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Mexico Forcibly Halts Illegal Construction Next To Teotihuacán

" sent in 250 National Guard troops and 60 police officers Monday to seize land next to the pre-Hispanic ruins of Teotihuacán where authorities have said bulldozers were destroying outlying parts of the archaeological site. … Officials reported last week that they had been trying since March to halt the private construction project, but work continued on what local...

Long Discreetly Camouflaged, Lesbians In Ballet Are Starting to Find Themselves And Each Other

Gay men aren't as ubiquitous in that world as some civilians think, but they're not rare. Yet gender norms in classical ballet are even more rigid for females than for males, and queer women in the profession have tended to feel very isolated indeed. That, however, is something that the hiatus and the move online caused by the pandemic...

Why Sarah Lane Quietly Slipped Away From ABT

" Lane and ABT parted ways last summer, although no announcement was made; rather, in September, her name was quietly taken off the roster. … She recently opened up to Pointe about her departure from the company, although for privacy reasons certain details are remaining undisclosed." (Hmm.) - Pointe Magazine

As Travel Resumes, Can Italy Make Tourism Any Less Destructive?

"While the return of tourists is essential, local politicians and leaders in the cultural sector are emphasising the need to rethink how visitors interact with heritage. But how far, during the enforced hiatus in tourism, have they actually rethought their strategies to manage visitors and their experience more effectively?" Venice and Florence have some ideas. - Apollo

Allegations Of Sexual Misconduct, And Even Assault, Rock English Drama Schools

"Former pupils have raised allegations including how tutors have 'grabbed' female students' breasts, made sexual comments about their bodies and pressurised them to remove clothes during rehearsals or performances. … a female student complained that a visiting teacher had sexually assaulted her at home." - The Telegraph (UK)

Louvre Will Get New Department Of Byzantine And Coptic Art, Says New Director

"If that department comes to fruition, it would signify a break with the Louvre's president, Jean-Luc Martinez, who had deemed its formation unnecessary, and a willingness to expand the ways the museum presents religious art." - ARTnews

The 106-Year-Old Dancer Who Hates The Word Old

Eileen Kramer still dances every day. And she also "writes a story a day from her Sydney aged-care facility, publishes books and has entered Australia's most prestigious painting competition. After decades living abroad, Ms Kramer returned to her home city of Sydney aged 99. Since then, she's collaborated with artists to create several videos that showcase her primary talent...

Mary Beard: Ancient Rome Never Disappoints

The Cambridge classics professor (and Twitter, TV, and book star) says that our desire to compare the U.S. to ancient Rome is normal - but not sensible. "Rome, in a way, doesn’t matter at all. It’s a very long time ago; no one’s going to get hurt by them. ... Rome helps us stand outside ourselves. For me, Rome...

The Prado Is Taking Its Art To The Streets

In replica form, that is. "Exact replicas of masterpieces from the Prado museum, including paintings by Goya, El Greco, and Fra Angelico, have been installed behind tree branches, inside airport security stations, on the sides of buildings, and along wrought-iron fences." - Artnet

The Hollywood Bowl Is On Plan C, Full Reopen

As vaccines spread and COVID-19 numbers drop, "concert and theater venues are scrambling to keep up and figure out when and how to welcome back the crowds they depend on. For the Hollywood Bowl — perhaps the most celebrated outdoor venue in the nation — that has meant making plans, and ripping them up again, as it rides rapidly...

The Science Of Pleasure

It goes way - way - beyond dopamine. "You could say that dopamine is to happiness what petrol is to a car; it’s an integral part of making it work, but if you were to literally fill your car with petrol, to the point where it’s leaking out the windows, that wouldn’t help anyone." - Psyche

The Era Of The Big Comedy Film Is Over

TV shows, TikTok, live mini-shows, Instagram Stories, and memes - comedy has changed. Even the second Borat movie, though it was made and was fairly popular, only shows that "the form itself is in transit, evolving and branching out into a multiplicity of approaches that reflect the diverse and pulsating world we now live in." - Prospect (UK)

An Opera By The Dean Of Black American Composers Finally Retakes The Stage

William Grant Still's one-act Highway 1, U.S.A. has barely been seen since its 1963 premiere, but it's being brought back to life this summer by Opera Theater of St. Louis with a cast headed by Nicole Cabell and Will Liverman and no less than Leonard Slatkin conducting. Yet it wouldn't have happened at all if not for COVID. -...

Australia’s National Arts Policy Needs A Rethink

After the terrible effects of COVID-19 on the arts, what should Australia do next? One think tank says the country, where arts funding dropped in the years leading up to 2020, needs a plan to "ensure creatives industries have a place at the ‘big table’ of decision making and budgets." - ArtsHub

Oh, Great — Now Going Back To Movie Theaters Will Become Part Of The Culture Wars

Owen Gleiberman: "To go or not to go? To believe in the primacy of the communal, cathartic big-screen experience or to see it as a stodgy, unhip relic? No one thought this way about the movie theater versus VHS or DVD; the industry wasted no time transforming those technologies into ancillary markets that helped keep movies afloat. But streaming...

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