After several weeks of demonstrations and several days of long negotiations, five unions, one organization of presenters, and the Ministry of Culture finalized a deal to more-or-less preserve France’s system of unemployment payments for performing arts workers between jobs. But not everyone’s on board yet, venues in several cities are still being occupied by demonstrators, and there’s a very tempting target – the Cannes Film Festival – about to begin. Sophie Rahal explains what’s in the agreement and where things stand. (in French; Google Translate version here)
My Dinner With Rasputin (A True Account)
“And again a spasm went through his shoulder and he let out a low moan. Each time he sensed that his power, the current of his will, was not penetrating me and was meeting resistance, he experienced physical pain. … And in this there was no pretence, as he was evidently trying to conceal both the spasms in his shoulder and his strange, low groan.”
Julio Bocca Returns To His Ballet Company, A Month After His Mysterious Departure
At the beginning of April, Bocca suddenly announced that, for “personal reasons,” he was temporarily stepping down as artistic director of Uruguay’s National Ballet. This week, equally unexpectedly, he appeared at a gala to announce that he was back – with two new lieutenants: Sofía Sajac (interim director while he was away) as co-director and María Noel Bonino as ballet mistress. And it turns out, naturally, that there was some backstage discord involved. (in Spanish; Google Translate version here)
Virtual Reality Film To Recreate Anne Frank’s Hiding Place
“Producer Jonah Hirsch and filmmaker Danny Abrahms are creating the new film Anne, which, through virtual reality technology, will recreate history and go back to the early 1940s, giving audiences the feel of being in the secret annex with Frank and the others hiding from Nazi persecution.”
The First Book To Win Both A Pulitzer And An Edgar Award – Does It Mean That Genre Fiction And Literary Fiction Are Finally Converging?
“When a novel does what The Sympathizer accomplished – i.e., something that’s never happened before in roughly 100 years worth of book-award-giving-outing – it’s worth asking why this has never happened before, and why it happened now.”
Why Does It Drive Literary Types Nuts That It’s The Attractive Novelists Who Get Promoted? This Is Why
“Somehow every time it gets reported (every six or seven years or so) it is always received as a disgusting revelation. … I hear you protest. I concur: It sucks that this matters. And most people in publishing think it sucks, too, I assure you. … Given how pervasive the imperatives of celebrity culture are, why are we so surprised by this?” Laura Miller has the likely answer.
White Woman Sues Getty Foundation Over Multicultural Internship Program
“Rejection sure is tough, especially when you’re a white applicant vying for a spot in a museum internship program that’s explicitly open only to minority groups. So tough, in fact, that one Samantha Niemann is now suing the Getty Foundation for racial discrimination after the institution refused to accept her application to its paid Multicultural Undergraduate Internship program.”
Your Grumpy Old Relative Was Right: Creative People Have More Than A Little In Common With Psychopaths
“If you can’t get enough of the myth of the mad genius, you’ll love the results of this new study: … Researchers suggest that creative individuals share more personality traits with psychopaths than their less creative peers do.”
How Septime Webre Transformed The Washington Ballet
“What had been a well-schooled but bland troupe in its last years under aging founder Mary Day woke up when Webre took over. … The Washington Ballet’s audience grew so much that the company regularly filled the Eisenhower Theater. Webre was developing a vigorous, outgoing style that drew attention from arts enthusiasts of all kinds.” Yet perhaps his greatest legacy, says Sarah Kaufman, got started in a wet basement.
Italy Budgets €1 Billion To Protect And Upgrade Museums And Historic Sites
“The Italian government announced yesterday, 2 May, that it is allocating €1bn to major restoration and building projects at 33 museums, monuments and archaeological sites across the country, including Pompeii, the earthquake-stricken city of L’Aquila and the Uffizi galleries in Florence.”
