Category: today’s top story

“Reviewers have a different calling from authors, he argues – being obliged above all to be ‘interesting’ – quoting Hardwick – about even the most apparently boring subjects.”

Artists, curators, critics and academics have united against president Mohamed Morsi and his controversial charter, which they say threatens freedom of expression and creativity.

“Benjamin Millepied, the choreographer and a former principal at New York City Ballet, will be the new director of dance at the Paris Opera Ballet, starting in September 2014.”

“A new national survey of nonprofit executives suggests it isn’t just the uncertain economy that’s making it hard for charities – including arts and culture groups – to meet their fundraising goals. The research says there’s something fundamentally amiss with the way many of them go about courting donors.”

“According to cultural chiefs in Berlin, Paris and New York, Turkey has threatened to bar foreign archaeologists from excavation sites in the country by not renewing their digging permits if governments refuse to return artefacts that Ankara says were unlawfully removed from Turkish soil. It has also threatened to halt the lending of its treasures to foreign museums, they say.”

“To make the movie, Moore wouldn’t print out script pages or shot sequences for the 25 days he was filming on Disney turf, instead keeping all the info on iPhones. This way, when actors and crew were looking down between takes, passersby just thought they were glancing at their messages.”

“Moscow doctors are fighting to save the Bolshoi Ballet director Sergei Filin’s sight after he was attacked with acid outside his home late last night by a masked assailant. The assault is being linked to vicious internal theatre politics.”

“Surging production costs, the strong Canadian dollar, and the worldwide economic downturn were blamed Wednesday by the Cirque du soleil for its decision to cut 400 employees. Most of the layoffs will be at the artistic giant’s headquarters in Montreal.”

“The decision followed failed requests to HMV’s suppliers for £300 million ($481.8 million) in additional financing. The retailer owes $282.8 million to banks having struggled from the ever increasing competition from online retail.”