“The piece, called Sun & Sea (Marina) (2019), was created by a trio of highly creative women: filmmaker and theater director Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė; writer, poet, and playwright Vaiva Grainytė; and artist, musician, and composer Lina Lapelytė. From within Venice’s Marina Militare, the opera’s set is a faux beach, complete with lounge chairs, inflatables, and sand. A troupe of two-dozen performers from Lithuania and Italy sing sweetly and harmoniously, enacting dark humor that reflects on the decaying Earth, through the guise of a lazy, frolicsome beach day.” – Artsy
A Ballet Dramaturg Explains How (And Why) She Works
Uzma Hameed, who developed Woolf Works and Obsidian Tear with Wayne McGregor and Victoria with Cathy Marston, “defines her role as dramaturg – the definition of which is often a vexed question – as essentially creative, a ‘critical friend’ to the choreographer rather than an omniscient authority. ‘There are probably as many definitions as there are dramaturgs – kind of like versions of religion.'” – The Stage
Belgium’s Royal Museum Says It Wants To Confront The Country’s Colonial Africa Past. There’s Just One Problem…
“I went there a month later, and spent two days trying to access its famed music archives, and mostly just looking around. And at the risk of spoiling any big, revelatory climax, I’ll just tell you: there’s basically nothing in the museum that honestly confronts what went on in Central Africa.” – The Outline
Salon.Com Sold For $5 Million In Final Effort To Stay Afloat
Founded in 1995 as one of the first internet-only general-interest newsmagazines, Salon has been losing money for its entire history, and the company warned that it may have to be liquidated if this sale is not completed. (The purchasers, according to a subsequent report, are a pair of tech entrepreneurs.) – New York Post
From YouTube To Hollywood: Short Is The New Thing
“Once the purview of DIY YouTubers and aspiring creatives looking for a big break, short-form now commands a deep well of resources – the backing of major studios, streaming-service budgets and top talent. And as the slate of original content continues to expand, scripted short-form TV may become the most contested battleground for heavyweight tech and content companies, as everyone from Snap to YouTube to Sundance TV compete for a quarter-hour snippet of attention.” – The Guardian
Noise-Canceling The World: What Happens When You Always Wear Headphones
“To those who lived before headphones, it might seem as though I want to exist in the world without actually being part of it. And to some extent, that’s true. Urban Millennials like me don’t inhabit a world that allows for much privacy. We’ve been squeezed into closely packed offices, closely packed subway cars, and closely packed apartments. Everyone else’s noises are constantly everywhere, so your head is the only personal space you can get. Granted, I share it with Brian Eno and Twin Shadow, but at least the choice is mine.” – The Atlantic
Study: Want More Civil Online Discourse? Post The Rules
A recent study finds that simply posting “community rules,” and making sure they remain prominently displayed, increases compliance with those guidelines, as well as participation by newcomers. – Pacific Standard
Does A City’s Beauty Translate Into A “Better” City? This Study Takes Up The Question
The study by Gerald A. Carlino of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and Albert Saiz of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, examines the connection between a city’s beauty and key growth indicators. A raft of previous studies have found a connection between economic and population growth and urban amenities (a broad category ranging from parks to restaurants, art galleries, and museums). But this study takes a much closer look at the effects of beauty itself. – CityLab
How We Do Being Old And Sick In America: 87-Year-Old Jazz Legend Kenny Burrell And Why He Needs A GoFundMe Campaign
“The Detroit native has played on at least 100 records, which is probably a conservative estimate. Burrell made his recording debut with Dizzy Gillespie in 1951, teamed up for a record with John Coltrane in 1958 and spent the 1960s doing not only session work — with everyone from Louis Armstrong to James Brown.” – Washington Post
A Harvard Dean Is Working On Harvey Weinstein’s Defense. Students Protested. Harvard Removes Dean
