“I used to be a figure skater. That was mostly high school into college. You had to trace a figure eight on the ice. You had to go through three times and trace the same circle over the same circle. It was really about control and the body. So it goes back to using my body to trace this almost impossible circle over and over and over.”
Author: ArtsJournal2
What Does The Classical Music World Think Of ‘Mozart In The Jungle’?
“The producers have hired New York musicians as on-screen extras, making for a fun peer-spotting exercise. The second season is studded with classical-world celebrity cameos, including musicians like Joshua Bell and Lang Lang, and the Grammy-winning pianist Emanuel Ax, who played the interactive video game ‘Dance Dance Revolution’ at a dive bar during one episode. Gustavo Dudamel, the wunderkind Venezuelan conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, makes an appearance as a backstage handler.”
The Joys (And Difficulties) Of Competing In A Ballroom Dance Team
“There are a few drawbacks. Ballroom dancing is still a very individual couple sport, and your progression isn’t tied to your team. In that sense, I don’t think there’s as much of a collective sense of doing well or not, compared to, say, football or basketball.”
Flooded British Bookstores Get An Infusion Of Cash From James Patterson
“The last week, it has felt genuinely that we are part of a real community, that publishers do care about independent bookshops and understand their value. We are important: to the book trade, to authors, readers and to the wider communities we exist in. The amazing support we have had is a huge reminder of this and made us even more determined to survive this.”
The Chance To See Miró’s Studio, As He Left It
“The paintings Miró made in Majorca are those of an artist ‘who was not afraid of death or failure, but who was afraid of repeating himself again and again,’ Mr. Punyet Miró said on a recent visit to the studio. ‘The older he gets, the more expressive he gets, the more violent he gets.'”
David Bowie Created His Last Album And Final Video As A Carefully Planned Finale
“David Bowie’s final record was a carefully-orchestrated farewell to his fans, his producer has confirmed. Lazarus, released on the Bowie’s 69th birthday just two days before his death, opens with the lyrics: ‘Look up here, I’m in Heaven!'”
The White House Has Decided To Use Genius To Annotate History
“The White House has asked President Obama’s former staffers to add context to past speeches using the online annotation platform Genius. The notes, on the White House’s website now, feature anecdotes such as what it was like for Jon Favreau to stare down a blank computer screen before writing the president’s first State of the Union address. While the contributions will be heavily curated, members of the public are encouraged to add annotations as well.”
That Time When Art Collecting Wasn’t So Completely About Money
“In an age of growing income inequality, the excesses of today’s art market are, for some, beginning to grate. In October, Chris Dercon, the director of Tate Modern in London, wrote in The Art Newspaper that there was a conflict between ‘those who treat art as a private good — from which to profit’ and those who participate in art as a ‘collective process and common endeavor, based on inclusion and access.'”
The Secret Rock Records Smuggled Into The USSR On X-Rays
“They do vary in quality, hugely. Some were virtually unlistenable. But that didn’t seem to matter, in some ways. I mean, talking to people who bought these records when they were young — even the tiniest thread of melody, of this forbidden sound, was so exciting. And it led to a different world, really, a world of freedom, [even though the music was] not obviously anti-Soviet.”
When You Want To Be Transgressive But You Also Want People To Like You
“If you look at American pop culture, the only well-loved book where a married mom commits infidelity is ‘The Bridges of Madison County’ — and it begins when she’s several decades dead, conveniently dead, and she did it for four days and then went back to her marriage. The guy wrote her these letters, and she just returned them. Why? Leave the farm! No one cares! The kids are up and out, your husband is into weighing heifers. Go to Spain, order off the tapas menu!”