“[The video is of] Copeland performing [the] Swan Queen last week in Singapore, where she wasn’t able to finish her 32 fouettés (she was criticized for doing the same thing when she debuted the role in 2015). … Why would ballet’s biggest star want to promote a video of herself messing up, and a tweet saying that she doesn’t deserve to be in American Ballet Theatre? Because she’s bravely proving some important points.”
Tag: 03.28.18
Metro Chicago’s Elgin Symphony May Run Out Of Money Before This Season’s Last Concert
“Because of a financial shortfall, the Symphony Orchestra’s board of directors have scheduled a special meeting late Thursday afternoon to see if the group will be able to find a way to afford putting on the final concerts of its season May 5-6.”
This Film Won Six South African Academy Awards, And Black Traditionalists Are Trying To Get It Classified As Porn
Inxeba (The Wound), about a gay love triangle taking place amidst Xhosa male coming-of-age rites, took directing, acting, writing, and editing honors as well as Best Film at the South African Film and Television Awards this week. Yet traditional leaders have furiously opposed the movie, arguing that it is hard-core pornography that profanes a sacred part of their culture. (No genitalia are shown on screen.)
Across Asia, There’s A Boom In Opera House/Performing Arts Centers – And The Jobs That Come With Them
As the continent’s economic power grows, cities are building performing arts centers as badges of their new global clout. The complexes are usually called opera houses (the idea of “opera” still carries real prestige), but they usually have another auditorium for dance and/or drama, and often a black box as well – and all those stages need people to run them and shows to present. These theaters are sprouting up from China to Kazakhstan to the Persian Gulf, as flashy freestanding buildings or (sometimes) in high-end shopping malls.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 03.28.18
April Showers: 28 La Salle University Deaccessions in Three Christie’s Auctions (with estimates)
Without a press release, let alone any fanfare, Christie’s has now published the complete catalogue information (including presale estimates) for 28 of the 46 works that were deaccessioned by La Salle University to bankroll its … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2018-03-28
Chummy MacGregor And “Moon Dreams”
Chummy MacGregor was born on this day in 1903 and died on March 9, 1973. It’s the rare listener to modern jazz who doesn’t know of the MacGregor composition “Moon Dreams,” which … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2018-03-28
Contemporary Music Has A Label Problem
Classical or art music has undergone a sea change over the last two decades or so. Music historians debate over when the Common Practice Period — characterized by tonality — began or ended exactly, but most generally put its demise roughly coinciding with the start of the 20th century. When many laypeople think of modern art music, they think immediately of the dissonant Modern period. That’s when composers deliberately eschewed any conventional notions of melody or harmony.
A Decline In UK Museum Attendance
In 2008/09, the number of visitors to 15 museums funded by the central government was 39.7 million. This increased every year to a high point of 50.8 million in 2014/15. The numbers have dropped consistently since and will be around 46.5 million in 2017/18, the financial year that ended on 31 March.
How Harassment Is Institutionally Supported In The Theatre?
It’s a matter of sexual harassment and abuse being a major public health and safety issue in all sectors of our society, and wanting to do something about it, especially when the leadership of arts institutions tend to do whatever it takes to preserve themselves first, at the direct cost of the health and safety of the individuals they’re supposed to serve.