Conor Friedersdorf writes that Harvard’s actions go against the principle that everyone deserves a defense. “Educational institutions ought to teach young adults this justice-enhancing logic. Harvard is now teaching its undergraduates how to undermine it.” – The Atlantic
“Not Good Enough”: London’s Royal Opera House Announces 19 Male Conductors, One Woman For New Season
The Royal Opera’s director of opera, Oliver Mears, was asked if that was a good ratio. “No it is not an acceptable ratio at all … of course,” he said. “But this is something which is a long-term project. It’s not going to happen instantly and in the following years we have a much better ratio of female conductors and it is something which is is an absolute priority for us.” – The Guardian
Trump Proposed Killing The NEA. House Democrats Propose A Budget Increase
The bill funds the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Both would receive $167.5 million, an increase of $12.5 million from current spending. – The Hill
Polite? Pleasant? Not Words You Ever Thought Would Characterize The Whitney Biennial
Linda Yablonsky: “Considerate” and “pleasant” are not words I ever expected to apply to a show that carries outrage and upset in its historical baggage. With works by 75 participants, this biennial is an airy installation of refined art as free of bombast as it is of new ideas. It doesn’t preen. It doesn’t strut. Strangely, for an exhibition that aligns with the politics of resistance, it doesn’t ruffle many feathers, either.” – The Art Newspaper
Daniel Libeskind Designing Museum Of Humans In Kenya
The project was commissioned by conservationist Richard Leakey, whose fossil discoveries have helped reveal how humankind has evolved. “The museum — titled ‘ngaren’ — will be the first center of its kind to present research, discovery, and exploration of more than two million years of human history and the origins of our universe from evolution, biodiversity, and overpopulation, to war, disease, and climate change.” – DesignBoom
Man Dives To The Deepest, Remotest Place On Earth And Finds… Plastic
Vescovo, the Dallas-based co-founder of Insight Equity Holdings, a private equity fund, found the manmade material on the ocean floor and is trying to confirm that it is plastic. – The Guardian
‘The Most Holistic Approach To Creating Belonging That I Have Witnessed In A Theatre’
Critic Alex Rosenfeld writes about A Fierce Kind of Love, a devised play about the intellectual disability rights movement, and how everything about the production, from the integration of performers with disabilities into the development of the script and the cast to the provisions made by the presenter (FringeArts in Philadelphia) for audience members of varying (dis)abilities, demonstrated the difference between inclusion and belonging. – HowlRound
Ten Must-See Movies Setting The Buzz At Cannes
Bill Murray and zombies, Afghanistan, football. It’s an eclectic (to say the least) lineup this year. – The Guardian
How Exactly Do You Define ‘Camp’? You Shouldn’t Even Try (Sorry, Susan Sontag)
“Camp, an agent of nonsense, resists this exercise. Or actually, like a child, kind of ignores it and wanders elsewhere.” J. Bryan Lowder takes it as a basic principle that camp is, or ought to be, fun — and whatever Sontag’s “Notes on Camp” is, fun it ain’t. “One can walk out of Sontag’s brain and into a less oppressive headspace. One can have a relationship with camp not marked by acrimony. But getting there requires recognizing how we got here.” So Lowder does some deep-diving — well, Slip ‘N Slide-ing, actually. – Slate
Why Do Artists Tend To Be More Liberal? Study Says Their Brains Work Differently
“A recent study finds that such people are particularly good at imagining events that are far removed from their current reality. That imagination is, in a sense, their superpower, and it allows them to empathize with a wider range of people.” – Pacific Standard
Stop Asking What It’s Like To Be A Female Director, Say Females On Cannes Jury
Filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher: “It’s sort of like asking someone who survived a shipwreck why he’s still alive. … Why are you asking us? Well, ask the person who built the boat, who sold the tickets, the schools. People have said there haven’t been enough women, but it’s not enough to talk about at the end [of the chain]. We have to look at the beginning of the chain.” – Vulture
Migrant Death Boat Is By Far Most Controversial Work At Venice Biennale
