“He served as artistic director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the Royal Swedish Ballet, and the Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv, and he “won acclaim for creating or staging ballets, operas and Broadway musicals” through Europe and North America, including 19 productions at Ontario’s Stratford Festival.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Could the Creative Class Be Priced Out of L.A.?
“From Santa Monica to Venice to Highland Park – and now the Arts District in downtown Los Angeles – the painters, sculptors, musicians and dancers who made those and other neighborhoods centers of artistic creativity can’t afford to live or work there anymore.” (audio)
Why The Backlash Against “Serial” Is Plausible – And Wrong
Conor Friedersdorf grants that “journalism requires its practitioners to delve into unfamiliar subjects, communities, and subcultures. Mistakes happen often and can be difficult for the reporter or audience to discern.” But he goes on to explain, with detailed examples, why the recent “white reporter privilege” objections to Serial, notably in Jay Caspian Kang’s widely-read-critique, simply don’t hold up.
European Union Finally Publishes Guidelines On Right To Be Forgotten
“Search engines (mainly Google) that have been attempting to comply with the European Union’s right-to-be-forgotten regulations have had to muddle through without guidance for making subjective decisions about what to take down and what to leave up. Now the EU has finally released guidelines.”
They May Finally Have Found The Remains Of García Lorca
“In the hills overlooking Granada, forensic archeologists buzz excitedly around a cordoned-off site. A blue tarp sits in the middle, marking the spot where they believe lies the answer to one of Spain’s great mysteries of recent times.”
The Was-Shakespeare-Gay? Wars Are Back
“If wide notice is taken of a current spat over what we can read about Shakespeare’s sexuality into the sonnets in the correspondence columns of the Times Literary Supplement, Sonnet 20 may be a future favourite at civil unions. “
“He Sounds Gay” – What Exactly Does That Mean?
“Affect a lisp, assume a lilt, and add a fair amount of flamboyance. Presto! Instant gay man’s voice. It’s a stereotype, to be sure, but is there any truth to it? Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo talk to Benjamin Munson, a speech scientist at the University of Minnesota, about what it means to sound gay.” (podcast)
Manchester To Get New £78M Arts Venue Named The Factory
The theatre, built on the site of the old Granada TV studios, will be “‘a large scale, ultra-flexible arts space’ that [will] hold 2,200 people when seated, or 5,000 standing … and provide a permanent home for the Manchester International Festival.”
Canada Denies Travel Visa To Afghan Artist
“Hanifa Alizada, a photo-artist and art teacher at Kabul University, has been refused a visa to enter Canada to deliver a speech about life for Afghan women and to exhibit her work at a symposium [in Ottawa] Jan. 22-25.” No reason has been given.
RSC to Begin on Restoration of Swan Wing at Stratford-Upon-Avon
“The Swan Wing, which contains the Swan Theatre, is the only remaining part of the original 1879 Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, which burnt down in 1926. It originally housed a library, reading room and picture gallery, and it currently includes the façade and entrance, hallway, bar area, staircase, Ferguson exhibition room and the bridge that links it to the Swan Theatre auditorium.”