Game of Thrones,” “Fleabag” and “Chernobyl” — are done, off the air, out of production, kaput. Sure, you can go back and watch them on HBO on Demand or on Amazon, but you’re not likely to. – New York Post
Study: One Third Of Young People Globally Steal Music Online
According to the study, 34% of all 16-to-24-year-old music listeners surveyed admitted to using “stream ripping” apps or services to illegally copy music. When all respondents (ages 16 to 64) are factored in, the overall number of admitted stream rippers globally is 23%. – Variety
Noah Preminger Group: ‘Zigsaw: Music Of Steve Lampert’
Ever on the frontier of experimentation, the adventurous tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger is aided by the complexity of Steve Lampert’s composition Zigsaw. – Doug Ramsey
Meet This Year’s MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellows
Along with inclusion on an illustrious list of past fellows — more than 1,000 in all, since the program’s first class in 1981 — each of this year’s grantees gets a $625,000 stipend, meted out in quarterly installments over five years with no strings attached. – NPR