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Dance World Surveys Damage Already Done By Withdrawal Of NEA Grants

“It was 5:45 pm on Friday, May 2, when Megan Kiskaddon, executive director of Seattle’s On the Boards, learned that the grant for that night’s performance had been rescinded. … The National Endowment for the Arts was now taking back the $20,000 they’d pledged for the co-commission.” - Dance Magazine

Gauguin’s Final Self-Portrait May Not Be A Selfie After All

“The Kunstmuseum Basel …, which has housed Self-Portrait with Glasses (1903) since 1945, is re-examining the work following claims that it may have been painted not by Gauguin, but by a Vietnamese revolutionary and close acquaintance after the artist’s death.” - Artnet

Auschwitz Memorial Creates Digital Replica Of Death Camp For Filmmakers’ Use

“Organisers of the Picture from Auschwitz project said they have harnessed ‘cutting-edge 3D scanning technologies’ to build a digital model of the concentration camp … ‘down to every single brick’.” Yet to come are accurate digital replicas of the gas chambers and crematoria as well as scanning the adjacent Birkenau site. - The Guardian

Remaining Kennedy Center Employees Start Unionization Process

“The union, which they’re calling the ‘Kennedy Center United Arts Workers,’ would be in partnership with … the UAW. It would consist of nonsupervisory employees from artistic programming, education, marketing and development departments, along with administrators of the Washington National Opera and the National Symphony Orchestra.” - The Washington Post (MSN)

$34.5 Billion Mega-Merger Will Create US Cable TV Behemoth

Charter Communications is the country’s second-largest cable company after Comcast; Cox is also among the largest. … Charter’s footprint includes New York City and Los Angeles, while Cox is a major player in Boston, Phoenix and New Orleans.” The company will be called Cox Communications; Spectrum will be its consumer-facing brand. - The Hollywood Reporter

Charles Strouse, Composer of Broadway Hits “Annie” And “Bye Bye Birdie”, Is Dead At 96

“In a career that spanned more than 50 years, (the three-time Tony winner) wrote more than a dozen Broadway musicals, as well as film scores and ‘Those Were the Days,’ the theme song for the sitcom All in the Family,” starring Carroll O’Connor as Archie Bunker. - AP

Actor Joe Don Baker, Known For “Walking Tall,” Has Died At 89

A tall, broad-shouldered Texan, he portrayed heroes and villains during his career as a leading man in the 1970s and ‘80s, most notably in the surprise hit Walking Tall and in two James Bond movies. He went on to become a busy character actor in both film and TV. - Los Angeles Times (MSN)

The Eurovision Song Contest’s Real Heroes: The Crew That Does Complete Set Changes In 35 Seconds

While viewers watch the introductory videos known as postcards, dozens of people swarm the stage. Thirty-five seconds to get one set of performers off and put the next ones in the right place, make sure everyone has the right microphones and earpieces and the props are in place and tightly secured. - BBC

Broadway’s Back Baby! Box Office Exceeds Pre-Pandemic Take For The First Time

Last week, Broadway grosses for the season-to-date surpassed 2018-2019’s record season-to-date box office for the first time. - The Hollywood Reporter

Mubi, Born As A Streaming Platform, Wants To Conquer Indie Cinema

Efe Cakarel founded Mubi in 2007 to stream independent art films (“the auteurs’ platform”). Now it's a studio with an Oscar winner (The Substance) under its belt and four titles at Cannes this year. Cakarel wants to make Mubi into a full cinema ecosystem, with production, publishing, streaming and brick-and-mortar theaters. - Variety

A Growing Number Of Foreign Musicians Are Canceling Performances In The US

A growing wave of performers — like German pianist Schaghajegh Nosrati and Canadian folk singer Bells Larsen — have canceled shows in the States, either in protest of President Donald Trump’s policies or due to fear that they could be stopped or detained at the border amid confusing changes to immigration and visa practices. - WBEZ

BBC Chief: Disinformation Is A Big Threat

“The future of our cohesive, democratic society feels for the first time in my life at risk. We have so much to be proud of in the UK: our tolerance, our innovative spirit, our creativity, our humour, our sense of fairness. But unless we act, we will drift, becoming weaker, less trusting, less competitive.” - The Guardian

Argentine President Is Waging War On History And Closing Arts Speaces

In an ongoing attempt to erase victims’ stories of Argentina’s dictatorship under Jorge Rafael Videla, President Javier Milei has started closing art spaces. - The Art Newspaper

The Backstory Of The Third Accuser, Newly Gone Public, In Harvey Weinstein’s Trial

“Her Jane Doe identity was finally cast off on the trial’s splashy opening day, when she revealed herself to be a Polish former runway model turned psychotherapist named Kaja Sokola.” She has had a complicated life, and that complicates her accusation. - The Hollywood Reporter

Why Do All Our Movies Seem To Have The Same Plot?

The formula is particularly repetitive in cinema. As it happens, aspiring screenwriters in 21st-century Hollywood are following a rubric set out in the 4th century BCE. - Aeon

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