Idanna Abignente, who lives in a suburb of Turin, started pole dancing at around age 70 to keep fit. She developed a passion for it and eventually joined the competition circuit, where she frequently wins her age division for lack of other competitors. - New York Post
It is often assumed that a gallery is a prerequisite to finding commercial success and a place in the history of art. But a growing number of artists are rejecting that notion and going—to use the kind of commercial lingo that the art market likes to avoid—Direct to Consumer (DTC). - Ocula
An anatomist by training, he developed a technique called “plastination” which prevents the decay of corpses and leaves them flexible. He used that technique on dozens of bodies, many with skin removed to display musculature, and set them in various poses for his traveling exhibitions — which attracted both excited crowds and horrified criticism. - AP
Why, out of every option in the orchestra, did the cello become the instrument of introspection? “It’s the cliche, but it’s probably because the cello comes closest to the human vocal range.” - The Guardian
Since January 2022, subscription streaming services such as Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ have been required to invest 20% of their annual French revenue in local film and television production under France’s implementation of the European Audiovisual Media Services Directive. - Variety
Next month, the 1980s New Wave pop icon, now 65, was going to play King Herod in the London revival of the musical. But his June release, “We Will Dance Again,” takes strong and controversial positions on the Israel-Palestine conflict; after weeks of heavy criticism, he cancelled his run in the role. - Playbill
Nearly all monumental architecture is expected to convey some set of values greater than its stated purpose. This is especially true of stadiums with their straightforward program – a pitch for a game to be played and seating from which to observe it. - Dezeen
International civil servants do not in fact escape power. They rearticulate it with the help of technical experts. By framing this rearticulation as real impartiality, however, they conflate technocracy and expertise. This conflation lies at the heart of the legitimacy crisis that international organisations face today. - Aeon
“You can disagree about some or all of it! I may well be wrong!” she added. “But it’s not ‘personal’ to analyze a film or other work of art, even negatively. Criticism is more than ‘Hurray!’ or ‘Hiss!’” - Entertainment Weekly
“During a recent week on the grounds, it felt anxious, angry, combustible. It was impossible to escape the warfare that the Boston Symphony is waging on itself: a crisis that is drowning out the music. Somebody needs to quiet things down before even more serious damage is done.” - The New York Times
Recorded revenues grew about 13 percent to 2.516 billion euros ($2.89 billion), while publishing revenue grew about 8 percent to 616 million euros (about $710 million). - The Hollywood Reporter
“In a lawsuit filed on Thursday in California federal court, writer-producer Simon Afram and his company, Op-Fortitude, accuse Netflix of compromising the sale of the World War II spy thriller” — titled Fortitude — by losing a copy of the movie that was shared for screening. He seeks at least $105 million.” - The Hollywood Reporter
Kumamoto Castle, built in 1607 on the island of Kyushu, is considered one of Japan’s three great surviving castles. A portion of its moat wall collapsed following Tuesday’s 7.1 earthquake. In 2016, a different portion of the wall came down in another temblor. - Hyperallergic
On Monday, The New York Times posted an article featuring a longtime volunteer tour guide who said of the currently-dormant institution, “Now it’s a black hole.” On Thursday, a Kennedy Center official sent a memo to all volunteer tour guides telling them not to come there “until further notice.” - The New York Times
What with all the complaints Trump has about the Smithsonian's “bias,” the State Department has decided to “make visual arts great” (their phrase) with the exhibition “Passport to Patriotism: 250 Years of Diplomacy.” No historians or professional curators are involved, and the show includes pieces by the planners’ friends. - The New York Times
The old Art Alliance building near Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square had belonged to the University of the Arts, which abruptly closed in 2024. Curtis bought it in January 2025; it was badly damaged in a fire that July 4. Repairs are underway, and the conservatory will house its vocal/opera department there. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
Vinita Prabhakar, until recently an adjunct professor at South Florida State College, had used Moshfegh’s “Bettering Myself” in an introductory reading-and-writing course there without incident since 2023. But someone complained about the story's content to the college president, who fired Prabhakar, who’s now suing. - Tallahassee Democrat
