“Groups supporting Palestinian interests have asked the Northrop Dance Series to cancel a Feb. 18 appearance of the Tel Aviv-based Batsheva Dance Company.” The groups’ leader says, “It has nothing to do with the content, but we’re asking people to boycott because of the funding they receive and because of the policies of the state of Israel.”
Tag: 02.10.09
The Catholic Church Brings Back Indulgences
“[M]any Catholics under 50 have never sought one, and never heard of indulgences except in high school European history (Martin Luther denounced the selling of them in 1517 while igniting the Protestant Reformation).” One priest observes, “Confessions have been down for years and the church is very worried about it… Indulgences are a way of reminding people of the importance of penance. The good news is we’re not selling them anymore.”
Don’t Mess With The Village People
“Maybe he should have been a lawyer instead: The performer Victor Willis, better known as the original police officer in the campy band the Village People, has filed suit against a resuscitated version of the group, saying it is using his likeness and voice in its performances.”
National Ballet Of Canada Bids Farewell To 20-Year Veteran
“The company is also bidding farewell to principal dancer Chan Hon Goh, who is retiring in June after 20 years with the troupe, though not before she performs in Romeo and Juliet and Giselle later this season.”
U.S. Orchestras Launch Nationwide Food Drive
“The Soloist, the upcoming movie about a cellist who became homeless, has struck a chord with American orchestras. They are mobilizing to help feed the hungry. At least 163 orchestras in 45 states are expected to participate in food drives in late March, a month before the movie’s release on April 24, the League of American Orchestras said Tuesday.”
What’s Missing Casts A Shadow On Met’s ’09-’10 Season
“The Metropolitan Opera, contending with biting economic woes, laid out a 2009-10 season on Tuesday that includes eight new productions but is also notable for scaled-back ambitions.”
Fusing Arab And Israeli Music On A European Walkabout
On the Philadelphia Orchestra’s European tour, cellist Udi Bar-David is making time for extracurriculars, but not of the self-indulgent variety. His focus instead is a program called Intercultural Journeys, an endeavor that “seems quixotic, on some days even impossible: Arab-Jewish musical fusion.”
Updike’s Final Poems, Stories Set For Release
“The final works of John Updike, who died in January at the age of 76, will be published later this year. Poems written in the run up to the writer’s death will be released in April, entitled Endpoint and Other Poems, says the author’s US publisher. The collection, composed over the course of eight years, includes the poem Requiem which speculates on the public reaction to the author’s death.”
Might The Kindle Really Take Off This Time?
“Seldom has a new product that isn’t really new created such excitement as Amazon.com’s Kindle 2… It isn’t the device itself that is causing the stir, it seems – the Kindle 2 is an improved version of Kindle 1 – but the fact that people actually will be able to get one.”
In Fairey’s Arrest, Questions Of Art And Crime Intersect
“In the days leading up to Friday night’s [Institute of Contemporary Art] opening, Boston Detective Bill Kelley said, he was getting more and more complaints from residents of the Back Bay, the North End, and Mission Hill, furious that a man who admitted to spreading graffiti – even bragged about it – was being treated like a celebrity instead of a criminal.” The subsequent arrest of the suddenly ubiquitous Shepard Fairey “has left two unanswered questions: What is crime and what is art?”