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Wanted: Theatre Directors Without Vision

"The laser focus on a director’s vision is problematic. It sets the director up as a prophet rather than a leader. It focuses on a destination, an imagined end goal, and not on the journey." - Howlround

Whistled Languages Are Not Dead Yet

In at least 80 cultures worldwide, people have developed whistled versions of the local language when the circumstances call for it. … By studying whistled languages, (linguists) hope to learn more about how our brains extract meaning from the complex sound patterns of speech." - Knowable

Martin Scorsese On Working With Fran Lebowitz

“My approach to our conversation was to listen to her; I would get angry, happy, inspired,” Scorsese explains. “Fran is, to me, asking very serious questions even when she’s being humorous about things. Deadline 

Color Wars: The Art World’s Silliest Feud May Have Produced Some Actual Good

When Anish Kapoor acquired exclusive rights to Vantablack ("the world's blackest black"), Stuart Semple led a chorus of furious objections to the idea of owning a color. Despite plenty of puerile one-upmanship between the two since, the quarrel has led Semple to create some genuinely new pigments. - CNN

Life, Death and Numbers: Ann Patchett on the Members Of The National Academy Of Arts And Letters

The two hundred and fifty members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters are writers, composers, visual artists, and architects. It is a fixed number. When a member dies, potential new members are nominated and voted on. - Harper's

Mass Exodus And An Unholy Mess At France’s Most Prestigious Classical Music Competition

The Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition is in crisis after its artistic directors — pianist Bertrand Chamayou, violinist Renaud Capuçon, and La Scala CEO Dominique Meyer — and a large part of its staff have quit, reportedly fed up with mismanagement and money troubles. (in French) - France Musique

Dance Is Physical, Sure, But Why Don’t We Focus More On The Mental Preparation?

In this day and age, it has never been so important to have the tools to cultivate a mindset of self-belief. “Especially nowadays with social media, it’s so difficult to not compare yourself.” - Eleanor Pugsley

UNESCO Calls For Preservation Of Afghanistan’s Heritage, But Who Will Actually Protect It?

As an executive of the Institute for Art and Law tweeted: "It would be for other states, or international bodies like the United Nations, to seek enforcement." Uh-huh … - The Art Newspaper

Bret Easton Ellis’ Unconventional Podcast Model

Ellis’s storytelling approach, that of serializing his memoir on a podcast, allows him to exploit both types of unreliable narrator: the one who knows they’re unreliable and the one who doesn’t. - 3 Quarks Daily

Under New Censorship Law, Hong Kong May Retroactively Ban Older Films

"Authorities are tightening their grip on the screening of films with a series of censorship law amendments that will include empowering the city's No. 2 official to ban previously approved productions if they are deemed threats to national security." - South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)

Dallas Black Dance Theatre Makes ‘Spectacular’ Debut Before Dance World’s Elite

The company has played the Kennedy Center, and it performed at the Olympics in Atlanta (1996) and London (2012), but perhaps none of those occasions will be as important for its future as its triumphant performances this month at Jacob's Pillow. - KERA (Dallas)

“The Theatrical Arm Of The Civil Rights Movement”

The Free Southern Theater was founded by members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee to travel around 1960s Mississippi, performing for poor Black farmers to let them know about the battle to secure their right to vote. - American Theatre

Blaxit: The African-American Artists Following In The Footsteps Of DuBois, Baker, Baldwin, And Simone

Taking advantage of the free movement a US passport provides, and tired of the disadvantages that come with dark skin at home, these performers, writers, and visual artists are making lives and careers overseas. - T — The New York Times Style Magazine

Texas Performance Venues In A Tight Spot Over Vaccine Passports

In June, Gov. Abbott signed a law making it illegal for most businesses to require proof of vaccination from customers. But a growing number of performers are refusing to play venues that don't require audience members to provide such proof. - The Dallas Morning News

Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie Reopens At Last

"Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie, an iconic modern art museum designed by Bauhaus pioneer Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, reopened to the public Sunday after a six-year refurbishment of the glass-fronted building." - AP

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