The choreographer has a new memoir out. In an interview, he describes “the sissy tests” of middle school – and turning those humiliating, degrading moments into dance. – NPR
Tag: sj
In Canada, It’s A Moment For Indigenous Art – But What About The Artists?
The vast majority of Inuit artists, even the celebrated ones, “eke out an existence.” Canada’s famed reconciliation isn’t touching their lives much. “Many support large extended families that depend on them for food — most of it flown in at exorbitant cost so that a single cucumber goes for $4.50.” – The New York Times
Sean Dorsey Has Blazed A Trail For Trans Dance Artists
“Now in its 15th season, Dorsey’s award-winning San Francisco company, Sean Dorsey Dance, is heralded for intersectional dance-theater works that celebrate trans, gender-nonconforming and queer identities. Along the way, Dorsey, 47, has become the first trans choreographer to receive funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (seven grants to date, totaling $115,000), and the first U.S. trans artist presented by the American Dance Festival and New York City’s Joyce Theater. Today, he’s the role model he always wished he had.” – Dance Magazine
Activists Want The Oscars, Emmys And Tonys To Give Up Gendered Acting Categories. That Isn’t Happening. (Yet.)
“The debate has roots in older conversations about whether carving out places in a male-dominated field for one group, in this case women, comes at the cost of excluding others. Proponents of gendered categories say that absent such distinctions, men would dominate the nominees and winners.” – The New York Times
A Prison Production Of ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’ Goes On Tour
“The cast was strip-searched before boarding the bus to their show. The leading man was shackled so tightly that he performed with abrasions on his wrists. And the moment the men finished their bows and the house lights came up, they had to slip out of costume and back into green prison uniforms.” – The New York Times
Museums Are Finally Paying Real Attention To The Needs Of Visitors With Disabilities
Well, some of them are. Reporter Claire Voon looks at some museums who are doing well in this area (the new MoMA) and some that have a way to go. – Artsy
Who’s The Father Of Today’s Black Theater Renaissance? August Wilson? No, It’s Tyler Perry
Wesley Morris: “Maybe it’s not immediately obvious. But it makes sense. He’s the biggest black playwright in America. If you were a kid, teenager or barely an adult in the 2000s, living in a black city and attracted to the stage, it would be hard for Perry not to become someone to revere, reckon with or resist.” – The New York Times Magazine
Welsh Arts Funder Sets Minimum Pay For Artists
“We won’t fund applications where you aren’t paying yourself or your co-workers at all, or are only paying a low/nominal fee,” the document says. – Arts Professional
Why Mark Bradford Is One Of The Most Important Artists Of Our Time
For example: “There’s nothing revolutionary about an artist creating a foundation. But the nonprofits set up by Andy Warhol, Joan Mitchell and Robert Rauschenberg, to name three, were created to launch after the artist’s death. Bradford, 57, founded Art + Practice for immediate impact. He provides as much of the organization’s $1 million annual budget as needed. And he does it his way, generally declining grants so that the nonprofit can remain independent and flexible.” – Washington Post
The Banjo And The Ballot Box: Country Music As Political Tool
“[Historian Peter] La Chapelle explains how fiddler-politicians and politician-fans have used this oddly flexible genre to advocate for the poor and dispossessed, fight for racial justice, fight against racial justice, lobby for gun rights, and articulate a whole range of sometimes contradictory positions. (audio) – The American Scholar