Future Of The Arts? Festivals Not Buildings

“Given the economic costs and risks, why do museums, stadiums and other “concrete culture” receive such a privileged place in urban development? After spending the past 10 years conducting research on the topic, I’ve found that this privilege should end; as an alternative, cities should champion music festivals as a cheaper, adaptable way to bolster urban communities.”

The First Rape On The Ballet Stage

“Ballet sex wasn’t invented by the choreo¬grapher Kenneth MacMillan – Mikhail Fokine, Roland Petit and Frederick Ashton had all included episodes of startling sensuality in their work – but The Invitation, with its frank depiction of rape, broke new and dangerous ground when the Royal Ballet’s touring company premiered it in 1960.”

Study: Our Music Preferences Say Much About Us

Participants were given 36 evaluative terms (including sad, happy, angry, intelligent, and sophisticated), and judged the extent to which each excerpt fit the description. Analyzing the results, the researchers determined the musical snippets could be effectively categorized on three basic scales: “arousal,” “valence,” and “depth.”