Wendy Perron: “I’ve read that Graham cultivated an Eastern look herself and was flattered whenever anyone mistook her for Asian. Some think that, since she had a long torso and short legs, her close-to-the-floor technique was particularly suited to Asian bodies. … Whatever the reason, more Asian dancers have found a home in Graham’s company than in any other modern dance group – and most have been beyond brilliant.”
Can This Play Change the Way We Treat Psychosis?
The creators of The Eradication of Schizophrenia in Western Lapland may not transform the mental health professions, but they’re trying to convey to the rest of us what the actual experience of psychosis – the hallucinations and delusions – is like.
Why So Many People Are Obsessed With Malaysian Airlines 370
Turns out, we can’t help it – it pushes buttons hard-wired in our brains.
Airlifting To A Refugee Center Near You: Library-In-A-Box
“The so-called Ideas Box, designed by Philippe Starck, contains 15 tablet computers and four laptops with satellite Internet connections; 50 e-readers and 5,000 e-books; 250 printed books; a movie projector, screen and 100 films; chairs, tables and board games.”
The Massive New Skyscrapers That Will Barely Touch The Ground
“Hudson Yards is the largest private development project in U.S. history, and it’s being built without footings or foundations.”
New Taxes Will Make UK Downloads (Movies, Books, Music) More Expensive
“Closing the loophole could bring in revenues of about £300m in its first year, according to government estimates. The tax change will apply to downloads of films, music, e-books and smartphone games.”
‘Cardboard Architect’ Shigeru Ban Wins 2014 Pritzker Prize
Architecture’s most prestigious honor goes to a 56-year-old Japanese designer “known for building refugee shelters at almost every cataclysmic natural disaster for the past 20 years.”
‘Mao’s Last Dancer’ Recalls His Early Life in China
Li Cunxin, now artistic director of the Queensland Ballet, describes his childhood on a dirt-poor farm, the fluke that led to his strenuous dance training in Beijing, and how he came to Houston and stardom in the U.S.
Venetians Want to Revive the Old Republic of Venice and Leave Italy
Granted, it was a non-binding online poll, but more than 2 million people in the Veneto (out of a voting population of 3.8 million) answered yes to the question, “Do you want Veneto to become an independent and sovereign federal republic?”
London Theatre Ceiling Collapse Blamed on Old Materials
Part of the auditorium ceiling at the Apollo Theatre in London’s West End fell in med-performance in December. Staff of a BBC Radio 4 programme “has seen a letter from Westminster City Council saying hessian wadding embedded in the ceiling was getting weaker over time.”
Too Soon! How Long Before It’s Okay to Joke About Something?
As Mark Twain observed, “Humor is tragedy plus time.” But how much time? Researcher Peter McGraw of the Humor Research Lab (HuRL) tried some experiments (e.g., a Hurricane Sandy Twitter account) and thinks that “Too soon?” may not be the right question.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 03.24.14
The Talking Cure, Part One (networking)
AJBlog: We The Audience | Published 2014-03-24
A Top Ten List In Dubai
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-03-24
Everything I Know about Why Art Matters I Learned from My 5-year-old
AJBlog: Field Notes | Published 2014-03-24
Arts as an Engine of Unrest Or, How the Arts Ruined a Perfectly Good Childhood
AJBlog: Field Notes | Published 2014-03-24
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Christoph Eschenbach Extends His Contract At National Symphony Through 2017
Anne Midgette: “The start of Eschenbach’s tenure appeared to be reinvigorating the orchestra, and the two international tours within eight months in 2012 and 2013, to South America and to Europe, boosted morale and the orchestra’s profile … Yet for all of the new energy, Eschenbach’s concerts with the orchestra have not consistently represented the kind of vital music-making one might have hoped.”
Virtual Reality Is Really Here (At Last) So How Do We Use It, Make Art Out Of It?
“After trying an array of prototypes and development kits at the Game Developers Conference here last week, I can assure you that virtual reality works. Technology is no longer the limitation. The lingering question is what game designers, artists and filmmakers should do with it.”
Science Answers: What Women Look For In A Male Partner’s Dance Moves
“They found that women rated dancers higher when they showed larger and more variable movements of the head, neck and torso. Speed of leg movements mattered too, particularly bending and twisting of the right knee. In what might be bad news for the 20% of the population who is left-footed, left knee movement didn’t seem to matter.”
Uh Oh – Netflix Stock Plummets After News Of Comcast-Apple Plans For Streaming Service
“Apple would deliver live and on-demand TV programming over a Comcast’s last-mile broadband networks, with guaranteed bandwidth to ensure high-quality video delivery to an Apple set-top.”
Writers Protest UK Rule That Bans Sending Books To Prisoners
“The ban is part of the Incentives and Earned Privileges scheme, which allows prisoners to buy their own basic supplies using funds awarded to them for good behaviour.”
Compare Paintings And Google Street Images To See How London Has Changed (Way Cool)
“Redditor Shystone has laid old paintings over Google Street View photographs to create a series of perspective-bending composite images of old and new London. Modern sculptures dominate a plaza that was once wide open; neon signs reside on the same block as gas-lit streetlights; and a bridge covers over a river that was once filled with sailboats.”
The Criminal Secret Life of the Godfather of Literary Theory
Paul de Man wasn’t just a professor at Cornell, Johns Hopkins, and Yale. He wasn’t just a Nazi collaborator in Belgium during the war. He was, it turns out, an embezzler, fraudster, deadbeat dad, and bigamist.