“On average, women tend to use their laughter to lure in potential mates, while men use their jokes to attract as many women as they can. …”
Author: Matthew Westphal
In Troubled Times, Greeks Are Turning To Tango
“Both in and outside Athens, pop-up milongas, like tango dance studios, have gained a popularity that have taken aficionados aback.
How Humans Went From Hissing Like Geese To Flipping The Bird
“No one is turning over a chicken – so why do we call it flipping the bird? ”
The Birds That Tap-Dance To Woo Their Mates
“Forget the funky chicken – the blue-capped cordon bleu prefers a tap dance to attract mates, a new study says. … What’s more, the cordon bleus, these Fred Astaires of the bird world, seem to be unique: ‘No other species we know of has this tap dancing behavior.'”
Bad Sex In Fiction Award 2015: Behold The Contenders
“Her mouth was intensely ovoid, an almond mouth, of citrus crescents. And under that sling, her breasts were like young fawns, sheep frolicking in hyssop – Psalms were about to pour out of me.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 11.18.15
John Luther Adams makes the earth speak (while tourists cover their ears)
John Luther Adams often seems like an Alaska Impressionist – or so I’ve said in the past, perhaps misleadingly. The implication of that moniker implies pretty-sounding Nordic Debussy, something more descriptive than Sibelius … read more
AJBlog: Condemned to Music Published 2015-11-19
Twyla Tharp: Fifty Years of Making Dances
Twyla Tharp premiered her first work, Tank Dive, on April 29, 1965, in room 1604 of Hunter College’s Art Department (where she was not a student). It was the only dance on the program and lasted four minutes, which she considered to be the longest amount of time she thought she could fill to perfection. Besides, she noted in a 1976 interview, the event was free. Who would have dared complain? … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2015-11-19
Experiments in humanity
The writer Veronica Horwell likes to describe acting as laboratory for human behaviour, and believes that actors try out ways of expressing and inhabiting ideas and emotion. It’s a brilliant idea … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2015-11-19
Whitney Museum’s Adam Weinberg Movingly Mourns Paris Massacre’s Impact on Creative Community
Addressing the press on Tuesday, the Metropolitan Museum’s director, Tom Campbell, had reacted to the Paris massacre forcefully but formally, detailing how his institution had mentored colleagues from countries in crisis. Yesterday, the Whitney Museum’s director, Adam Weinberg, showed how to make it personal and heartfelt. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2015-11-19
Liebman And Intra Over The Rainbow
Since I first heard soprano saxophonist David Liebman and the Italian pianist, composer and conductor Enrico Intra play a duet on “Over The Rainbow,” it has been in the back of mind to share it … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2015-11-19
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Major French Classical Download And Streaming Site Goes Into Bankruptcy
“No back-up plan has been submitted and no investor has expressed concrete interest during the observation period, which made the receivership inevitable.” But since that period ended in September, the company says, there has been “substantial interest in taking over Qobuz in its current form.”
How To Steal A Monastery: When American Robber Barons Brought Medieval Landmarks Over From Europe, Stone By Stone
“American robber barons snuck ancient stones out of the war-torn countryside in the dead of night, Europeans fretted over how their familiar landmarks were rapidly disappearing, and U.S. cities spent decades of the 20th century fighting over what to do with tens of thousands of displaced medieval remnants.”
Paris’s Cultural Institutions Slowly Bounce Back After Attacks
“This week, the places that make Paris one of the world’s great cultural capitals have been slowly coming back to life, and directors are hoping that residents and visitors alike will return. They say that they are more convinced than ever that culture is a form of resistance to terrorism.”
Merce Cunningham Gets A Museum Retrospective
“The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago are to hold an extensive two-city exhibition, ‘Merce Cunningham: Common Time,’ opening in February 2017.” There will be Cunningham sets by the likes of Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, film and video installations by Charles Atlas and Nam June Paik, Cunningham music by John Cage and Morton Feldman – and, of course, dance, performed by both international companies and a group of former dancers with Merce’s own company.