The African nation is getting prosperous enough to begin (slowly) offering state funding to the performing arts. One beneficiary of this development is Mophato Dance Theatre, which combines traditional Botswanan dance with contemporary movement vocabulary. (video) – BBC
Tag: 02.21.20
Research: Angkor Wat May Have Been Built Because Of An Engineering Disaster
A new study published recently in the journal Geoarchaeology shows that there was more than political intrigue at play. A water reservoir critical for large-scale agriculture in the Koh Ker area collapsed around the time the capital moved back to Angkor. – Smithsonian
More And More Men Are Dancing On Pointe
And it’s not just the Trockaderos and Cinderella’s mean stepsisters, either. Gilbert Bolden of New York City Ballet, James Whiteside of ABT, Bennet Gartside of The Royal Ballet, and Raffaele Morra of (yes) the Trocks talk about how and why guys dance on their toes. – Dance Spirit
So Far California’s New Gig Economy Law Is A Disaster For Theatres And Actors
No one is arguing that theatre artists don’t deserve to be paid or shouldn’t be treated well. As Susie Medak, managing director at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, pointed out, there’s simply a fundamental disconnect between the law and the creative process of theatre. “What concerns me the most is that this law doesn’t take into consideration at all the way creative artists work. It has a desire to codify everyone’s work. The impulse behind AB 5, in making everyone an employee, is that everyone will work according to standard work conditions.” – American Theatre
Philadelphia Museum Of Art Retail Exec Abused And Hit Staffers For Two Years Before He Was Fired
“After [James A.] Cincotta was hired as the museum’s retail director in 2015, staffers who worked for him began reporting what they said was routinely abusive behavior. Cincotta slapped, punched, pinched, shoved, grabbed, and verbally berated workers, according to interviews with 14 current and former museum employees.” The museum investigated complaints against him in 2016, but he was not dismissed until 2018. – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Lind: Blame The Elite Managers For The Rise Of Global Populism
Once, Michael Lind observes, “trade unions, participatory political parties, and religious and civic organizations compelled university-educated managerial elites to share power with them or defer to their values.” But beginning in the 1970s, the managers “unilaterally abrogated” this power-sharing settlement. Now, “no longer restrained by working-class power,” the “metropolitan overclass” has, as Lind puts it, “run amok.” – Washington Post
The Streaming Wars Are Bringing On A New Media Dystopia
The return to piracy is both a bit of a meme and a bit of a reality. And its return is absolutely the result of a market that giant companies have built to intentionally trap customers into either a single-company ecosystem (one ISP, one easy streaming service) or an annoying, expensive patchwork. And while piracy signals discontent with the system, it’s quite unlikely that these companies will react by changing their approach, let alone lowering prices. – Slate
In Memoriam: Tobi Tobias (1938-2020)
Alongside the the wonderful, illuminating dance criticism she wrote for decades, she wrote wonderfully well about fashion, and only when I became a mother did I realize that while Tobi was raising her offspring, she was writing dozens of children’s books. – Deborah Jowitt
From caftan to opera hat: the greatest living playwright takes on the Jewish bourgeoisie and its destruction
There’s something a bit ho-hum, mean and pinched about the reception of Sir Tom Stoppard’s new (and, he says, perhaps final play), Leopoldstadt. – Paul Levy
Trump Administration Is Moving National Archives Out Of Seattle. Native Americans Are Furious
“The U.S. government made us paper Indians — our ancestors are here,” Jack proclaimed last week at Sand Point. To close and remove the archives is to physically remove the ancestors (word is the contents of these warehouses would probably be transferred to facilities thousands of miles away in Missouri and in Southern California). – Crosscut