Site-specific work isn’t new, particularly among contemporary dance circles. The scale, however, of these recent efforts from companies who customarily present work in big, proscenium settings is notable. Choreographers are looking to every corner of their home venues, getting off the stage and changing the rules about how theatrical spaces are used.
Tag: 01.27.18
Black British Actors Are Having Such Success In America Because They Can’t Get Work In Britain
Daniel Kaluuya, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba, David Oyelowo, Naomie Harris, Thandie Newton, and on and on. Why do they have to leave home, where film and television thrive, just to get cast in decent roles? All those period drama, for one thing.
Mort Walker, 94, Creator Of ‘Beetle Bailey’ Comic Strip
“In contrast with the work-shirking soldier he immortalized, Mr. Walker was a man of considerable drive and ambition. He drew his daily comic strip for 68 years, longer than any other U.S. artist in the history of the medium.”
Dancers Are Quitting English National Ballet, Citing ‘Hostile Work Environment’ And Boss’s Workplace Romance
“English National Ballet has lost a third of its dancers in two years amid claims of verbal abuse and a hostile working environment, with some former dancers claiming they felt pressured to work while injured … Sources said the dancers held Tamara Rojo, the artistic director, responsible for the company’s culture.” Adding to the problems, say some dancers, is Rojo’s relationship with dancer Isaac Hernández.
The Black Market Bot Factory That Inflates Celebrities’ Twitter Followers (By The Millions)
This doesn’t sound shady at all: “Devumi sells Twitter followers and retweets to celebrities, businesses and anyone who wants to appear more popular or exert influence online. Drawing on an estimated stock of at least 3.5 million automated accounts, each sold many times over, the company has provided customers with more than 200 million Twitter followers” – and at least 55,000 of the accounts are basically identity theft.
So, Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Mosaic’: What Was That?
He insisted it wasn’t a “Choose your own adventure” TV miniseries/app. Instead, “it’s both a dazzlingly experimental work and a totally conventional murder mystery. It’s frank and secretive, flooding viewers with information without giving them the tools to make sense of it. The story has multiple different paths to follow but they all end up in the same place. Less a show than a television experience, it’s brilliant and exasperating.”
As Two Arthouse Cinemas Close, Where Will New Yorkers Go To Watch Together?
And what does it say about the kind of city New York is becoming? “Places like Sunshine and Lincoln Plaza are among the small delights that give New York its fizz. One by one, they are fading. It doesn’t mean the city has become a total cinema wasteland. … But knowledgeable guides to inspiring, even transformative, cinema are being squeezed out in a town steadily succumbing to real estate cold-bloodedness and gentrified homogeneity.”
Who Won At Sundance?
Well, The Miseducation of Cameron Post took top honors, and Kailish won on the documentary side, but there’s a long list of winners, some of which will be on screens both large and small in the next year.
The Grammys Show Support For More Diversity This Year, But There’s Much More To Be Done
Good work, Grammys, on the male side of the spectrum, with diverse nominees across major categories. But … “let’s hold off on patting too many backs. Even a casual look at the nominations reveals a woeful shortage of women up for the most coveted Grammys, which include album, record and song of the year.”
Murals Mean As Much As Marches (And We Need Both)
Héctor Tobar: “We need to bring the ambitions, the foibles and the soul of immigrant America into the collective American mind. And for that we need television shows and movies, and more novels, poems, paintings and songs. High art and low. We need stories told in Spanglish and Korean slang, and erudite English, and in bright and moody colors by artists who represent the sons and daughters of the African, Latino and Asian diasporas.”