We tend not to associate aging with creative bursts. Historically, critics saw advancements by elderly artists as peculiar. According to twentieth-century art historian Kenneth Clark, the work of older artists conveyed a feeling of “transcendental pessimism,” best illustrated in the weary lined eyes and pouched cheeks of Rembrandt’s late self-portraits. – The Walrus
Shakespearean Sensibilities In The Context Of Now
We are in increasing danger of reducing public language to spectacle. We are urged to judge performance in terms of crowd-pleasing; we don’t want to see our leaders engaged in reflection, or inviting us to look behind and around issues. Fascism is one of the most extreme forms of the triumph of spectacle. In such a context, theatre is all the more vital. – New Statesman
How Music Schools Have Adapted Teaching To Deal With COVID
Heather O’Donovan: “Unlike six months ago, however, they’re prepared to face the challenges. I spoke with leadership at conservatories across the country to get a sense of how they’ve adapted to these unprecedented times. What they shared with me was a deeply heartening show of ingenuity, creativity, and resilience.” – WQXR (New York City)
From A Lightning Quick Ascent On Broadway To A Big Zoom Role
Kara Young’s story has a few twists and turns, but right now she’s enjoying the chance to rehearse again – even if it’s on Zoom. “I love rehearsal — it’s my favorite thing in the world. … It’s an actual playground for me: I’m available to play with people. You don’t call it that, but it’s magic.” – The New York Times
MPR Fires DJ After Reporter Quits Over The Story
“Eric Malmberg will no longer be a DJ on The Current,” said a statement from MPR President Duchesne Drew. “Our hosts have to be able to attract an audience that wants to listen to them and trusts them and over the last 36 hours those conditions have changed for Malmberg.” – The Star-Tribune (Mpls)
Is Morality A Gut Decision Or The Product Of Reasoning?
To ask whether people reason about moral issues, we need to answer two kinds of questions. Firstly, what kinds of moral principles and beliefs do people hold at the outset? And secondly, do people form moral judgments based on those prior principles and beliefs – that is, do humans form moral judgments that align with their moral principles and beliefs? It turns out that they do, from a surprisingly young age. – Psyche
Company Gives Ballet Dancers Whose Studios Are Closed A Place To Keep Their Technique Up
Says Festival Ballet Providence director Kathleen Breen Combes, “I kept getting these emails of dancers saying they just need a place to train this year. I thought, What if we could provide a space for dancers to get stronger, experiment and try new things in a nonjudgmental and no-pressure environment?” And so the company’s Leap Year program was born. – Pointe Magazine
Managers At WAMU Kept Trying To Fire Repeat Sexual Harasser. American University Overruled Them.
Two senior executives at the Washington, DC public radio station lost their jobs — general manager J.J. Yore had to resign, and former chief content officer Andi McDaniel had to give up the position she was about to start in, general manager at WBEZ in Chicago — after it came out that WAMU traffic reporter Martin Di Caro was kept on for over two years after violating the first of what would be two “final warnings” over wildly inappropriate behavior towards female colleagues and associates. Newly leaked documents show that Yore and other execs at the station tried to fire Di Caro and were overruled by the Human Resources department and General Counsel at the station’s license-holder, American University. – DCist
Turns Out Contemporary Art Museum Houston’s Ex-Director Didn’t Resign For The Reason He Claimed
Two years ago, when Bill Arning stepped down “effective immediately,” he told ARTnews, “I was feeling I wasn’t making progress, and I wasn’t getting done what I needed to get done. … They need a new leader, and I need a new life.” Last week, as Arning announced that he would open a commercial gallery in Houston, allegations appeared on Instagram charging him with serious sexual misconduct. Now CAMH has released a statement: “In October of 2018, [the museum] immediately removed Bill Arning as director when allegations of improper — but not illegal — communications and actions with artists were investigated by our legal counsel and found to be credible.” – Glasstire
Report: Cultural Organizations Support Local Economies
The Arts and Placeshaping: Evidence Review, conducted by researchers Wavehill, suggests cultural organisations boost “civic pride and place identity”, making communities more cohesive and improving external perceptions of a place. This in turn can drive footfall, support the local economy and create new jobs. – The Stage
Could Ancient Theatres Provide A Model For COVID-Safe Venues Today?
