“In a major coup, the Paris Opera Ballet has secured one of the dance worlds biggest names, William Forsythe, as the company’s associate choreographer.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Harper Lee Can Barely See Or Hear, But She Can Still Think, Says Friend
“Does she understand what’s going on? If you make her hear, she can understand what’s going on. Can she give informed consent? Absolutely, she can give informed consent. She knows what she likes, who she likes, what she doesn’t like. Mainly, she doesn’t like people to disturb her and interrupt her privacy and probe in her personal business.”
Is Harper Lee’s “Go Set A Watchman” A Sequel, Or What? The Publisher Explains
Jonathan Burnham of HarperCollins: “It’s set 20 years after the events of To Kill a Mockingbird, … during the mid-1950s during a turbulent time in American racial politics. … In a way, it’s a pre-sequel, if that could exist. None of the material from Go Set A Watchman can be found in To Kill A Mockingbird. All the scenes are new. The writing is new. … It’s in every respect a different novel.”
Lincoln Center’s Resident Companies Are Collaborating Instead Of Fighting, For Once
“Institutions that once competed, sometimes bitterly, over audiences, resources and donors are increasingly teaming up in ways both large and small.”
The Common Core Has Not Killed Literature
“The Common Core language-arts and literacy standards call for ‘a true balance of informational and literary texts.’ Many teachers and administrators misinterpret that. They immediately focus on the shift to nonfiction texts and forget the ‘balance.’ There’s nothing in the standards about Ponyboy, but I certainly see how I could use him, with some nonfiction and multimedia texts about gangs, to give my kids a rigorous learning experience. And that’s my choice.”
Even With Tanks And Shelling, The Show Goes On At This Ukrainian Opera House
“In a city where armed men in camouflage ride down the main street in tanks, more than half of the residents have fled and most shops and restaurants are closed, opera should perhaps be the last thing on anyone’s mind. But remarkably, and against all the odds, [Donetsk’s] opera house has remained open, despite the fact that none of the troupe have been paid in months, all four conductors have left town and the singers take a risk every time they travel to work. It is a risk, however, that they say is worth it.”
British Theatres Are Doing More Plays With Less Funding
“More plays were staged by the UK’s most-subsidised theatre companies in 2014 compared with five years earlier, despite fears about funding cuts, BBC research suggests. A total of 200 full plays and musicals were staged by 20 of the venues and touring production companies with the biggest government grants in 2014. That is up from 163 full plays in 2009.”
The State Of UK Theatre: Boom Or Bust?
“A few years ago, the theatre establishment mobilised stars from Danny Boyle to Dame Helen Mirren to warn about funding cuts. New figures suggest theatres have actually increased production levels in recent years. So what is the story behind the stats?”
You Have No Idea What Happened: How We (Mis-)Remember Shock Events
“Their memories were vivid, clear – and wrong. There was no relationship at all between confidence and accuracy.” Maria Konnikova explores how this happens in the brain.
You May Think You Can’t Dance But Nepalis Will Make You Try
“Peer pressure is integral to Nepali dance. There’s even a word for this: nachaune, ‘to make dance.’ … It’s an elaborate group flirtation. Coyly insist you can’t, and then once you’re begged, bust out all the moves. No matter how much you might rather drop dead on the spot than dance in front of a huge crowd of people, it’s useless to resist, especially if you’re a foreigner.”