Author: Matthew Westphal

Bill Charlap Was Scared That Playing A Live Gig Last Weekend Was Dangerous. Here’s Why He Played It Anyway.

As COVID-19 rages on, the star jazz pianist was more than a little nervous about performing indoors in a small venue, even one as out of the way as the Deer Head Inn in Delaware Water Gap, Pa. He went ahead and did it because his first-ever performance at this unlikely jazz spot, more than 25 years ago, is arguably what made his career. Journalist John Marchese reports on how Charlap’s return went. – The New York Times

Alvin Ailey Company Fires Director Of Ailey II For Sexual Harassment

“Troy Powell, the 51-year-old artistic director of Ailey’s junior touring company and a teacher at The Ailey School in New York City, was dismissed following an investigation commissioned by the school … [which] concluded that Powell had ‘engaged in inappropriate communications with adults enrolled in the School.'” A TikTok video posted on social media last month said “When you wanna be in Ailey 2 … But guys gotta sleep with Troy Powell.” – CNN

Frick Collection Will Open In Former Met Breuer/Whitney Museum Building In 2021

“Dubbed Frick Madison, the space will serve as a temporary home for the historic collection while the grounds of the Henry Clay Frick House on Manhattan’s Upper East Side undergo an extensive renovation and expansion.” As for displaying the art from the grand old mansion in Marcel Breuer’s 20th-century hulk, Frick director Ian Wardropper said, “We’ve learned that you can’t fight Brutalism.” – Artnet

Richard Tucker Music Foundation Ousts Tucker’s Son From Board Over, Um, Intemperate Comments

It all played out over the weekend on Julia Bullock’s Facebook page, where David Tucker began a spat with a couple of hostile comments about the protesters detained by Federal agents in Portland. When tenor Russell Thomas observed that the Tucker Foundation has given its top award to only one Black singer in more than 40 years, David Tucker replied that “pulling the race card is another convenient excuse to modify excellent standards of vocal artistry.” Among the many people calling for Tucker’s removal from the Foundation’s board by Monday were former Tucker Award winners Stephanie Blythe, Lisette Oropesa, and Joyce DiDonato, who said she’d quit the board herself if Tucker remained. – The New York Times

Dance Companies In Europe Are Finally Getting Back To Work (Thanks To Plenty Of Government Support)

The Stuttgart Ballet is performing a program of solos, duos, a trio, and a socially distanced adaptation of Maurice Béjart’s Bolero for 249 people in the theatre and 1,000 cars at a drive-in. The Parc de la Villette in Paris is making its stage available as a large-scale studio/workshop for various companies, with audience members (with limited, timed tickets) able to watch. In Prague last month, they managed to put on a complete contemporary dance festival. Sanjoy Roy reports. – The Guardian

Vanta-Fish — Turns Out Nature Made An Ultra-Black Pigment Before The Nanotech Guys Did

Eat your heart out, Anish Kapoor. At least sixteen species of deep-sea creatures “have evolved a different and devilishly clever way of going ultra-black with incredible efficiency: One species the researchers found absorbs 99.956 percent of the light that hits it, making it nearly as black as … Vantablack, the famous human-made material that absorbs almost all the light you shine at it.” – Wired

This Exhibition Invited Visitors To Steal The Art. How Long Did It Take For The Place To Be Stripped Bare?

Roughly nine minutes. In famously low-crime Japan, no less. Organizer Tota Hasegawa, owner of the Same Gallery in Tokyo, had expected the “Stealable Art Exhibition” to run for ten days, but so many aspiring thieves showed up for the midnight start time last weekend that he had to open the doors half an hour early. (The cooperative Japanese crowd did obey the requests to take only one artwork per person and to steal quietly.) – Yahoo! (AFP)

Pilobolus Meets Augmented Reality (Mm, Isn’t This Like Pokemon Go?)

“[There’s] a new class of augmented reality (AR) technologies like the Magic Leap, a headset that allows users to superimpose digital media atop their seen reality, innovatively combining recorded dance with real space. Director and founder of the MAP Design Lab Melissa Painter recently collaborated with Pilobolus to produce a bonkers AR choreography called YouDanceWeDance. This project, which began its life on the Magic Leap, allows viewers to use their smartphones to observe (from any angle, and anywhere) Pilobolus dancers moving according to selectable emotional themes.” – Dance Magazine