“One of the oldest pieces of British pornographic art has just been discovered beside the river Thames. At first sight, the bronze disc found near Putney Bridge in London looks like an old coin – until you notice that it depicts a sex scene. This type of bronze token with its erotic imagery was specially made to spend in ancient Roman brothels.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
The Alvin Ailey Company’s Odd Paradox
Alastair Macaulay: “Strangely, the difference between good and bad choreography counts for less at Ailey than at anywhere else. The lure is neither the individuals nor the material they perform so much as a more generalized feeling of large-spiritedness that the Ailey company always delivers. … Good or bad, taxing or simple, every work is accessible and appealing.”
‘The New Choreographic Wonder Boy Of British Ballet’
Liam Scarlett, now 25, is making work for Miami City Ballet, the Ballet Boyz, and the Royal Ballet, where he is a company member. Already Scarlett is drawing comparisons to Christopher Wheeldon, whose career followed a similar trajectory.
China’s President Says Chinese And Western Cultures Are At War
“President Hu Jintao has said China must strengthen its cultural production to defend against the West’s assault on the country’s culture and ideology.” His essay, published this week, “drew a sharp line between the cultures of the West and China and effectively said the two sides were engaged in an escalating war.”
Why Do Tickets For Different Movies All Cost The Same?
Demand pricing exists for all sorts of tickets, from theater to airline. Why doesn’t it cost more to see a popular blockbuster than a little-known foreign film? There are reasons, it turns out …
Czech Literary Hero Josef Skvorecky Dead At 87
A novelist, scholar, and dissident, Skvorecky fled Prague during the 1968 Soviet invasion. He and his wife settled in Toronto, where they founded a press and published writers such as Vaclav Havel and Milan Kundera whose books were banned in Czechoslovakia. Best known among Skvorecky’s own books are The Engineer of Human Souls and The Republic of Whores.
Making Art From The Wreckage Of Ireland’s Economy
The republic’s slump has “evolved into a muse for Irish artists, who are both recording the crisis and finding opportunity in the wreckage left by a spree of reckless real-estate lending and toxic debts.”
What Crossword Puzzles Reveal About Cognition
“The processes leading to that flash of insight [when you figure out a clue] can illuminate many of the human mind’s curious characteristics. Crosswords can reflect the nature of intuition, hint at the way we retrieve words from our memory, and reveal a surprising connection between puzzle solving and our ability to recognise a human face.”
Who’s Behind All The Ferment At The Mikhailovsky Ballet?
St. Petersburg’s number two company has been grabbing headlines lately: luring two top Bolshoi stars away and bringing star modern choreographer Nacho Duato to strictly classicist Russia. Luke Jennings introduces the characters in the Mikhailovsky’s eventful story.
Does Sesame Street Really Lose Money (Even With All That Merch)?
“Yes. Sesame Street and its production company the Sesame Workshop do make a lot of money from product licensing, but not nearly enough to cover expenses.”