“Perhaps you’ve experienced the feeling the French sociologist Roger Caillois called ‘ilinx’ – an elated disorientation caused by random acts of destruction, such as kicking over the office recycling bin. … Learning new words for emotions can also bring feelings to life. Discover the definition of a new emotion, and you’ll almost certainly find yourself re-organizing your inner world, seeing vague or amorphous sensations as concrete instances of a recognizable category of experience.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Cole Porter, Indiana, And Me
“How do you celebrate one of the 20th century’s most sophisticated artists in a place where his brand of sophistication and artistry is not generally valued?” Cathy Day – like Porter, a native of Peru, IN – looks at Hoosiers’ ambivalent (if that’s the word) attitudes toward the great songwriter and other high achievers who leave the state.
Perishing Punctuation: The Period Seems Headed For A Full Stop
Thanks to instant messaging and the character limits of Twitter, the use of one of the most basic items of English grammar seems to be falling out of fashion. And when a period is used, especially in text messages and tweets, it can take on unfriendly overtones that may surprise older folks.
Making ‘Sensory-Friendly’ Theater For Kids On The Autism Spectrum
“Children squealed with glee as a tall man in a green T-shirt took the stage. ‘When you go to the theater, you might usually meet someone who shushes you,’ said Thomas P. Quinn, the Walnut [Street Theater]’s director of education. ‘This is a shush-free zone.'”
This Violinist Spent A Month Playing Free Pop-Up Bach Concerts With No Promotion Whatsoever (And It Was A Raging Success)
Michelle Ross: “A lot of times we talk about outreach in classical music: ‘How can we break whatever preconceptions people might have? How can we bring classical music to people who aren’t exposed to it?’ This concept of outreach is really important, but I think labeling it as outreach can sometimes make us feel like we have to explain ourselves or we have to explain the music. And I firmly disagree with that.” (Q&A with video clips)
A Ballet School In Nigeria
Sarah Boulos, a Lebanese-Nigerian dancer and teacher, has been teaching pliés and pointe work for a dozen years in Lagos. (video)
After A 50-Year Wait, Christo Sees One Of His Projects Built
“For 30 years, Bulgarian-born artist Christo has wanted to build a monumental ‘Mastaba’ – a type of ancient Egyptian tomb – out of oil barrels in the desert of Abu Dhabi. His project has just materialised on a smaller yet still impressive scale: nine meters high, 17 meters long and nine meters wide, the work is on display at the Fondation Maeght, a museum of modern art in the south of France.”
The Multisensory Approach To Art – How Museums Make Themselves Accessible To The Blind
“Their aim is to use touch and smell in addition to language to elicit the same emotions for blind visitors that others have when they view works by Bourgeois or Dalí or Monet” – for instance, the softness of cotton balls (Monet), the viscosity of a silicone breast implant (Dalí)
Swift Responses, In Chicago And Beyond, To Investigative Report Of Onstage Abuse
“Theater communities in Chicago and across the country reacted swiftly to the publication of this week’s Reader cover story … condemning the alleged abuses at the north-side storefront theater and standing behind a group that has emerged to protect non-Equity theater professionals.”
Just-Discovered Ruins Will Be Incorporated Into Rome’s New Subway Line
“Rome will have what city officials are calling its first ‘archaeological station’ after a construction team recently uncovered 2nd-century CE Roman barracks during ongoing work on the city’s third metro line.”