AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
- How Young People Are Demanding Change In Dance
I was really inspired by all the young people I saw demanding change, whether in how they were taught dance history, the shoes they were given the option to wear in class, who got hired or admitted into ballet schools and the teachers they would be learning from. – Pointe Magazine
- Dancing To Heal From Turmoil And Tragedy
Ari Honarvar, who as a teen danced secretly to get herself through life in post-revolution Iran, writes about how she now leads communal dancing as therapy for Central American asylum-seekers marooned in Tijuana. – Slate
- ABT’s “Jeremy Irons Of Dance”
Kevin McKenzie has been with American Ballet Theatre since 1979. “If you do only the classics, you are a museum, so we tried to find choreographers who stretched the limits of the rules. The contemporary works needed to break all the rules.” – Seven Days
- Eliot Feld’s Successor At Ballet Tech Named
Dionne Figgins, a former Dance Theater of Harlem lead and Broadway performer, will be the new artistic director of the free-of-charge ballet education program, which grew out of Feld’s professional ballet company in the 1970s. – The New York Times
- Who Should Next Run The National Ballet Of Canada?
Looking beyond the National Ballet, unless one imagines someone like choreographer Crystal Pite wanting to run a big company, there are no obvious standout candidates in Canada. – Toronto Star
IDEAS
- How Young People Are Demanding Change In Dance
I was really inspired by all the young people I saw demanding change, whether in how they were taught dance history, the shoes they were given the option to wear in class, who got hired or admitted into ballet schools and the teachers they would be learning from. – Pointe Magazine
- How To Think About The “Big Data” Economy
Policy makers, economists, techies, lawyers, business leaders, and consumers should borrow an idea from cultural anthropology and consider the concept of “barter.” – Harvard Business Review
- Our Loftiest Ideas Are Rooted In Practical Needs
Unlike ideas of air, food and water that allow us to think about the everyday resources we need to survive, the venerable notions of knowledge, truth or justice don’t obviously cater to practical needs. – Aeon
- Revolving Door? Toronto Symphony CEO To Step Down
Matthew Loden has reportedly decided to leave the role after accepting an offer to serve as Dean at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Huston, Texas. – Ludwig Van
- Is The Idea of “Toxic” Masculinity Counter-Productive?
“In today’s context, it is unclear why we are talking about boys and girls as though these are fixed identities to which masculinity and femininity naturally attach, unless to speak in these terms promotes a form of gender moralism, or gender dogma.” – Psyche
ISSUES
- Tokyo Olympics Will Be Held Under State Of Emergency
“The Japanese government formally declared a state of emergency in Tokyo on Thursday, due to rising numbers of COVID-19 infections. Restrictions will be in place throughout the duration of the Games, and may mean that spectators are banned from some events in Tokyo and nearby prefectures.” – Variety
- New York City Considers Setting Up ‘Nightlife Districts’
“The city’s Office of Nightlife is recommending that officials identify areas with low residential density ‘where a limited 24-hour [per day pilot] program might be tested.” – AP
- Extraordinary Times: Smithsonian Natural History Museum Turns To Art To Demonstrate Climate Change
The museum staff decided the situation is so complex that they had to turn to photography and conceptual art to address it. – Washington Post
- Why The Statue Of Liberty Never Lived Up To The Hype
Why does its meaning seem so unstable, especially now, as a small-scale copy makes its way from France to D.C., where it will be installed at the French ambassador’s residence later this month? – Washington Post
- The Battle For 1776: America Struggles With, And Over, Its Founding Myths
“For scholars, the rosy tale of a purely heroic unleashing of freedom may be long gone. But does America still need a version of its origin story it can love? … In civic life, where we stake our beginnings matters.” – The New York Times
MEDIA
- Is Disagreement A Social Media Design Problem?
Social media developers can take steps to foster constructive disagreements online through design. But our findings suggest that they also will need to consider how their interventions might backfire. – The Conversation
- Why Is Amazon’s Science Fiction So Toxic?
