Two years ago there was a brief hullabaloo about the video of Beyoncé’s “Countdown” lifting parts of the Chair Scene from the Belgian choreographer’s seminal work, Rosas. Now, in honor of Rosas‘s 30th anniversary, de Keersmaeker herself has invited fans from all over the world to video their own versions of the Chair Scene.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Somebody Needs To Be In Charge Of Venice, If We Want To Save It
When enormous cruise ships visit the city (sometimes illegally sailing through canals), they cause more damage than you’d think, and Venetians are worried and angry. How to handle the tourist-filled leviathans is an issue where at least eight government bodies have jurisdiction – and that’s just one of the problems facing the sinking city that can’t be addressed efficiently because there’s no boss.
World’s Oldest Public Cinema Reopens After Restoration
The Eden Theatre in the French seaside town of La Ciotat, near Marseilles, was where the Lumière brothers showed their moving picture – shot locally – of an oncoming train that had viewers leaping from their seats in fear. Now the 1889 house “as undergone a €6.5m … refurbishment that has more than restored its former glory.”
Wes Anderson Talks All About Making The Royal Tenenbaums
In an extended Q&A excerpt from Matt Zoller Seitz’s new Wes Anderson coffee-table book, the filmmaker discusses everything from the influence of Orson Welles to house-hunting in Harlem to shooting moving-through-walls shots to convincing a reluctant Gene Hackman to play a role written for him while only getting paid scale.
Another Damn Fool Male Conductor Mansplains Why Women Can’t Conduct
“Conductor and composer Bruno Mantovani lit a firestorm last Friday when Radio France posted an interview with him in which he ran through a veritable laundry list of putative reasons why women couldn’t succeed as conductors, ranging from infant-bearing to child-rearing to our innate lack of brawn and stamina.”
The Heart Of Classical Music’s Maestra Problem
Justin Davidson: “It is the professional institutions, presided over mostly by men and governed by ossified views, that control the process by which promising young musicians become prominent old ones. And a system ostensibly devoted to fostering talent in fact winds up casually squelching it.”
Juilliard School Gets $60 Million Gift For Scholarships
Bruce Kovner, chairman of the school’s board, has funded a set of fellowships – 25 immediately, increasing gradually to 52 by 2018 – that will cover all of a student’s expenses, from tuition, room and board to textbooks and travel expenses.
The Ohio Hippie Town Dave Chappelle Came From
Investigating the question of why the comedian walked away from his TV show at the height of his fame and return to his hometown, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah travels to Yellow Springs, home to Antioch College, and talks with his mother, professor Yvonne Seon.
Meet Walt Disney’s First African-American Animator
Floyd Norman: “The idea of my color, I never even gave it a second thought. And I don’t think anybody there did either, because what they were concerned about was, How well can you draw? How well can you paint? What talents do you have? … Walt Disney was the same way.”
France Passes Law To Protect Bookstores From Amazon
“French lawmakers on Thursday took aim at Amazon to protect local bookshops by voting through a law that bars online booksellers from offering free delivery to customers on top of a maximum 5 percent discount on books.”