“[She] could have coasted by on her famous surname … Instead, this playful and likeable performer, who was born male but identified in the latter part of her adult life as transgender and ‘gender suspicious’, carved out a career of idiosyncratic and often uncommercial character work before concentrating on promoting awareness of trans issues.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
A Dance Video Advertising A Clothing Line Roils All Pakistan
“A video advertisement for a clothing company [in Lahore] featuring women dancing in public to Beyoncé’s ‘Run The World (Girls)’ has sparked a backlash from both feminists and religious conservatives.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 09.12.16
Seeing Autumn In With Cabaret
How often do you see ten dances in under an hour-and-a-half? Had Joe’s Pub not initiated its annual Dance Now Festival eight years ago, you’d have had to think back to the 1920s … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2016-09-12
Monday Recommendation: Shirley Horn
Shirley Horn Live at the 4 Queens (Resonance) The Resonance label continues its parade of previously unissued recordings with this jewel by Shirley Horn, a supremely gifted pianist and singer (1934-2005). By the time of … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-09-12
Big Brothers
A dreamy child, I was given to extravagant fictions, imaginary journeys that scattered my mind and dimmed my perceptions. The benefit of these fanciful excursions was that I was never bored: there was always something … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2016-09-12
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Seven Stars Remember Their Mid-Dance Disasters
“Darcey Bussell was very friendly with the floor in rehearsals. Kevin Clifton’s Thriller-style tango tanked on live TV. And Thomas Whitehead got trapped in his ballerina’s underwear.” (And that ballerina was – uh-oh – Sylvie Guillem.)
I’m A Deaf Actor, And I Don’t Want It To Define The Roles I Play
Genevieve Barr: “It’s an incredibly limiting way to live and to work. And because I have a disability that I cannot hide (or fully disguise), that means I stay firmly in the bracket of ‘deaf actor’, rather than ‘actor’. In the rigidity of the casting process, that can mean fewer than 10 auditions per year. … I can lip-read and hear with the use of hearing aids. Not as clearly as you, mind, but unlike you, I can crank up the volume. If my back is turned and you’re talking to me, I am probably not deliberately ignoring you. If you call out ‘house lights going dark’ and forget to tell me, I may fall off the stage. Working with me doesn’t sound so terrible, does it?”
She Was So Much More Than The Topless Cellist: Getting Reacquainted With Charlotte Moorman
For all her work with the likes of John Cage, Yoko Ono, and Nam June Paik, it was as booker, presenter and grand impresaria that she made her considerable mark on 20th-century art – especially with New York’s Avant Garde Festival (1963-80). “[She] invented the festival, produced it and coaxed city officials who didn’t know performance art from police procedurals into endorsing it.”
Why You Don’t Want A Hot Nice Cup Of Coffee: The Rules Of Adjective Order That English-Speakers Don’t Know They Know
Adjective-order restrictions, as they’re called, happen in plenty of languages. But the ones in English – with the mnemonic acronym OSASCOMP – drive English-language learners nuts, even as native speakers follow the rules unconsciously.
If ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ Premiered Today Instead Of 45 Years Ago, Would It Be Less Controversial Or More?
Producer Richard Jordan: “In 2016, we consider public opinions, attitudes and tolerance to be much broader. We even mock the once-absurd and prudish reactions and attitudes of past generations. … [But] I question whether the reaction towards it would actually be more extreme … today. Would it even make it to the stage at all?”
1,200-Year-Old Mosque Destroyed By Saudi Airstrike In Yemen
“The ninth-century mosque of the Prophet Shuaibi in the Bani Matar area of Sana’a, the capital city of Yemen, was destroyed by an air strike on 25 August. … The mosque, located on the Arabian Peninsula’s highest mountain, the Shu-aib Mountain, was known for the wooden carvings on its ceiling, according to UNESCO …, and was a holy place for pilgrims to the nearby tomb of the Prophet Shu-aib’.”
60-Foot Kenny Scharf Mural Stolen For Second Time (But Now There’s Video)
“A 60-foot-long mural by street artist Kenny Scharf [titled NEVERENDINGOGO] has been stolen from the East River Esplanade in Harlem for the second time – but at least this time the heist was captured on camera.”