29-year-old Alberto Chines performs the Estampie Retrové (ca. 1360) from the Robertsbridge Codex on a concert grand. (For versions played on instruments of the type, and in the tuning, for which the piece was most likely written, click here, here, and/or here.)
Author: Matthew Westphal
Why It’s Both Wrongheaded And Futile For That Maryland High School To Ban Those Shepard Fairey Posters
Cara Ober, who graduated from the high school in question and subsequently taught in that school district: “In banning such works of art, based on one person’s reported complaint in a highly charged and ugly political climate, this administration, surrounded by ultra-conservative voters, has opened up a can of worms that confirms the worst biases among students, exactly the opposite of what they need to learn.”
India’s Film Censor Board Bans Movie For Being ‘Lady Oriented’
From the Central Board of Film Certification’s letter denying permission to screen Lipstick Under My Burkha in India: “The story is lady oriented, their fantasy above life. There are contanious [sic] sexual scenes, abusive words, audio pornography and a bit sensitive touch about one particular section of society.” Naturally, director Alankrita Shrivastava had some choice words about the decision, as did the Twitterverse.
Dance For Seniors Is Catching On All Over Britain
“Across the UK, enthusiastic, determined, focused individuals are fighting hard for a new kind of dance provision – one that doesn’t simply enable access for older dancers, but aims to challenge, reinterpret and promote the ageing body.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.27.17
Are Orchestras Better than Ever? Why Riccardo Muti is Wrong
Are orchestras better than ever? Riccardo Muti thinks so. Recently, … he said: “The level of the orchestras in the world – especially in the seventies and eighties — has gone up everywhere.” … read more
AJBlog: Unanswered Question Published 2017-02-26
Burying the Bad News: Sotheby’s Earnings Call Ignores 30% Drop in 2016 Adjusted Net Income
“I feel good,” Tad Smith repeatedly declared during Sotheby’s earnings call with securities analysts this morning. Buoyed by New Year’s hopes for better performance in 2017 after a lackluster 2016, Sotheby’s president and CEO enumerated … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-02-27
The Serene Eye of a Storm
Danspace Project presents Julie McMillan in Benjamin Kimitch’s KO-BU. … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2017-02-27
Philosophers Debate How To Respond To The 21st Century’s Rise In Violence
With a nod to Hannah Arendt for her phrase “dark times,” the New York Times online column “The Stone” recaps the columns of 11 contributors who have addressed the issue over the past year.
Isabelle Huppert Has Become A Style Icon
In the States, until recently she’s been familiar mostly to art-cinema fans. But with this year’s Hollywood awards season, her cool, ambiguous, insouciant je-ne-sais-quoi has caught the fancy of the fashion press. Says Simon Doonan, “She has what the French used to call chien.” Ruth La Perla explores the mystique with the actress herself.
The Art Of Money: The Secret History Of The Images On Currency
Jennifer Schuessler talks to Mark Tomasko, a collector who doesn’t just study the artwork on old and new bills – he tracks the originals down.
Sex Ed Book For Children Causes National Freak-Out In Indonesia
The author and publisher of I Dare to Sleep Alone and I Learn to Control Myself insist that the book’s purpose is to teach young children about feelings they experience and how to protect themselves from abuse. But images of particular pages got circulated on social media and pushed some national buttons pretty hard.
Seeing Noise: How Art And Design Transformed Popular Music
“Why then, when we think of music, do we think of Chuck Berry’s Gibson 335, Mick Jagger’s lips, the cover of Revolver, Michael Jackson’s zombies, Blue Note’s stark photography, and Madonna’s breasts?” As one music historian points out, “It just didn’t occur to people that you could correspond the music to some kind of visual image. Someone had to think of that.” Scott Timberg looks at the history of what happened after someone did think of it.