“Over the years, around the world, there have been stories of ballet dancers having unhealthy diets, eating disorders and mental health issues. In more recent decades, the ballet world has recognised this – and a shift is well underway, in attitudes towards food, eating, diet and nutrition … So how far has the industry come – and what more could yet be done?” (audio) – BBC
Tag: 12.15.19
Original Manuscript Of ‘Peter Pan’ Reveals A Much Darker (Anti-)Hero
A new facsimile publication of J.M. Barrie’s handwritten first version “demonstrates how Barrie toned down Peter Pan’s character to suit audiences in 1911, after having second thoughts about how negatively Peter should be portrayed. … This depiction is arguably more consistent with the ending of the book.” – The Observer (UK)
Concerned That Working Class People Aren’t Working In The Arts, Arts Council Starts Collecting Data
Officials at Arts Council England (ACE) said it would start monitoring for the first time next year, adding to the data it collects around gender, ethnicity and disability. Concern is regularly voiced that the arts is dominated by people from better off backgrounds. – The Guardian
How Will You Remember The 2010s? A Series Of Crises
“How will we remember the last 10 years? Above all, as a time of crises. During the 2010s, there have been crises of democracy and the economy; of the climate and poverty; of international relations and national identity; of privacy and technology. There were crises at the start of the decade, and there are crises now. Some of them are the same crises, unsolved. Others are like nothing we have experienced before. Some of them are welcome: old hierarchies collapsing. Others are catastrophes.” – The Guardian
The Time For Competitive Arts Prizes May Be Over
“All these prizes are, effectively, marketing exercises. That does not make them bad things … Today, though, artists and judges alike are more attuned to the difficulty in choosing ‘the best’ when all artists palpably do not have equal access to the starting lines; when ‘the best’ is a subjective and contingent category; when the authority of all kinds of institutions, and not just cultural prizes, is on the wane; and when artists competing like racehorses feels out of tune with the times in a way that it did not during the more individualistic Thatcher and Blair eras.” – The Guardian
How Technology Is Changing Modern Romance Fiction
The best contemporary romance authors know that technology can inject a straight shot of chemistry into a relationship — even when partners are balancing life, work and saving the world. – Washington Post
Oldest Human Cave Art Found In Indonesia – It’s 44,000 Years Old
The painting, discovered in 2017, is one of hundreds in South Sulawesi, including a red hand stencil, which was dated to at least 40,000 years ago. But the latest finding is exceptional as it is more than twice as old as any previously known narrative scenes and hints at ancient myths and an early capacity for imagination. – The Guardian
The Art World’s Impact On Climate Change
Given the art world’s cherished progressive reputation, how long can it justify the extraordinarily outsize habits of its fairs, institutions, and jet-setting elites? – Artnet
The Best Dance Books Of The Year
Wendy Perron does a survey of this year’s books about dance. Ted Shawn, Tim Miller, Jerome Robbins, Ray Bolger, Merce Cunningham and more. – Wendy Perron
Watchmen Has Ended, But What Comes Next?
Hello, capitalism? An audience is calling. Watchmen on HBO was, for black superhero fans, even stronger than the next-best thing, Black Panther. So what will comics properties do with this audience that’s demanding more? “Let me tell you, waiting every three years for a Black Panther movie is not going to be enough after being treated to nine consecutive weeks of this HBO series.” – Washington Post