“[She] was among Brazil’s most celebrated singers, with a husky alto voice that soundtracked dances, street parties and the earsplitting, eye-widening Carnival festival … [She] filled soccer stadiums with her followers, battled music-industry machismo, and championed overlooked composers and performers.” – The Washington Post
Author: Matthew Westphal
Sure, Barnes And Noble Can Countersue Its Former CEO, Rules Judge — If They Pay His Lawyers In Advance
The ousted chief of the chain, Demos Parneros, sued over his dismissal (as one does if one is a CEO), so B&N decided to countersue, demanding to claw back some of the CEO’s compensation and to be awarded damages for his behavior. The judge let the countersuit proceed, but ruled that the indemnity clause in Parneros’s contract applies even in this case. – Publishers Weekly
The five actions of art-making
A particularly lovely passage in François Matarasso’s recent book, A Restless Art: How participation won and why it matters, describes the opportunity of art-making for children, which Matarasso describes as an interplay of five actions. – Andrew Taylor
Ralph Peterson And Company Remember Art Blakey
Ralph Peterson & The Messenger Legacy: Legacy Alive (Onyx)
Paying concentrated attention to all of the new releases that arrive at Rifftides is out of the question. Some, however, simply cannot be passed over. Here is one of those. – Doug Ramsey
George Soros’s Foundation Starts Up New Arts Fellowships
“Soros Arts Fellowship [is] an initiative to support innovative mid-career artists using art and public space to advance ‘pluralistic, democratic, and just societies.’ The eight fellows received an $80,000 stipend to realize an ‘ambitious socially engaged art project’ over the following 18 months.” – Inside Philanthropy
At The World’s Only Ventriloquism Museum
The Vent Haven Museum, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati in northern Kentucky, houses nearly 1,000 dummies, some 150 years old. Most of them, especially those that are or used to be famous, are off-limits to present-day ventriloquists, amateur or professional. – Smithsonian Magazine
One Of The Princes Of New York’s Avant-Garde Dance Scene Also Choreographs Ice Dancing
Jonah Bokaer says that working with Team USA ice dancers Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter has been one of the most rewarding projects of his life. – Dance Magazine
Air Guitar Has Now Become A Genuine Competitive Sport
“Beyond the humorous, ironic façade of these performances is a sincere craft that has exploded in popularity over the past couple of decades.” Ethnomusicologist Byrd McDaniel explains how it came to be. – The Conversation
They’ve Uncovered A Hidden Cupid In One Of Vermeer’s Most Beloved Paintings
“During restoration work [on Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window], conservators discovered, to their surprise, that the naked figure — which dominates the upper right section of the picture — was overpainted long after the artist’s death.” – The Art Newspaper
The African Influence In Flamenco (Oh Yes, It’s Real)
In the 17th and 18th centuries, there was a black population in Spain, mostly brought over from the Latin American colonies, and they did take part in the development of flamenco. “[But] as the 19th century progressed, the black population in Spain diminished, and in turn so did any documentation of the influence they had.” – The Dance Journal (Philadelphia)