“On my way up to the Paris Opéra studios I was so nervous! Literally shaking. But within about eight minutes, I was reminded, ‘Oh, yeah: This is the same old thing. It’s just dancers in a studio, dancing.'”
Tag: 04.30.18
Michael Anderson, 98, Director Of ‘Logan’s Run’ And ‘The Dam Busters’
“His breakthrough was [the 1955 film] The Dam Busters, about the 1943 British raid against the Ruhr dams in Germany’s industrial heartland. … He was [subsequently] recruited to showman Mike Todd’s big-budget adaptation of Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days (1986), starring David Niven.” Best known among his later films were Conduct Unbecoming and Logan’s Run, both starring Michael York.
Are They Trying To Privatize The Taj Mahal? Uproar In India Over Scheme For Companies To ‘Adopt’ Historic Sites
“Opposition politicians accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of leasing out’ monuments under the ‘Adopt a Heritage’ plan that will see 95 historic sites taken over by private entities. India’s tourism ministry on Saturday announced a five-year contract worth 250 million rupees ($3.7 million) with the Dalmia Bharat conglomerate for the iconic 17th-century Red Fort in Delhi and another fort in the southern Andhra Pradesh state. Other monuments on the list include the Taj Mahal – which two conglomerates are competing for – and the 12th-century UNESCO-listed Qutb Minar complex in Delhi.”
Photographer Art Shay, 96
“Over a career that spanned seven decades Shay pointed his lens at Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Martin Luther King, John. F. Kennedy and Ernest Hemingway – to name a few – for Life, Time, Sports Illustrated and other publications. … He was maced outside the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968. And he flew to Memphis as soon as he heard the Rev. Martin Luther King had been killed. He photographed Hugh Hefner surrounded by Playboy bunnies and captured images of intimidating mobsters who, on at least one occasion, grabbed his camera and removed the film.”
Toronto Symphony Finds Its Next CEO In Philadelphia
Matthew Loden, currently one of the two temporary co-presidents of the Philadelphia Orchestra (and before that, VP for institutional advancement), takes over in Toronto in July. He succeeds Gary Hanson, the former Cleveland Orchestra chief who stepped in after Jeff Melanson was forced to resign in 2016.
To Fight Money-Laundering, EU Tightens Rules On Art Sales
“The aim of the new rules, first proposed in 2016 in the wake of the Panama Papers scandal, is to increase transparency around financial transactions and require banks and vendors to verify clients’ identities and to report any suspicious behaviour. The regulations, which come into force in 2019, will cover all businesses selling works of art with transactions of €10,000 or more, irrespective of the payment method.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 04.30.18
On artistic leadership and aesthetic values in a changed cultural context: A new keynote address
Last week I had the privilege, pleasure, and honor to give the keynote address at the Canadian Arts Summit – an annual gathering of the board chairs, executive leaders, and artistic leaders of Canada’s major cultural institutions. … read more
AJBlog: Jumper Published 2018-04-29
Egypt: Breaking New Ground – Underwater
Like Gold, Picasso and Impressionism, Egypt has generally been a sure-fire subject for art museums. But, you may think, you know the story – basically. An exhibit at the St. Louis Art Museum will make you think again. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2018-04-29
Civics is How We Take Care of the Space Between People
The most important thing I learned in a glorious Humana Festival weekend of theater – six new American plays and a lot of theater geeks – was not in a play at all. … read more
AJBlog: The Bright Ride Published 2018-04-30
From Cuba with Fervor and Vigor
Some of us may remember Carlos Acosta, when he was appearing with England’s Royal Ballet or, more briefly, as a guest artist with American Ballet Theatre. Princely. Virtuosic. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2018-04-29
How Many People in a One-Woman Show?
I love going to shows at Joe’s Pub for Dance Now’s Dance-mopolitan’s Commissioned Artist Series. But doing so takes a kind of expertise that I may lack. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2018-04-30
How AI Might Make The Vatican’s Amazing Archives Accessible
The Vatican Secret Archive isn’t much use to modern scholars, because it’s so inaccessible. Of those 53 miles, just a few millimeters’ worth of pages have been scanned and made available online. Even fewer pages have been transcribed into computer text and made searchable. If you want to peruse anything else, you have to apply for special access, schlep all the way to Rome, and go through every page by hand. But a new project could change all that. Known as In Codice Ratio, it uses a combination of artificial intelligence and optical-character-recognition (OCR) software to scour these neglected texts and make their transcripts available for the very first time.
Music And Character And Rethinking Prison In Georgia
Walker State Prison, home to about 400 inmates, is unique among Georgia prisons. In 2011, the facility became the testing ground for the Georgia Department of Corrections’ new Faith and Character Based program, which focuses on accountability, responsibility, integrity and faith. Inmates in the Faith and Character Based curriculum have all requested to be there and have gone through a vetting process before being allowed to participate in the two-year program.
Is Technology Going To Make Long-Imagined Utopias Real?
At the beginning of the 21st century, a new world is emerging. Not since Marx identified the manufacturing plants of Manchester as the blueprint for the new capitalist society has there been a deeper transformation of the fundamentals of our socioeconomic life. A new commons-based mode of production, enabled by information and communication technology (ICT), what we now call digitisation, redefines how we (can) produce, consume and distribute. This pathway is exemplified by interconnected collaborative initiatives that produce a wide range of artifacts, from encyclopaedias and software to agricultural machines, wind turbines, satellites and prosthetics. And much of this relates to the little pipe-seller’s attitude.