It was a fateful night circa 1949 in Greeley, Colorado, when Sayyid Qutb — then an Egyptian exchange student, but who went on to become a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood — was scandalized by seeing men and women dance together, with their arms around each other, to this song (he thought it was a little rapey, too), in (worst of all) a church hall. And he drew certain conclusions about America. — Quartz
Author: Matthew Westphal
Boat People Of The Mediterranean Form A Theater Company In Sicily
Founded in 2013, Liquid Company, a troupe made up entirely of refugees and migrants from Africa and the Mideast who survived the dangerous sea crossing, has developed, scripted, and performed four plays about their journeys, the asylum system, and human trafficking. — Public Radio International
Listen vs. Tell
Here’s an updated version — call it 2.0 — of last year’s chart outlining the two main ways (the wrong one and the right one) of approaching the means by which arts organizations connect with the public. — Doug Borwick
Kaywin’s Win: Feldman to Direct the National Gallery
When museum trustees set out to hire a new director, they tend to seek someone very different from the current one, a prominent art museum director once told me. They want change. — Lee Rosenbaum
London Dance Critic Luke Jennings Steps Down From The Observer
The veteran journalist, who is also the author of the novels on which the TV series Killing Eve is based, tweeted that, after 14 years, “it’s time to step aside and pursue new projects.” — The Stage
Twin Cities Theatre Company Fires Director After #MeToo Complaints
Theater Mu, a St. Paul-based company focused on Asian-American work, cut ties with artistic director Randy Reyes after a board investigation “discovered conduct that did not reflect the culture we strive to achieve at Mu.” — The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Caught In Plagiarism, Minneapolis Star Tribune Film Critic Colin Covert Resigns
A statement from the editors, who were first alerted by a reader, says that “the reviews by Covert in question span many years, but one was published as recently as November 1.” He had been on staff at the paper for more than three decades. — The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Can Art Help The Families Of Opioid Crisis Victims? This Museum Is Finding Out
“The Currier Museum of Art in New Hampshire has created an unprecedented program that uses art as a healing tool for those affected by the epidemic in a state that’s ranked third in the nation for drug overdoses.” — Hyperallergic
Tiny Books Are Another Symptom Of The Great Twee-ification Of American Culture
Katy Waldman (using the Dutch name under which tiny books have become popular in Europe): “A dwarsligger‘s teeniness is inseparable from its tweeness. But dwarsliggers embody twee in another respect: as displays of individualism, idiosyncrasy, quirkiness.” (Nevertheless, she kind of likes them.) — The New Yorker
Listener Suffers Cardiac Arrest Mid-Concert; Four Doctors In Audience Save Her
One Sunday last month, the Boston-area chamber ensemble Mistral was about to begin the third work on its program when 89-year-old Ingrid Christiansen slumped over in her front-row seat. Zoë Madonna reports on what happened next. (She didn’t want to go to the hospital, she wanted to hear the concert.) — The Boston Globe