“Surrounded by an all-white stage, sprinkled with black computer monitors facing the audience, the three dancers and their accompanying drones put on a mesmerizing and eerie display. … Upon first viewing, I had so many questions. What does it mean to make beauty with drones? Why is this tension between human dancer and robot so palpably moving? Is this a gimmick?” (includes video)
Author: Matthew Westphal
Top Posts From AJBlogs 05.21.14
Bach in a Bar
AJBlog: Creative Destruction | Published 2014-05-22
A performance for the present day
AJBlog: Sandow | Published 2014-05-21
Magnets and Oysters
AJBlog: Engaging Matters | Published 2014-05-21
The Corcoran Saga: Strange, Sad
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-05-21
What Literature and Rock n Roll Have to Say to Each Other
AJBlog: CultureCrash | Published 2014-05-21
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Blinded Bolshoi Ballet Director Sergei Filin: ‘The Dancing, I See Perfectly’
“In a rehearsal, he micromanages every last nuance of expression – the curve of the fingers, the gestures, musical timing – as he coaches dancers through a pas de deux. He runs from corner to corner, with Chudin following, and (Filin can’t help himself) he demonstrates how Chudin should jump. Quick and light, like a jackrabbit. Watching him, his mother covers her eyes.”
California Attorney General Will Audit San Diego Opera
“‘The company understands the attorney general’s interest in San Diego Opera and is cooperating fully with the audit,’ said Bob Ross, an attorney who represents the opera.”
Arthur Gelb, 90, New York Times Editor And Critic
“By sheer force of personality, [he] was a dominant figure in the newsroom at The New York Times for decades, lifting its metropolitan and arts coverage to new heights.”
The Two Things Most Of Us Don’t Understand About Puppetry
Eric Bass says that they are “the myth that the puppeteer controls the puppet” and “the myth that we manipulate the puppet with our hands”.
The Met Museum’s Renovation Plan Is Full Of Red Flags (That Are Really One Big Red Flag)
Justin Davidson: “Raising the several hundred million dollars will be the easy part, compared with the battles to be waged with the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the Parks Department, neighbors, preservationists, and all those around the world who feel they have a stake in the Met, [Central Park], or New York.”
Quotation Websites And ‘The Outsourcing Of Erudition’
Or, how “Just remember, once you’re over the hill you begin to pick up speed” got attributed to, of all people, Arthur Schopenhauer.
China Bans ‘Big Bang Theory’, ‘The Good Wife’, ‘NCIS’, ‘The Practice’
The four U.S. TV series “were ordered off video streaming websites in China because the popular shows breached regulations on harmful content, according to China’s media watchdog.” (The public was not happy.)
Conspiracy Theories – You Can’t Believe A Thing You Read About ‘Em
“For decades, psychologists and social scientists have been studying conspiracy theories and the people who believe them. They have unearthed a lot of interesting data, and they have sometimes theorized thoughtfully about the results. But they have repeatedly run into a problem: The world they’re studying is not the same size and shape as the world of conspiracy belief.”