Says the French screen legend, “I have arrived at an age where I don’t want to build. I want to destroy! So if I have the opportunity for a dangerous relationship, I will take it.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Go Backstage At Seven Different Opera Companies, Live Via YouTube
This Saturday, Britain’s seven nationally funded companies are joining forces to take viewers inside the processes of making opera – from creating a set for The Magic Flute and a costume for Don Giovanni to preparing for the evening’s performance of Julian Anderson’s new opera The Thebans to composer Errolyn Wallen composing an aria on the spot to a text suggested via Twitter.
The Japanese Filmmaker Who’s Greater Than Kurosawa Or Ozu
Richard Brody: “There’s no way to say this without sounding derivative, but I consider [Kenji] Mizoguchi to be not just the greatest Japanese director but one of the handful of the greatest filmmakers ever.”
Things You Cannot Unsee (And What That Says About Your Brain)
“People report this kind of thing all the time, and they use this same phrase: cannot unsee. Someone points out something and suddenly a secondary interpretation of an image appears. … We have a flash of insight and a new pattern is revealed hiding within the world we thought we knew. It surprises us. Ah! That’s not a vine, that’s a snake! That’s an LG logo. NO – it’s Pac-Man!”
Justin Peck In Process: The Choreographer Talks About His Newest Work For New York City Ballet
“I formulate my ideas based on the structure and melodies of the music and certain emotions captured in it. And this is such a full piece of music. When I realized the scale of it I started thinking about having a large cast. … If you’re playing with Legos, you can build something more substantial if you have 100 pieces instead of 3.”
Turning Dyslexia Into Dance
A dancer trained in kathak, a classical form from northern India, writes of how his struggles with language – including incorporating a new dance vocabulary into his body – led to the creation of two new works.
San Diego’s Arts Commission Cuts Opera’s Grant By More Than Half
“Commissioner John Venekamp … pointed out that the opera is vying for funds against other arts organizations ‘that have worked hard and do strategic planning and are managed well’. … [The vote] came after representatives from the opera presented a 2015 transition plan with a budget slashed by 40 percent” and an assurance from the acting COO that there will be “no more fat cat salaries or company cars”.
BBC Chairman Chris Patten Resigns After Major Heart Surgery
Best known to the world at large as the last British governor of Hong Kong, the 68-year-old Patten has had a stormy three years at the head of the BBC Trust, and he was already planning to step down at the end of his term next year. On the advice of doctors following a bypass and angioplasty, he is stepping down immediately.
What We’ve Learned From The Minnesota Orchestra Debacle
Conductor (and Minnesotan) William Eddins has a little list. A few samples: “There is such a thing as bad publicity.” “Independent audits of a non-profit are essential. It’s much harder to agree on a direction for an organization if you can’t agree on the basic facts.” “Most people don’t know the difference between a lock-out and a strike.” “The easiest way to fulfill the prophecy that ‘the orchestra is going down the toilet’ is to flush it yourself.”
As LGBT Bookstores Close, Will They Take LGBT Publishers Down With Them?
“At a bookstore, you can browse the shelves, open a book, sample its pages as well as those of its peers shelved in the same category or by the same author. With Amazon, if you do not know the author or the title or a great deal of the plot; your chances of finding that book you overheard friends talking about is like a pricking yourself while rolling in a haystack.”