“The thought that I might have become someone else is so bland that dwelling on it sometimes seems fatuous,” the literary scholar Andrew H. Miller writes, in “On Not Being Someone Else: Tales of Our Unled Lives” (Harvard). Still, phrased the right way, the thought has an insistent, uncanny magnetism. – The New Yorker
Tag: 12.14.20
What It’s Like To Be A Trans-Gender Opera Singer
“I couldn’t acknowledge that I was transgender or even queer until 2010, when I was studying voice at St. Olaf College. I was confronted with difficult realizations about who I am that I couldn’t reconcile with my plan to become a classical singer. Suddenly I was caught between two options: to live an authentic life or to keep studying voice. Maybe I was offering myself excuses, but I wasn’t willing to stop singing, so I didn’t change course. It wasn’t until January 2020 that I came out publicly as a transgender woman.” – OperaCanada
The Looming Crisis For Immigrant Artists In The US
An O-1B visa is a temporary visa for “individuals with an extraordinary ability in the arts or extraordinary achievement in motion picture or television industry,” according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Ultimately, it gives an artist permission to work in their job title for up to three years at a time. A crucial component to getting this kind of visa is showing evidence of substantial achievements and showing that you have work lined up for the duration of the visa. Enter Covid. – Dance Magazine
Trump And The Culture Wars, The Source Of His Power
James Poniewozik: “[His] campaign, as much as it was about wall-building or Islamophobia or ‘law and order,’ was also about a promise to defend and uphold his followers’ culture over the enemy’s. … To an audience that had been told for years that showbiz celebrities disdained their values, here was one of their celebrities, a real celebrity from TV, taking their side. … The message: Your stars are being canceled. Your shows are being canceled. You are being canceled. Only I am the network executive who can ensure your renewal.” – The New York Times
Struggling Museums Turn To Artists For Help
“As many donors pull back from giving or feel institutions’ needs dwarf what they can offer, museums have upped the ante with an irresistible draw: the opportunity to buy art that collectors might not otherwise have access to. As the need for funding grows greater and hits institutions of all sizes, artists are increasingly offering up their work—and their time—to help the cause.” – Artnet
Thirteen Ways Of Thinking About A Play
“Sometimes you have to set it in the sun a while, and water it, and weed around it. Tend to it. And as it becomes itself you’ll begin to understand the shape it was always meant to take. You don’t have to force it. Just keep writing, and keep thinking about it.” – Howlround
New Dance Park On The Hudson Announces Its First Spring Festival
In August, Kaatsbaan, the former-farm-turned-dance colony upstate, founded by former ballet star Stella Abrera, hosted the East Coast’s first professional public dance performances since the pandemic began. It will launch a two-weekend festival next May, with performers including ABT, Mark Morris Dance Group, and members of Ailey and NY City Ballet. – The New York Times
How COVID Changed The Arts In 2020
Artists of all disciplines have readjusted their ways of working, and many are left wondering whether they will have the wherewithal or spirit to continue their craft even after the pandemic abates. Yet with the losses we’ve also seen resilience and creativity that have led to new ways of experiencing culture. – Los Angeles Times
Major Find: Fifth-Century Roman Mosaic Uncovered In England
Archaeologists say that the date is significant because the 5th century, after the departure of the Roman imperial rulers, is considered the start of the Dark Ages, and the fact that the mosaic could still be made indicates that conditions in England may not have deteriorated as rapidly as is generally thought. – ARTnews
Ann Reinking, Tony-Winning Dancer-Actor-Choreographer, Dead At 71
“She was perhaps best known as a performer for playing Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago. It was the role that she stepped into in 1977 at 26, and which helped make her a star. And it is the role that she returned to triumphantly nearly two decades later in the hugely successful 1996 Broadway revival — which she also choreographed.” (It was the latter which won her a Tony Award after three previous nominations.) – The New York Times