Tag: 01.30.20

How Intimacy Directors Do Their Jobs

No less than dance or fight choreography, intimacy choreography consists of specific, repeatable movements, and intimacy directors find desexualized language to use with actors (as opposed to “More passionate!”) to create the right effect for the audience. Holly L. Derr talks with some of the creators of the practice of intimacy direction about how they developed it and use it. – HowlRound

Thanks To The Claw, Philadelphia Has Become A Literary Hotbed

The Claw, founded by authors Carmen Maria Machado and Liz Moore, “is comprised of 19 published and professional fiction and nonfiction writers. Not unlike a book club, it meets roughly once a month, usually at one of the members’ homes. Over glasses of wine, the women ask for advice, offer feedback, and discuss what they’re writing at the moment — or just whatever’s occupying their minds.” Says one member, “What you see in Philly’s literary community is that women have decided to take the lead here.” – Philadelphia Magazine

A First Look At The New, Non-Robbins Choreography For Broadway’s ‘West Side Story’

“Though her work has evolved beyond the minimalist choreography that first garnered her critical notice in the 1980s, [Anne Teresa] De Keersmaeker remains a formalist. Throughout this production, she makes ingenious use of traveling wedge formations, each gang shaped loosely into a triangle with their leader at the point, as they circle, stalk, intimidate, and prepare to pounce. [Director Ivo] van Hove says that De Keersmaeker’s facility in moving groups of bodies around a stage is partly why he chose her to choreograph this musical, as it is one in which ‘groups are really important.'” – American Theatre

Ambitious Major Triennial Canceled In Beijing Over Coronavirus Fears

The CAFA Art Museum (CAFAM) in Beijing announced its decision to suspend the inaugural edition of its CAFAM Techne Triennial, an ambitious exhibition of media art scheduled to open on February 20. More than 130 artists and collectives planned to exhibit their work in the museum’s 5,000-square-meter space, including Alex Da Corte, Wang Gongxin, Hito Steyerl, Tauba Auerbach, Zhang Peili, and Hans Haacke. – Hyperallergic

Digging Through The Thames’ Mud For The Unwritten Records Of Several Nations

London’s thoroughfare is a tidal river, and when the river retreats, the mudlarks emerge. These mudlarks are people, and they find cool things: “A gold ornament from the 16th century, ancient Roman coins, shards of medieval pottery, prehistoric flint – these are just some of the thousands of historical treasures … Lara Maiklem has found searching the banks of London’s River Thames.” – NPR

Peak TV Is Surprisingly Like Peak Books

They’re not at all the same – and the internet is more distracting from books than TV is – but: “As with classic unread novels, certain TV shows have begun to carry with them a hint of obligation. There are so many shows that people assure me are really good, really smart, really fun, shows like Breaking Bad and Borgen and Schitt’s Creek. Then there are the documentaries that promise to teach history: Ken Burns’s Vietnam, Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us, Ken Burns’s Country Music, OJ: Made in America—actually, I did watch OJ, and it was incredible. I would like to watch it again. But then I’d like to read Middlemarch again, too.” – The Millions

Protests Against The New ‘West Side Story’ For Hiring A Dancer (Briefly) Fired From City Ballet For Sexual Harassment

Sure, there’s been a lot of buzz around this Ivan van Hove production, with new choreography by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. But: “There’s another buzz gathering around the show—and not because two dancers’ injuries forced the postponement of opening night from Feb. 6 to Feb. 20. It is instead the controversy over the production’s choice to cast dancer/actor Amar Ramasar as Bernardo. Ramasar was fired from New York City Ballet in 2018 for sharing aggressively lewd text messages and nude photos and videos of female company members without their consent with some of his fellow male dancers at NYCB.” – American Theatre

$50 Million Gift Revives LACMA’s Stalled Building Campaign

The pledge raises the total commitments to $640 million. The $50 million from Keck is the second-largest private pledge to the project, after a $150 million pledge from entertainment mogul David Geffen in 2017. Casino and hotel magnate Elaine Wynn, co-chair of LACMA’s board of trustees, in 2016 also pledged $50 million. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has authorized $125 million in taxpayer funds for construction of the new building. – Los Angeles Times