“A draft of the rule changes that circulated in recent weeks prompted an outcry from preservationists, architects, archaeologists and organizations representing Native American tribes. … ‘It’s both a scalpel and a bludgeon,’ said Greg Werkheiser, a lawyer who specializes in preservation cases.” - The New York Times
“The International Dance League (IDL) has struck its first-ever media rights deal in a partnership with ESPN. … IDL is the first global professional dance league, structured as a traditional sports league with teams, a regular season, and a championship format.” - The Hollywood Reporter
Nearly all monumental architecture is expected to convey some set of values greater than its stated purpose. This is especially true of stadiums with their straightforward program – a pitch for a game to be played and seating from which to observe it. - Dezeen
International civil servants do not in fact escape power. They rearticulate it with the help of technical experts. By framing this rearticulation as real impartiality, however, they conflate technocracy and expertise. This conflation lies at the heart of the legitimacy crisis that international organisations face today. - Aeon
Today, many would argue that the ordinary ‘truth of accountants’ is more fundamental than ecstatic truth, which relies heavily on perception, interpretation and subjective feeling. Yet this misses the reality that art discloses. - Aeon
We found that when you’re improvising, you have a different set of activities in your brain compared to when you’re playing. In other words, improvisation is a form of generative creativity. You’re suddenly on the spot, within a certain context, trying to create music. - The Conversation
Given worsening inequality, political polarisation, falling fertility, resource shortages and global conflicts, Wilson argues that we are hurtling towards the same end as ancient Rome, the Mayan civilisation and every other sophisticated society before us. - The Guardian
This strategy of manufacturing a froth of interest around a given subject, from Nicki Minaj’s political perspectives to Sydney Sweeney’s jean ads, has recently been especially effective, and has moved culture-war fights from the trenches of bot-infested social networks into more mainstream channels. - The New Yorker
On Monday, The New York Times posted an article featuring a longtime volunteer tour guide who said of the currently-dormant institution, “Now it’s a black hole.” On Thursday, a Kennedy Center official sent a memo to all volunteer tour guides telling them not to come there “until further notice.” - The New York Times
“A draft of the rule changes that circulated in recent weeks prompted an outcry from preservationists, architects, archaeologists and organizations representing Native American tribes. … ‘It’s both a scalpel and a bludgeon,’ said Greg Werkheiser, a lawyer who specializes in preservation cases.” - The New York Times
Following her abrupt firing, she went to direct Australia’s Adelaide Festival, then quit two years early to work in South Australia’s state government. Nine months after that, she departed for London to head the British Council. One year later, Mackenzie is now in the House of Lords as Under-Secretary for the Arts. - Limelight...
Meeting in Busan, South Korea, for its 48th session from July 19 to 29, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee inscribed 19 cultural sites, five natural environments, and one property exhibiting both cultural and ecological significance. - Artnet
The AT&T Performing Arts Center — which includes the Winspear Opera House, Wyly Theatre, Annette Strauss Square, and Sammons Park — and one of its five resident companies, Dallas Theater Center, plan to combine administrations and many operations, with DTC becoming ATTPAC’s producing arm. - KERA (Dallas)
"The 97-page report spells out some 70 instances of sexual misconduct by multiple former faculty and staff spanning seven decades. … None of the 47 people accused in the report is currently employed by Interlochen. And owing to the amount of time that has passed, about a third of those accused are now dead.” - Interlochen...
Why, out of every option in the orchestra, did the cello become the instrument of introspection? “It’s the cliche, but it’s probably because the cello comes closest to the human vocal range.” - The Guardian
“During a recent week on the grounds, it felt anxious, angry, combustible. It was impossible to escape the warfare that the Boston Symphony is waging on itself: a crisis that is drowning out the music. Somebody needs to quiet things down before even more serious damage is done.” - The New York Times
Recorded revenues grew about 13 percent to 2.516 billion euros ($2.89 billion), while publishing revenue grew about 8 percent to 616 million euros (about $710 million). - The Hollywood Reporter
The old Art Alliance building near Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square had belonged to the University of the Arts, which abruptly closed in 2024. Curtis bought it in January 2025; it was badly damaged in a fire that July 4. Repairs are underway, and the conservatory will house its vocal/opera department there. - The Philadelphia Inquirer...
