Liesl Olson investigates the strange and stirring history of La Guiablesse, an almost entirely lost 18-minute dance work based on French Caribbean folklore, with a white choreographer/star (Ruth Page) playing a she-devil, an otherwise entirely black cast, a colorful score by black composer William Grant Still, and the future star and pioneer Dunham as the spurned lover. (She took over as the eponymous demon the following year.) – Chicago Reader
Tag: sj
CalArts Students Fight Skyrocketing Tuition From Two Different Angles
“Like their peers all over the US, students at California Institute of the Arts … face increasingly high tuition bills each year, and they’re reaching a breaking point. Students have both protested the tuition hikes and attempted to raise funds for the university, and the board has recognized their efforts and committed to doing something about it.” – Nonprofit Quarterly
Paris’s Châtelet Theatre Reopens, With A Renovated Building And A ‘Robin Hood’ Mission
“One of [its] first acts will be to introduce a scheme for theatregoers to buy extra tickets for those who cannot afford them. … The theatre will also offer 10,000 €10 tickets a year to the under-25s, and there are also plans to take artists out into the community, particularly the more gritty areas of the city and its banlieues, to work with local groups, schools and colleges and encourage wider participation in the theatre and its productions.” – The Guardian
Two Very Different Australian Productions Of “West Side Story” Spark Debate About Clashing Cultures
The two productions are emblematic of a broader shift in the industry as a whole: one that is trying to be more thoughtful and inclusive, but is still dominated by old habits and modes of thought under a predominantly white, male leadership. – The Guardian
Edinburgh International Festival 2019 To Explore Issues Of Social Justice Worldwide
“This year’s [EIF] will explore gender politics, racism, masculinity and homophobia in a response to political challenges around the world. The festival’s director, Fergus Linehan, said many theatre and opera productions in this year’s programme were an artistic response to contemporary questions and tensions, including environmentalism through Tibetan mythology, women’s rights in Nigeria, and the upsurge in authoritarian populist leaders.” – The Guardian
Successful Public Art Projects Can Transform A City (Sometimes In Not Good Ways)
Take San Antonio, Texas: Advocates say that the “Decade of Downtown” policies launched under the administration of Mayor Julián Castro—who is now running for president in part on his mayoral record—aren’t working for marginalized communities. New developments like the Latino High Line, plus the city’s rising economic fortunes, are putting inadvertent pressure on the Mexican and Mexican-American communities that these projects celebrate. – CityLab
‘Seismic Shift’: American Children’s Books Have Rapidly Become More Diverse
“Campaigners have hailed a ‘seismic shift’ in US children’s publishing after statistics showed that the number of kids’ books featuring African-American characters has more than doubled over the last 10 years, and the number featuring Asians more than tripled.” – The Guardian
A Deaf Actor In The RSC’s Mainstage Shakespeare
Charlotte Arrowsmith, who’s played Cassandra in Troilus and Cressida, Curtis in The Taming of the Shrew, and Audrey in As You Like It, writes about integrating sign language into her performances, communicating with her colleagues, and what mainstream theatres need to do to accomodate deaf actors. – Arts Professional
Why Arts Orgs’ Boycott Of Sackler Money Makes A Difference
Philip Kennicott: “What matters is that sometimes lightning strikes, and there is hell to pay, and suddenly a name is blackened forever. That kind of justice may be terrifying and swift and inconsistent, but it sends a blunt message: When the world finally learns that what you have done is loathsome, it may not be possible to undo the damage through the miraculous scrubbing power of cultural detergent.” – The Washington Post
What Happens To Sets From Movies? One Non-Profit Figured Out How To Get It To People Who Need It
Movie productions require lots of household items to fill their sets. But then the movie is over and where does all that stuff go? It’s a headache for the production team to get rid of it. A Massachusetts organization offers a service to quickly break down the sets and make them available to families in need, working with 400+ social workers. – WGBH