“It’s not always discussed, but dancers are as integral to the creative process as choreographers. That notion gives Sara Mearns, the fearless and ravishing principal at New York City Ballet, reason to pause: ‘I think I’ve had maybe two questions before about my point of view.'”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Passover, The Jewish Holiday For Goyim
“Every spring, restaurants, churches, and student organizations invite non-Jews to relive the Israelites’ exodus from bondage. How did such an exclusive feast come to have seats for so many different faiths? … Does it dilute the real essence of Passover to turn the seder into a general celebration of freedom and a call for universal justice? Is it really that commendable to dip one’s toe into millennia of someone else’s tradition?”
Cubicles: How We Got Them And What They Mean
“The design was intended to increase the power of ordinary workers; in practice it came to do something quite different, or at least that’s how it felt to many people.”
The ‘Failed Intellectual’ Who Became Twitter’s Favorite Nihilist
Or, how a soon-to-be-former German professor (he gave up on getting tenure) acquired more than 67,000 followers for his “compendium of utopian negation”. (Sample: “The Tickle Me Werner Herzog doll I got for Christmas only laughs when I tell him the universe isn’t utterly indifferent to our pain.”)
The Penguin Dance Is Sweeping Saudi Arabia
“In a land where a strict interpretation of Islamic law means movie theaters and many other diversions are banned, nightclubs are unthinkable and the weight of tribal custom is heavy, Saudis in large numbers are discovering the thrill of a little sidekick-sidekick bunny-hop.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 04.14.14
Now Hirshhorn Loses Interim Director
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts | Published 2014-04-14
What I Thought I Wrote about “Porgy and Bess”
AJBlog: Unanswered Question | Published 2014-04-13
Inner direction
AJBlog: About Last Night | Published 2014-04-14
Irony, Minimalism, Ehrenreich and God
AJBlog: CultureCrash | Published 2014-04-14
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San Diego Opera Chairman Says Board Wants To Save Company ‘In Some Form’
Karen Cohn: “We are exploring every possible idea for creating an economically sustainable way to preserve the current opera company in some form. And if that proves to be impossible, we all stand ready to do whatever we can to help preserve opera in a new form for San Diego.”
National Theatre Drops Live Musicians From West End ‘War Horse’
“Musicians from the West End production of War Horse are in dispute with the National Theatre after the organisation terminated the performers’ contracts and replaced them with a pre-recorded soundtrack.”
Stephen Colbert May Be A Worthy Successor To Letterman, But ‘Stephen Colbert’ Was One Of TV’s Greatest Characters Ever (Seriously)
“The Colbert Report was more than just a late-night show. The Colbert Report was also the type of character study that had never been seen or attempted before. … 150 nights a year, Colbert defined the character slowly but surely, segment by segment.”
Novelist Sue Townsend, 68
“She was best known for the fictional diaries of Adrian Mole, who began confiding his deepest desires and ambitions in the Secret Diary of Adrian Mole 13 3/4 in 1982. His teenage years were recounted in the Growing Pains of Adrian Mole and further novels dealt with married life and middle age.”