A ‘Riverdance’ Alum Who’s Now Trying To Strip Away Every Cliché Of Irish Dance

Colin Dunne doesn’t wear the Celtic-ized costumes or hold his torso and arms rigid; he frequently dances in sneakers or barefoot; he sometimes improvises, which is almost unheard-of in traditional Irish dance. And in his newest show, he’s collaborating with a dead fiddler who was even more nonconformist than he is. – The New York Times

Shell Shock 1919: How World War I Changed Culture

“The shock of the first modern, ‘industrial’ war extended far into the 20th century and even into the 21st, and changed how people saw the world and themselves. And that was reflected in the cultural responses to the war – which included a burgeoning obsession with beauty and body image, the birth of jazz, new thinking about the human psyche, the Harlem Renaissance, Surrealism, and more.” (audio) – WNYC (New York City)

Leonardo And His Lovers: The Opera

The new piece by composer Alex Mills and librettist Brian Mullin, titled Leonardo and premiering this weekend at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, focuses on da Vinci’s relationship with two of his assistants, the rambunctious working-class youth Gian Giacomo Caprotti (whom Leonardo called Salaí, meaning little devil), and the young Milanese noble Francesco Melzi (whom Leonardo called Master Francesco). – BBC