After four years with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (and a total of nine years in professional ballet), dancer Christopher Bandy is making the transition to a whole new technique and aesthetic as a member of the modern company Dance Alloy. He feels lazy as a choreographer asks him not to jump so high, but he’s enjoying the relative lack of aches and pains: “Modern dance is a blessing on the hips.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
The Enterprising, Confounding Sarah Caldwell
“It wasn’t easy to take a good photograph of Caldwell, who neglected her appearance and often weighed 300 pounds. But as these two volumes demonstrate, it’s even harder to get a clear image of Caldwell’s personality, her legacy, and whatever it was that drove her to become one of the most respected, and frustrating, opera leaders in America.”
In The Age Of Pixar, Hand-Drawn Animation Hangs On
A hardy group of artists is keeping up the laborious old technique of animation using pencil drawings, creating whimsical films aimed at adults. A full-length feature could require 25,000 drawings or more (at a rate of 24 drawings per second).
Frozen River, Rachel Getting Married, Ballast Lead Independent Spirit Award Nominations
“Ballast, an austere drama about a grieving man who forms a bond with a woman and her young son; Frozen River, a somber tale about the relationship between two poverty-stricken women; and Rachel Getting Married, an intimate drama about a young woman confronting her demons at her sister’s nuptials, dominated the nominations for the 2009 Film Independent’s Spirit Awards on Tuesday, earning six each.”
In Greece, Could A New Museum Help Solve An Old Quarrel?
Peter Aspden looks at the striking new Acropolis Museum, to open next spring just across the Parthenon in Athens, and sees potential for resolving the intractable dispute between the Greek Ministry of Culture and the British Museum over the Elgin Marbles, which were carted off from Athens to London in the 19th century.
At Least They’ve Gotten One Marble Back
“Greece welcomed back on Tuesday a marble fragment from a frieze decorating the Parthenon temple which an Austrian soldier removed during World War Two… An inscription on the fragment, measuring 7-by-30 cm (2.8 by 12 inches), says it was taken from the Acropolis in Athens on February 16, 1943 – in the midst of the three-year occupation of Greece by the Axis powers, led by Germany.”
Virginia Symphony Cuts Concerts, Salaries
“The Virginia Symphony Orchestra, which has a $1.5 million debt, is cutting employee salaries by 20 percent and canceling some spring concerts. A reduction in single ticket sales and insufficient donations are largely responsible for the debt, accrued since the fall of 2007.” (Musicians’ pay will not be affected.)
Public Theater Establishes New Production-Sharing Agreement With Broadway
In moving its productions to Broadway, the non-profit home of the New York Shakespeare Festival has had its ups (A Chorus Line) and downs (On the Town and The Wild Party, which helped lead to a severe money crunch). Now, with last summer’s smash hit revival of Hair, the Public has established a new model for commercial runs of its productions. “For the first time, [Public Theater artistic director Oskar Eustis] said, ‘we have structured a deal where not a dime of the Public’s money is at risk,’ and the Public maintains complete artistic control. ‘We are real artistic and business partners.'”
Folk Singer And Civil Rights Icon Odetta Dies At 77
“Odetta, 77, the folk and blues singer whose renditions of civil rights anthems accompanied historic events and made history themselves, died last night in New York. Afflicted for years with heart and lung ailments, she died at Lenox Hill Hospital, which she had entered at the end of October for treatment of kidney failure, according to her manager, Douglas Yeager.”
Roman Polanski Tries To Get Statutory Rape Charge Voided
“Thirty years after he fled the U.S. to avoid sentencing on child molestation charges, Academy Award-winning director Roman Polanski has filed a formal request to have the case dismissed.” His attorneys cited alleged misconduct by the presiding judge and district attorney’s office, as revealed in the HBO documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.