“Oakland Ballet Company Artistic Director Graham Lustig, who has run the company part-time since his appointment in July 2010, will join full-time in September. The expansion of Lustig’s role signals an improvement in the financial position of the respected but beleaguered company, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2015.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
2,000-Year-Old Documents From Roman-Era London Found In Mud
“Researchers from Museum of London Archaeology uncovered more than 400 wooden tablets during excavations in London’s financial district for the new headquarters of media and data company Bloomberg. So far, 87 have been deciphered, including one addressed ‘in London, to Mogontius’ and dated to A.D. 65-80 – the earliest written reference to the city, which the Romans called Londinium.”
Washington Ballet’s Septime Webre Lands His Next Gig
“Webre will curate the S&R Foundation’s new performance series, titled Halcyon Stage, which will present music, dance and lectures on the arts, said Kate Goodall, the foundation’s chief operating officer.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 06.01.16
Formerly famous
In a popular culture, fame is cheap. That’s what Andy Warhol meant when he said that in the future, everybody would be famous for fifteen minutes. (Remember JenniCam?) It’s also what I had in mind … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-06-01
Snapshot: Junior Brown sings and plays “Highway Patrol”
Junior Brown sings and plays “Highway Patrol” in an undated TV clip. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2016-06-01
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Turning A Salman Rushdie Novel Into An Opera
A report on how composer Jack Perla and playwright Rajiv Joseph (a Pulitzer finalist for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo and Lortel and Obie winner for Guards at the Taj) developed their adaptation of Shalimar the Clown, which premieres next week at Opera Theater of St. Louis.
How Shakespeare’s Globe Pulled Off Its 197-Country Tour Of ‘Hamlet’
“Talking to company stage manager Becky Austin in the cafe at the Globe – a building that she refers to as the ‘mothership’ – I began to realise that the whole idea and execution of the tour was not just an amazing logistical exercise, but an extraordinary journey for audiences and performers alike.”
So You Think You Know Your Own Mind, Do You?
“The mid-20th-century behaviourist philosopher Gilbert Ryle held that we learn about our own minds, not by inner sense, but by observing our own behaviour, and that friends might know our minds better than we do. (Hence the joke: two behaviourists have just had sex and one turns to the other and says: ‘That was great for you, darling. How was it for me?’)”
Is That Tomb Discovered Last Week Aristotle’s Or Not?
At a conference in Thessaloniki last week celebrating Aristotle’s 2400th birthday, a Greek archaeologist announced with “almost certainty” that he had discovered the philosopher’s burial complex. Considering the oh-so-convenient timing, along with how premature high-profile announcements have embarrassed the profession in the past, other archaeologists have reacted skeptically. John Timpane lays out the pros and cons.
WWCD (What Would Cervantes Do?)
“Again and again [in his astounding life story] what we see in Cervantes is that his wit, intelligence and optimism stepped in to save him. No one that I can think of has made lemonade out of life’s lemons as sweetly as he did.”
Who Gets To Tell Other People’s Stories? Locating The Line Between Empathy And Exploitation
Anna Holmes: “Here’s how I see it: Empathy is the ability to respect and maybe even understand another’s point of view, revealing larger truths about ourselves and others. Exploitation is the use of another’s experience for personal gain.”
James Parker: “To the degree that you are using a person, a character, simply to propel your plot or give shape to your ideas, to that same degree you are denying this character his or her full reality – and your story will suffer accordingly. Where empathy stops, in other words, exploitation starts.”