"As a wordless art, dance travels well. With strong links to the Kremlin, the Bolshoi has been hailed as Russia's 'secret weapon' by former prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, sent abroad to 'achieve our goals', he said, unabashed about using the ballet studio as an arsenal of soft power." - The Guardian
When the artists being nominated and inducted are questioning their own “rock and roll” credentials, does the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame have a fundamental problem? - The Plain Dealer
Administrators and staffers are "'taken aback' by the apparent cognitive dissonance between directives ... to increase diversity and improve access both in their programming and infrastructure, and the blowback received from members of the government when they complied. The apparent catch-22 has created a culture of fear." - Artnet
"In a way, she formed that '80s culture, which became not just an American phenomenon but an international one. We who were in the trenches (couldn't) see it ourselves. ... Annie was able to stand back and see the glamour in it and sell tickets to it." - The New York Times
Peter Marks: "Russia is a nation of passionate theater-, music-, and dance-lovers. ... It is beyond comprehension that terrified women and children could turn to a theater for physical security and have their safe space shattered by a (Russian) force set on destroying Chekhov's humane legacy." - MSN (The Washington Post)
The exhibition from the Morozov Collection — estimated to be worth $2 billion, with pieces by (among others) Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet, and some of Russia's greatest artists — at the Fondation Louis Vuitton may be the most popular art show in French history. And it's now in a difficult position. - Slate
The Russian robber barons' colossal fortunes have had an outsize effect not only on the commercial market, but on museums and not-for-profit galleries and exhibitions as well. - The Guardian
The media regulator Ofcom's announcement said, "Following an independent regulatory process, we have found that RT is not fit and proper to hold a licence in the UK." Ofcom currently has 29 investigations into the "due impartiality" of the news channel's coverage. - BBC
"The barricades blocking the path to the Odessa Opera and Ballet begin three blocks away. Two more walls like that further protect the entrance. Antitank hedgehogs — metal rods welded together in a cluster — fill the spaces between the cordons." - MSN (The Washington Post)
"I don’t sue people. I will let all these corporations who are old-school robber barons do that. I think copyrights are euphemisms for corporate control on a certain level. Remember when Napster lost its first big lawsuit and the record industry thought it won? Guess what? It didn’t." - The Art Newspaper
“Thinking about how cultural heritage survives seems like a useful thing to do, because right now—among many other things—that’s one of the important things threatened by things like climate change.” - Scientific American
Of the top 20 most performed operas worldwide in the 2017–2018 season according to Operabase.com, 75 percent feature female characters who were dead by the end of the opera. - Limelight
The driver of this greater bond with listeners is the idea that headphones make it sound like the voices are inside one's head, meaning they “trigger a feeling of greater closeness to the person speaking to you.” - Inside Radio
Nielsen is in the midst of a months-long joust with some of its biggest clients, the nation’s TV networks. The networks and their owners have grown disenchanted with Nielsen’s ability to count viewers who may watch their favorite programs via digital means, on mobile screens on through streaming video. - Variety
The copious notes the author made the springtime arrivals of flowers and birds provided valuable data to a team of Boston University scientists investigating precisely how much warmer and earlier spring is becoming in eastern Massachusetts. - JSTOR Daily
