“With 28 choreographers from 10 countries presenting 16 world premieres in as many days, … 30,000 spectators are expected to attend the [Montpellier Dance F]estival, which ends July 4. And it’s here that Angelin Preljocaj took to the stage for the first time in 16 years in Un Funambule (‘The Tightrope Walker’).”
Tag: 06.28.09
P.M. Looking To Former Poet Laureate For Talk Tips?
“Gordon Brown has sought advice from Sir Andrew Motion, the former poet laureate, prompting speculation that the Prime Minister was seeking inspiration for his speeches. Mr Brown, who is often criticised for his leaden manner, spoke to the poet about popular works including Thomas Gray’s celebrated Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard, one of the most-quoted poems in the English language.”
Western Classical Music Finds Exuberant Embrace In China
“Western classical music, banned in Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution of 1966-76, has exploded in popularity. Just as its government is opening economically to the West, China is emerging as an international power in classical music. Millions study the piano and string instruments, and many of the world’s most popular classical soloists are Chinese….”
Did Atlanta Symphony Bid Dreams Adieu With Calatrava?
“The costs and complexities of big-name architecture have fueled a revulsion against architectural spectacles in today’s miserable economy — including the engineering acrobatics Calatrava is famous for. Spectacle, in great boulevards and grand buildings, is one of the great pleasures of city living. Still ASO’s leadership looks wise for recognizing that the times are simply not right for Calatrava’s design.”
John Lahr Sues Elaine Stritch, Alleging Nonpayment
“Actress Elaine Stritch, known for her caustic personality, gravelly voice and her Emmy-winning turn as Alec Baldwin’s mother in ’30 Rock’ on TV, failed to pay writer John Lahr for his work on her hit 2002 Broadway show, according to a lawsuit Lahr filed last week.” New Yorker magazine drama critic Lahr was billed as having “constructed” the show, “Elaine Stritch at Liberty.”
What’s Behind The Susan Boyle Phenomenon
“What was the Susan Boyle spectacle, that chunk of culture that held us, for days at least, so firmly rapt? The answers still lie in the video, a small, insidious masterpiece that really should be watched several times for its accidental commentary on popular misery, the concept of ‘expectation’ and how cultures congratulate themselves.”
Critical Disruption – It’s Time Critics Reconsidered…
“The headline on the Guardian column reads, ‘Art criticism is not a democracy.’ It’s an odd thing to write, since art criticism is, in point of fact, every bit a democracy these days, as the 129 comments appended to Jonathan Jones’s work attest. And the ‘professionals’ had better figure out a way to stay on top of the pile before someone comes along and knocks them off for good.”
Portland Art Museum Cuts Budget, Staff, Raises Admission Price
The cuts are aimed at neutralizing a $500,000 deficit…
The Limitations Of Free
“When the world started to go digital 15 years ago, clever people in the music and film businesses were frightened because they knew how much easier it would make copying. But some of it is entirely unexpected. Wikipedia and open-source software, for instance, are the products of something that has floored economists – that people enjoy doing, and will do for free, all sorts of things that other people regard as work.”
Philadelphia Museum Of Art Chooses New Director
“Timothy Rub, who has led the Cleveland Museum of Art since 2006 and who just finished guiding construction of the museum’s gleaming new East Wing, has decided to leave his post in September to direct the Philadelphia Museum of Art.”