Amazon has shat out science-fiction programming for years, and it ranges, on the smell-o-meter, from the merely obnoxious to the just plain noxious—a flatulence that fluctuates. – Wired
- #IALivingWage: Hollywood’s Writers’ Assistants Fight For More Money And Less Misery
Despite the famously long hours and low pay, aspiring TV writers compete madly for these jobs, hoping to get a foot in the door and onto the career ladder. But, as one assistant puts it, “the ladder has been disappearing.” – Fast Company
- Netflix And (Ugh) ‘365 Days’ Have Made Poland Into A Hotbed Of Video Production
The industry that produced Andrzej Wajda and Agnieszka Holland never anticipated that a trashy softcore flick would become its most-watched product, the world’s lockdown guilty pleasure. Fortunately, Netflix has been putting a lot of resources into more (and more respectable) projects in Poland. – The Hollywood Reporter
- People Are Returning To Movie Theatres. Just Not Enough Of Them
With pandemic limitations in mind, as of early July, the overall domestic box office has reached $1.05 billion in ticket sales, down 42.3% from 2020 and down 81.3% from 2019. – Variety
MUSIC
- Revolving Door? Toronto Symphony CEO To Step Down
Matthew Loden has reportedly decided to leave the role after accepting an offer to serve as Dean at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Huston, Texas. – Ludwig Van
- At The Robot Version Of The Eurovision Song Contest
The A.I. Song Contest features three dozen or so teams that use artificial intelligence networks to create parts of, and sometimes all of, a song, along with a jury of scientists and songwriters led by Imogen Heap. And what did they come up with? – The New York Times
- Scientists Are Figuring Out The Chemical Baths Stradivari And Guarneri Gave Their Spruce Wood
Researchers using an array of high-tech methods have found traces of alum, potash, lime, borax, and plain old salt in the wooden fronts of these old instruments — and the cellulose molecules in the spruce were rearranged by those treatments. – The Strad
- The Man Who Made Munich An Opera Mecca Says Farewell
As superintendent, and with Kirill Petrenko as music director, Nikolaus Bachler made the Bavarian State Opera a beacon of “artistic excellence, destination programming and, during the pandemic, fearless advocacy.” He’s stepping down this summer, and Joshua Barone has the exit interview. – The New York Times
- City Of Dallas Wants To Offload Its Classical Radio Station
The City of Dallas owns a classical radio station? Yep. WRR Classical 101 FM, which celebrates its 100th birthday next month, is operated by the municipal Office of Arts and Culture — for now. With revenue down because of COVID, the city is seeking a nonprofit to take over. – Inside Radio
PEOPLE
- How Young People Are Demanding Change In Dance
I was really inspired by all the young people I saw demanding change, whether in how they were taught dance history, the shoes they were given the option to wear in class, who got hired or admitted into ballet schools and the teachers they would be learning from. – Pointe Magazine
- How To Think About The “Big Data” Economy
Policy makers, economists, techies, lawyers, business leaders, and consumers should borrow an idea from cultural anthropology and consider the concept of “barter.” – Harvard Business Review
- Our Loftiest Ideas Are Rooted In Practical Needs
Unlike ideas of air, food and water that allow us to think about the everyday resources we need to survive, the venerable notions of knowledge, truth or justice don’t obviously cater to practical needs. – Aeon
- Revolving Door? Toronto Symphony CEO To Step Down
Matthew Loden has reportedly decided to leave the role after accepting an offer to serve as Dean at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Huston, Texas. – Ludwig Van
- Is The Idea of “Toxic” Masculinity Counter-Productive?
“In today’s context, it is unclear why we are talking about boys and girls as though these are fixed identities to which masculinity and femininity naturally attach, unless to speak in these terms promotes a form of gender moralism, or gender dogma.” – Psyche
PEOPLE
- How Young People Are Demanding Change In Dance
I was really inspired by all the young people I saw demanding change, whether in how they were taught dance history, the shoes they were given the option to wear in class, who got hired or admitted into ballet schools and the teachers they would be learning from. – Pointe Magazine
- How To Think About The “Big Data” Economy
Policy makers, economists, techies, lawyers, business leaders, and consumers should borrow an idea from cultural anthropology and consider the concept of “barter.” – Harvard Business Review
- Our Loftiest Ideas Are Rooted In Practical Needs
Unlike ideas of air, food and water that allow us to think about the everyday resources we need to survive, the venerable notions of knowledge, truth or justice don’t obviously cater to practical needs. – Aeon
- Revolving Door? Toronto Symphony CEO To Step Down
Matthew Loden has reportedly decided to leave the role after accepting an offer to serve as Dean at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Huston, Texas. – Ludwig Van
- Is The Idea of “Toxic” Masculinity Counter-Productive?
