“All in a dance scene undiminished by tough times.”
Tag: 12.12.10
The New Faces Of Classical Music
“Gone are the days when classical artists could offer high-caliber performances of Mozart and Tchaikovsky and simply expect people to show up. Orchestras, opera companies and presenters must be more entrepreneurial, more risk-ready.”
Frank Rich: Smithsonian Censorship A Bad Reminder Of Culture Wars
“The Smithsonian’s behavior and the ensuing silence in official Washington are jarring echoes of those days when American political leaders stood by idly as the epidemic raged on. The incident is also a throwback to the culture wars we thought we were getting past now.”
The Ballet Horror Movie – Still Waiting For A Good One
“Maybe I’m a solitary crank, but ‘Black Swan’ left me disheartened. I love the idea of a ballet horror movie – hot bodies, hot tempers; why hasn’t it been done before? But watching this attempt I found myself thinking: Surely someone could make a scary-sexy ballet flick that doesn’t portray the art as a form of torture and the ballerinas – every last one – as insubstantial freaks.”
Panto Reinvented (and It’s Making Tons Of Money)
“Its biggest stars pocket tens of thousands of pounds a week, ticket touts lurk outside high-profile fixtures and it is set to appear in the country’s largest arenas: welcome, not to football, but to pantomime.”
In London – A Golden Age Of Theatre?
“London is another planet with masses of tourists and the well-off who are not affected by the downturn. Then you’ve got those who aren’t buying new houses or cars but they do want to treat themselves, have fun, entertainment with their friends and family.”
Hollywood Women – New Life After 40
“Hollywood, an industry so often driven by the ids of 14-year-old boys, used to usher actresses into retirement after they lit their 39th birthday candle. But this year, leading ladies in their 40s, 50s and 60s have elbowed their way onto the screen in an abundance of principal roles in both studio and independent films.”
Mexico’s New Generation Of TV
“Led by its public-television broadcaster, Mexico is producing a new breed of TV series — sexy, stylized and risk-taking — that bears closer resemblance to HBO offerings than to the telenovelas that have dominated Mexican television for decades.”
Picasso Sale Off After Bizarre Twist
“A Paris auctioneer has postponed a sale of paintings by Picasso that he gave to his chauffeur after a further cache of the artist’s works was revealed.”
How Slang Gets Into The Lexicon
“Although sometimes it may seem as though every new counterculture or high-tech word eventually ends up on a label or in a business meeting, not all slang and jargon words actually make that transition…”