By the time it left New York to relocate in Chicago in 1995, the Joffrey Ballet was a mess – in desperate financial condition and in artistic turmoil. “With typical Joffrey gumption and considerable help from an expanding group of supporters in Chicago with high-powered civic connections, the company has not only survived but acquired a presence here that it never had in New York.” – New York Times
Tag: 03.22.00
PLAYING FOR PEACE
For the first time in ten years, an orchestra from border-conscious North Korea will perform in Seoul next month. “We hope that the concert will help promote peace between the two Koreas,” said the head of the entertainment company promoting the cross cultural duet. – The Times of India
“A” IS FOR ALLAH
Yusuf Islam, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens, has returned to the studio to record his first children’s album, a spoken-word recording using the Arabic alphabet to “spell out the fundamentals of his Islamic faith.” – BBC
“B” IS FOR BIO
As in Australia’s National Biography Awards. This year’s short list suggests that contemporary biographers have thrown out the old rulebooks on writing someone’s life. – Sydney Morning Herald
BILLIONS AND BILLIONS SERVED?
Each year the claim is made that the annual Oscar telecast is watched by billions of people worldwide. Is it true? Not even close. “These numbers are hopelessly exaggerated, usually the product of adding together each broadcast-licensed nation’s entire population, rather than an estimated, Nielsen-like figure approximating actual viewers. Even if the Academy Awards were to be broadcast in China and India – which, as of press time, they were not to be this year – it certainly would not mean that every citizen from Bombay to Beijing would be able to tune in the program. Or even give a crap.” – Salon 03/22/00
FILMS WITHOUT BORDERS
All except one of this year’s Oscar nominations for foreign language films were set outside the director’s native country; scriptwriting and financing are commonly becoming multinational ventures; and filmmakers are finding the freedom to explore and adopt foreign countries as their own. What does all this signify? The “internationalization of the national film.” – Los Angeles Times 03/22/00
“I CAN’T NAME ONE CRITIC I TRUST”
Last week the American magazine Variety polled four dozen filmmakers to see what they thought about film critics. It wasn’t a happy report. Most lament a decline in review standards, saying many critics had turned into little more than “blurbmeisters.” – The Guardian 03/22/00
MYSTERY SANTA
An mysterious Australian woman who died in a nursing home without any of her fellow residents knowing she was wealthy, has left $12 million to artists – included in the bequests were a $60,000 fellowship for a pianist to study abroad and $6 million to Australia’s National Gallery to buy art. – Sydney Morning Herald
AN OUTSTANDING PROPAGANDIST
Pierre Boulez turns 75 this year, and the fuss and attention celebrating him in the musical world is astonishing. But the man is dogmatic and a propagandist of the first order, writes Norman Lebrecht. And while we’re at it, he adds, Boulez has been in a major creative slump for decades. What, exactly, are we celebrating? – The Telegraph (UK)
MODEL FARMER
Twenty years ago a farmer in Suffolk decided to build a model of the famed Second Temple of Jerusalem. “He began at a leisurely pace, immersing himself in the necessary books and fitting the handiwork in around the long hours demanded by his farm near Fressingfield.” But the model has evolved well beyond its original ambitions, and archaeological experts say the farmer, working from historical records, has made some fascinating discoveries. – The Telegraph (UK)