“Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists is the country’s first ever exhibition devoted solely to the works of Native American women. Jeffrey Brown traveled to Minnesota and New Mexico to meet with some of the team behind the retrospective.” (video) – PBS NewsHour
The Domingo Defenders’ Argument, Stated Very Plainly
Heather MacDonald: “It is a grotesque inversion of the proper hierarchy between public accomplishment and private sexual behavior to sacrifice an artist of Domingo’s stature for the sake of 20 disgruntled bit players, laboriously harvested from thousands of professional interactions characterized by graciousness and consideration. Put simply, the discomfort of these belated accusers decades ago is not worth Domingo’s head.” – Quillette
‘El Maestro’ Of Latin Jazz, Ray Santos, Dead At 90
“Santos started out playing Latin big band music at resorts in upstate New York’s Catskills, and performed with Machito’s orchestra at New York’s city’s Palladium in the 1950s. Over his long career he collaborated with Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Tito Rodríguez, Paquito D’Rivera and many others.” – Billboard
The Novel Is Dying? Please, Get Over It!
“I do not agree that the novel is doomed to become a marginal cultural force – but I can see why writers whose first successes came in the pre-digital age may think so. Gone are the days of the great advances and the pages and pages of serious, in-depth analysis the print media once used to offer to the novel and to the book-by-book progression of a novelist’s body of work.” – New Statesman
The (Click)bait And Switch Of Modern Curiosity
“It’s that disconnect between long- and short-term interests that makes frothy articles so frustrating. The feeling of curiosity promised you’d learn something and, admittedly, you did — now you know French citizens’ favorite macaron flavor — but you’re disappointed because your new knowledge doesn’t contribute to your long-term interests. You’ve been clickbaited by your own brain.” – The New York Times
Viengsay Valdés Steps Into Alicia Alonso’s Formidable Shoes At National Ballet Of Cuba
Her dancers, she tells Marina Harss, “are very excited. I want to give them confidence, a sense of security and, above all, justice. I think there are dancers who haven’t had an opportunity to prove themselves. … They’re so young, so impatient, and if you don’t motivate them, they lose their drive. You have to know how to lead them, how to be just. There are roles for everyone. That way, the company will feel loved and cherished.” – Dance Magazine
Why Should Anyone Be Upset That The Booker Prize Chose Two Winners?
“If the judges felt that they needed the world to know about these two novels, shouldn’t that be a cause for celebration? It seems to me that the work of these two fine writers is being overlooked as commentators express their disappointment that there wasn’t a knock-out in the final round. Do we really long for a champion that much?” – Irish Times
Humans Say: Music is Not An Algorithm
“The current streaming culture we find ourselves in marks music and wide open spaces of exploration into nothing more than a commodity, and because of this, we’re increasingly driven away from music’s way of connecting us all, that deep resonating force that helps us experience and process the weird wonder that is life.” I Care If You Listen
Confronting the MoMA Monster: How Its Rehang Lynches the Collection
How do I not love the Museum of Modern Art’s reinstallation of its permanent collection in it expanded, renovated galleries? Let me count the ways. – Lee Rosenbaum
Propwatch: The Pig’s Head In Mephisto [A Rhapsody]
Assuming there is a future, “when historians of the future chronicle the last days of Britain, a pig’s head may enjoy its own footnote.” – David Jays
This Keith Haring Mural Was Cut Out Of A Stairwell, And Now Its Fate Is Uncertain
The three-story mural, created for the Catholic youth Grace House in New York, has been cut out and preserved for auction. The Haring Foundation is not thrilled by the idea of the auction. “This mural was not meant to be owned by a collector. … It was meant to brighten a room full of children.” – The New York Times
Drawing, Dancing, And Deradicalization
Can a madrasa that teaches children of suicide bombers to draw and dance help them get deprogrammed from hours and hours of militant videos? The school is sure trying, but “when they first arrived from Surabaya, the children shrank from music and refrained from drawing images of living things because they believed it conflicted with Islam, social workers said. They were horrified by dancing and by a Christian social worker who didn’t wear a head scarf.” – The New York Times
The Nobel Literature Committee Defends Itself For Rewarding A Prize To An Accused Genocide Denier
Sure, Peter Handke spoke at the funeral of Serbian war criminal Slobodan Milošević in 2006, and sure, before that he had compared the fate of Serbia to that of Jewish people during the Holocaust, but Nobel committee members “predicted that in the future, Handke would be considered ‘among the most obvious choices’ for the prize. Writing in the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, [one member] described Handke as an advocate for peace and said he was ‘anti-nationalistic.'” – BBC
Backup Dancers Are Leaping To The Forefront With The Power Of Smart Social Media
Backup dancers aren’t very “backup” anymore; instead, like the 16-year-old who began touring with Janet Jackson at age 12 and is now a major social media influencer, they’re at the center of the conversation. That’s thanks to Instagram. “Internet popularity can be a dancer’s entree to choreographing and starring in her own viral videos, traveling the world as a guest artist and teacher, and inking lucrative brand deals and endorsements.” – The Washington Post
Why That Picture Of Nancy Pelosi Standing Up To Trump Has Become Iconic Art
Something about the symmetry, the light, and the postures of the figures in the room turned ordinary people into art historians who were captivated by the strength of the composition. “The juxtaposition of the direction the participants are leaning on opposite sides of the table is a strong dynamic.” – Washington Post
There’s A New Dark Horse Contender For Best Ballet Company In South America
In 2010, Argentine dancer and former ABT principal Julio Bocca was named artistic director of Uruguay’s flagship company, the Ballet Nacional del Sodre. Since then, under Bocca and successor Igor Yebra, what was once a small, poorly attended troupe has become a dynamo: it has increased the number of rehearsals and performances, tours within the country and abroad, and sells more than 100,000 tickets a year in a country of only 3.3 million people. – Yahoo! (AFP)
John Schaefer: Why We Still Need Music Curators
“When what we listen to is all based on algorithms, you’re fed things that will already fit your taste. My intention with the show was always to make it like a series of doors. You could peek in and you could go into that door if you liked, or you could choose another.” – The New York Times