“Take, for example, the robot KUKA – the hulking star of a French nouveau-cirque performance, Sans Objet.” KUKA isn’t an effect or scenery: it’s an actual performer, “a mysterious bulk who grows very tall, spreads himself wide and is strong enough to pick up people effortlessly and turn their bodies in the air, the way Hamlet would inspect a skull.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Frescoes In Assisi Basilica Are By Giotto, Say Restorers
“Art restorers working on frescoes in a forgotten chapel in Assisi believe they have stumbled across proof that stunning images found under layers of grime are the work of medieval artist Giotto.”
Neuroscience Is Changing Everything, Even Architecture
“Today, the near 10-year-old Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture believes that neuroscience could make science’s greatest contribution to the field of architecture since physics informed fundamental structural methods, acoustic designs, and lighting calculations in the late 19th century.”
A Renaissance At Grand Rapids Ballet
“An ambitious new repertoire, record-breaking sold-out performances, and a renewed local buzz have revitalized the 41-year-old company.” In just over two seasons, artistic director Patricia Barker “has taken GRBC from a little-known regional ballet company to one making inroads into the national and international dance scene.”
New Arts Center In Suburban New Orleans: ‘Major Headache’
“The Jefferson Performing Arts Center [in Metairie], whether it’s called a ‘black hole’ or a ‘white elephant,’ is clearly the most colorful public conundrum in Jefferson Parish. The Parish Council spent close to an hour Wednesday voicing frustration over a building that is 79 percent over budget and almost four years behind schedule.”
Israeli Films Reveal Country’s Division, ‘Airless Despair’
“Though characters may discover a shared humanity with the other side, it is not enough to overcome the weight of history, culture and group dynamics. There remains only one path to relief, these movies seem to suggest – escape – and for those tightly bound to their homeland, that turns out to provide almost no relief at all.”
Atlanta Symphony Loses Three VPs
“Three vice presidents, including two who were on the six-member team representing Atlanta Symphony Orchestra management in difficult contract negotiations with musicians, are departing the orchestra. The ASO did not announce the moves but on Tuesday confirmed the leaders are leaving at week’s end.”
Top Latin American Literature Prize Caught In Battle Over (Tangentially Related) Plagiarism
The Guadalajara Book Fair’s $150,000 FIL Prize for Literature in Romance Languages went to Peruvian author and journalist Alfredo Bryce Echenique. While the award was for his fiction, his “journalistic career has been tainted by allegations of plagiarism, prompting numerous calls for the writer to renounce the award” and an angry debate “that has divided writers and critics across Latin America.”
Does Biology Determine A Person’s Politics?
“The past decade has seen a steady stream of findings … about the biological and psychological roots of political ideology, and mostly met by volleys of right-wing scorn. … So what are the findings, and do opponents of such research have a point?”
Backstage At New York City Ballet: A ‘Smooth-Running Machine’
Peter Martins: “We are the largest ballet company in America; we dance more performances in the course of a year than any other ballet company [on] earth; we have close to 200 ballets in our entire repertoire – that requires a tremendous amount of concentration from everybody. Somehow it is a fantastically smooth-running machine.”