“Birmingham Hippodrome, along with long-standing resident companies the Birmingham Royal Ballet and DanceXchange, is laying plans to become an international centre for dance.” The venue’s CEO said, “Over a third of the half a million tickets we sell are for dance performances, which means we sell more tickets for dance than any venue outside London.”
Tag: 08.18.09
David Lynch Takes His Visual Art Seriously
“Not many big-name movie directors deserve to be called artists. Among those who do, few take the label as seriously as David Lynch. The director of Mulholland Dr. and Blue Velvet has avidly pursued painting, photography and sculpture in between his idiosyncratic film projects. Starting Sept. 12, the master of weirdness will exhibit some of his recent works in [a] solo gallery show” in Santa Monica.
Margaret Atwood Turns Standard Book Tour Stops Into Live Theater
“Atwood has written a one-hour, semi-dramatic performance based on her new novel, The Year of the Flood , to be staged in Ottawa, Toronto, Sudbury, Kingston, Calgary and Vancouver, as well as five international cities. As narrator, she will be backed by three local actors and an original score by Los Angeles composer Orville Stoeber, to be sung by local choirs.”
‘Nothing Says “Don’t Mess With Me” Like An Impressive Set Of Pecs’
A study out of U.Cal.-Santa Barbara “link[s] physical strength in men with both a propensity to anger easily and a favorable attitude toward the use of force to settle political disputes. … In other words, the ability to beat people up tends to breed a sense of entitlement, as well as a short fuse.” (But not in women – with them, it’s a different factor.)
How To Knit A Poem, Literally
“[M]ore than 800 knitting enthusiasts are currently involved in knitting and crocheting individual letters to create the world’s first giant knitted poem as part of the centenary celebrations for the Poetry Society, with the as-yet secret poem set to be unveiled at the beginning of October. … With letters – average size 12 inches square, although ‘W’ takes up more room than ‘I’ – flooding in to the Poetry Society’s post room daily, the finished product is likely to take up a fair bit of space.”
UK Museum Stores Raking In The Cash
“The National Trust says 2009 looks likely to be its commercial arm’s ‘biggest ever year’ as perfumed drawer liners and lemon curd prove to be the season’s must-haves. Its flagship stores at properties such as Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland and the Sackville-Wests’ ancestral home at Sissinghurst, Kent are proving to be the culture sector’s equivalent of Harrods and Selfridges this year…. Other leading institutions, from the Victoria & Albert Museum to the Natural History Museum, are also chalking up strong sales.”
Online, UK Museums And Galleries United In Retail Effort
“David Gilbert, chairman of the Contemporary Arts Society finance committee, has set up an initiative that aims to generate up to 30% extra revenue for UK museums and galleries–a welcome move at a time of major funding and sponsorship worries. Culture Label (www.culturelabel.com) is an online venture that unites the retail outlets of 60 British arts institutions, allowing worldwide access to their products.”
10,000 Donors Clog Website During $1M Challenge Grant
“Gridlock, furious patrons, embarrassed officials and a classic good news-bad news story that saw $3.75 million raised for local cultural groups … also left a trail of anger and frustration throughout the arts community. Technical problems Tuesday sabotaged the Community Foundation Challenge, an online $1-million matching grant program for about 75 cultural groups in metro Detroit. Scores of donors were prevented from making gifts and others wasted hours in front of their computers.”
RSC Wants To Hang On To Temporary Digs In Stratford
“The Royal Shakespeare Company is to apply for planning permission to keep its temporary base in Stratford-upon-Avon, the Courtyard Theatre, open for an additional two years, in order to minimise dark weeks while it moves back into the Royal Shakespeare and Swan theatres.”
Construction Of New Belfast Arts Center Delayed Because Gov’t Hasn’t Released Funding
“The opening of Belfast’s £17.5 million flagship arts centre may be delayed by up to a year after it emerged that work on the new city-centre venue has not yet begun five months after it was originally scheduled to. Construction of the Metropolitan Arts Centre, the city’s first purpose-built multi-platform arts venue, has been held up because the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure [in London] has failed to release funding of £10.8 million necessary to allow it to proceed.”