The old classics still have the power to move and transform young people in ways that no technical education can. We don’t have to dilute the practical value of a higher education nor ignore the insights of the academic humanities to restore the vitality of liberal education in our colleges and universities. - Aeon
Dance Data Project founder Elizabeth Yntema: "The lack of artistic and leadership opportunities for women in ballet has been talked about for years. But since nobody was putting numbers to it, it was all anecdotal. … Without data, it's almost impossible to measure progress." - The New York Times
The past few months have been exceptionally tough for arts events because audiences ‘are prioritising seeing family and friends, or wanting to reduce the risks of exposure in the lead up to events like weddings, family reunions and long-awaited holidays. - ArtsHub
"It has been unsettling, if not entirely unwelcome, to find herself courted in recent months by art world pundits and curiosity seekers. … 'I am not going to make a big deal of being more than what I am,' she said. 'Or less.'" - The New York Times
The CEO of Live Performance Australia says the Omicron variant has dashed hopes of a live arts sector bounce back in 2022, and that while various State government schemes are providing much needed support for local productions, a national insurance framework is desperately needed. - ArtsHub
Thomas Wilkins has been conducting Ellington with leading orchestras for some years now, including this weekend and next with the LA Philharmonic. He says that projects like that prompt publishers to print clean scores and parts, which is what will really make a difference. - San Francisco Classical Voice
She explained that her job will be less about individual programming decisions, which will remain the prerogative of those programs’ leaders, and more about providing overarching vision and making the arts a vital part of the broader university. - San Francisco Chronicle
"For him, conservatism signaled a commitment to tradition, to persevering and building on past achievement. It was a conservatism of memory, not of grievance and spite. … With his death, this strain of conservatism seems not only rare but perhaps even extinct." - The Nation
If the confusion of tongues is not the primary source of human conflict, might the corollary be true: that resolving conflict doesn’t require a common language? - Psyche
"One new opera demands an enormous amount of attention, but two is downright invasive," says Ricky Ian Gordon. His Intimate Apparel (adapted by Lynn Nottage from her play) is at Lincoln Center Theater, while New York City Opera is producing The Garden of the Finzi-Continis. - The New York Times
The highly contagious omicron variant has given productions a reason to shut down for what happen to be the slowest two months of the year (when many shows die even in ordinary times), reopening in March as tourists start coming back. Could that practice work out long-term? - TheaterMania
People tend to give books that win classic or canonic status, presuming that a Newbery medalist from decades ago will always be good for today's kids. That isn't true, of course. So what should, and shouldn't, do we do about the winners that seem benighted these days? - Slate
Most of the reporting about the case has focused on sexual abuse of students in the dance division, but the allegations (and the defendants) also include violent physical abuse and bullying and reach into the theater and music programs as well. - The New York Times
"A German-Egyptian team of researchers, led by archaeologist Hourig Sourouzian, discovered the artifacts half-submerged in water during their restoration of the funerary temple of the pharaoh and the Colossi of Memnon, two monumental statues in his likeness." - ARTnews
A company called Space Entertainment Enterprise intends to open a space station containing both a film and TV studio and a sports/performance arena for clients who want to produce work in a micro-gravity environment. The scheduled completion date is December 2024. - Variety
