Yes indeed, historically speaking. “Tap and jazz grew up together, and in the 1930s and ‘40s, it was assumed that the greatest jazz bands — Duke Ellington’s, Count Basie’s — would bring tap dancers with them on tour. After World War II, though, as jazz separated from dance, hoofers became much scarcer in jazz clubs and concerts — never entirely absent but unusual, forgotten enough to be a novelty. Lately, that’s been changing a little.” – The New York Times
Author: ArtsJournal2
Film Criticism Is Perhaps Better Done On Video
That’s right, streaming film criticism, in which critics break down scenes through clips and show how lighting, sound, or other effects add to the emotional and intellectual resonance of a movie, is now moving into a more mainstream form, and a lot of it – as good as a cinema studies class or two – is online for free. – The Guardian (UK)
It’s Time To Get Rid Of ‘Show, Don’t Tell’
Show-don’t-tell is a mantra for early writers, the training wheels on the bike, the interior wax holding up a bronze sculpture. But. “The real goal of ‘show, don’t tell’ is to force a discipline that encourages the writer to see subjectivity emerging through those details. But that sentence—that command—doesn’t say that. It’s saying specifically don’t tell. And we need to just stop saying it to another generation of writers.” – Literary Hub
Are Zoos, With Their Barbaric Architecture, Finally Over?
To be fair, the architecture was a lot more barbaric at the beginning of the zoo. Now design is more focused on attempts to break down the human/animal barrier … invisibly. But is that enough? “The architecture of zoos reflected man’s changing relationship with animals: going from a sense of exoticism and wonder, to better hygiene and animal welfare, to the idea that the architecture should disappear altogether.” – The Guardian (UK)
The Rijksmuseum Wants To Understand Exactly How Rembrandt Painted ‘The Night Watch’
In this video, “the museum is using high-tech methods to carry out a forensic examination of exactly how Rembrandt painted the picture.” What’s the most 21st century thing about the research and restoration? It’s being done in full public view in a gallery, and live-streamed as well. – BBC
How Does ‘Sesame Street’ Keep The Alphabet Song Fresh?
It’s been literally half a century since the show began trying to teach little kids not only the alphabet song but also how the alphabet corresponds with letters in their lives. Now Sesame Street” has a library’s worth of pop song parodies about the alphabet, with A and C songs (as in “C is for Cookie”) among the most popular. And they’ve done dozens of original versions of the whole ABCs too. But just how do you reinvent a tune that’s as elemental as language? And how do you do it, over and over again, for a half-century?” – The New York Times
How Has This 14-Season TV Show Avoided ‘Cancel Culture’ Coming For It
Seriously, how has It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which started its life during the George W. Bush administration, survived? “The show strips away innocence for every character that gets more than three lines in an episode, making it clear that these are bad people with bad intentions and worse follow-through.” – BuzzFeed
New Concept: Asian Actors Voicing Asian Cartoon Characters
Whoa. For the new movie Abominable, Asian American and other actors of Asian descent play the Chinese cartoon characters. This, says a critic, is “an occurrence as rare as a solar eclipse. The last time I could remember this happening was more than 20 years ago with Disney’s Mulan.” (When this story was published, there were worries about how Abominable would do at the box office. Well, headlines say it all: ‘Abominable’ tramples the competition.) – The New York Times
What It Was Like To Be A Supreme
Mary Wilson says that those who weren’t there don’t quite understand that Motown “really was like walking into a Disneyland. All these creative people. People say: ‘Motown, it was this big building,’ but I always say no, Motown was always a collaboration between the people, with Berry (Gordy) at the head.” – The Guardian (UK)
The Eternal Optimism Of The Silicon Valley Mind
Silicon Valley (and all of the tech people who inhabit it and its environs, on- and offline) doesn’t have a political point of view, really. It’s not conservative nor liberal. It’s only always optimistic about technology making life easier and better. “This creed burns brightly, undimmed by the anti-tech backlash,” and it is deeply rooted in sunny, optimistic American culture. – The New York Times