The Alabama state legislator who has introduced a bill to ban books that “promote homosexuality” has been invited by George Bush to the White House. “Traditional family values are under attack. They’ve been under attack “for the last 40 years”. The enemy, this time, is not al-Qaida. The axis of evil is “Hollywood, the music industry”. We have an obligation to “save society from moral destruction”. We have to prevent liberal libarians and trendy teachers from “re-engineering society’s fabric in the minds of our children”. We have to “protect Alabamians”.
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Bombay Dreams To Close
The musical Bombay Dreams is closing on Broadway eight months after opening. “The musical opened to negative reviews in April and has been playing at half-full capacity in the Broadway Theatre.”
Brain To Computer: Go Left
Scientists have found that it is possible to control a computer by thinking. “Brain activity produces electrical signals that can be read by electrodes. Complex algorithms then translate those signals into instructions to direct the computer. Such brain activity does not require the use of any nerves or muscles, so people with stroke or spinal cord injuries could use the cap effectively.”
What Does It Take To Be Creative?
“Almost all of the research in this field shows that anyone with normal intelligence is capable of doing some degree of creative work. Creativity depends on a number of things: experience, including knowledge and technical skills; talent; an ability to think in new ways; and the capacity to push through uncreative dry spells. Intrinsic motivation — people who are turned on by their work often work creatively — is especially critical.”
Australia Council Strategy – Fewer Projects, More Money
“The idea is to spend more on fewer projects but ones that the council hopes will excite Australian audiences. A $9 million fund will be set up to drive strategic initiatives, which could include more international touring, support for indigenous art and education projects. Heads of art-form boards will be given greater power and will be encouraged to apply to the fund with important projects.”
Critics Blast Australia Council Overhaul
As part of the Australian government’s restructuring of the Australia Council, the Community Cultural Development Board and New Media Arts Board are to be abolished. Critics were quick to pounce: “It’s a fairly appalling decision made by people who clearly have very little comprehension of what contemporary arts is all about. They have shown a complete disregard for any idea of progress.”
Michael Kaiser – Mr. Fix-It
During the last 20 years Mr. Kaiser has made a minor art form of turning around troubled ballet and opera companies, including American Ballet Theater, the Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation and the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden in London. His latest accomplishment – resurrecting Dance Theatre of Harlem. “Within five or six weeks, Mr. Kaiser helped the company retire its debts, find a new executive director, expand its board and begin facing the future. ‘I needed to show troubled organizations around the country that you can fix your problems. I take very little credit for the actual implementation. They’ve done it’.”
New La Scala In The Spotlight
La Scala’s reopening gets high marks from opening night attendees. “The uncontested stars of the evening were La Scala’s fully restored, resplendent auditorium and its brand-new, technologically advanced stage. Uncontested inside the theater, at any rate. Outside, amid the thousands of bystanders, there were vociferous protests against the expenditure of public funds on a cultural operation at a time of high unemployment and government cutbacks.”
Rachmaninoff Manuscript Sale Halted
The sale of an important Rachmaninoff manuscript was halted this week. “The annotated manuscript of his famous Second Symphony was due to be sold at Sotheby’s in London, with an estimated price of £300,000-£500,000. But it was withdrawn just before the sale after Rachmaninov’s estate claimed to be the true owners. It was found in a cellar in Switzerland after being lost for almost a century.”
UK’s Isle Of Operatic Woe
“One cannot ignore the woes of three national companies, or their common origin. Devolution, the 1997 mantra of victorious New Labour, has reverted large parts of the island to a dreary provincialism where parish pump functionaries lord it over public entertainments. Anti-elitism, the lip service that Labour rulers pay to their grass roots, has fostered a class war against high culture. And the disavowing of responsibility that is the hallmark of this governmenthas allowed successive culture secretaries and arts council chairmen to escape Scot-free – in the Caledonian sense – for demolishing two generations’ worth of artistic growth in the very regions where it was most needed.”