A PBS series recruits veterans from major dance organizations, like American Ballet Theater and the Ailey School, “to make the mice do their jetés, pliés and other moves as accurately as possible.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Another Bay Area Theatre Sends SOS Over Money Trouble
“The Willows Theatre Company, which began entertaining Contra Costa County audiences 34 years ago with well-known musicals and popular comedies, will close at least one of its two theaters if it can’t raise $350,000 in the next two months, officials say.”
The Starchitect Wars
What’s behind some very public cancellations of contracts with star architects to design high profile projects? “It would be going too far to call these stories proof of some emerging architectural blacklist.”
How Music Can Help Overcome A Grim Past
The Bucharest Festival has “the kind of programme you’d expect at one of those glitzy middle-European festivals such as Salzburg or Lucerne… The festival’s budget of £7 million may be modest compared with Salzburg’s, but it’s a vast sum in a country that’s struggling to move from a command economy to a free-market one.”
For BBC’s First Arts Editor, A Starring Role
“Will Gompertz, 44, the director of Tate Media, is predicted … to become the next ‘star presenter’ after being appointed the BBC’s first arts editor. Few in the art world would doubt that Gompertz is one of Tate’s most media friendly directors who is fully plugged into the arts scene.”
Tyler Perry To Adapt For Colored Girls As Film
The movie version of Ntozake Shange’s Obie Award-winning 1975 play, “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf,” will be “Perry’s first to be based on non-original material” and “will have a cast of all female actors.” He will write, direct and produce.
French Director, Chronicler Of Gang Life, Is Murdered
“A French filmmaker whose documentary about a violent street gang in El Salvador provoked controversy earlier this year has been found shot in the head. The body of Christian Poveda, 52, was discovered in a car in Tonacatepeque, a poor rural area 10 miles outside the capital San Salvador. … La Vida Loca (Crazy Life), Poveda’s latest film, focused on the hopeless and brutal lives of various fantastically tattooed members of [the] Mara 18 [gang].”
From Glass House, Amazon Throws Stones At Google
“The day after Amazon.com filed its objections to the [Google books] settlement in federal court, the Authors Guild fired back with a letter accusing the book retailing giant of wanting to corner the market on e-books. In its 41-page brief Tuesday, Amazon called the settlement ‘a high-tech form of the backroom agreements that are the stuff of antitrust nightmares.'” The guild’s response: “Amazon’s hypocrisy is breathtaking.”
Council Obliterates A Banksy; Neighborhood Mourns
“An iconic stencil by street artist Banksy once celebrated by rock band Blur has been destroyed by Hackney Council. Furious residents have accused town hall officers of vandalism after painting over the image,” made eight years ago. “Sofie Attrill, 50, the building’s owner, was devastated to see workmen painting the wall black.”
Need A Job? Let The Fourth Plinth Be Your Platform.
“During his stint on the plinth,” 23-year-old Alex Kearns, a recent university graduate, “revealed a giant scroll featuring his CV details. He listed his abilities in three foreign languages, his interests including ‘plinth dwelling’ and his contact details, brandishing a placard that read: ‘Give Me a Job!'” And someone did.