Not, in this case, the early-20th-century American genre of variety show. This is 19th-century Parisian vaudeville: popular boulevard comedies depicting simply drawn characters from the bourgeoisie — and sometimes including sharp social satire, as during the cholera outbreak of 1832. - The Public Domain Review
Charles Blow: "Perhaps no other word of the moment is so under attack as “woke,” a word born as a simple yet powerful way of saying, be aware of and alert to how racism is systemic and pervasive and suffuses American life." - The New York Times
"Actors in training get to try out different techniques and approaches, learning to develop a character through movement, script analysis, or emotional connection; they take classes honing their bodies and voices. In my MFA writing program, we got … workshop and some books." - Catapult
UATX’s founders for years have used their various platforms to bemoan the state of higher education and propose how to fix it. They’re about to get a crash course in the real-life challenges of the job. - The New Republic
Well, there's no point in trying to deny that some people have more natural aptitude. However, writes neuroscientist Gayle Doherty, everyone has the ability to feel and respond to rhythm and can, with some work, dance well enough to enjoy it. - The Conversation
Joshua Kosman: How long can an artistic culture survive and thrive on the work of the same circumscribed set of a dozen or so dead white European males? - San Francisco Chronicle
In the latest university rankings from Times Higher Education, the top two schools for arts and humanities in the world are, perhaps surprisingly, Stanford and MIT. TES Chief Knowledge Officer Phil Baty explains why, and why it matters. - World Economic Forum
According to this manifesto, it's "a tool for reimagining the past, present, and future. It makes scenarios real enough to feel possible, inspiring dialogue, interaction, and even policy changes." Actually, it's speculative fiction focusing on sustainable design ideas that aren't (yet) practicable. - World Economic Forum (Neste)
Is this a potential long-term income source or an big old asset bubble? Opinions differ, but the studios aren't letting even a short-term chance at monetizing their existing intellectual property slip by — and using yet another way to keep fans (literally) invested in their franchises. - Variety
The Wife of Willesden is an update to Chaucer's "The Wife of Bath's Tale," transferring the setting from a carriage carrying pilgrims to Canterbury to a group of 21st-century characters doing a pub crawl through the northwest London neighborhood where Smith grew up. - The New York Times
"After a two-year stalemate that sparked a feud with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra," — which cancelled several concerts this fall because of the standoff — "Strathmore has reached a tentative agreement with its unionized box office staff that extends their contract through June 2024." - MSN (The Washington Post)
The catalogue for this fall's Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at the Madrid museum has reclassified The World's Most Expensive Artwork into the "attributed works, workshop or authorised and supervised by Leonardo" category. (Not that Salvator Mundi is actually there, mind you; its current whereabouts are still unknown.) - ARTnews
During restoration work at Calverley Old Hall, between Bradford and Leeds, workers discovered what turned out to be floor-to-ceiling paintings ("basically Tudor wallpaper") in a fantastical style ultimately based on the emperor Nero's Golden Villa. - The Guardian
The theatres challenged the fines, claiming it violated their freedom of expression. They argued Quebec’s ban on indoor smoking goes too far, because it forbids actors from smoking even prop cigarettes onstage. - Toronto Star
NFTs have fundamentally changed the market for digital assets. Historically there was no way to separate the “owner” of a digital artwork from someone who just saved a copy to their desktop. - Harvard Business Review