21 Lucky Performing Artists Win $275,000 Each From Doris Duke
The winners of the 2016 Doris Duke Performing Artist Awards – given for dance, theater, and jazz – include well-established artists such as Mark Morris, Lynn Nottage, Fred Hersch as well as less-familiar names (for now) such as Aparna Ramaswamy, Jen Shyu, and Sharon Bridgforth.
Simplicity Scale: The Difference Between Science And Art
“Gaudí and Mies remind us that there is no disputing matters of taste when it comes to assessing the value of simplicity and complexity in works of art. Einstein and Newton say that science is different – simplicity, in science, is not a matter of taste.”
Why We Hate Hearing Recordings Of Our Own Voices
“You listen to yourself all day long. Why would a recording of your voice make you feel uncomfortable? The unfamiliarity is quite literally all in your head, although you’re not imagining things.”
The Ugly Divorce That’s Roiling Canada’s Arts Community
That Jeff Melanson, who studied opera as an undergraduate, is enmeshed in the soapy version of the genre is only one of the many ironies of Canada’s ongoing War of the Roses, a mutually assured destruction destined to expose the underbelly of the Canadian arts scene.
Why Jessa Crispin Killed Bookslut
“Well, the only reason why Bookslut was interesting was because it didn’t make money, and when I realized the sacrifices I was going to have to make in order for it to make money, it wasn’t worth it.”
How “Hamilton” Has Forever Changed Broadway
“As these Tony nominations attest, “Hamilton” has ushered in a new age of multiculturalism on Broadway, where talent at long last appears to be a determining factor of success. There can be no backpedaling from this position. History has arrived, laggard as usual but unmistakable. Just look at the shows being honored this year.”
What’s An Allegory? It’s Not A Metaphor
Laura Miller, with help from C.S. Lewis, explicates the difference. (Batman vs. Superman? Not an allegory. Inside Out? Allegory.)
Savion Glover And Judith Jamison On Dance And Race
“Dancer and choreographer Savion Glover and Judith Jamison, Artistic Director Emerita of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, talk about upcoming performances and about race, dance and the connection to African American communities.” (audio)
Ceiling By Isamu Noguchi Uncovered At A St. Louis U-Haul
“The curvy, space-age design, initially commissioned by Magic Chef Building architect Harris Armstrong, had been covered up by a drop ceiling for decades.”
New Boss Of Scotland’s Most Historic Theatre Wants To Lose Its ‘Respectable’ Image
“David Greig, the Royal Lyceum’s artistic director, has vowed to wake the ‘sleeping giant’ of Edinburgh’s culture scene outwith the summer festivals by staging work in different venues and unusual spaces, as well as embracing different art forms at its home.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 05.03.16
“The Work Will Do the Work” ??
“The work will do the work.”
Wait. Not so fast. … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2016-05-04
SF MoMA and Museum Architecture: Killing A Meme
Have you seen the new Snøhetta-designed expansion of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art? I’ve seen only pictures, but it should in my opinion put to rest the line many museum directors have been using in recent years … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-05-03
Lookback: my personal clichés
From 2006: One of the travails of writing a biography of a great artist is that you find yourself returning repeatedly to certain words and phrases – especially superlatives. The nice thing about word processing is that … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-05-03
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A History Of Processed Words
In 1983, Michael Crichton told Merv Griffin that, “When you type, the words appear on the screen … you can move around on the screen, change what you’ve written, pull blocks of text, put them elsewhere. You have complete freedom.” His disbelieving glee was shared by many, but some writers reacted differently.
Predictable: “Hamilton” Gets Record 16 Tony Nominations
On Tuesday, the show was singled out in every category of theatermaking: acting, writing, directing, design. In a few categories, including lead actor and featured actor in a musical, performers from “Hamilton” will face off against one another.
Three Years After The Acid Attack, Former Bolshoi Ballet Director Talks About The Way He Works Now
While his contract to lead the company was not renewed, Sergei Filin was appointed to direct the Bolshoi’s new workshop for young choreographers. Yet, he says, he doesn’t feel safe there.