Matthew Westphal – Page 1344 – ArtsJournal Wayback

Johan Kobborg Replaced For Good At Head Of Romania’s National Ballet

An ugly, months-long saga that saw renowned dancer-choreographer Johan Kobborg – engaged as artistic director in 2014 to bring the ballet company at the Bucharest National Opera up to top international standards – demoted without warning to corps de ballet member, a theatened exodus of foreign dancers (whose Romanian colleagues yelled “Foreigners out! at them), Kobborg first brought back and then barred from the building, and the resignations of two opera house general managers (one after one day) and Romania’s culture minister, is now over. The house’s current (third) interim director, Beatrice Rancea, says that, regardless of what position her predecessors may have offered Kobborg, Romanian law does not permit a foreigner to hold the title of artistic director at the company and that Kobborg refused to stay on with a lesser title. His successor, now “artistic coordinator,” is Italian choreographer Renato Zanella – whose pay, Rancea pointed out, will not be as high as Kobborg’s was. (That was another point of conflict with Romanians in the company.) Another Italian, Marcello Mottadelli, has been appointed music director at the opera house. (in Romanian; Google Translate version here)

Fort Worth Symphony Cancels More Concerts As Strike Continues

“Although performances with the Texas Ballet Theater this weekend in Dallas will go on as scheduled, thanks to an arrangement made with the striking musicians, symphony management said it is canceling” concerts on Sept. 24 and 25.

Buffalo Philharmonic Considers Branding Overhaul

“On the eve of a new season, which starts on Sept. 17, the orchestra is polling its subscribers, supporters and community leaders, among others, as it considers rebranding itself and creating a new logo. … Survey questions include the frequency that people attend BPO concerts and whether it is for the traditional classics series or its Pops or Rock shows.”

Berlin’s Most Famous Nightclub Is Now Officially A Cultural Venue

“A vast dance club housed in a former East Berlin power station, Berghain has somehow managed the impressive feat of becoming world famous while still retaining a reputation as having an underground edge. Now, a regional court has to an extent enshrined its status in law, by ruling that it may join the city’s museums and concert halls in being taxed not as an entertainment business, but as a venue for culture.”

Why WebTV (Remember WebTV?) Was Doomed

“Terrible product ideas are a dime a dozen, but what about ideas that are fascinating, and perhaps executionally sound, but conceptually flawed? How often do they come about? And how often is it that they stick around the market for 17 years, despite fairly limited public interest? … On September 18, 1996 – 20 years ago this week – a startup firm released a device that meant to bring the internet to the living room.”

Royal Ballet’s New Principals Say YouTube Is Making It Harder To Wow Audiences

“The rise of YouTube and the internet have made it more difficult than ever to impress the viewing public, the dancers have said, as they are expected to perform ever-more gymnastic feats to keep up with what people can see online.” Says one, Alexander Campbell, “I think there’s a video of a Chinese acrobat standing en pointe on someone’s head, and that’s incredible. So if you come and see someone en pointe on a massive floor, it doesn’t have that same excitement.”

South America’s Favorite New Telenovelas Are Coming From — Turkey

“Dubbed into Spanish and Portuguese, [What is Fatmagul’s Fault?] has been a big hit across South America over the past year. In Argentina alone, episodes are viewed by more than 12 million people. And the show is far from a one-off, with a growing number of Turkish TV dramas among the most watched programmes across the continent.”

How Do You Explain Color To Someone Who’s Always Been Blind?

“It’s a challenge that renders all the normal visual frames of reference completely useless – you can’t say that green is the color of grass, or blue is the color of water, because they haven’t seen those things. But they have felt them.”

Is Writing Just A Technology, Or Is It A Different Language From Speech?

“Arrival, the forthcoming sci-fi drama, is that rare bird: a Hollywood film featuring a linguist as the main character.” With that as a (quite relevant, as it turns out) jumping-off point, linguist Chi Luu argues that writing is far more separate from speech than most of us realize – and that the linguistic problem at the heart of this new movie (yes, there are spoilers) is just a logical extension of that difference.

Author: Matthew Westphal