Blog

Day After Day In Class, Ballet Dancers Are Moving Themselves Past The Genre’s Gender Conventions

“Women can jump higher and complete more turns than ever before, skills traditionally associated with male dancers. For their part, men are training to incorporate the stretch and finesse that has long been standard for female dancers. Rather than distorting the form as some ballet purists fear, dancers who push the gendered boundaries of training ‘are more versatile and can be stretched in different ways,’ said [NYCB ballet master] Jonathan Stafford.” — The New York Times

Where The Baltimore Symphony Contract Negotiations Went Wrong — And How They Could Go Better

“When an orchestra faces an existential threat — that’s understandably how the players see this — you have to deal with it in a fundamentally different way. You don’t just follow some symphony industry playbook and toss an incendiary contract offer onto the table. In the midst of the concert season, no less. Seems to me this situation demanded a fresh approach.” Tim Smith offers some ideas for such an approach. — Tim Smith

Museo Del Barrio Cancels Show On Director Alejandro Jodorowsky Over His Boast That He Raped An Actress

The statement in question comes from the director’s 1972 book about his breakout 1970 film El Topo: “After she had hit me long enough and hard enough to tire her, I said, ‘Now it’s my turn. Roll the cameras.’ And … I really raped her. And she screamed … Then she told me that she had been raped before. You see, for me the character is frigid until El Topo rapes her. And she has an orgasm.'” — ARTnews

‘Choreographer To The Stars’ JoJo Smith Dead At 80

“With a career spanning over six decades, Smith’s credits include eight Broadway shows, hit TV shows, feature films and major domestic and international tours (including West Side Story). … Even with high-profile friends like Eartha Kitt and students like Barbra Streisand, Sylvie Vartan, Barbara Walters and Diane Von Furstenburg, Smith was best known as dance consultant for box office smash hit musical Saturday Night Fever (John Travolta). He will also be remembered as the founder of Jo Jo’s Dance Factory (currently Broadway Dance Center).” — Dance Magazine

With A New Sponsor, Could The Booker Prize Kick Out The Damn Americans?

With hedge fund the Man Group having announced that it will end its sponsorship of the English-speaking world’s leading literary award after this year, the literati are all wondering what changes might come to the Man Booker Prize — with some observers in Britain who are too chicken to compete worry about over-dominance by writers from the United States wondering if the 2014 decision to include them can be overturned. — The Guardian