You Can’t Always Get What You Want (Immediately – It Might Take Seven Years)

Rereading Marion Milner means thinking hard about desire. “We think of our desires as being pure and instinctual, never really understanding the influence cultural norms, or what we see on television or in pornography. We feel pulled toward something we consider magical and totally individual, and then we get our hands on it and realize it’s not having much of an effect on us after all. Why were we craving this again?”

Quebec Cinema Is Booming. Great, But Why?

Why is Quebecois cinema suddenly so popular with the Oscars (Incendies, Monsieur Lazhar) and with filmgoers? “For way too long, Quebec cinema was stuck in a pure-laine universe that was virtually entirely white and Franco. Quebec cinema is opening up to the real Quebec and that’s partly why the world is opening up to Quebec cinema.”

What We Talk About When We Talk About Classical Music (And How To Do It Better)

“Yes, classical musicians can be amazing, and their performances are the result of a kind of intense dedication (those hours of practice) that rightly inspire respect in those who don’t do it themselves. Yet all artists spend hours and hours making their art, and few other artists are greeted with the same kind of awe simply for doing what they do (‘You wrote a BOOK? All those WORDS? Wow!’).”

Reviving (Dance On) Broadway

Choreographing for actors who aren’t quite triple threats yet, Kathleen Marshall “uses chess pieces to help block scenes involving lots of characters. She tracks other details, like calculating when performers can catch their breath, since actors can’t dance at full tilt at the same time they’re supposed to belt out a solo.”