Israel Galván “maintains an ironic distance from the turkey-cock machismo of old-school dancers, yet the intensity of his performance is fired by pure duende. He’s clearly an experimentalist, yet in contrast to the high-concept productions of much new generation flamenco, aspects of his aesthetic seem close to the playful minimalism of the Judson choreographers of 1960s New York.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Russians Demonstrate Against New Director Of Historic Monastery Complex
“The appointment by Russia’s culture minister of a businessman turned politician to run a state open-air museum in Karelia in the north of Russia has outraged opponents who fear that his inexperience and agenda to increase tourism will put the region’s heritage and eco-system at risk.”
‘Anti-Oscars’ Track With Oscars (Again) at Independent Spirit Awards
“The persistent irony of the Film Independent Spirit Awards is that as much as they’re positioned as the DIY antidote to the Academy Awards, the indie film with the most Oscars recognition almost invariably reaps the greatest rewards.” This year that film was Silver Linings Playbook (four awards); most of the other winners were also Oscar nominees.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn Fails In Bid To Ban Embarrassing Book
“Dominique Strauss-Kahn has failed to have a kiss-and-tell book by an old mistress banned but won a court order insisting a card outlining his objections should be individually placed inside every copy of the book sold.”
Branding Modern Russian Literature
The new director of the State Museum of Literature in Moscow wants to begin a campaign to market the most promising writers of today – and to encourage readers to use their work as a lens for viewing the great Russian classics.
Can U.S. Embassies Be Safe Without Being Ugly?
“Many embassies have been slammed as bunkers, bland cubes and lifeless compounds. Even the new Secretary of State John Kerry said just a few years ago, ‘We are building some of the ugliest embassies I’ve ever seen.’ But the choice between gardens and gates isn’t just academic for diplomats – it can affect the way they work.”
When Business Journalists Interview The Royal Ballet’s Director
Reuters and the IHT ask Kevin O’Hare how ballet;s famous discpline helps him as a manager, what he learned from the people he worked (and danced) for in the past, and how to “hold together a bunch of extremely ambitious people.”
‘A Haunted Take On Campus-Gothic Grandeur’ – Univ. Of Chicago’s New Arts Center
In their design for the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, Tod Williams and Billie Tsien “hold a variety of tensions at bay. The tower’s layered planes appear ready to peel apart. The tower itself erupts from a broad, plain-spoken two-story base with a sawtooth clerestory roof.”
How Do You Get Museumgoers To Visit The Period Rooms? Food! (But Not Eating)
“The period rooms in art museums have the mustiest, dustiest of reputations. They are often seen as the cultural equivalent of grandma’s overstuffed couch that smelled like a fleet of cats.” (They say that like it’s a bad thing.) “But some museums have discovered at least one secret ingredient to make their potentially snooze-inducing rooms more palatable to the public: a chef of sorts.”
Can There Be Such A Thing As A British Cirque Du Soleil?
“When economists bemoan the foreign drain on homegrown talent and skills, they probably don’t have trapeze artists, acrobats or high-wire walkers in mind. Yet Britain has lost a generation of highly-trained performers to circus troupes based abroad. In response, the first nationwide attempt to keep more skilled entertainers working on these shores will be launched Monday.”