Fortunately, she meticulously documented them, too. “Over the years, thousands of hours of rehearsal footage accumulated in Brown’s archive, most of which make up 1,200 videotapes known as the Building Tapes. … After an extensive search for the right home, the company is placing its founder’s archive — including the Building Tapes and corresponding notebooks, known as the Building Notebooks — at the … New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.” Siobhan Burke takes a look at what’s in there. – The New York Times
Month: September 2020
Two D.C. Stage Companies Create Video Responses To City’s Black Lives Matter Protests
The projects, The 51st State from Arena Stage and an anthology of short videos that Studio Theatre simply calls creative responses to the August 28 March on Washington, “have propelled stage artists in new directions,” writes Peter Marks, “to memorialize galvanizing public events … [with] the fresh lens these companies have been able to train on their convulsed city.” – The Washington Post
Columbia University Marching Band Disbands Itself For ‘A History Riddled With Offensive Behavior’
For 116 years, the ensemble (a term loosely applied, at least musically) has been both beloved and disdained for its un-march-like on-field scrambles; its sometimes witty, sometimes tasteless, always irreverent satirical routines; and its on-campus pranks. This week, more than 20 members voted “unanimously and enthusiastically” to shut the group down for its history of “sexual misconduct, assault, theft, racism and injury to individuals and the Columbia community as a whole.” (Some observers are hoping that this, too, is a prank.) – The New York Times
Grand Jury Subpoenas Simon And Schuster Over John Bolton’s Trump Tell-All Book
“The Justice Department convened a grand jury and has subpoenaed publisher Simon & Schuster for documents as it investigates whether Bolton, [former National Security Adviser and] author of The Room Where it Happened, mishandled classified information.” – CNBC
Brooklyn Museum To Sell 12 Works To Pay For Maintaining The Rest Of Its Art
“It is the kind of sale that once would have engendered criticism, perhaps even sanctions: The Brooklyn Museum is putting 12 works up for auction at Christie’s next month — including paintings by Cranach, Courbet and Corot — to raise funds for the care of its collection. But it is now completely within the parameters of loosened regulations, which are themselves a measure of just how financially damaging the coronavirus pandemic has been for cultural institutions.” – The New York Times
Arts Groups Could Finally Get Insurance Companies To Pay COVID Claims Following UK High Court Ruling
“Many companies whose revenues have been severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic have been disappointed when told by their insurers that the very add-on policies that they thought would protect them in such instances do not apply in the case of havoc wreaked by a previously unknown virus. So the [Financial Conduct Authority] stepped in on their behalf to clarify the situation, examining 21 sample wordings from policies. The High Court ruling largely found in favour of the FCA.” – The Art Newspaper
American Writers Dominate This Year’s Booker Prize List
The Booker list this year is dominated by books from American or U.S.-based authors, including “The Shadow King” by Ethiopia-born Maaza Mengiste, Diane Cook’s dystopian tale “The New Wilderness,” Avni Doshi’s India-set “Burnt Sugar” and Brandon Taylor’s campus novel “Real Life.” Only one British writer made the cut for the U.K.’s leading book prize. – Toronto Star (AP)
Survey: Two-Thirds Of American Millennials/GenZ’s Don’t Know Jews Were Killed In The Holocaust
Almost a quarter of respondents (23%) said they believed the Holocaust was a myth, or had been exaggerated, or they weren’t sure. One in eight (12%) said they had definitely not heard, or didn’t think they had heard, about the Holocaust. – The Guardian
The Role Of The Arts Going Forward
Josephine Ramirez: “Those of us who work in arts and culture are primary caretakers of an absolutely essential public value. We have a crucial role as facilitators, creators, nurturers, promoters and producers of arts experiences — ones that connect people, address their emotions and stories, ignite precious human imagination and deepen our ability to understand others unlike ourselves. The past months have also reinforced my belief that the arts field must evolve so we can deliver impactful experiences and processes that strengthen society. Evolving towards this end means
rethinking and retooling so we can more fully support emotional, psychological and intellectual health.” – KCET
COVID As A Spur To Design
“Design is one of our most powerful tools in the COVID-19 crisis. The ingenuity, resourcefulness, and generosity of designers and their collaborators worldwide has produced innovations that are helping to protect us from the pandemic, to improve its treatment and to prepare for the radical changes it will introduce to our lives in the future.” – Fast Company