Violinist Laura Frautschi: “Athletes learn these lessons early... My own kids incorporated these practices from a young age, as they learnt to play soccer and other sports. Somehow this approach is not the norm for musicians. Most of us only learn when we become injured and seek help.” - The Strad
The Aurora Orchestra is performing from memory Mahler’s First Symphony. "If I’d then been told that in the first half of the concert we’d be presenting a new play about Mahler, featuring choreography involving the entire orchestra alongside two actors and a complicated sound design, I’d have laughed." - The Guardian
It is often assumed that a gallery is a prerequisite to finding commercial success and a place in the history of art. But a growing number of artists are rejecting that notion and going—to use the kind of commercial lingo that the art market likes to avoid—Direct to Consumer (DTC). - Ocula
Kumamoto Castle, built in 1607 on the island of Kyushu, is considered one of Japan’s three great surviving castles. A portion of its moat wall collapsed following Tuesday’s 7.1 earthquake. In 2016, a different portion of the wall came down in another temblor. - Hyperallergic
What with all the complaints Trump has about the Smithsonian's “bias,” the State Department has decided to “make visual arts great” (their phrase) with the exhibition “Passport to Patriotism: 250 Years of Diplomacy.” No historians or professional curators are involved, and the show includes pieces by the planners’ friends. - The New York Times
“For this list, we focused primarily on the breadth and distinction of each institution’s permanent collection. Additional considerations included the strength of its temporary exhibition program and the grandeur of its architecture.” - ARTnews
The union’s dispute with management is over pay, working conditions, and the museum deciding not to seek living-wage accreditation. Staffers at the new V&A Storehouse in particular complain of inadequate restroom breaks and chances to get water, comparing conditions there to those at an Amazon warehouse. - The Guardian
Federal investigators said high-ranking administrators at the New York State Museum in Albany directed a subordinate to falsify time sheets, allowing the state to improperly draw down $597,624 in federal grants from 2020 to 2022. - The New York Times
Vinita Prabhakar, until recently an adjunct professor at South Florida State College, had used Moshfegh’s “Bettering Myself” in an introductory reading-and-writing course there without incident since 2023. But someone complained about the story's content to the college president, who fired Prabhakar, who’s now suing. - Tallahassee Democrat
“Globally, people currently use roughly 7,500 languages, with English, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Spanish, Arabic and French the most common, counting native and nonnative speakers. That is a lot of languages. But it is a far cry from the peak number historically.” - Reuters (Yahoo!)
The book “Antiquities of Athens,” published in 1858, was returned to the library in the seaside town of Kiama last week by a man who had found it during recent home renovations inside a tea crate bricked into a sealed fireplace, Kiama Library manager Michelle Hudson said. - AP News
“Something’s in the air: My Year in Paris with Gertrude Stein, published last month by FSG, is just one in a recent cluster of genre-spanning books that interpret, adapt, and play with Stein’s legacy, as well as that of her longtime partner Alice B. Toklas.” - Publishers Weekly
“If the odds are against parents who disapprove of artificial intelligence, it’s because there’s an entire ecosystem of AI services designed to insert real children into books … and some relatives can’t resist their ads for specially curated storybooks.” - Wired
Since January 2022, subscription streaming services such as Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ have been required to invest 20% of their annual French revenue in local film and television production under France’s implementation of the European Audiovisual Media Services Directive. - Variety
“You can disagree about some or all of it! I may well be wrong!” she added. “But it’s not ‘personal’ to analyze a film or other work of art, even negatively. Criticism is more than ‘Hurray!’ or ‘Hiss!’” - Entertainment Weekly
“In a lawsuit filed on Thursday in California federal court, writer-producer Simon Afram and his company, Op-Fortitude, accuse Netflix of compromising the sale of the World War II spy thriller” — titled Fortitude — by losing a copy of the movie that was shared for screening. He seeks at least $105 million.” - The...