“In today’s context, it is unclear why we are talking about boys and girls as though these are fixed identities to which masculinity and femininity naturally attach, unless to speak in these terms promotes a form of gender moralism, or gender dogma.” – Psyche
THEATRE
- How A Drama School Class Handled Graduating Right Into The Pandemic
The theater students of the UNC School of the Arts Class of 2020 hadn’t expected to be starting their careers right at the moment their chosen industry completely shut down. Here’s a look at how they managed and where they are now. – The New York Times
- Dallas Theatre Promises To Diversify, Then Announces An All-White Cast
“An effort was made. Was it good enough? Was it the right effort? Was it an effort that was still within the blind spots that we have? Possibly.” – Dallas Morning News
- Hearings On London’s Grenfell Tower Fire Made Into Theatre
Stage director Nicolas Kent and former Guardian security editor Richard Norton-Taylor have edited hundreds of hours of testimony, from early warnings to “bragging about fixing fire safety tests,” into a verbatim theatre piece. – The Guardian
- We Need To Diversify The Ranks Of Stage Managers, Too
“Black stage managers and their white allies … are establishing new organizations for racial equity, creating more opportunities for up-and-coming stage managers of color, and even examining aspects of their job that may do more harm than good.” – The New York Times
- Actors’ Equity Removes Mask And COVID Testing Requirements For ‘Fully Vaccinated’ Shows
Any Equity production where everyone backstage has had their shots may now let those folks do their work more or less as normal, though some safety rules are still in effect. But no meeting audience members at the stage door! – Playbill
VISUAL
- Notre-Dame’s Neighbors Sue City Of Paris Over Lead Levels After Fire
“The plaintiffs” — local residents and a powerful labor union — “accuse the authorities of ‘grave negligence’, which they say exposed city dwellers, particularly children and those working to restore the cathedral, to dangerous levels of toxic lead dust.” – The Guardian
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Has Become A Master Of Visual Communications Tools
Alexandra Lange takes a look at the New York City congresswoman’s “ability to get her message across visually, through graphic design, through fashion, and through social media.” – Yahoo! (Los Angeles Times)
- Experts Stunned By Huntington Museum’s Decision To Allow Iconic Old Master To Travel
Sending the picture abroad was unanimously opposed by the expert team, who believed travel puts the prized work at grave risk. – Los Angeles Times
- Beeple Starts Up A Cross Between Christie’s And Sports Illustrated, But For NFTs
It’s not enough that he sold his own NFT for $69 million. The graphic artist and some even richer tech and entertainment types have launched WENEW, which sells NFT images of “iconic” athletes, artists, and such. The platform’s motto: “The Memory Palace of the Metaverse.” – Artnet
- Let’s Take A Look At How Museums Deal With Ownership Of Nazi-Era Collections…
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston have repeatedly rejected the heirs’ claims for paintings that were sold at the same auctions. – The New York Times
WORDS
- ‘He’s A Friend Of Dorothy’: A Brief History Of Yesteryear’s Favorite Gay Euphemism
For you young’uns, back before Stonewall, this was an expression gay men used to identify each other. (If a guy replied “Dorothy who?”, one quickly retreated.) But who was Dorothy — Gale or Parker? – Smithsonian Magazine
- Publishing Industry About To Get Slammed By Supply Chain Troubles
“Truck driver shortages, widespread port congestion, and skyrocketing container costs are among the biggest challenges facing the book industry supply chain for the rest of the year and into 2022.” – Publishers Weekly
- Inside The Black Market For College Essays
“For every privileged kid too lazy to write an essay, there was a more complex story. To my surprise, of the hundreds of clients I worked with, many—maybe most—students were simply desperate for the help.” – Slate
- A Tale Of Two Booksellers, Just Off The Kabul Bazaar
“One is a former communist, the other a former mujahid. Both have witnessed and participated in Afghanistan’s turbulent history over the past half century. They have seen the rise and fall of regimes and today sell books about the men who made and unmade them.” – Newlines
- Great Storytelling? Try America’s Mass Market Novels
To take a genre or mass-market work seriously means recognizing the quiet skill in its pages. – The Atlantic