“In Non Solus, a dancer becomes an acrobat, and an acrobat becomes a dancer. Recirquel Company Budapest may be a circus company, but its meditative, evening-length production is no circus spectacle. It’s more like ballet in the air.” – The New York Times
Author: Matthew Westphal
How Social Media Got ‘Be More Chill’ To Broadway
“The origin story of Be More Chill is already one of musical theater legend. After a month-long run at the Two River Theater [in New Jersey], the creative team … thought the show’s lifespan had unjustly passed. About two years later, … fan art [began] popping up on Instagram. … By the spring of 2018, the album had been streamed over 100 million times.” – Dance Magazine
Broadway Is Being More Chill About Licensing Shows To High Schools
“‘There is starting to be an understanding and a sensibility that, in certain cases, the high school market does not necessarily cannibalize the commercial run of a show,’ observed Sean Cercone, the president of Broadway Licensing. ‘In fact,’ he said that ‘we have always made the argument that nobody chooses to go to a little league game, and not buy a ticket to see the Yankees.'” – Forbes
The Waltons Aren’t The Only Big Arts Philanthropists In Arkansas
“Consider recent gifts from the Little Rock-based Windgate Foundation. Roughly two years after committing $40 million to the University of Arkansas to create the Windgate Art and Design District in Fayetteville, the foundation announced a $20 million gift to the University of Central Arkansas … [to]support the Windgate Center for Fine and Performing Arts.” – Inside Philanthropy
Philly’s Latin Dance Studios Keep Closing Or Moving Out Of Town
The city has lost a third of its Latin dance studios over the past five years, “in a city that touts itself as a culture-rich salsa town, but that, according to the some of the region’s longtime owners, doesn’t offer enough resources for these institutions to thrive.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Professional-Level Arts Are Thoroughly Subsidized By (If Not Addicted To) Unpaid Labor
Citing practices that “wouldn’t be tolerated in any other industry,” the ArtsPay 2018 survey “reveals that salaries in the sector, which are already low in comparison with other industries, are even less favourable than they appear because they take no account of the unpaid overtime that workers are routinely expected to do. It raises serious questions about the sustainability of careers in the arts.” – Arts Professional
Suddenly, Kalamazoo Symphony’s CEO Is Gone
“[The orchestra] announced on Tuesday, February 12, that CEO Peter Gistelinck is no longer there but didn’t give a reason for his departure.” Gistelinck came to Michigan in 2014 after eight years as chief executive of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. – WMUK (Kalamazoo, MI)
Those Who Bought Glass Houses Shouldn’t Throw Lawsuits: Judge Tosses Out Case Brought By Neighbors Of Tate Modern
“More than half a million visitors a year get lifts up to the 10th floor of the gallery’s £260m extension and breathe in fresh air as they look out to St Paul’s, or the Shard, or the luxury interiors of expensive flats in the Neo Bankside development a little over 34 metres away.” The owners of four of those apartments sued the Tate Modern to try to force the museum to close that side of the viewing platform; in effect, the judge told the plaintiffs, as the former Tate director did 2-1/2 years ago, to buy some damn curtains. – The Guardian
Strike Is Over At Vancouver Art Gallery
“On Monday evening, the union CUPE Local 15 said it had reached an agreement with the museum in its ongoing negotiations over elements of a prior contract, which representatives said expired in June 2017.” – ARTnews
Anne-Sophie Mutter And Grandmaster Flash Win 2019 Polar Music Prize
The violin soloist and the hip-hop trailblazer, as well as the peace-through-music nonprofit Playing for Change, will each receive an award of one million Swedish kronor (more than $108,000) from the fund created by ABBA’s late manager and publisher, Stig Anderson. – Billboard