“Christopher House appears willing to relinquish control over the nine dancers (and two interns) in Toronto Dance Theatre in return for artistic growth. Last fall, he delivered them into the hands of New York post-modernist maven Deborah Hay, who introduced them to a new way of creating dance. Now, split into two groups, the dancers are working with Christoph Winkler and Felix Marchand, two choreographers from Berlin, to stretch their creative boundaries further still.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Australia’s Arts Companies Plan Uncertain 2010 Season
“While some companies have implemented staff freezes and are entertaining reduced work hours, their worst-case scenarios include scheduling fewer performances, reducing touring, and postponing or abandoning riskier work. And while it’s the last resort, they cannot rule out the possibility of staff retrenchments.”
The Layoff Wave Hits Tampa Bay’s Florida Orchestra
“The layoffs, which [orchestra president Michael] Pastreich said yielded savings of about $250,000, included the comptroller, a data base manager and a ticket center coordinator, leaving a full-time staff of about 20. The pay cuts start with the president” and continue, at progressive rates, through the entire administrative staff.
Google Will Not Be Buying Any Newspapers
There goes another rescue fantasy. CEO Eric Schmidt says that “Google had looked at buying a newspaper but was ‘trying to avoid crossing the line’ between technology and content … More broadly, he added, Google had concluded that potential acquisition targets were too expensive or carried excessive liabilities.”
Wall Street Gets The Michael Moore Treatment
“The wealthy, at some point, decided they didn’t have enough wealth,” says he. “They wanted more – a lot more. So they systematically set about to fleece the American people out of their hard-earned money. Now, why would they do this? That is what I seek to discover in this movie.” The yet-untitled film opens Oct. 2.
Twitter The Mona Lisa (And Watch It Turn Cubist)
“Given Twitter’s 140 character limit, it might seem next to impossible to recreate something as complex as the Mona Lisa. […] But the complexity of the task didn’t faze [Mario] Klingemann, whose experimental image encoding technique translates the image into Chinese characters and spits out a version of the Mona Lisa that … Picasso would have loved.”
The ‘Creativity Chemical’ (It Depends On IQ)
“There may be more to creativity than simply letting the ideas flow – brain measurements of a ‘creativity chemical’ are revealing a complex interplay between ingenuity and intelligence. While high levels of the chemical in a certain part of the brain seem to increase creativity in really smart people, the reverse is true in those of average intellect.”
Mary Henry, 96, Launched Painting Career In Her 70s
“It’s a fairly normal curve for women artists, especially women of her generation, circumscribed by paternalistic dismissal and then clobbered, like everyone else, by the catastrophes of aging. But instead of fading into her seniority, Henry surfaced in her mid-70s with triumphant, joyful work … tough geometric forms filled with bright yet sour tonalities.”
Co-Productions, Taken To The Next Level
“Co-productions between nonprofit theaters, whether crosstown or cross-country, are becoming ubiquitous … But three Off-Off-Broadway groups are taking the idea to a new level. They’re not only sharing resources and expenses to mount three new plays in a four-week repertory; they’re relinquishing their identities in the process.” Is this a good idea?
Recreating The Armada Tapestries
The legendary pieces of textile propaganda were commissioned in 1592 by Lord Howard to commemorate England’s victory over “the swarthy Spanish dastards.” They spent nearly two centuries adorning the Lords chamber in Westminster Palace until they were destroyed in an 1834 fire. Now they’re being recreated – but in paint on canvas.