Why is Mikhail Baryshnikov working on so many projects? “Just about everything he does professionally — including disbanding his White Oak Dance Project after more than a dozen years and taking a non-dancing role in the TV series “Sex and the City” — is intended to support his visionary Baryshnikov Arts Center, located in the top half of the new six-story W. 37th Arts complex in New York. Scheduled to open this fall, the complex houses three off-Broadway-style theaters (one of which Baryshnikov plans to acquire by 2006) and, above them, studio, conference and office spaces that he already owns and intends to use to make New York City more art-friendly for young people.”
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Art Dealers And History
Art dealers are just interested in making money, right? Earning their livings off the sweat of artists. Yet art dealers have made enormoug contributions to the history of art. “Over and over you find that interest in a new or unexplored area of art history in Britain was dealer- led. Like any profession, art dealing indeed has its rogues and scoundrels. But far more dealers are cultivated men and women who adhere to the highest professional standards. It is high time the contribution dealers make to art history was acknowledged and celebrated.”
Prokofiev’s Grandson In The Nightclub
Sergei Prokofiev’s grandson is 29 and is “already one of Britain’s hottest producers of garage music.” His new project is a string quartet, and he’s hoping to attract the young hip crowd to a nightclub to hear it.
Neil Simon Gets A New Kidney From His Publicist
“Playwright Neil Simon, who has been increasingly debilitated by kidney problems in recent years, received a kidney yesterday from his longtime friend and publicist, Bill Evans, in transplant surgery at a New York hospital.”
Robin Wood, 79
Wood was one of Canada’s most prominent music teachers. He helped build the Victoria Conservatory of Music. When he and his wife arrived in Victoria in the 1960s, “the tiny school had only 40 students and 12 faculty. Nearly four decades later, the renamed Victoria Conservatory counts more than 2,000 students, 25 staff members and 130 faculty.”
The Starsky And Hutch Of Homeland Security?
A new series being shopped around for American TV is about Homeland Security agents. “It’s about two D.H.S. agents who hurry to trouble spots and fight no-goodniks with the help of local police. According to the production company, President Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge both endorse and contribute sound bites to the introductions of the series. The producers also claim to have ‘clearance’ from the FBI, the California State Counter-Terrorism Unit and the Los Angeles Police Department. Now, you and I might scoff, but this is a serious business.”
Australia’s Blockbuster Sale
“One of Australia’s most prominent art collectors, John Schaeffer, has been forced to put his $30 million mansion and his entire collection of paintings and sculpture up for sale. Christie’s claims next month’s Sydney auction of hundreds of art works will be the biggest sale in Australia in decades.”
Help For UK Museums?
The British Parliament debates the country’s level of support for museums. Museusm are under budget pressure, and a change in the tax code will only make it worse. “It does seem rather odd to me that there is this shift away from museums in favour of other sorts of public expenditure … at a time when so much more is being demanded of museums and galleries.”
The Bolshoi’s New Experiments
The Bolshoi Ballet is one of the most tradition-bound of arts institutions. But there are signs the Bolshoi is loosening up, willing to experiment. “What has changed is that the Bolshoi has abandoned its preconceived notions of what is right for it, the idea that certain styles – even if artistically meritorious – are best left to other theaters. Now anything is fair game at the Bolshoi, at least if it takes place on the New Stage.”
Hip-Hop Lit
Hip-hop has become a major part of the popular culture of music and movies. Now it’s taking on publishing. “To some they’re urban or street fiction; others prefer the term “hip-hop lit. It’s hip-hop fiction, because it’s mirroring the things you saw in the music.”