“At 41, [Alessandra] Ferri is celebrating her 20th year as a principal dancer with American Ballet Theater. How she has managed to endure the broken rhythm of rehearsal – wait, repeat, discuss – for so many years is a minor miracle, physically speaking… Her limbs are spare and muscled. Everything extra has been stripped away from her birdlike frame, and after 37 years of practice, nothing unnecessary remains. Ms. Ferri has herself noticed the purifying effects time can have on the body.”
Blog
The Art Of Voter Manipulation
A new exhibit at New York’s Parsons School of Design has taken a direct approach to combining politics and art: students were each given an actual Florida voting booth from the 2000 election debacle, and asked to express themselves in whatever way they chose. The range of results is a fascinating look at the varying ways in which young people view the modern political world: some of the works are hilarious with a twinge of bitterness, while some are simply bitter. Some are even cautiously optimistic about the future.
Whatever Happened To International Propaganda?
A series of short films designed to bolster the image of the U.S. in Europe has surfaced 50 years after it was first produced. “The 25 films were long hidden from Americans because of laws, now changed, that barred the government from using tax dollars to propagandize its citizens… By turns blunt and beguiling, menacing and mawkish, the films beg an overriding question: Why, with this experience behind it, has the United States failed so conspicuously since Sept. 11 to bolster its image in another region it seeks to transform, the Middle East?”
Smithsonian Books To Shut Down
Having lost $2 million over the last decade, the Smithsonian Institution is shutting down its publishing arm, causing an outcry from scholars who fear a void in the industry. Also of concern is that the dismantling of Smithsonian Books represents another step towards the bottom-line-first philosophy that has made Smithsonian chief Lawrence Small a controversial figure.
So Nice To Have Him Back Where He Belongs
“Throughout most of his high-profile life, it seemed that Salvador Dalí had come from the moon, by way of the Walt Disney studios and some bar in a swank Paris hotel: art’s original Space Oddity, the super salesman of Surrealism… But you only have to travel the dusty back roads well inland from the tourist havens clogging Spain’s Costa Brava area north of Barcelona to come across stark evidence of the roots of so much of his imagery.” Surrealism seems to be hot again in the eyes of both critics and collectors, and a reexamination of Dali’s influences and impact is a natural offshoot of the revival.
New Year, Same Scandal
Hollywood studios desperate to protect their copyrights from unscrupulous critics had been planning to send out this year’s Oscar “screeners” on encrypted DVDs that can only be viewed on specially equipped players which would be distributed to Oscar voters across North America. But with awards season fast approaching, the technology is reportedly nowhere near ready, and the studios are in danger of a similar PR debacle to the one it faced last year, when the industry tried to do away with screeners altogether.
Where’s The Public Love For Nasher?
“[Dallas’s] Nasher Sculpture Center opened a year ago to nearly universal critical acclaim… Nothing has happened since to discredit those opinions. The trifecta of Renzo Piano’s building, Raymond and Patsy Nasher’s exemplary collection and Peter Walker’s lush garden has produced a cultural attraction that actually deserves the overused acclamation ‘world class.'” So why hasn’t the Nasher’s attendance matched its reputation? In its first year of existence, the Nasher drew 175,000 visitors, compared with 425,000 for the Dallas Museum of Art and 370,000 for Fprt Worth’s Kimbell Museum.
Levine In Boston
When James Levine debuts as music director of the Boston Symphony next weekend, he will do so as arguably the most scrutinized conductor to take over a major American orchestra in the last thirty years. A master of networking and publicity, Levine is also credited with transforming the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra from a glorified pit band to one of the country’s top instrumental ensembles. Questions about his health notwithstanding, the BSO is expecting nothing less than a rebirth on the coattails of its new leader.
Yet Another NYC-Boston Rivalry
Days after he debuts in Boston, James Levine will travel back to New York to put his new toy on display at Carnegie Hall, where comparisons between the quality of the BSO and the Met Opera Orchestra are sure to be made by the sharp-tongued Big Apple critics. Over the course of the season, Levine will conduct six Carnegie concerts: three with the Met, and three with Boston. It’s almost as if the same guy is managing the Yankees and the Red Sox, and for classical music fans in the Northeast, it should be an interesting matchup.
You Just Can’t Get Good Help These Days
California artist Clinton Fein is used to getting flak for his blatantly political and often shocking artworks. But this past week, Fein found himself on the receiving end of a protest from an unlikely source: the printer he had hired to produce his giant prints. The online printing company Zazzle rejected two of the pieces Fein submitted, claiming that their ultra-provocative content violated their standards. Fein is accusing the company of censorship; Zazzle says it’s a perfectly understandable business decision.