Amazon’s New Physical Bookstore Tries To Bridge Gap Between Front-Of-House And Back-Of-House

“Suspended somewhere between a tangible (albeit exquisitely staged) reality of paper and wood, and a perceptible (albeit artfully obscured) reality of pipes and machinery, the bookstore customer is able to experience a curated version of the ethical and visceral tension between front-of-house and back-of-house—between the sleek one-click seamlessness of the screen and the unceasing labor of the fulfillment center—as a kind of pleasure.”

Watching The Original Sugarplum Fairy Choreography

“As a Christmas gift to its patrons, the archive at Jacob’s Pillow has sent out this wonderfully vivid clip of Alexandra Danilova in the [Lev] Ivanov Sugarplum solo. … It’s worth comparing Danilova’s performances with that of her great friend Alicia Markova … who danced the Sugarplum in the first complete Western production of The Nutcracker (1934) and continued in the role well into the 1950s.”