Artist Christoph Büchel managed to get possession of the actual fishing boat in which hundreds of migrants drowned while trying to get from Libya to Italy in 2015 — and he entered it as is, with no identifying text, in this year’s Biennale as an artwork titled Barca nostra (Our Boat). Reactions to the piece have been strong, ranging from somber admiration to appalled denunciation. – The Art Newspaper
Boston Ballet Principal Retires To Direct Rhode Island’s Largest Ballet Company
“Kathleen Breen Combes, a star of Boston Ballet who has earned acclaim everywhere from Boston to New York and London, is retiring from the company after 16 years to become the new executive director of Festival Ballet Providence. [Her] final performance … is scheduled for June 9.” – The Boston Globe
It’s Illegal To Be Gay In Tunisia, But These Brave Souls Put On A Queer Film Festival There
“Mawjoudin Queer Film Festival, in its second year, differs significantly from other film festivals: some participants wear badges that read ‘No Photos’; attendees were invited through a private Facebook page and were told not to geo-tag locations on social media; venues were revealed only in the final days before the festival.” – The New York Times
Collective Is Translating 100 Classic Indian Novels Into English For The First Time
The Indian Novels Collective was founded two years ago by four Mumbai professionals who realized that their growing children were reading Indian books written only in English — and missing out on a huge, high-quality body of work written in India’s dozen-plus regional literary languages. The INC expects to start publishing in 2020 under the Speaking Tiger imprint, and publishers in the rest of the English-speaking world are showing some interest. – Book Riot
Royal Ballet Begins Major Education Project In Far-Off Yorkshire Town
Working under the umbrella of the Royal Opera House and in partnership with local government, over the next three years the company will be giving workshops at every school in the town of Doncaster, expanding its Chance to Dance program for disadvantaged children to every local dance school, and performing for the first time ever in Doncaster. – The Stage
Tenor Russell Thomas on diversity and blackface in opera
“Right now, Thomas is starring in the Canadian Opera Company’s latest production of Otello in Toronto. In the past, the role has received criticism for casting white actors who have had their skin darkened to play the part. But as a black opera singer himself, Thomas says that outrage is misplaced. He joined host Tom Power in the q studio to share his perspective on why banning blackface won’t get at the root issues of the genre’s lack of diversity.” (audio) – CBC
How Doris Day Connected With America
Todd Purdum: “Doris Day, who died Monday at 97, was always underrated—the girl next door whose peaches-and-cream good looks, 1,000-watt smile, and sinuous, molten singing voice were so often taken for granted. Her huge commercial power—and the bad management of her third husband, Martin Melcher—meant that she seldom had material worthy of her talents, in records or on film. But when she did, watch out.” – The Atlantic
What Dance Criticism Really Needs Is Outsiders (Says A Veteran Dance Critic)
“Bring on the outsiders! The writers and journalists who can’t raise their legs to their ears but can ask a brand-new, real good question and keep asking until it gets answered with clarity.” Eva Yaa Asantewaa (who was something of an outsider, in more than one way, when she started) makes the case. – Dance Magazine
Mel Gibson Is Playing A Character Called ‘Rothchild’, And Folks On Social Media Aren’t Having It
In the movie in question, titled Rothchild and currently being pitched to buyers at the Cannes marketplace, Gibson is to play the patriarch of an extremely rich New York family. The similarity to Rothschild, the name of a wealthy European Jewish family that has been the target of anti-Semitic invective for centuries, has (one might say) not gone unnoticed or unremarked-upon online, given Gibson’s history of (one might say) unfortunate utterances. – The Guardian
33 Things You’d Benefit By Knowing As An Artistic Director
Sean Daniels passes on a Joe Haj list constituting a recipe for being a successful artistic director of a theatre. Some are common sense (don’t be an asshole). Others reflect a bit more psychology: “Everyone who works with you is firmly placed in the center of their own lives. You must collect their dreams and include them in a shared idea of the future, or pay the penalty of a disconnected and disaffected staff.” – The Awkward Stage