“Dickinson discussed baking in many of her letters – evincing both her trademark wit and a zest for life that belies the common image of her as a depressed figure. … [She] was known to lower a basket full of cakes from the window of the home she rarely left to crowds of expectant children on the street below.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
The Picasso Of Pumpkin-Carving
“On a recent afternoon, Ray Villafane studied a pumpkin face that looked, by turns, like a sad cartoon Popeye, a vampire and the actor Gérard Depardieu. Hating it, he spun the pumpkin to its other side and started over, hacking in bold strokes at its outer skin.”
Among The Intellectuals On A Retreat At Tolstoy’s Estate
“And so, having known my two fellows less than the three minutes it takes to gather outside our barracks, we get straight down to it: Tolstoy versus Dostoyevsky – an analysis of the relative strengths and weaknesses of our two beloved giants with particular reference to a suspected solipsism on the part of Tolstoy’s characters.”
Louisville Orchestra To Musicians: Sign Contract By Friday Or We Replace You
“A letter sent Wednesday outlining the offer … states that the musicians have until 4 p.m. on Friday to approve the proposal or orchestra management will ‘begin the process of hiring permanent replacements for its musicians’.”
Barbara Kent, 103, One Of The Last Surviving Silent Movie Stars
“A brunette, baby-faced beauty, both shapely and petite – most sources say she was under five feet tall” – she acted alongside the likes of Gloria Swanson, Greta Garbo and Harold Lloyd during the 1920s and ’30s, making the transition from silents to talkies with relative ease.
England’s National Theatre Shelves Tori Amos Musical
“The Light Princess, an adaptation of George MacDonald’s 19th-century fairytale of the same name with music and lyrics by the American singer-songwriter, had been due to open in the Lyttelton theatre next April.” The premiere has been postponed indefinitely “over fears [the show] will not be ready in time.”
England’s Northern Ballet Tries ‘Sponsor A Dancer” Scheme To Save Jobs
“A Yorkshire ballet company facing the loss of a quarter of its dancers due to funding cuts is appealing for people to sponsor a dancer in a bid to save jobs.”
Joan Didion On Becoming A Public Figure
After The Year of Magical Thinking, she says, “People would stop me in airports and tell me what it had done for them. I had no clue; I hadn’t done anything as far as I could see. … I’m not very interested in people. I recognize it in myself – there is a basic indifference toward people.”
Creating A Portable, Pop-Up Theatre-In-The-Round
The professional touring company Paines Plough is building an adaptable 100- to 150-seat tiered amphitheatre. “It flat-packs into a lorry and can fit into anywhere, from large theatres to studio spaces, eventually touring to village halls, schools, warehouses and parks.”
How Cloud Gate Dance Theatre Links Choreography And Calligraphy
Artistic director Lin Hwai-min: “Calligraphy is not simply about movement of the wrists. … It is an exercise in breathing, with movement of the total body. Our company takes its inspiration from the aesthetic of calligraphy. The dancers take weekly classes in calligraphy. … We don’t pretend our bodies could replace the brush. We take it as a metaphor.”