Blog

Dance: Ready For A New Boom?

Has dance lost its steam, ready to settle into being a “lesser” art? Anna Kisselgoff says not: “The dance boom that exploded at the end of the 60’s and lasted until the 90’s has shrunk into a holding pattern of recycled aesthetics. But even this consolidation of the familiar hints at potential fresh directions. True, no one has recently or radically changed how we look at dance, as Merce Cunningham, Graham and Balanchine once did. Still, dance remains a highly creative art form. Choreographers are searching for new movement, and there is a slow-motion swing from pure-dance pieces to storytelling, no matter how indirect.”

Broadway’s Record Year

Broadway had a record year of revenue and attendance. Still, “Broadway continues to be a very high-risk investment and continues to be challenged by enormous cost pressures. Many shows have enjoyed strong grosses; many shows have not. Those grosses don’t invariably mean profits. Historically, one out of every five shows breaks even, and an even lower percentage make money. That trend continues. There’s no change in that.”

An Unusual Rescue Plan For Tacoma Theatre

Tacoma Actors Guild, which suddenly shut down last month, has bought a little time. A suburban Seattle theatre will take over the theatre’s building for the next 2 1/2 years while TAG tries to regroup. Bellevue Civic Theatre, a semiprofessional compared to TAG’s fully professional status, will “hire actors and crew on a show-by-show basis. TAG’s staff might get occasional work, but will not be rehired.”

Fox Reality: A Dismal Year

Fox TV, which has stacked its future heavily on reality shows, is having a terrible year. “The network has lost about 8 percent of its viewers from a year ago (8.5 million, down from 9.2 million), but Fox, like NBC and ABC, cares most about viewers between ages 18 and 49 because advertisers pay a premium to reach that group. There, Fox is off even more: 11 percent, dropping to a 3.3 rating from 3.7. A rating point in the 18-to-49 category is worth about 1.3 million viewers. In reality (and that word cuts several ways in Fox’s case), the picture is considerably worse.”

Zeffirelli: La Scala Season A Disgrace

Franco Zeffirelli has attacked La Scala’s comeback season. Zeffirelli accused the opera house of inviting second-rate conductors to perform. Writing to a journalist on the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, who had written approvingly of the programme, he said the situation “risks becoming utterly absurd and developing into a scandal of truly international proportions because La Scala belongs to the whole world”.

The New Art Buyers – Going Contemporary

The taste of art buyers is changing in London. Where formerly Old Masters and Impressionists were most highly coveted, now the young and wealthy are buying contemporary. “Most people buying contemporary art in London are still foreign, but the enthusiasm has proved contagious. A new breed of rich British collectors and investors now chase work by both established and emerging artists – things that their friends can admire – rather than a Regency dining room table and chairs.”

Now Montana: Because, Ya Know, Poets Don’t Need To Be Paid…

Montana becomes thelatest US state to want to name a poet laureate. “Under the bill, the Montana Arts Council would supply the governor with the names of three qualified Montana poets. The governor would then appoint a poet from the list to hold the honorary post for two years. The poet laureate would receive no compensation but would promote the arts throughout Montana.”

Critic At Large

Lee Siegel’s picked up another critic job – he’s signed on as books critic for The Nation. But he’s also holding on to his TV critic’s job at The New Republic. And he’s going to be twice-a-month art critic for Slate. “He’s doing something very brave,” New Republic literary editor Leon Wieseltier said, on the phone while traveling in Chicago. “He’s trying to earn a living as a freelance intellectual.”