Here’s the story of Joel Kioko, 16, who was discovered in a Nairobi slum and now, after only three years of training, has won a full scholarship to the English National Ballet School. (includes video)
Author: Matthew Westphal
Paris’s Opéra Comique Reopens After 21-Month Renovation
With a production of Marin Marais’s 1706 opera Alcione conducted by Jordi Savall, the historic house where Bizet’s Carmen and Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande had their premieres is back with all its Belle Époque splendor renewed. Among the restorers’ proudest achievements is recreating the auditorium’s unique shade of red, somewhere between coral and brick. (slide show with text in French; Google Translate version here)
Turning A Moscow Subway Train Into A Rolling Museum
“From now through June, subway riders on the [Moscow Metro’s] popular Koltsevaya Line (Circle Line), which makes a loop around the city center, can expect to see a variety of [20th-century Russian] artwork on display from the Tretyakov State Gallery.”
Three Lessons From Artists’ Protests Of The Whitney Museum In The 1960s-70s
“Looking to the broader artist-activist events of this earlier era provides a number of potential strategies to adopt” – and to avoid.
The Entertainment Presidency
Regardless of how much or little he got done in terms of governance in his first 100 days, argues Rosie Gray, “Trump has had a profound effect on an American political culture already heavily weighted toward entertainment. The battles in the White House play out on cable news, the palace intrigue akin to a season of The Real World. Who will win this round – Steve Bannon or Jared Kushner? Gary Cohn or Peter Navarro? Trump himself views the world through the prism of media coverage, is obsessed with cable news, and acts accordingly.”
How Did Wendy Whelan Open Up Body For Non-Ballet Movement? She Threw Away Her Leotards
“The minute I got myself out of leotards, my body opened up: I didn’t feel so strict and tight and bound. I never expected you could change so much from the outside-in.” The former New York City Ballet star talks to Jennifer Stahl about the post-classical career she’s been building for herself and about the hip replacement she got in late 2015.
Al Roker Tells The Entire Internet He Fell Asleep At The Met, And The Opera Crowd Comes After Him
The preternaturally cheerful weatherman for NBC’s Today Show posted to Instagram a photo of him napping during intermission at Der Rosenkavalier and confessed that he’d dozed during the performance as well. (Hey, the guy gets up at 4 a.m. every workday.) “Some opera fans and singers … saw it as a public slap in the face. Quite a few took to Instagram to criticize Mr. Roker for what they saw as rudeness.” (One soprano on the Met’s roster was downright vicious.)
Washington National Opera’s Executive Director Steps Down
“[Michael] Mael took over his current role at WNO in 2011 after three years as chief financial and chief operating officer with the company. A calm and affable presence in a turbulent field, he presided over a return to stability after the Kennedy Center, in 2011, took over the company, which appeared headed for bankruptcy. For the past four seasons, WNO has boasted balanced budgets, after a long history of losses.”
Ben Brantley And Jesse Green Talk Tony Noms
Brantley (speaking from London): “As might have been predicted, angry crowds have already gathered in Trafalgar Square to protest the snubbing of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, further straining already frayed Anglo-American relations.”
Col. Bruce Hampton, Granddaddy Of The Jam Scene, Dead At 70 After Onstage Heart Attack
“When [he] slowly fell to his knees during the finale of his star-studded birthday concert, fans and musicians alike thought it was another one of his quirky performance acts.”