Tag: 09.04.06

What Does Music Serve In The Human Scheme Of Things?

“The fact that music is universal across cultures and has been part of human life for a very long time-archeologists have found musical instruments dating from 34,000 BC, and some believe that a 50,000-year-old hollowed-out bear bone from a Neanderthal campsite is an early flute-does suggest that it may indeed be an innate human tendency. And yet it’s unclear what purpose it serves.”

What Does Music Serve In The Human Scheme Of Things?

“The fact that music is universal across cultures and has been part of human life for a very long time-archeologists have found musical instruments dating from 34,000 BC, and some believe that a 50,000-year-old hollowed-out bear bone from a Neanderthal campsite is an early flute-does suggest that it may indeed be an innate human tendency. And yet it’s unclear what purpose it serves.”

Poet Gyorgy Faludy, 95

“The Hungarian poet Gyorgy Faludy, a major figure of the resistance against Nazism and Communism, died Friday at his home in Budapest, the national news agency, MTI, reported Saturday. He was 95. The poet, known to many in the West as George Faludy, was part of Hungary’s 1956 anti-Communist uprising and was to have been a major speaker at a conference to celebrate its 50th anniversary this month.”

Can Theatre Make A Social Difference?

“As theater’s foothold in American culture has steadily shrunk over the last 50 years or so, the chance that a play could have any significant influence on social or political discourse has also waned. To be influential a playwright’s voice has to be heard, and it’s become harder to hear the lonely cry of the outraged playwright as the media landscape has been monopolized by more profitable and more easily mass-marketed forms of entertainment.”

Broadcasters Decry “Obscenity” Laws Chilling Effect

American broadcasters say the anti-“obscenity” laws now on the books have a chilling effect. Case in point – a documentary on 9/11 that contains swearing. “So far, about a dozen CBS affiliates have indicated they won’t show the documentary, another dozen say they will delay it until later at night and two dozen others are considering what to do… The announcement came as the Tupelo, Miss.-based American Family Association readied its 3 million members to flood the FCC and CBS with complaints after the documentary airs.”

The New Critics (Or What Passes For Them)

“But they are tuning in to more than a musicologist’s online toy: services like Pandora have become the latest example of how technology is shaking up the hierarchy of tastemakers across popular culture. In music the shift began when unauthorized file-sharing networks like the original Napster allowed fans to snatch up the songs they wanted, instantly and free.”

A Dance Pioneer Still Moving

Barbara Weisberger, 80, was Balanchine’s first pupil. She’s also the founder of Pennsylvania Ballet. “There are famous stories about Balanchine and his ballerina muses of course, but Ms. Weisberger, with her unusually broad perspective and tenacity, represents something more crucial in a historical sense. As a director she was Balanchine’s protégée, and she has devoted much of her professional life to teaching and promoting regional dance.”

Cheery News: Dance Magazines’ New Publisher

A new publishing entity will publish a combination of dance and cheerleading magazines. “The marriage isn’t as odd as it seems. On the corporate level this would seem to be a complementary merger. All the magazines will continue to appear under their new umbrella, and everyone has been assured of editorial independence, reports Wendy Perron, the editor of Dance Magazine.”