Tag: 03.30.03

Music And Meaning – These Notes Mean Something

As good a movie as Roman Polanski’s “The Pianist” is, it fails in representing the music, writes David Patrick Stearns. “How could anybody emerge from five horrific years of hard labor and starvation in World War II Warsaw with such clean, crisp, emotionally unclouded renditions of Chopin?” The answer? They couldn’t, and the real-life Wladyslaw Szpilman, whose memoir was the basis of the film, was profoundly changed, and with it his performances. “Such performances gain impact because the music’s lack of specificity allows it to be invaded by meaning in unpremeditated ways. Popular music, in contrast, has a verbal element that can serve as a political rallying point, but one that can render the music obsolete.”

Dishonoring Martha Graham’s Memory

Now that the Martha Grahma litigation has been resolved, the MG company is back dancing. But it’s a pale imposter that does its founder a disservice. “Financial crises and litigation over the ownership of Graham’s name and repertory had left her company dangling, and its comeback proved that her ghost could be a destructive force, invoking past greatness in a way that made present achievement look both paltry and old-fashioned. Much of the dramatic power in her choreography had eroded to an alarming extent, and as a result, the whole future of the Graham legacy appeared questionable.”

Where Are The Arts On TV?

What happened to the arts on TV? “Even in this niche-rich era of digital cable and the baby satellite dish, television doesn’t have a lot of room for plays, dance or serious music, let alone literature or the visual arts. PBS schedules less classical music, jazz, theater and dance than it did a quarter century ago. ‘CBS Sunday Morning’ is the only regularly scheduled program in the whole of network TV that gives the fine arts the time of day. A&E, which was ARTS and then the Arts & Entertainment Network, is keener on E than A these days.” So what’s the reason?

The Broadway Balanchine

Though his contributions are now mostly forgotten, George Balanchine created some vivid pieces for Broadway. “Starting with one of his earliest musicals, Rodgers and Hart’s ‘On Your Toes’ (1936), he attained a level of choreographic sophistication rarely before seen on Broadway, and all the dances were integral to the plot, a concept virtually unheard of at the time.”

The Battle For A Compelling TV War (It’s The Ratings – And The Polls)

“For those of us trying to juggle these polar mood swings while watching the war on television, there are two conflicts raging — the fight between the antagonists themselves and the pitched battle between journalism and the imperatives of show business. The conflicts are intertwined, and the second determines how we view the first. If we are to penetrate the fog of the real war, journalism must be the clear victor over the inherent need of TV to impose its surefire entertainment formulas, its proven arsenal of slick storytelling and rousing characterization, on a reality that may not be nearly so neat. In this war, American TV news has an unusually tough job. It must not only compete with other TV storytellers with fierce agendas, starting with Iraqi TV, but it must maneuver around the manipulations of an administration so television savvy it doesn’t leave a single backdrop to chance.”

Colorado Arts Council Could Be Dead This Week

The 36-year-old Colorado Council of the Arts faces elimination this week by the state legislature. “During the past few years, there have been attempts to get rid of the council, most notably a proposal to shift its funding to the creation of a state boxing commission. That crisis was resolved when the agency agreed to split its grants equally between metro area arts groups and the 57 counties in the rest of Colorado. Now the planets have aligned to make the council just one of dozens of programs facing gutting or elimination in the scramble to balance the budget.” Oh yes, and if it goes away, the Arts Council won’t be coming back anytime soon. Count on it.

Cuba’s World-Class Ballet

“Funded by the island’s communist-run government, Cuba’s classical dance program is world-class, training dancers for a company that has performed in 58 countries and received about 300 international awards. Founded by Cuban’s living ballet legend, Alicia Alonso, in 1948, the National Ballet of Cuba has managed to forge its own style out of old Russian and Western techniques.”

Difficult To Digest – Art Requiring Reaction

So now there’s evidence that modern art was used as a torture device in Spain during the Civil War. John Rockwell ponders the ability of art to provoke a strong reaction. “A subcurrent of shock and provocation has always lurked within avant-garde art, which deliberately sets out to challenge bourgeois convention and to elicit a strong response. My own experience has been that opponents of new art are much too quick to presume provocation, let alone provocation intended literally to torture. Still, there can be no doubt that outrage was and is a goal of some artists.”