Great partnerships in ballet are sometimes the product of complementary opposites. “Now the fans are out, arguing again, defending the transcendence of either Alina Cojocaru or Tamara Rojo – pure and sensual, the one who floats when she jumps, the other who strikes sparks when she spins, the dancer’s dancer and the woman who dances.”
Tag: 10.25.04
Slipping Ticket Sales At Glaggow Theatre Has Arts Council Asking Questions
When the success of your theatre is based on how many tickets you sold, it can be bad when attendance declines. Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre has a new director, and ticket sales are down 4,000 over the previous season. So now the Scottish Arts Council is “eyeing falling audience figures at Glasgow’s Citizens’ Theatre, amid concerns over whether the company is delivering value for money.” The Citizen receives an arts council grant of £910,000 a year, more than any other theatre in Scotland. It pulls in another £425,000 from Glasgow City Council.
UK Government Tries To Turn Around Public Libraries
Faced with a declining number of users at public libraries the UK government is drafting rules for libraries to beef up their collections. “The official standard will require libraries to buy 216 new items per thousand of the population they serve each year. The word item covers CDs, DVDs and other materials, but chiefly means books. The standards will also say that stock should be replaced when it is no more than 6.7 years old. There are no rules on these points at present, but many local library authorities are understood to be below the targets.”
Rapping The Political Front
Rap is popular all over the world, where it has been adapted into local cultures. “The rap form allows a powerful voice for political invective, and is being used on both sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict. The appeal of hip-hop has found a voice in the alienated Arab-Israeli/Palestinian communities within Israel, dominated by the Jewish majority and identifying with the sentiments of US rappers in their struggle against discrimination.”
Randomly Poetic (In Canada)
This week is “Random Acts Of Poetry Week” in Canada. “From Newfoundland to British Columbia, published poets in 17 cities will be popping into parks, hair salons, cafés, supermarkets, libraries and wherever else tickles their fancy to delight randomly chosen strangers with bursts of poetry.”
A Gaddafi Opera?
“The dance-hip-hop collective, Asian Dub Foundation, is planning a production of Gaddafi (working title), due for February 2006, with a rapper playing Gaddafi and a chorus comprised of his all-female cohort of bodyguards. Why is it that The Producers springs to mind with visions of Gaddafi’s bodyguards instead of Gestapo lovelies goosestepping à la Busby Berkeley?”
Page: One Of The “Worst Opera Productions” I’ve Ever Seen
Tim Page has been to a lot of operas. So when he writes about the Washington National Opera’s production of Il Trovatore that: “the production is a thoroughgoing horror, and Saturday night in particular provided one of the worst performances of any opera I’ve ever seen. Graves aside, the singers strove mightily to pull themselves up onto the lowest rungs of mediocrity (were we really at the Kennedy Center?)” you might want to pay attention…
Amazon – Remember When Just Having A Profit Was Good Enough?
Amazon’s profits triple in the third quarter, but on that news, the stock dives to its lowest price in a year. Why? It’s that old analyst expectations game…
Fischer-Dieskau, Gil Win Music’s Richest Prize
“Baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Brazilian singer, guitarist, and composer Gilberto Gil are the winners of the 2005 Polar Music Prize, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music announced today in Stockholm. The 14-year-old annual prize, which is usually awarded to a classical musician and a pop or jazz musician, is the world’s biggest music prize, at one million Swedish Kroners, or approximately $135,000.”
Springer To Close In Debt?
Jerry Springer – The Opera is a hit right? Well, it could close in London as early as today. “The award-winning musical has fallen prey to one of the worst years for ticket sales in West End history which, combined with the financial impact of a legal action against the Daily Mail, its producers say, has pushed the show into crisis.”