Robust poems committed to memory can counteract the corrosive effects of self-pity. They can offer a different way of viewing the world, particularly to generations that did not suffer the buffetings of the early and mid-20th century, and are now bewildered by the calamities that seem to arise from nowhere, and leave them powerless. – The Atlantic
Tag: 07.29.20
At Least There’s One Live Dance Festival Happening In The U.S. This Summer
Kaatsbaan, a Hudson River-side farm that has been offering retreats and workshops for dancers for 30 years, is presenting public performances for the first time this year. (Thanks to COVID, they’ll be outdoors, with a spread-out and masked audience.) Stella Abrera, the recently retired ABT star who’s now Kaatsbaan’s artistic director, is programming the festival with executive director Sonja Kostich and three Black dance artists: Alicia Graf Mack, Lloyd Knight, and Calvin Royal III. – The New York Times
Finally: Scientists Figure Out Where The Stonehenge Stones Came From
David Nash at the University of Brighton in the UK and his colleagues have identified the source of 50 of the 52 large boulders, known as sarsens, that make up the monument’s iconic stone circle. By analysing the stones’ chemical composition, the team has traced their origins to 25 kilometres away from the monument, in the West Woods in Wiltshire. – New Scientist
Reese Schonfeld, Co-Founder Of CNN And The Food Network, Dead At 88
“Mr. Schonfeld, who had been expelled from Harvard Law School for gambling, was nothing if not a risk taker. Early in his career he produced newsreels shown in movie theaters, and by the mid-1970s he was running an agency that provided news programming to independent television stations. In that role he met [Ted] Turner, a brash sailor, sports-team owner and cable TV entrepreneur who was looking to make a bigger name for himself.” – The Washington Post
Chief Of Leading Off-Broadway Theatre Will Resign To Make Way For BIPOC Leadership
“William Carden, who has been the artistic director of Off-Broadway’s Ensemble Studio Theatre since 2007, will step down from his position. A member of EST since 1978, Carden will continue with the company until a restructuring process is complete. EST intends to implement change throughout the organization and reconfigure the current leadership structure through the inclusion of Black, Indigenous, and people of color at the senior leadership and decision-making level.” – Playbill
‘Independent Cinema, As We Know It And As We Love It, Is Over’
Director and producer Oren Moverman: “The idea of independent financing, putting together films that have no home, taking them to festivals, trying to sell them — they’re going to have to take on a very different model, if they get made. A lot of producers I talk to are looking to set up projects with the streamers, the studios, whoever’s going to be left standing. Whereas the sort of grungy putting together of ten dollars here, ten dollars there to make a film — it’s possible from a financial standpoint, it’s just a question of where it will ever be seen.” – Variety
Giving To Arts Is Down In 2020: Study
The latest COVID-19 Sector Benchmark Insight Report, released by TRG Arts and data specialists Purple Seven, “includes data from 105 nonprofit organizations of all scales in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom. The report reveals that there has been no aggregate growth in donations, but some individual organizations, particularly ones with a lower ratio of contributed income, have seen substantial increases in gift revenue.” – American Theatre
Have We Made Progress On Global Poverty Or Not?
“The global poverty rate is now lower than it has ever been in recorded history,” Jim Yong Kim, a former president of the World Bank, recently argued. “This is one of the greatest human achievements of our time.” Or perhaps not. – The Atlantic
Five Lessons From This Year’s Emmy Nominations
Who can blame voters for wanting to escape? The last year has been a wrecked clown car inside a dumpster fire that’s riddled with the plague. Series that deal with today’s ugly reality through a sci-fi or comic-book lens are a fine way of working through tough issues without subjecting oneself to the here and now. – Los Angeles Times
Museum Of Contemporary Art Detroit Fires Director
The MOCAD board brought in outside counsel to investigate the allegations against Elysia Borowy-Reeder, who became director in 2013. In a release announcing her termination, the board said the investigation found that Borowy-Reeder’s “leadership fell short of its goals for diversity, inclusivity, and a healthy work environment.” – ARTnews