07.04.17 – ArtsJournal Wayback

The First-Ever Edinburgh Festival Was Saved By Ration Cards

“A new archive created to mark the 70th anniversary of the Edinburgh International Festival has revealed how the city’s residents were initially divided about the first event – but ended up ensuring it went ahead by donating rations.”

How Do You Choreograph A Dance With 10,000 Gestures, Every One Of Them Different?

“10000 Gestures … may be a one-line idea, but it’s an extremely complicated one. [Boris] Charmatz’s concept is that no gesture – a word he uses to refer to any single movement, be it a dance step or a shoulder shrug – is ever repeated; and that every dancer’s sequence is unique.” Says Charmatz, “If you don’t repeat, you are throwing your material away all the time. You cannot do ‘good’ choreography like this. … It takes the pressure away.”

A Guide To Classical Music Slang

For example: “Head-bobbers: Audience members who fall asleep during concerts. ‘Hey, Bob. Check out the head-bobber in the front row.'”

Putting Opera On A Flatbed Truck And Taking It To The ‘Hood

A correspondent checks out a production of Don Giovanni by the OperaCamion, a project which sends out young artists from the Rome Opera to perform in impoverished neighborhoods on the city’s outskirts where many residents have never seen an opera.

In Qatar, Cultural Institutions Try To Carry On Through The Blockade

The tense standoff with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, and Egypt is putting as deep a strain on the Persian Gulf nation’s efforts to become a cultural capital as it is on the rest of the country. Even so, work continues: as one arts professional in Doha puts it, “If political relations were severed for any period of time, the close family connections across the region would act as a continued link. … At the moment, everything is continuing as normal.”

One Of The Best Sopranos In The World Performs Only In A Small Area In Germany. Why?

Speaking in May over lunch at a restaurant here, Anja Harteros, 44, politely but firmly deflected certain questions about her personal life. “These are private reasons,” she said, “that I didn’t want such big travel, with big distance from home.”

Edward Albee Wanted His Unfinished Plays Burned, And His Executors Will Probably Do It

“The executors have made clear they plan to honor Albee’s desires, even when they might be controversial. … Now at stake, at a minimum, are the latest drafts of Albee’s final known project, Laying an Egg, about a middle-aged woman struggling to become pregnant.”

The Met Has Put Off Building A New Wing For Leonard Lauder’s Cubism Collection – So Will He Still Donate The Paintings?

“Hanging over the Met’s decision this year to postpone its new $600 million wing for Modern and contemporary art – as well as the museum’s recent management turmoil – have been nagging questions: Is Mr. Lauder’s gift, valued at more than $1 billion four years ago, now at risk? If the Met takes too long to resurrect the project or ultimately scales it back, might Mr. Lauder take his collection elsewhere?” Lauder says definitely not, but the donation contract does have a completion date.

Tag: 07.04.17