Says the study’s lead author, “These results suggest for the first time that long-term musical training reduces simple non-musical auditory, tactile and multisensory reaction times.” (But the study included no singers – what could that mean?)
Tag: 01.23.17
‘Wild, Grand, Delirious, Demonic’ – Alex Ross On ‘Guerrilla Minimalist’ Julius Eastman
Eastman earned some renown during the 1960s and ’70s as a singer of avant-garde music; through the ’80s, he gradually slipped out of sight as addiction and mental illness overtook him. But these days his music is getting some serious attention, and Ross explains why.
Dancers, Here Are Three Visualizations To Get You Past Audition Nerves
Corinne Haas, former member of Alonzo King LINES Ballet: “When your heart is pounding and your knees are trembling, it’s hard to cultivate a calm, confident persona at an audition. But if you practice that feeling before stepping foot in the room, you can improve your chances of success.”
After Trump’s CIA Visit, Lookups Of The Word ‘Claque’ Spiked
As Merriam-Webster observes, “Claque means ‘a group hired to applaud at a performance’ or ‘a group of sycophants.'”
‘Alternative Facts’ Is The Perfect Euphemism For The Age Of Trump
Katy Waldman: “For one thing, the phrase calls to mind the snake-oil salesmanship that has animated Trump’s rise to power.” (Waldman cites the ’70s term alternative medicine.) ” The modifier’s connotation of gutsy, even glamorous independence also lends credibility to the rogue alt-right … Most of all, alternative facts evokes a total alienation from – and disinterest in – objective truth.”
‘Minstrel Show’: Houston Chronicle Rips ‘Nixon In China’ For ‘Demeaning Treatment Of Chinese Culture’
“Instead of presenting Asians as human beings, we are offered a world of lazy stereotypes”, writes staff theater and opera critic Wei-Huan Chen about the opera’s version of the old Cultural Revolution ballet The Red Detachment of Women, “a representation of Asian people so nostalgic, so inaccurate and so out of touch with the way we talk about and view race in modern times that it at first evokes more confusion than disgust.” (That’s arguably a fair description of the original Red Detachment.)
I Wrote All The State Arts Agencies To Ask What Would Change For Them If The NEA Is Eliminated – Here’s What Happened
As Leonard Jacobs notes, “40% of the NEA’s budget, by statute, goes directly to state and regional arts agencies. … If the NEA didn’t exist, therefore, large chunks of state arts agency budgets would evaporate overnight.” So what were the agencies’ responses? The first, from a national unmbrella organization, was basically Don’t talk about this out loud!!
Sales Of Orwell’s “1984” Surge After Conway’s “Alternative Facts”
“Sales of George Orwell’s dystopian drama 1984 have soared after Kellyanne Conway, adviser to the reality-TV-star-turned-president, Donald Trump, used the phrase “alternative facts” in an interview. As of Tuesday, the book was the sixth best-selling book on Amazon.”
Dozens Of London Live Music Venues Have Closed In The Past Decade. But What About Those That Are Thriving?
“You create a green scene of local bands who breed. They become fond of the venue because you give them support and, even if they grow, they’ll come back and play smaller shows here.”
We’ve Entered A New Age Of Contempt – And It’s Dangerous
“Privately expressed contempt may be cathartic. Publicly expressed contempt, however, is perilous. … Widespread public contempt has the potential to undermine the moral basis of all human relationships and, indeed, of human community itself.”