Makhar Vaziev: “When I accepted this position, [Bolshoi general director] Vladimir Urin set a concrete task before me about what he wanted to see from the troupe, and we came to a mutual agreement about that. In terms of classical ballet, I prefer irreproachable, ideal form, and that doesn’t change from theater to theater. What I demand of the dancers here today – the highest level of performing, both aesthetically and technically, among other things – is nothing new to them, but it’s possible no one paid attention to it before.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
If SoundCloud Shuts Down, You Know What? Music Will Be Okay
“The panic was illuminating, because there shouldn’t have been a panic in the first place. … ‘If SoundCloud is no more,’ Los Angeles rapper-producer Jonwayne tweeted, ‘people will continue to make music. Another [better] aggregate will take its place. We won’t miss it.’ … Singer-rapper D.R.A.M. offered a similar sentiment: ‘We gon’ be alright, I promise.'”
If The Confederacy Won: ‘Game Of Thrones’ Creators Plan Alt-History Series In Which Slavery Is Legal And Third Civil War (!) Is Coming
“HBO said that the show” – titled Confederate – “would portray events leading to a Third Civil War and follow ‘a broad swath of characters on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Demilitarized Zone – freedom fighters, slave hunters, politicians, abolitionists, journalists, the executives of a slaveholding conglomerate and the families of people in their thrall.'” (The Twitterverse does not seem to like the idea.)
Jim Henson’s Son Explains Why Kermit The Frog Actor Was Fired
“[Brian] Henson said he had to have numerous talks with [Steve] Whitmire over the years about his unprofessional conduct, which included ‘appalling’ communications with colleagues. … Henson declined to go into specifics about Whitmire’s exact demands, but did say, ‘Steve would use ‘I am now Kermit and if you want the Muppets, you better make me happy because the Muppets are Kermit.’ And that is really not OK.'”
Yes, Tony Kushner Is Writing A Play About Donald Trump
“The play, he says, will not focus on the Trump presidency itself, but will be set two years before the election. Kushner says he will try to write Trump as a direct character, rather than anything oblique or symbolic. ‘He’s the kind of person, as a writer, I tend to avoid as I think he is borderline psychotic,’ Kushner says. ‘I definitely think that incoherence lends itself well to drama, but he really is very boring. It’s terrifying because he has all the power, but without the mental faculties he ought to have.”
New York City’s First-Ever Cultural Plan Will Tie Funding To Greater Diversity In Cultural Institutions
“The city has been funding the arts since the 19th century, but until now City Hall has never embarked on a comprehensive review of where all that money goes and what it does. The result of that effort is a 180-page report … called ‘CREATENYC: A Cultural Plan for All New Yorkers,’ which aims to reorient the city’s cultural life toward neglected corners of the five boroughs by bringing the arts to previously ignored neighborhoods and pushing some of the jewels in the city’s cultural crown to make a greater effort towards getting residents of those neighborhoods through their doors.”
From The British Museum Extension To A Pier On The Beach: The 2017 Stirling Prize Shortlist
“Hastings’ revived seaside pier will go head to head with a stealthy addition to the British Museum and a photographer’s concrete studio in west London in the race to win the RIBA Stirling prize for the UK’s best new building. They are joined on a diverse shortlist by a new visitor centre at Chatham’s historic naval dockyard, a little brick tower of six apartments in east London and a gargantuan complex for the City of Glasgow College – the second year running that the young institution has made the shortlist.”
The Arts Really Can Make People Healthier, And Doctors Could Legitimately Prescribe Them: Report
“GPs prescribing arts activities to some patients could lead to a dramatic fall in hospital admissions and save the NHS money, according to a report into the subject of arts, health and wellbeing published after two years of evidence gathering. … [The] inquiry contends that the arts can keep people well, aid recovery from illness, help people live longer, better lives and save money in health and social services.”
What Documenta Left Behind In Athens (And What It Didn’t)
“‘Too bad that it won’t be here anymore,’ says an older woman wearing a large grey ponytail. She’s talking about the free food at the colorful pavilion on Athens’s Kotzia Square. The woman probably doesn’t know that it’s really an art project by Pakistani artist Rasheed Araeen … ‘You have to be pretty brash as a Documenta visitor to sit here and eat the food when there are many who need it more,’ comments one German guest.”
Three Tips For Staying Sane When You’re Both A Dancer And Choreographer
“Many people see dance and choreography as separate pursuits, or view choreography as a dance career’s second act. For some dancers, however, performing and choreographing inform one another. … Though a dual career can be fulfilling, simultaneously inhabiting the roles of dancer and choreographer requires focus, organization and a great deal of energy.”