“The odds of ‘Fifty Nifty United States’ becoming a beloved children’s classic were slim. Kraft Music Hall wasn’t exactly must-see TV—in the season that ‘Fifty Nifty United States’ made its first appearance, it wasn’t even in the top 30 most-watched shows on TV.”
Author: ArtsJournal2
Toronto’s Mayor Dances In The Nutcracker
He played the moose. Wait, the … moose? “This is a Canadianized version of the Nutcracker, and that’s why there is a moose in it.”
Eldzier Cortor Painted The African-American Social Life Of Chicago’s South Side
“With money from the W.P.A., he helped found the South Side Community Art Center in Chicago, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.”
William Blake, Poet And Artist And Sex Radical
“Blake also claimed he encountered Satan on the staircase of his South Molton Street home in London.”
Miami City Ballet Turns 30, And Here’s How It Has Grown
“Today it’s one of America’s leading companies: together with San Francisco, Pacific Northwest and Boston—Houston, some would say—it ranks in artistic success and national recognition right behind The Big Two: New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. In other words, it’s a miracle.”
So It Begins: The New York Times’ 100 Notable Books Of 2015
And it’s full of literary fiction, poetry and nonfiction, with the occasional genre book tossed in.
The Man Who Wanted To Be An Orchestral Violinist But Perfected Record Players Instead
“At his father’s insistence, though he would have preferred music school, Mr. Pickering attended Newark College of Engineering (now part of the New Jersey Institute of Technology) and after graduating went to Juilliard.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs For 11.29.15
Got Miami Week Blues? A New Twist
It’s Art Basel Miami Beach time, and some 250 galleries will be showcasing their art and artists at the convention center there beginning mid-week. Then there are all the satellite fairs, the gallery and museum… … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear ArtsPublished 2015-11-29
AJBlog: Real Clear ArtsPublished 2015-11-29
Dance celebrates the music of Thomas Adès at New York City Center. Anna Nowak lifted by James Pett in Wayne McGregor’s Outlier. Photo: Kevin Yatarola “His music moves from here to there in a way… … read more
Arts Grants Reward The Wrong Things
“We’re so used to jumping through funding hoops that when we try to make the case for continued state funding of the arts, we parrot back the values of the political classes – tangible, rational, moderate and easily quantifiable benefits to society. Rather than proving their worth, talking about the arts simply as a way to transfer skills or drive a social agenda diminishes them to something small-minded and replaceable and undermines the very ecology we seek to protect.”
Theatre That Changes Everything
“When artists and audience members share an intimate, borderless space in which they can see one another clearly, the possibilities of proximity can be electric.”