The furor is over whether Aishwarya Rai, “the woman routinely referred to as the most beautiful in the world, and who occupies a place in Indian popular culture akin to Kate Middleton or Victoria Beckham, has an obligation to her fans to lose weight” six months after giving birth. Until relatively recently, Bollywood stars generally had healthy curves and hourglass figures.
Tag: 05.15.12
Showing Contemporary Art In An Old French Convent
Supermarket magnate Michel-Edouard Leclerc “says that he hopes to transform the French public’s perception of contemporary art by opening a new gallery in a former 17th-century convent in Brittany this summer.”
Audra McDonald On Playing Gershwin’s Bess
“The last melody in the show, after an entire night of [Bess] singing and being raped and kicked and beaten and all of this stuff, is ‘Summertime,’ … And it freaks me out that after all this, I have to sound high and pretty and fresh. And I’m always holding onto that baby, going, ‘I know you’re just a doll, but help me.'”
Making A Mark: Dance And Social Justice
“But increasingly, community outreach is just the tip of the iceberg, and artists and social justice organizations are finding mutual benefits to deeper and more prolonged partnerships. That deliberate choice of engagement, as opposed to outreach, seeks to erase some of the traditional hierarchies between dancers and community members.”
What Made Bill Viola Into A Video Artist?
“Falling into a lake aged six, when I was on holiday in the mountains. I went straight to the bottom and saw the most beautiful world I’d ever seen: fish, shafts of light, plants waving in the breeze. I thought I was in heaven. I’d have stayed there had my uncle not pulled me up. That’s why my art has so much to do with water – because I dream about going back to that place.”
You’d Better Behave Yourself At Cannes (Unlike Lars Von Trier)
“‘There is a code of conduct for Cannes and it must be respected. Those who don’t respect the code will never come back to Cannes.’ The message is clear: obey the code and, yes, you may look upon the face of Indiana Jones. Break it and you will be cast out like Satan.”
American Heresy: Death Of A Salesman Is ‘A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Mediocrity’
Giles Harvey: “I found myself squirming in my seat from boredom and exasperation, amazed at how much glaringly conventional stagecraft Salesman was able to pack into its two acts. The rising action, the dramatic irony, the laborious, grandstanding speeches … I kept wanting to exclaim, ‘It sounds like a play!'”
Salman Rushdie: ‘No Writer Ever Really Wants To Talk About Censorship’
In a post to help launch The New Yorker‘s expanded books blog, the most famously censored author of the 20th century reminds us (wittily) of all the things writers would rather talk about – and reminds us why we do need to discuss censorship every so often.
Watching Australia’s Performing Arts Companies Release Their Financials
“For those who take an interest, it’s a spectator sport. Watch the Sydney Symphony rebound with a $1 million surplus after a $1m loss two years before. And will the Australian Ballet, whose results are out this week, continue to pirouette above the line, or stumble into the red?”
Is Hollywood Wrong To Treat Dictators As Comic Figures?
“What is it with our obsession with satirising dictators? Was Aristotle correct when he suggested that the right genre for dramatising bad men is comedy not tragedy, or should it be beneath us to find power-crazed nutjobs funny?”