“Film producer Jason Cloth, who financed Joker, Ghostbusters: Afterlife and dozens of other movies, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on wire fraud charges in connection with what prosecutors say was a $100 million Ponzi scheme.” - AP
In this new media landscape, the rigid divides between pure cinema and genre cinema collapsed. Show business no longer creates value solely by selling a single commodity. Instead, it thrives on building interconnected “media ecologies,” creatively connecting film production with TV, toys, games, tourism, platforms, brands, live events, local practices and new technologies. -...
Idanna Abignente, who lives in a suburb of Turin, started pole dancing at around age 70 to keep fit. She developed a passion for it and eventually joined the competition circuit, where she frequently wins her age division for lack of other competitors. - New York Post
“The International Dance League (IDL) has struck its first-ever media rights deal in a partnership with ESPN. … IDL is the first global professional dance league, structured as a traditional sports league with teams, a regular season, and a championship format.” - The Hollywood Reporter
Musicians and fine artists can play and paint until they die, and actors can age onstage. But the body is the instrument of dance. There is no other violin to polish, no other paintbrush or color except that. The maintenance of the body is essential to the capacity of performance.” - Pointe Magazine
Artistic director Marcello Angelini and assistant artistic director Daniela Buson (who are married) announced they will retire from their positions at the end of the 2026-27 season, the company’s 70th. Among the couple’s crowning achievements is this spring’s tour to London, for which the company received glowing reviews. - Tulsa Flyer
“To be a shoe colorist for New York City Ballet, as Tim Foster has been for 15 years, is to occupy a small yet important niche. Most pointe shoes and ballet slippers are manufactured in a pale pink. But the company’s repertoire requires a rainbow of hues.” - The New York Times
In Argentina, they call her the Messi of ballet – although when it comes to who has the finest footwork, they should really be calling him the Núñez of football. - The Guardian
Next month, the 1980s New Wave pop icon, now 65, was going to play King Herod in the London revival of the musical. But his June release, “We Will Dance Again,” takes strong and controversial positions on the Israel-Palestine conflict; after weeks of heavy criticism, he cancelled his run in the role. - Playbill
His vision was to turn Pitlochry Festival Theatre into both an artistic retreat and a producing powerhouse. It was to invite exciting creatives to Perthshire and create and premiere a show, then for that show to be sent on to London, New York and elsewhere. - The Stage
“Running from April 2026 to April 2029, the agreement will see minimum rates rise by at least 13.5 per cent over three years. It also improves holiday entitlement and family leave, supports better work-life balance, strengthens equality and inclusion provisions, and recognises additional responsibilities.” - WhatsOnStage (UK)
“These aspirants arrived by plane, by bus, by subway, in braids and vests and milkmaid dresses, clutching headshots and binders and gigantic water bottles. ... A few dozen joined the line before dawn. By noon, more than a thousand sat and stood and swayed.” - The New York Times
“Ticketholders for five preview performances of the play, Game of Thrones: The Mad King, were more than a little dismayed last week when the shows, scheduled for July 20-24, were canceled. ... A show on Saturday, July 25, was also called off just hours before the curtain was set to rise.” - The New...
“A Chorus Line celebrates artists’ commitment while demonstrating — both at the story level and in the way the script itself was assembled — how easy it is to bully or exploit them.” - The New York Times
An anatomist by training, he developed a technique called “plastination” which prevents the decay of corpses and leaves them flexible. He used that technique on dozens of bodies, many with skin removed to display musculature, and set them in various poses for his traveling exhibitions — which attracted both excited crowds and horrified criticism....
A scathing, six-part investigation by Le Monde delves into the scope of his power, wealth, and alleged rivalries within the Arnault clan, described as “the last royal family of France.” The report devotes a chapter to Arnault’s engagement with the arts, titled: “Bernard Arnault, the generous patron, in love with the arts and tax exemptions.” - ARTnews
“Forti burst onto the New York dance scene at the dawn of the ’60s with her seminal ‘Dance Constructions,’ works in which dancers responded to cheap, ready-made objects that prompted improvisational actions such as leaning, climbing, or whistling.” - Artforum
After deliberating for roughly two hours, the jury in a Buffalo courtroom convicted Hadi Matar, 28, on all charges. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, which he’ll serve after his 25 years in a New York state penitentiary for attempted murder. - The Telegraph (UK) (Yahoo!)
