“Consulate officials accused Shen Yun of ‘propaganda’ that uses a message of compassion and peace to disguise ‘the truth and to realize their evil purpose of exerting mind control over them’.”
A Need For Defining Canadian Content (And Why It Matters)
“Despite the nationalist sentiment that originally drove them, Canadian cultural regulations have wisely tended to focus on the citizenship of the creators rather than recognizable settings or prescribed themes. The best definition of Canadian content remains a tautology: It’s content created by Canadians.”
Memphis Symphony Takes A Bold Step To Reinvent Its Business Model
The partnership will be built on three strategies: music performance, music training and community engagement. “This isn’t just about cutting costs, but adding value. We believe this is a valuable model that should be observed throughout the field of symphony orchestras across the United States.”
Did This Guy Just Buy A Renoir Online For 700 Euros?
“Lyon resident Ahmed Ziani, who has been buying and selling art after losing his job as a mechanic, may have stumbled across a long-lost masterpiece by French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Browsing classifieds site Le Bon Coin, Ziani thought he was buying an unsigned piece by 18th-century artist Vernet, and offered €700 for the work.”
Here’s How To Get Butts Into The Met Opera’s Empty Seats
“The answer, it seems to be, is a refinement and great expansion of the existing Rush Ticket program (as originally backed by the sainted Agnes Varis.)” La Cieca explains how exactly this would work, complete with (“take a deep breath,” she warns) math.
For Cuba’s Modern Dancers, The Future Is Wide Open
“Watching a class in técnica cubana is heady: very familiar and then suddenly not, as torsos contracting in Graham style turn ultra-sinuous, ultra-African, or a standard ballet exercise swerves into the gestures of an Afro-Cuban god. Yet the alloy is coherent and potent. It’s a great, under-recognized invention that develops dancers of extraordinary strength with the agility to manage all of its wild twists.”
The NYT Comes Down In Favor Of A Privately Funded And Run Arts Park
“One persistent critic, the City Club of New York, asks on its website: ‘Should private donors determine the future of public places?’ But noblesse oblige is no problem for budget-strapped officials like Mayor Bill de Blasio. ‘I know a good deal when I see one,’ he said.”
Cuba’s Ballet Nacional Considers How To Change As Gracefully As It Can
“Ms. Alonso likes to say that she will live to 200 and will still be running the company 100 years from now. She has never chosen a successor. Ask anyone involved with the Ballet Nacional what happens ‘after Alicia,’ and you get shrugs and sighs. Change must be coming but probably not while Ms. Alonso is in charge.”
Is The Only Way To Combat Hollywood’s Sexism Controlling The Means Of Production?
“The studio said, ‘can you make her more likeable?’ … And we said absolutely not. I will not make her more likable. This is an actual depiction of a female girl and look how well she’s been received. So they can suck it.”
The Met’s Box Office Numbers Are Grim. What’s Next?
“Mr. Gelb said that the Met planned surveys and focus groups and would open more dress rehearsals to students and work to expand educational offerings. He said that since the company’s softest sales came in winter, he was weighing a midwinter break.”
Is The Art World Ready For A Spring Sales Slump?
“Were there a futures market for artworks, this would be a good time to short certain submarkets.”
The Russian Culture Ministry Now Claims No Books Were Burned
“In January, Russian authorities were reported to have burned 53 books and removed more than 500 other volumes from two university libraries in the north-western Komi republic, on the grounds that they contained sentiments ‘alien to Russian ideology”'”
Yes, Marisol Was Secretive And Special, But She Was Also Superb At Specific Things
“Marisol stood out for having a unique and eclectic style that resulted in majestic and often fascinating assemblages, or what art historian Cindy Nemser termed ‘collaged sculptures.'”
Filling A Performing Arts Center, Even A Sleek New One, Isn’t Always Easy
“Not everything has been a home run. Steingraber reckoned that of this season’s 48 shows, 10 didn’t quite deliver. Country music hasn’t been the draw he expected.”
This Avant-Garde Composer’s Life History Was Almost As Complex As Her Music
“Ms. Mamlok, who moved back to Berlin 10 years ago, was for decades a fixture of the New York contemporary music scene. A longtime faculty member of the Manhattan School of Music, she was known in particular for her chamber music, piano works and vocal pieces.”
For Mothers Who Are Actors, What Can Change?
“I lost out on four jobs due to my pregnancy. I was either not able to fly there to do the job or, in another case, I was actually told by a director that it made him too nervous that I would be seven months pregnant while shooting his project, even though I physically felt great and would have been happy to work. Pregnant women are mostly invisible onscreen.”
The Life Lessons Of A Young ABT Principal Dancer
“Dance is a great metaphor for pursuing your life and path to the fullest that requires discipline, passion, grace, and precision.”
Owning Your Own Bookstore When You’re An Author
Louise Erdrich’s store, “Birchbark Books, features a canoe hanging upside down from the ceiling and an old Roman Catholic confessional that has been repurposed as a display case. There is also a reading loft marked off by a birch-log railing and a counter displaying Native American jewelry and artifacts.”
Boaty McBoatface Is No More. UK Science Minister Goes In A Different Direction For A Name
Science Minister Jo Johnson said there were “more suitable” names. On Friday, days before Sir David turns 90, it was announced that the £200m vessel will be named after the world-renowned naturalist and broadcaster.
Spring NY Art Auctions Suggest The Art Market Is Returning To Normal
This year, Christie’s has guaranteed just 18 of the 100 lots at its two headline contemporary auctions. Three of these guarantees, with a total low estimate of $13 million, have been provided by Christie’s itself. No work is valued at more than $40 million at Christie’s or at any of the other houses. “The guarantees aren’t there anymore at the highest level. Christie’s has stepped back, and the market is no longer on steroids and is returning to its normal state.”
“The Humans,” And “Shuffle Along” Win New York Drama Critics Circle Awards
Voted on by a group of New York-based theater critics, the awards serve as quantifiable validation from the critical community as both productions head into the Tony Awards. (The winners’ list this year doesn’t represent a dis on the Broadway juggernaut “Hamilton”; that show won the NYDCC trophy last year, in its Off Broadway incarnation.)
Google’s Artificial Intelligence Computer Has Read Enough Romance Novels To Write One Itself
“After going through the massive trove of novels, the engine was tasked with writing sentences of its own based on what it had learned. It then compared its own work with text from books it had read, so as to continually improve its ability to generate better sentences.”
YouTube Says It’s Now Bigger Than All Of The Broadcast TV Networks
“The Google-owned video powerhouse said it now reaches more viewers on mobile alone in the target demo of 18-49 than any single television network — and in primetime, YouTube delivers more of that audience than the top 10 TV shows combined.”
Private Universities Are Becoming More Like Public Universities. And Vice Versa
“While public universities can be said to be “privatizing,” another equally powerful, but typically overlooked, trend has been moving in the opposite direction — the “publicization” of private research universities, or the accelerated incorporation of public values and mission into the traditional role of these institutions.”
The $200,000 Piano That Pianists Think Is Worth It
“Mr Fazioli’s factory — more accurately, a hall filled with craftsmen and their tools—runs at full capacity, turning out 140 grand pianos a year. Because they are made to order, customers have to wait between four and eight months for delivery of the instruments, for which they are prepared to pay as much as $200,000. So large is the demand that Mr Fazioli is increasing the size of the factory to make 160-170 pianos a year.”