“Historic preservationists are working to stop the demolition, saying the hulking, boxy building is a prime example of Miami modernism architecture from the 50’s and 60’s. Demolition proponents – which include some prominent architects – say it’s a clumsy building with no sense of style and not a ‘MiMo’ design worth saving.”
Tag: (includes
Cuba’s Dance Company For The Voluminously Proportioned
Danza Voluminosa, founded in 1996, is a Havana-based professional troupe of overweight and even obese dancers. The company, which has a repertoire of nearly three dozen pieces, draws a sizeable audience.
What Great Dead Choreographer Gave ‘Gangnam Style’ Some Moves?
Agnes de Mille.
Mozart’s Own Piano Returns To His Vienna Home
“The piano that Mozart used for the last 10 years of his life and which he used to compose much of his music was returned to his former home in Vienna for a performance of his music. ‘A big, positive shock was how good the instrument is,’ said Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov after the concert Wednesday.”
The Great Robot Takeover Reaches The Circus
“Take, for example, the robot KUKA – the hulking star of a French nouveau-cirque performance, Sans Objet.” KUKA isn’t an effect or scenery: it’s an actual performer, “a mysterious bulk who grows very tall, spreads himself wide and is strong enough to pick up people effortlessly and turn their bodies in the air, the way Hamlet would inspect a skull.”
Ai Weiwei Goes ‘Gangnam Style’
“Ai Weiwei understands the Internet. So while the highly influential Chinese dissident and artist may have larger concerns on his mind than the latest world-conquering meme from the world of K-pop, it was perhaps only a matter of time until he took a few moments to demonstrate his estimable ‘Gangnam Style’.” (Reader comments explain the video’s implied political content.)
Cambodia V. Sotheby’s
“The governments of Cambodia and the United States are locked in a legal battle with the auction house Sotheby’s over a thousand-year-old statue. The two governments say the statue was looted from a temple of the ancient Khmer empire. Sotheby’s says this can’t be proved, and a court in New York will decide on the matter soon.”
Mexico Begins Catching The Opera Bug
“Mexico boasts a dozen resident opera companies, but lately the art form has also taken hold in cities more associated with mayhem than mezzo-sopranos, like Ciudad Juarez, which hosts four major productions a year, rivaling Mexico City’s schedule,” and Tijuana, where the resident company has started giving pop-up performances.
National Ballet Of Canada Tours Abroad For The First Time In A Decade
“The Toronto-based National Ballet has not toured to Los Angeles in 35 years, and it is making the U.S. debut of its new production of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, created by British choreographer Christopher Wheeldon … [It’s] an important chance for the company to show its international stature, after a decade in which it hasn’t been possible to tour outside Canada – because it’s just too expensive.”
Turning Puccini’s La Bohème Into A Ballet
Milwaukee Ballet music director Andrews Sill was skeptical about undertaking such an adaptation – until he discovered that Puccini and his publishers sanctioned all sorts of adaptations (as long as they made money). Sill believes a Bohème-without-words works well – and it allows choreographer Michael Pink to make what he sees as a crucial rebalancing of the lead characters.