“Almost as artistically as the two dancers themselves, the drones hover up and down, left and right, to cover up the private parts of the human performers with thin sheets of white paper. A complex performance between man and machine unfolds, and one cannot help but admire the perfect timing and placement of the little artificial dancers.” (video)
Author: Matthew Westphal
Same-Sex Pas De Deux: Contemporary Ballet Begins To Reflect The 21st Century
Alastair Macaulay: “Ballet exudes tradition, is surrounded by conservatism and still depends on a small core repertory of 19th-century classics. This century, though, it’s been showing multiple signs of changing its character. … What’s become evident, especially this year, is the new propensity shown by diverse choreographers to give equal weight to same-sex and opposite-sex couples.”
Broadway Is Getting Another Theater, Its 41st
“A British theater magnate has acquired a long-term lease to a onetime playhouse in Times Square and has begun refurbishing it as Broadway’s next stage. The Hudson, owned by Millennium Hotels and Resorts and used in recent years for meetings and events, will become the 41st Broadway theater.”
Jaap Van Zweden On His, Er, Intensive Rehearsal Technique
“Discipline in preparation makes you free on stage. “Haitink was very free in rehearsals, and, for me at least, that was not the easiest way to play. I like a little bit more structure in the preparation. … Not all the great orchestras are always in great shape. You need to bring them there sometimes.”
The Ugly Truth – That Is To Say, The Truth In Ugliness
“I can’t remember the last time I heard one person call another person ugly. Art: sure. But when it comes to other human beings, we seem to have invested almost totally in metaphoric deployments of the word: ‘ugly’ now describes degrading items like the steadily worsening rhetoric of Donald Trump; or, simply, sinful behavior, as in: ‘God don’t like ugly.’ … No longer does the outward merely track the inward: by an almost forgotten transitive process, the two have become one. … This creates an unnerving blind spot: What happens when evil is made beautiful?”
How European Languages Are Getting Their Own Equivalents Of Black English
Linguist John McWhorter explains the phenomenon of “multiethnolects” such as Kiezdeutsch, developed by adult immigrants from various countries – and how their European-raised children and grandchildren will hang on to their multiethnolect and code-switch to and from the standard language the way many African-Americans do.
Interpreting ‘Spring Awakening’ For The Deaf-Blind
“Two sign-language specialists switched off every 15 minutes translating the show’s onstage signing onto his palm, while another stationed herself behind Mr. Odland, using his back as a proxy for the stage to communicate the show’s complex choreography. ‘His back is like a canvas,’ said Marilyn Trader, who is trained in an emerging field known as touch or haptic signals.”
The 10 Most Underrated Movies of 2015
“We’re in the thick of awards season, and everybody’s getting their say. … Many of the same titles are popping up, and for good reason: Carol, Spotlight, Mad Max: Fury Road, and the rest are certainly worth celebrating. But let’s take a moment to acknowledge a few more great movies from earlier in the year that have been mostly overlooked.”
Being Charlie Kaufman
“The writer behind Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and, now, Anomalisa – a stop-motion animated dark comedy about a depressed customer-service expert who falls in love on a business trip, which Kaufman co-directed – discusses where his ideas come from, the TV shows he can’t get made, and the finer points of puppet sex.”
Gloria Contreras, 81, Choreographer Who Blended Balanchine With Mexican Culture
“One of [her] major achievements was the company and school she founded in 1970 in Mexico City … There she showcased a signature style that avoided folk dance but used Mexican composers and motifs to infuse even plotless neo-Classical ballets in leotards with a Mexican sensibility.”