Explaining Thumb Pianos

“‘Thumb piano’ is a generic, westernised name for a range of different sub-Saharan lamellophones (instruments played by plucking tuned fixed metal tines or keys). Usually, thumb piano refers to either the mbira or its more modernised variant, the kalimba.” The Guardian explains where they come from and how they work.

Rat-Infested Glasgow Warehouse Transformed Into RSAMD’s Dream Studio

“On the outside, the new Speirs Lock Studios on Glasgow’s Garscube Road resemble a long, low unit of brisk industrial storage. Step inside, however, and you enter an airy, expansive complex giving the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama the kind of workshop facilities most dance or theatre companies can only dream about.”

American Library Ass’n Adds Award for Gay/Lesbian Children’s Lit

“An award for gay and lesbian literature will be included in the American Library Association’s annual announcement of children’s prizes, a list which features the prestigious and influential Caldecott and Newbery medals.” Says the ALA’s president, “Ours is a very inclusive profession and we represent a wide variety of viewpoints.”

Tap Dance Meets Kathak

At the American Dance Festival in 2004, Indian kathak dancer Pandit Chitresh Das encountered tap dancer Jason Samuels Smith practicing in a hallway. ”Whatever Jason was doing with his tap shoe I was doing with my bare feet. He turned around and said ‘Man, what are you doing?'” Within three days, they were performing together, and the makings of their show Tap Kathak was born.”