“An anonymous family has donated $50 million to let the New Hampshire school create a visual arts center. The college did not identify the donor other than to say it was a family with a long history of ‘service’ to Dartmouth.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
In South Africa, A New Dance Company Is Actually Turning A Profit
“In a few months Bovim Ballet, which ends its current five-city national tour at Gold Reef City this week, has certainly proved a point. After premiering at Artscape in January and having had a sold-out season at Oude Libertas in Stellenbosch, South Africa’s newest classically-based dance company has not only been surviving on box office, but making a neat profit.”
Maybe We Do Need A Hole In The Head
A Russian neurophysiologist “is exploring the idea that people with Alzheimer’s disease could be treated by drilling a hole in their skull. In fact, he is so convinced of the benefits of trepanation that he claims it may help anyone from their mid-40s onwards to slow or even reverse the process of age-related cognitive decline. Can he be serious?”
You Think The Objectification Of Women In American Media Is Bad? It’s Got Nothing On Italy
“On television, the Italian penchant for adorning soundstages with skimpily clad, surgically enhanced showgirls has radically metastasized, spilling over from game shows to all forms of entertainment, including the nightly news. But feminist grumblings only exploded into public debate in recent weeks after reports emerged that [media magnate and Italian president Silvio] Berlusconi … was grooming a stable of TV starlets for the political arena.”
Opera Grand Rapids Breaks Ground On New Facility
“For most of its 42-year history, the company has presented operas by Mozart and Puccini in the comfort of DeVos Performance Hall. But it has managed its affairs from rented offices, stored props and costumes in the homes of staff and volunteers, and rehearsed for productions such as Bizet’s Carmen in vacant warehouses and empty storefronts. The company’s days of operating as a traveling caravan soon will be over.”
Canada Council’s C$25K Young Artist Award Goes To Saxophonist
“Saxophonist Wallace Halladay has won the $25,000 [Can] Virginia Parker Prize, given each year since 1982 by the Canada Council for the Arts to a classical music performer under age 32 who shows outstanding talent. Halladay, who has yet to turn 30, is a virtuoso who is comfortable in multiple styles, both classical and contemporary.”
The New King Of All Media: Neil Patrick Harris Conquers TV, Theatre, The Web, Awards Shows And Now Cartoons
He “is adding to his musical resume with an appearance on … Batman: The Brave and the Bold? The lighthearted Cartoon Network series recruited the How I Met Your Mother star for a villainous turn as the Music Meister in a Season 2 episode set to air this fall.”
The Kindle DX? Newsprint Is Still Better (This From A Tech Columnist)
Farhad Manjoo says that Amazon’s new newspaper reader “presents news as a list–you’re given a list of sections (international, national, etc.) and, in each section, a list of headlines and a one-sentence capsule of each story. It’s your job to guess, from the list, which pieces to read. This turns out to be a terrible way to navigate the news.”
No More Tonys For ‘Special Theatrical Event’
“Once Liza Minnelli has been given an award, can anyone else truly win it? In the case of the Tony Award for special theatrical event, the answer is an unequivocal no. The Tonys will no longer bestow an award in that category starting with the 2009-2010 season, its press representatives said in a news release.”
In Millennium Park, Ben Van Berkel’s Pavilion May Be A Marvel, But Zaha Hadid’s Is Late
“A pavilion designed by internationally renowned architect Zaha Hadid won’t open as planned Friday, and its completion is thought to be weeks away. The postponement [is] attributed to the manufacturer’s difficulty in executing Hadid’s complex, computer-assisted design.”