Michael Billington: “In so doing, one denies oneself the possibility of a change of heart.” (He says he should know.)
Author: Matthew Westphal
Metropolitan Opera Breaks Fundraising Record
“According to preliminary figures released for the first time, the Met hauled in $182 million, an astonishing amount in a tough economic climate and 50 percent more than it raised just the year before.”
Alberta Ballet’s Director Says Company Is Not In Pop-Ballet Rut
Jean Grand-Maître: “We’ve done three pop ballets now, but they’re completely different from each other; they don’t even remotely resemble each other. If it’s formulaic to use pop music, then wouldn’t it be formulaic to use classical music all the time?”
Reading Spalding Gray’s Journals
“In his personal writings, Gray comes across in a more extreme way than in his theatrical persona, his anguish and need not tempered by his perceptive charm. … But these entries also show an artist discovering his powers, in the process of creating an autobiographical genre that has since been so widely replicated that it is hard to imagine the daring it took to come first.”
Chaos Faces Egypt’s Fourth Antiquities Head Since Revolution
“Archaeologists are still protesting at the front entrances of archaeological sites, and archaeological work is at a stalemate despite the appointment of a new head to hold Egypt’s antiquities portfolio.” Last week, Mustafa Amin was named secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities; his predecessor had quit after only a few weeks.
Iranian Actress Sentenced To Jail, Lashes For Work In Australian Film
Marzieh Vafamehr “has been sentenced to one year in prison and 90 lashes for her starring role in Australian film My Tehran for Sale … [which] explores cultural oppression in Iran and taboos such as drug use.”
Pompidou Centre’s Sparkling Outpost In Metz A Surprising Success
“Its daring design [by architect Shigeru Ban] and smart, eye-catching exhibitions have won critical praise, and, just 18 months after opening, the centre has become the most popular exhibition space [in France] outside the capital.”
Australia’s Video Game Industry Hopes To Get Cut Of Cultural Funding
The current government’s outline of a new arts proposal includes in its definition of “creative industries” electronic games and fashion alongside more traditional art forms. Says the country’s arts minister, “The games industry is in effect the next iteration of the film industry, because it embraces interaction.”
Was This Man The First Abstract Expressionist?
Clyfford Still “abruptly severed his ties to the commercial art world in 1951 and rarely showed or sold his works after that. … Nearly 95% of Still’s output has been locked away for decades.” A new museum in Denver devoted solely to Still’s work aims to restore Still’s art, and his reputation, in the art world’s consciousness.
Watch Choreographers Make Up Dance On The Spot
A four-night series in Brooklyn is presenting what mastermind Sally Silvers calls “live choreography”: “Each program will feature three teams of choreographers and directors; serving as their raw material will be performers, including dancers, roller derby skaters, actors and burlesque artists.”