“Change is afoot at Atlanta Ballet under artistic director Gennadi Nedvigin, with a new ballet master and company members, plus a major upswing in one dancer’s career.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
James Corden’s Success In U.S. Based On YouTube, Not Broadcast TV, Says Producer
“‘When I get in in the morning I will check our YouTube hits before I check our overnights [ratings],’ said Ben Winston, the man behind Corden’s hit The Late Late Show. ‘The overnights just tell us who managed to stay awake. The YouTube hits tell us which bits flew.'”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 08.30.16
TV Dying, Video Streaming Surging – So This Is How People Are Getting Their News (Uh-Oh)
A flood of stories this week show how TV is dying and video is on the rise. You think changing audience behavior is tough on arts organizations? Try it when you’re a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate like NBCUniversal Comcast or Verizon. … read more
AJBlog: diacritical/Douglas McLennan Published 2016-08-30
The Revelation in Four “Women Modernists”
The Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach has, under director Hope Alswang, strived to increase the exposure to art by women. It is, for example, known for … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-08-30
Thomas Chapin on film, with Trombari in Normal IL
Glenn Wilson, a terrificbaritone saxophonist and flutistbased in Normal, IL, is also a major mensch. … read more
AJBlog: Jazz Beyond Jazz Published 2016-08-30
Tasty details
And so, about Wagner’s orchestration … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2016-08-30
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The Idea Of Multiple Universes Is A Poorly Thought-Out, Faith-Based Mess
Sam Kriss: “You might not like what I’m about to say about the multiverse. But don’t worry; you’ve already had your revenge. If there are an infinite number of parallel universes, there will be any number of terrible dictatorships, places where life has become very difficult for people who like to string words together. Somewhere out there, there’s a society in which every desperate little essay like this one comes with a tiny, unremarkable button: push it, and the author will be immediately electrocuted to death.”
The Extraordinary Detail Of Rembrandt’s Etchings
“In this video from Christie’s, we see contemporary printmaker Alexander Massouras analyze the diversity of Rembrandt’s lines and how they create different textures in the same work of art – something Rembrandt was a master at. We also get to see the etching process firsthand.”
Why The Age Of The Jingle Is Over
“Despite its effectiveness, the jingle has become a relic of the mid-20th-century commercials it once dominated.” (Even Oscar Meyer has retired its two classics.) “Meanwhile, marketers are focusing their efforts on licensing existing music from recording artists. … What killed the jingle? It owes its demise not only to shifts in the advertising business but also changes in the music business, and how the two industries became more entwined than ever.”
After 400 Years, Giordano Bruno Is Still A Free-Speech Hero
“Go to Campo dei Fiori in Rome on 17 February and you will find yourself surrounded by a motley crowd of atheists, pantheists, anarchists, Masons, mystics, Christian reformers and members of the Italian Association of Free Thinkers … In the four centuries since he was executed for heresy by the Roman Inquisition, this diminutive iconoclast has been appropriated as a symbol by all manner of causes, reflecting the complexities and contradictions inherent in his ideas, his writings and his character.”
An Enormous New Museum Near The Great Pyramids
“The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), a gateway to the history of the pharaohs under construction outside Cairo, is attempting to do the impossible: hold its own next to the pyramids of Giza. Egypt’s ministry of antiquities hopes the gargantuan complex, designed by architects Heneghan Peng, will be built by the end of 2016, paving the way for a 2017 ‘partial opening’.”
‘Why We Never Die’: An Atheist Philosopher Explains How He Realized That Death Is Not The End Of Existence
Gabriel Rockhill: “Since I recognized eternal transcendence as nothing more than a comforting illusion, the only thing left was my finite life in the here and now, which was destined to disappear forever in an instantaneous blackout. It is now patently unclear to me, however, that we ever actually die in this way. Our existence has numerous dimensions, and they each live according to different times.”
Why Holograms Of Dead Performers Weird Us Out (But We Keep Watching Them)
“Simultaneously here and gone, holograms are stand-ins for all things virtual, harbingers of a ‘mixed reality’ in which the real and the simulated have been integrated seamlessly. … In reality, however, holograms have mostly been gaudy stunts … still abut the uncanny valley, displaying a body that is there and not there, alive and dead. Something about it doesn’t quite compute.”