“That liberal literati in the US were, and remain, singularly un-shocked by so much that was awful pre-Trump is troubling. Neither historical accuracy nor political realism is well served by harping on ideals that are blatantly at odds with the actual deeds of a country Martin Luther King once called ‘the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.’ In 2017, we retain this distinction, with a military budget roughly the same size as the next seven largest combined.”
Tag: 03.24.17
Dame Vera Lynn, Becomes Oldest Musician To Have A Top-10 Hit
“She is the first ever centenarian to chart in Britain. Dame Vera beats her own record from 2014, when she became the oldest living artist to reach the Top 20 with her National Treasure album. She still holds the record for the oldest living artist to score a No. 1 album, when her Very Best Of collection hit the top in 2009, at the age of 93.”
Jesse Green Had *Not* Planned On Being A Critic, Let Alone A Theater Critic (And Now He’s Headed To The New York Times)
Rob Weinert-Kendt talks to Green about how he got into criticism (sideways and reluctantly), all the things he did before, and how even he had hoped the Times wouldn’t hire another white guy.
Mock Trial In Chicago Debates Fate Of Parthenon Marbles
“The opposing forces were represented by two powerhouse teams of Chicago attorneys: former U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald, former Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick M. Collins, and Tinos Diamantatos represented the British Museum; former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, Sam Adam Jr., and Robert A. Clifford argued for Greece. And each side produced an expert witness.”
Donald Judd, Persistent Disbeliever And Committed Skeptic
With Judd, to put it mildly, “He had not the slightest appetite for polite back patting. … Doubt always came first.”
Toronto Gets Its Own Superheated Real Estate Market That Forces Artists And Musicians Out
Some predict a hollowing out of the downtown core in Toronto, with basically only bad traffic left. Right now, “Landmark musicians are leaving for more affordable regions in unsettling numbers and, with them go songs and culture.”
The Pleasures, And The Pressures, Of Being A 20-Year-Old Demi-Soloist
Bridget Kuhns of the Houston Ballet isn’t one of the ballet dancers who uses the pre-show ritual of “‘brush your shoulder, touch your toe,’ she says, laughing as she mimicked those movements. But Kuhns does have a thing about fresh breath onstage, she explained. She always brushes her teeth and then chews on a piece of gum until the stage manager delivers the two-minute warning call.”
The Cleveland Orchestra Has Cut Its Miami Residency In Half
Or at least that’s how it appears from the press release about the short 2018 Miami season, which “contains no statement or explanation about why the orchestra has shortened its season or even any acknowledgement that it is doing so.”
Tracy Moffatt Is The First Indigenous Australian To Exhibit At The Venice Biennale
Photographer and filmmaker Moffatt never wants to repeat herself. The pavilion “will feature two new large-scale photographic suites and two films. Commissioned by Naomi Milgrom and curated by Natalie King, the exact nature of the works in this exhibition is still a tightly guarded secret, but Moffatt says she used a lot of natural light – often shooting directly into the sun.”
A New Ballet That’s Most Definitely Not About ‘Relationships’
Unless one considers the relationships among the criminally insane and their terrible “care”-givers a traditional ballet subject, a new ballet inspired by Frederick Wiseman’s 1967 long-censored documentary “The Titicut Follies” will likely be a bit of a surprise. “Adapting the film’s troubling message has been a challenge for every artist involved in the new ballet.”