Scottish Ballet thought it ha found a perfect new home at Glasgow’s struggling Tramway. “It seems like a good idea. Scottish Ballet could fill empty spaces, it could open up possibilities of engagement with local communities and give Tramway a firmer purpose in Glasgow’s cultural landscape. But it has caused a furore. Part of the scheme would be to turn Tramway’s largest hall, currently an exhibition space, into a scenery store. This has enraged Glasgow’s visual artists. It’s a shoo-in, they say, rigged without proper consultation or process, and the accusations of conspiracy are flying.”
Blog
Why Nutcracker Nation
There are lots of reasons American dance companies mount Nutcracker year after year. But “no ballet company mounts a “Nutcracker” primarily to strengthen ties among its volunteers, to bring families together at Christmas, to provide a growth chart of a dancer’s progress. Laudable as these aspects of the work are, they are byproducts of a financial imperative. Lacking any better way to fund our ballet companies – faced with scarce government support, declining corporate backing and unreliable ticket sales for more adventurous dancing – we have become a “Nutcracker” nation indeed.”
The Commonplace Genius (What Fun Is That?)
Is Mensa, the “genius” IQ organization, inflating applicants’ test scores so as to boost its membership numbers? “Membership in the UK currently stands at a lowly 26,247 – the lowest figure in 15 years, more than 17,400 below the figure 10 years ago, when membership reached an all-time high of 43,652. While Mensa has a worldwide membership of 98,861, British Mensa, the heart and home of the society, is in a very sorry state indeed. So what has gone wrong? Well, pretty much everything…”
LA Discovers Alt-Film
Los Angeles has never been much of a home to independent or alternative film; there’s too much mainstream industry going on. But recently that’s begun to change. “Most striking are several expensive new or renovated theaters either just opening or being planned. They are evidence that interest in film’s history here goes far beyond the casual stroll along Hollywood Boulevard’s tacky Walk of Fame. Blessed with access to pristine 35mm prints of old movies from various studios and other archives, these venues are making L.A. a mecca for retro cinema. And independent and art/experimental films.”
French Court Rules In Favor Of Nasty Novelist
A French tribunal has ordered a company to pay a former employee who was wrongly dismissed after he wrote a novel that portrayed his co-workers in unflattering light. “The computer pervert, the dumb blonde secretary, the alcoholic and the boss with “the bloated face and the little black eyes of a pig” were among the characters described by Bruno Perera in his first novel, Petits Meutres Entre Associés (Little Murders Among Colleagues).”
Oscar Peterson At 78
At 78, pianist Oscar Peterson has personified jazz piano for more than 50 years. “Personifying mainstream jazz piano isn’t, however, the same thing as being the most significant pianist. Earl Hines, Erroll Garner, Tommy Flanagan and Bill Evans are merely a handful of the dozens of stylists who exceed Peterson in creativity and sheer beauty of playing. But Peterson, in his international stardom and through-the-years box office success, far eclipsed nearly all of these other stalwarts.”
DBC Pierre – Out Of Texas…Really Out
How could DBC Pierre have won this year’s Booker Prize? “Set in America, Pierre’s book is not just bad; it is so awful that its victory suggests there is something deeply wrong with British literary culture. To an American reader the book provokes neither amusement nor outrage, but puzzlement: are the British literati so ignorant of the US that they can think this is a competent parody?”
Indianapolis -Museum City
Indianapolis is in the midst of a museum building boom worth $300 million, with seven major museum projects underway.
WTC Tower Design Compromise
A compromise on the design for the design of the new tower at the World Trade center site has been reached, reports the New York Daily News. “Top aides to Gov. Pataki helped push Daniel Libeskind, whose master plan for Ground Zero was picked earlier this year, and architect David Childs, who works for developer Larry Silverstein, into an agreement.”
The Land Where Music Is Banned
“A public ban on music has gradually taken effect in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province, after a radical alliance of right-wing religious parties swept to power in local elections last year. Music and film stores have closed, musicians have been harassed and vigilantes routinely tear down posters and torch tapes, decrying them as un-Islamic.”