“In the relationship between ancient theater architecture and nature, one can discern in the Greco-Roman school of thought a particular interest in creating the conditions for a salubrious experience of drama. … As an extant example of a remote, outdoor theater flushed with fresh air, Epidaurus has become something of a touch point for theater producers, designers and historians looking to the past to find a way forward.” – T — The New York Times Style Magazine
What It’s Like Going Back To Galleries
I visited four galleries, three by appointment and one as a drop-in. It wasn’t the old normal, of course, but neither was it the hassle nor the heartbreaker I dreaded. At the end of the day, I felt invigorated, quenched — and reassured. – Los Angeles Times
Closed Captioning: A Brief History
“Hundreds of millions around the world rely on closed captioning to be able to understand what they’re watching on TV. While the idea seems simple — just add words to relay the dialogue and describe any sounds — it took decades to mandate processes for making entertainment accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing community, as well as the elderly.” Here’s an overview of how that happened — and at how captioning happens today. – Quartz
Being A Booker Prize Judge Is Hard Work, Even During A Pandemic
Each of the five jury members had to read through 162 books, getting a stack each month and then meeting in London to decide which ones advance to the next round. Then came the lockdown: no more trips to England (or anywhere else) and the books arriving as PDFs. At least, said juror Lemn Sissay, “there was nothing to do but read. There will never, ever, be a judging panel that has so much time to just focus on the books.” – The New York Times
Maybe Dance Should Use Intimacy Coordinators, Too
“Dance … is an art form that frequently involves the kind of bodily contact that, in a nondance context, would be watched extremely closely, perhaps nervously. … Despite — or perhaps because of — the fact that dancers are often nearly as comfortable with other bodies as they are with their own, it’s important to make and maintain space for honesty about personal limits and power dynamics.” Zachary Whittenburg looks at how the techniques and principles that intimacy coordinators use in theater and film can be applied to concert dance. – Dance Magazine
Watching How Trisha Brown Meticulously Built Her Dances
Fortunately, she meticulously documented them, too. “Over the years, thousands of hours of rehearsal footage accumulated in Brown’s archive, most of which make up 1,200 videotapes known as the Building Tapes. … After an extensive search for the right home, the company is placing its founder’s archive — including the Building Tapes and corresponding notebooks, known as the Building Notebooks — at the … New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.” Siobhan Burke takes a look at what’s in there. – The New York Times
Two D.C. Stage Companies Create Video Responses To City’s Black Lives Matter Protests
The projects, The 51st State from Arena Stage and an anthology of short videos that Studio Theatre simply calls creative responses to the August 28 March on Washington, “have propelled stage artists in new directions,” writes Peter Marks, “to memorialize galvanizing public events … [with] the fresh lens these companies have been able to train on their convulsed city.” – The Washington Post
Brooklyn Museum To Sell 12 Works To Pay For Maintaining The Rest Of Its Art
“It is the kind of sale that once would have engendered criticism, perhaps even sanctions: The Brooklyn Museum is putting 12 works up for auction at Christie’s next month — including paintings by Cranach, Courbet and Corot — to raise funds for the care of its collection. But it is now completely within the parameters of loosened regulations, which are themselves a measure of just how financially damaging the coronavirus pandemic has been for cultural institutions.” – The New York Times
American Writers Dominate This Year’s Booker Prize List
The Booker list this year is dominated by books from American or U.S.-based authors, including “The Shadow King” by Ethiopia-born Maaza Mengiste, Diane Cook’s dystopian tale “The New Wilderness,” Avni Doshi’s India-set “Burnt Sugar” and Brandon Taylor’s campus novel “Real Life.” Only one British writer made the cut for the U.K.’s leading book prize. – Toronto Star (AP)
Survey: Two-Thirds Of American Millennials/GenZ’s Don’t Know Jews Were Killed In The Holocaust
Almost a quarter of respondents (23%) said they believed the Holocaust was a myth, or had been exaggerated, or they weren’t sure. One in eight (12%) said they had definitely not heard, or didn’t think they had heard, about the Holocaust. – The Guardian
Critic Stanley Crouch, 74
Mr. Crouch was an actor, playwright, jazz drummer and college professor — without benefit of a college degree — before he emerged in the late 1970s as one of the country’s most original, contentious and (sometimes literally) combative writers. He was a bare-knuckled literary provocateur — erudite and fearless (some would say reckless) — while reveling in his often truculent takedowns, often of works by other African American artists and intellectuals. – Washington Post
15,000 Audience Complaints To BBC Over Dance Broadcast Demonstrates Racial Problems
The incomprehensibly high number of complaints, though astonishing, speaks to Britain’s problematic conceptualisation of race and its relationship to racism. It shows a general intolerance to confront it. This, in part, is based on the denial of racism and a mythical idea of Britain as post-racial, where racism and racial inequality no longer exist. – The Conversation
We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside
Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s stunning new trio album for the Sunnyside label is one that we have been hoping for weeks to call to your attention: It’s a highlight among recent releases in all jazz genres. – Doug Ramsey