Sarah Kaufman doesn’t just mean lofty ballet companies like New York City Ballet and ABT or lofty venues like the Kennedy Center: “In Dorrance’s pieces you might find a high-tech electronic floor that enhances the music of her dancers’ feet. Or maybe there’ll be a live funk-blues band, or flamenco dancers. Dorrance has knocked about, vaudeville-style, with Bill Irwin, the stellar clown. She’s made a site-specific work on the spiral ramp of New York’s Guggenheim Museum.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Four Longtime Paul Taylor Dancers Explain What They Learned From Him
Annmaria Mazzini, Eran Bugge, Michael Trusnovec, and new Taylor company artistic director Michael Novak tell writer Ann Votaw how, as Novak puts it, “Human movement never lies,” and why what Taylor wanted to watch dancers do in auditions was walk.
Contractor Who Built New Metro DC Museum Sues It For $24 Million
“A month before the much anticipated unveiling of the revamped Glenstone Museum in Potomac, Md., a contracting firm that oversaw the ambitious expansion there has sued the foundation that runs the institution … [for] breach of contract and mismanagement, adding that a ‘torrent of changes’ the foundation had demanded repeatedly disrupted and delayed work” — work which the contract claims it still hasn’t been paid for.
How Do Most Museums Protect Their Collections From Fire? (Wouldn’t Sprinklers Damage Them?)
“One of the challenges of designing systems for buildings like the [now-destroyed National] Museum of Brazil is balancing the fear of fire itself with the damage that typical fire suppression systems like sprinklers can inflict on precious artifacts. But according to the experts I spoke with,” writes Rachelle Hampton, “that balance can really only be considered post-mortem.”
Florence Outlaws Eating In Downtown Streets
“As of September 6, anyone caught eating food outdoors during peak hours in four central streets in the Tuscan capital could face a fine of up to €500. When a city proposes a penalty this steep for the modest crime of nibbling on a snack, it’s clear that tempers must be running high — and indeed they are.”
Juliet Is A Jar Of Marmalade, And Hamlet Is A Bottle Of Vinegar. (Yes, Really)
Alexis Soloski talks with the artistic director of the British theatre company Forced Entertainment, whose show Complete Works: Table Top Shakespeare charges through the plays with a cast of household items.
Reviving The First-Ever Updated Shakespeare (It’s From The 1660s)
“The big changes to the Macbeth at the Folger Theatre include famous monologues that have been substantially trimmed; a newly heroic Macduff and Lady Macduff, who have bigger roles than Shakespeare dreamed of; and witches in extended sequences of song and dance. … This Macbeth is a painstakingly assembled revival of a version that’s about 350 years old, adapted by William Davenant as London’s theaters reopened after being shut down for 18 years during England’s Civil War.”
Academy Backs Off ‘Best Popular Film’ Oscar
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that it will “postpone” introducing the new category, which was met with widespread scorn when it was announced last month. Said the AMPAS president, “There has been a wide range of reactions to the introduction of a new award, and we recognize the need for further discussion with our members.”
Battles Over Booker Prize Revealed As Archives Go Live Online
Joanna Lumley described the book that won the year she was on the jury as “indefensible”, Rebecca West hated every one of the contenders in both of her years, and the 1976 winner was ultimately chosen by flipping a coin. Then there was the year that Fay Weldon’s agent got slugged by the head of the publishing union.
Philadelphia Orchestra Adds Even More Music By Female Composers
The Philadelphians got some heavy criticism earlier this year when it came out that they hadn’t programmed a single piece of music written by a woman for the coming season. So they quickly added a couple of short pieces to the schedule and then planned a reading session of scores by emerging women. Now, reports Peter Dobrin, the orchestra is taking serious steps to address the issue in the next two seasons.