Author: Matthew Westphal

The Greatest Dance Teacher Who Never Told You **Anything** — Students Remember Merce Cunningham

Karole Armitage: “Merce did not talk to anyone, ever. He gave no corrections, no communication.” Michael Cole: “He never admonished anybody. … We rehearsed completely in silence.” Valda Setterfield: “He always said: ‘I don’t tell people what to do. If they don’t ask me questions, they’re not ready to hear the answer.'” – The Guardian

Is The French Church Or The French State Responsible For Historic Sites Like Nôtre-Dame? Well, That’s The Problem …

In a newly relevant article brought back from the archives, Jerome Bernard explains that this question has been argued over ever since France legally separated church and state in 1905 — and that dispute is why places like Nôtre-Dame-de-Paris have been allowed to deteriorate so badly. – The Art Newspaper

New Russian Film About USSR In Afghanistan Infuriates Politicians And Vets

Pavel Lungin’s Leaving Afghanistan (Russian title Bratstvo, meaning Brotherhood), based on the real-life experience of an officer who went on to become the head of the FSB (the successor to the KGB), is said by its director to be about “the senselessness and cruelty of war.” The head of one veterans’ organization calls it “dirt and filth” and a senior member of parliament says it’s unfit for “educating young people with a sense of patriotism.” – The Guardian

Barbara Schultz, TV Exec Who Stood Up For Serious Drama When Rest Of Industry Wanted Comedy, Dead At 92

“One of a very few women in television’s executive ranks at the time, [she] oversaw CBS Playhouse in the late 1960s and the PBS series Visions in the 1970s, … offer[ing] writers a platform free from interference by corporate sponsors in exchange for stories that explored contemporary American themes.” – The New York Times

English National Opera Artistic Director Daniel Kramer Resigns

The American theatre director, now 42, had never run an organization when he took the helm at the then-troubled ENO in 2016. Things appear to have stabilized at the company financially and administratively, but the company’s productions are considered to have veered wildly between brilliant successes and painful disasters — so many are wondering if Kramer’s departure is voluntary. – The Guardian