Working under the umbrella of the Royal Opera House and in partnership with local government, over the next three years the company will be giving workshops at every school in the town of Doncaster, expanding its Chance to Dance program for disadvantaged children to every local dance school, and performing for the first time ever in Doncaster. – The Stage
Blog
BBC Wants To Pry Listeners From Their Bubbles (Possible?)
The broadcaster is developing a “public service algorithm” that’s “built to surprise you,” said the BBC’s director of radio and education James Purnell.His hope is that audiences will stumble onto something new, instead of content that simply reinforces their views. Algorithms “do not have to create echo chambers,” he added, “they can open them up”. – BBC
A Beam Of Light? Crystal? What Should A Rebuilt Notre Dame’s Spire Be?
President Emmanuel Macron said last month he was not opposed to a “a contemporary architectural gesture” that could make Notre-Dame “even more beautiful”. But many in France have called for Viollet-le-Duc’s spire to be restored as it had been built. – Irish Times
How Doris Day Connected With America
Todd Purdum: “Doris Day, who died Monday at 97, was always underrated—the girl next door whose peaches-and-cream good looks, 1,000-watt smile, and sinuous, molten singing voice were so often taken for granted. Her huge commercial power—and the bad management of her third husband, Martin Melcher—meant that she seldom had material worthy of her talents, in records or on film. But when she did, watch out.” – The Atlantic
What Dance Criticism Really Needs Is Outsiders (Says A Veteran Dance Critic)
“Bring on the outsiders! The writers and journalists who can’t raise their legs to their ears but can ask a brand-new, real good question and keep asking until it gets answered with clarity.” Eva Yaa Asantewaa (who was something of an outsider, in more than one way, when she started) makes the case. – Dance Magazine
Rebuilding A Literary Canon With The Voices That Weren’t Heard In The Mainstream
“Instead of holding up a few isolated women as exceptions to the rule of male genius, we owe it to that audience to raise up a crowd: sharing, teaching, citing, and celebrating them despite their flaws and complications. Only then can we demonstrate that literary history has always contained a cacophony of female voices, diverse in their politics and outlooks, but forthright in their determination to speak in public and be heard.” – LitHub
Why Making Things Easier Actually Makes Some Things Much More Difficult
Tech has sold us on the idea of making things easier, of reducing the friction in our lives. But friction is how we sharpen up, get better, figure things out. It turns out that making things easier can make the bigger picture more difficult. – Medium
Mel Gibson Is Playing A Character Called ‘Rothchild’, And Folks On Social Media Aren’t Having It
In the movie in question, titled Rothchild and currently being pitched to buyers at the Cannes marketplace, Gibson is to play the patriarch of an extremely rich New York family. The similarity to Rothschild, the name of a wealthy European Jewish family that has been the target of anti-Semitic invective for centuries, has (one might say) not gone unnoticed or unremarked-upon online, given Gibson’s history of (one might say) unfortunate utterances. – The Guardian
33 Things You’d Benefit By Knowing As An Artistic Director
Sean Daniels passes on a Joe Haj list constituting a recipe for being a successful artistic director of a theatre. Some are common sense (don’t be an asshole). Others reflect a bit more psychology: “Everyone who works with you is firmly placed in the center of their own lives. You must collect their dreams and include them in a shared idea of the future, or pay the penalty of a disconnected and disaffected staff.” – The Awkward Stage
Comedic Sidekick Tim Conway Dies At 85 After Fight With Dementia
“Conway’s breakout role was on the 1960s sitcom McHale’s Navy, as a bumbling ensign in World War II. On The Carol Burnett Show he played Mr. Tudball, a heavily-accented boss perpetually annoyed by his slow-moving secretary. On the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants he voiced a frustrated superhero sidekick called Barnacle Boy.” – NPR