“Henry James, a member of her coterie, once remarked that Isabella ‘is not a woman, she is a locomotive – with a Pullman car attached.’ … She obsessively saved newspaper clippings of her exploits and once remarked, in response to gossip about her, ‘Don’t spoil a good story by telling the truth.'” (Is that why she burned all her letters?)
Author: Matthew Westphal
How Are England’s Theatres Doing After Years Of Funding Cuts? Here’s A Dig Into The Data (And An Amazing Surprise)
Comparing Arts Council England data from the seasons 2009-10 and 2014-15, the drop in government funding, especially from local authorities, has been even worse than you think – and the way theatres have coped is even better than you think.
Shakespeare’s Globe World Tour Blocked From North Korea Because Of Nation’s Artistic Standards
“The theatre is, of course, halfway through a world tour of Hamlet, which it hopes will visit every country on the planet … [The DPRK government] apparently contacted Shakespeare’s Globe to say its production could go ahead, but only if the play involved music, dancing and acrobatics.” Says artistic director Dominic Dromgoole, “There is a limited amount of music, dancing and acrobatics in Hamlet.”
Peter Sellars To Direct 2016 Ojai Festival
Kaija Saariaho will be the featured composer: Sellars will stage Only the Sound Remains, her setting of Ezra Pound’s adaptation of two Noh plays, and the chamber version of La Passion de Simone. Also planned are works by Caroline Shaw and Tania León, Tyshawn Sorey’s new Josephine Baker: A Personal Portrait, performances by Egyptian and South Indian classical vocalists, and – for the first time at Ojai – free concerts for families.
Rijksmuseum Removing Racially Charged Terms From Artworks’ Titles And Descriptions
“Words that Europeans once routinely used to describe other cultures or peoples, like ‘negro,’ ‘Indian’ or ‘dwarf’ will be replaced with less racially charged terminology.” Says the Amsterdam museum’s director of history, “We Dutch are called kaas kops, or cheeseheads, sometimes, and we wouldn’t like it if we went to a museum in another country and saw descriptions of images of us as kaas kop woman with kaas kop child’.”
Beware Of Sticklers Who (Noisily) Follow All The Rules
“A new Harvard Business School study on ‘toxic workers’ finds that the people who say they love following the rules are also the ones who are most likely to be fired for breaking them.” (Maybe this is why nobody trusts people who end their texts with periods.)
Vast Collection of Second Empire Art to Be Sold by Christopher Forbes
“The collection was begun by Mr. Forbes’s father, Malcolm Forbes, and put together over 40 years. ‘This is the biggest and most important Second Empire collection in the world,’ [the auctioneer] said. Major works from the collection have circulated in the United States as an itinerant exhibition over the past dozen years.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 12.09.15
You Gotta Know Why
Communities, funders and the environment all shift over time. Arts and culture organizations can get stuck in patterns of doing and being. How might we change so that we remain relevant when our communities change? … read more
AJBlog: Field Notes Published 2015-12-09
Skorton Meets the Press: Outreach, Public Input, “Trade Secrets”
In his cautious comments yesterday during an hour-long appearance at the National Press Club, Washington, David Skorton, the Smithsonian Institution’s new secretary, seemed to be guided by his expressed belief that “the first thing in nonprofit leadership is to do no harm. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2015-12-09
Intimations of the Unseen Haunt the Seen
It’s very dark down here. This is not how we’re used to entering New York Live Arts’ black-box theater: down the stairs, walking along a narrow corridor at the edge of the performing area. There are a couple of people with flashlights, but they don’t fully light the way. Is this a birth canal of sorts? And into what? … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2015-12-09
Weekend Listening Tip: Taylor And Clements & A Video
Four young veterans of Seattle’s busy jazz scene will be featured in Jim Wilke’s Jazz Northwestbroadcast on Sunday afternoon. Wilke recorded the new group headed by saxophonist Mark Taylor and pianist Dawn Clement at the recent Earshot Jazz Festival. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-12-09
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Opera Philly To The Rescue! Production From Defunct Gotham Chamber Opera Will Go Ahead In Harlem
“When Gotham Chamber Opera closed this fall, it looked like one of the casualties would be the New York premiere of Charlie Parker’s Yardbird, the ambitious new work it had co-commissioned with Opera Philadelphia …But thanks to fast work by Opera Philadelphia and the Apollo, which teamed up to save the production, New Yorkers will get to hear [the piece] after all.”
Cleveland Orchestra Gets Very Glad Tidings: More Audience, More Revenue, Bigger Endowment
“In fiscal 2015, its push to remain viable and relevant paid off in the forms of higher attendance, endowment growth, and record-setting levels of philanthropy. … The surplus came despite the release of thousands of free and steeply discounted tickets. … No longer are youthful crowds just a ‘Fridays@7’ or Family series phenomenon.”