As also happened in defendant Hadi Matar’s New York state trial for attempted murder (for which he was convicted in February 2025), he declined to testify himself and his attorney called no witnesses. - AP
He founded the Camerata in 1968 and directed it for 40 years, performing and recording (on over 50 discs) a repertoire ranging from 12th-century troubadour songs through large-scale French Baroque sacred works to 19th-century American spirituals and Shaker songs. He retired in 2008, succeeded by his wife, soprano Anne Azéma. - That Eric Alper
Syracuse Stage, Central New York’s premier professional theatre, seeks its next Artistic Director, to join Managing Director Carly DiFulvio Allen to lead...
Studio Theatre seeks its next Artistic Director to co-lead one of the premiere producing organizations in Washington, DC as it approaches its 50th Anniversary.
New York Theatre Ballet seeks an Executive Director to lead the organization’s strategic direction, drive fundraising and revenue growth, and oversee operational and artistic functions.
The Flint School of Performing Arts (FSPA) is seeking its next Director to lead this celebrated and impactful division of the Flint Institute of Music.
“During a recent week on the grounds, it felt anxious, angry, combustible. It was impossible to escape the warfare that the Boston Symphony is waging on itself: a crisis that is drowning out the music. Somebody needs to quiet things down before even more serious damage is done.” - The New York Times
On Monday, The New York Times posted an article featuring a longtime volunteer tour guide who said of the currently-dormant institution, “Now it’s a black hole.” On Thursday, a Kennedy Center official sent a memo to all volunteer tour guides telling them not to come there “until further notice.” - The New York Times
“For this list, we focused primarily on the breadth and distinction of each institution’s permanent collection. Additional considerations included the strength of its temporary exhibition program and the grandeur of its architecture.” - ARTnews
"The 97-page report spells out some 70 instances of sexual misconduct by multiple former faculty and staff spanning seven decades. … None of the 47 people accused in the report is currently employed by Interlochen. And owing to the amount of time that has passed, about a third of those accused are now dead.” - Interlochen...
“(She) transformed collections of bigoted bric-a-brac — Sambo dolls, ceramic mammies and crude renderings of pickaninnies — into potent works of assemblage that mined the searing history of race in the United States,” most famously in her 1972 piece The Liberation of Aunt Jemima. - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
The FOMO is real. “Complicating things further for The Odyssey is that it’s available in so many premium formats—six, altogether—that the film’s official website includes a guide to their various strengths and aspect ratios.” - Wired
“In the complaint, Warner says that ‘Amazon has chosen to ride on the coattails of other well-established Hollywood mainstays,’ and that it engaged in a ‘lawless employee shopping spree.’” - The Verge
His long career included stints as a trombonist (Philadelphia Orchestra and Pittsburgh Symphony) and conductor (Kansas City Symphony, among others), but he was best-known to public radio listeners as the host of St. Paul Sunday (1980-2007) and Exploring Music (2003 until earlier this year). - WWFM
“Are we witnessing the art world’s Napoleonic march to Moscow, an over-expansion propelled by hubris that is now inevitably falling to its knees?” - Artnet
“In advance of The Odyssey’s release, Imax contracted 130 experienced projectionists and required each to attend an intensive, weeklong training program.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
“In the opinion of Martha Nussbaum, now 79, …opera can help to fix Western societies that have become nasty, brutish and narcissistic. In particular, we need more men like Cherubino, the cross-dressing boy of Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro … than we do Putins, Hegseths, Trumps and Tates.” - The Telegraph (UK) (MSN)
Satire makes fun of something to expose its truth in a way that can be notoriously difficult to decode. What is often misread in Twain’s most famous novel is this: he satirically uses racism to ridicule racism. - Adi Magazine
