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Choreographer Yuriko, The Keeper Of The Martha Graham Flame, Has Died At 102

Yuriko Kikuchi "was a leading dancer in Martha Graham’s company from the 1940s to 1967 and then a keeper of Graham’s flame through her demanding teaching and outstanding revivals of early Graham works." - The New York Times

Valery Gergiev Is Selling $150 Million Worth Of Properties In Italy

The properties include a villa on the Amalfi Coast, complete with Roman ruins and an Aragon tower in the garden, the Palazzo Barbarigo on San Vio in Venice, the Caffè Quadri, and some shops in Piazza San Marco. - OperaWire

Jazz Trumpeter Ron Miles, 58

Miles, a Grammy-nominated trumpeter and composer who was inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame in 2017, had recently canceled a public performance at Knoxville, Tenn.’s Big Ears Festival, which he played regularly in the past. - Denver Post

Actor Jussie Smollett Sentenced To Jail, Probation For Faking A Hate Crime

"Former Empire actor Jussie Smollett was sentenced Thursday to 30 months of felony probation, including 150 days in jail, and ordered to pay restitution of more than $120,000 and a $25,000 fine for making false reports to police that he was the victim of a hate crime in January 2019. - CNN

Mezzo-Soprano Josephine Veasey Dead At 91

She sang with such conductors as Bernstein, Solti, and Karajan (whom she told she wouldn't work with him again), with a repertoire from Mozart to Rossini to Verdi to Wagner to Tippett, and she was a mainstay at Covent Garden, where she sang 780 performances in 60 roles. - The Guardian

Edmund Keeley, Who Brought Cavafy And Seferis To The English-Speaking World, Dead At 94

As translator, scholar, and critic, he played a major role in showing Americans that Greece has a thriving modern culture alongside its ancient history. He was C.P. Cavafy's leading champion, and his translations of poets George Seferis and Odysseas Elytis helped earn them Nobel Prizes. - The New York Times

“The Father Of Computer Art”, Charles Csuri, Dead At 99

"While he may never have been the subject of a proper survey at a major museum, Csuri's status within the history of digital art is virtually uncontested." In 1995, Smithsonian Magazine wrote that he "may be the nearest thing, in this new art form, to an Old Master." - ARTnews

Children’s Lives Are Dramatic, And This Author Knew It

Shirley Hughes, a beloved British author who died last week at 94, "created art, stories and poetry that took children’s feelings as seriously as others take adults’ feelings." Thus her more than 60 years of success, and lasting influence. - The Guardian (UK)

Famous Hollywood Celebrity Biographer Dishes On Herself

Regardless of one’s opinions about Kitty Kelley, or her methodology, there can be no denying that her brand of take-no-prisoners celebrity journalism — the kind that in 2022 bubbles up constantly in social media feeds in the form of TMZ headlines and gossipy tweets — was very much ahead of its time. - The Hollywood Reporter

Clement Crisp, Doyen Of Dance Critics, Dead At 95

"For more than 60 years, his prose distinguished the arts pages of the Financial Times, always with eloquence, panache, expertise and astounding wit." His colleague Alastair Macaulay describes him as "brilliant, outrageous, erudite, shocking, hilarious, mercurial." - Financial Times

For John Cameron Mitchell, There’s Acting And “All The Other Stuff”

"'Acting is what pays the bills,' he says." (In fact, it just paid for a house in New Orleans.) "'All the other stuff is too experimental or unusual' — collaborative albums, a narrative podcast featuring a singing brain tumor — 'to actually make a living.'" - New York Magazine

Michael Tilson Thomas Announces He Has Cancer, Will Step Back From New World Symphony

Saying he was “taking stock of my life,” Thomas, 77, the former music director of the San Francisco Symphony, said he was reducing his administrative duties to focus on his health. - The New York Times

Duvall Hecht, Pioneer Of Commercial Audiobooks, Dead At 91

As an Angeleno with an hour-long commute, he was desperate to escape the "bad music and worse news" on radio and started listening to books recorded for the blind. Thus was born the idea for his company, Books on Tape, founded in 1975. - MSN (The Washington Post)

Film Critic Sheila Benson, 91

Her time as film critic at The LA Times coincided with the rise of both the ‘80s Hollywood blockbuster and the American independent scene. - Los Angeles Times

Why Russian Artists Supporting Putin Are Paying A Price

To claim, as many do, that art should “transcend” politics — that it exists in a realm where the push and pull of human conflict have no relevance — represents an impoverished view of both politics and art. To the extent that art has any bearing on the world, it’s necessarily political. - San Francisco Chronicle

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