“He began to busk at the Place de Clichy metro station, making what money he could from music. At first, he sang unaccompanied, learning to project his voice down the corridors and carriages. Within six months, he had scraped enough cash together to move into a hostel. There, he taught himself guitar, piano and drums, slowly finding his calling as a musician.”
Author: ArtsJournal2
Top Posts From AJBlogs For 11.22.15
Recent Listening In Brief
Jazz is not dying. I know that because the postman, the Fed Ex driver and the UPS man keep dropping off proof that it’s alive. I can’t keep up with all of the albums they… … read more
AJBlog: RiffTidesPublished 2015-11-22
Adieu, Sylvie, et Merci
Sylvie Guillem dances into retirement. Sylvie Guillem in Akram Khan’s TeknêPhoto: Bill Cooper Force of Nature. That’s the title of a documentary about the career of the formidable French dancer, Sylvie Guillem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmMaNQBED8Q). You… … read more
Sylvie Guillem dances into retirement. Sylvie Guillem in Akram Khan’s TeknêPhoto: Bill Cooper Force of Nature. That’s the title of a documentary about the career of the formidable French dancer, Sylvie Guillem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmMaNQBED8Q). You… … read more
Elena Ferrante’s Mothers Elicit A Massive, And Heartfelt, Sigh Of Recognition
“Ferrante is to women what Judy Blume was to pubescent girls in the 1970s: both a shock and a relief, writing what most don’t even admit to thinking. This is especially true regarding Ferrante’s depiction of motherhood, one filled with frustration, difficult choices, and the constant threat of the loss of identity.”
The New And Fearless Generation Of Playwrights Is Bringing About A New Golden Age Of Theatre
“There’s nothing like a Tony Award for getting regional theaters interested in a new play. But I don’t think Broadway should be the ultimate goal of today’s best playwrights.”
What’s Up With The Present Tense In Literary Fiction?
“The present tense seems natural for capturing ‘the jitter and flux of events, the texture of them and their ungraspable speed,’ [Hilary] Mantel explains. ‘It is humble and realistic – the author is not claiming superior knowledge – she is inside or very close by her character, and sharing their focus, their limited perceptions. It doesn’t suit authors who want to boss the reader around and like being God.'”
New York Was Too Homogenous For This Artistic Director, So He Moved To Des Moines
“Soon some of the wrestling fans were coming to hear their favorite wrestlers read poetry—and in turn some of the poetry fans started going to wrestling matches to see their favorite poets wrestle. Conversations started happening between these groups of unlikely spectators, and a popular event was born.”
These Art Donors Are Tired Of London Getting Everything
“In America, pretty much every major city – Detroit, St Louis, Chicago, Dallas, Forth Worth, Houston, LA, San Francisco, Seattle – they all have museums which could virtually be national museums in terms of their scope and their quality. This situation just doesn’t happen in England, and there are very few museums that have got the ambition to emulate that sort of level of excellence.”
They Do Say Older Actors Never Stop Working, And Lois Smith Has Proved It
“‘It sometimes makes me cranky and sometimes excited,’ she said. ‘It’s lovely and hard.'”
The Ballet Spotlight Is, For This Cultural Minute, On Men
“Underwood – a male model as well as a ballet dancer – will say he is hopeful things are ‘evolving’, with ballet ‘feeling more relevant to people who are into pop culture’ now than ever before.”
The National Book Award-Winner On Getting His Book To Print And Not Being An Expert
Ta-Nehesi Coates, who won for Between the World and Me: “The best part of writing is really to educate yourself. I don’t want to be anybody’s expert. I came in to learn.”