“When he dances, he soars; in life, he swerves into self-doubt. Yet Mr. Stanley, a shy and self-effacing mixed-race 27-year-old gay man, has become one of the company’s most valued principals, both for his dancing and for what his presence means.” Gia Kourlas meets Stanley as he prepares to dance the title role in Balanchine’s Apollo. — The New York Times
Blog
When Our Social Media Randomizes Our Memories, It Distorts Our Sense Of Self
Philip Kennicott: “When we remember our lives authentically, we ask a fundamental question: Why did I remember this thing, at this moment? The “Why now?” question gives memory its meaning. Facebook randomizes and decontextualizes memory and detaches it from our current self.” – Washington Post
Where Dance Meets Physics (Where? Yale, Of Course)
For eight years now, a pair of Yale professors, Sarah Demers (particle physics) and Emily Coates (ballet), has taught a course called “The Physics of Dance.” “Their partnership has involved everything from directing a short film to presenting a TedX Talk and performing a piece that Coates created, commissioned by Danspace Project. This month, they’re publishing a book.” — Dance Magazine
Will The Oscars Ceremony Really Be Better Off Without A Host?
Kyle Buchanan: “One of the academy’s oft-stated priorities is to trim the telecast to a slim three hours, and with no monologue nor a host to keep cutting back to, the proceedings should at least be shorter. But will they be better? … I think we’re still underestimating the power a host has to shape the telecast in ways both noticeable and not.” — The New York Times
What We Gain And What We Lose With Peter Jackson’s Colorized World War One Footage
“Jackson asserts, reasonably, that if the cameramen of the Great War could have shot in color with sound, they would have. But such choices are trickier historically than they may seem. Most people looking at black-and-white footage of the war while it was going on never thought, Oh, if only this were in color, with sound! Any more than looking at it with color and sound now, we say, ‘Oh, but if only you could smell it!'” — The New Yorker
Last Words — What Do People Really Say Before They Die?
“We have a rich picture of the beginnings of language, thanks to decades of scientific research with children, infants, and even babies in the womb. But if you wanted to know how language ends in the dying, there’s next to nothing to look up, only firsthand knowledge gained painfully.” — The Atlantic
Lecturing About Proust In A Soviet Prison Camp
Jozef Czapski was a Polish officer fighting the Nazis in 1940 when he and his fellows were captured by the Red Army and shipped to a gulag (and thus barely avoiding the Katyn Massacre). To pass the evenings, the officers took turns giving lectures about what they remembered best, and Czapski chose Proust. Here’s why. — The New York Times Book Review
How An Old Jewish Doctor Had A Stroke And Became An Underground Rap Star
Dr. Sherman Hershfield was a rehab doctor from Beverly Hills, who, after his stroke, started speaking in rhymes. He started recounting the Holocaust in rhyme on the bus, and a passerby suggested he visit an open-mic rap night in South Central. He was 40 years older and 40 shades whiter than anyone there, but he ended up befriending KRS-One and became “Dr. Rapp.” — The Atlantic
American Alliance Of Museums Launches Program To Diversify Museum Leadership
“The project, ‘Facing Change: Advancing Museum Board Diversity & Inclusion,’ will be supported by $4 million in grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Alice L. Walton Foundation and the Ford Foundation. The funds will go toward training and resources over the next three years that will help museum leaders better reflect the communities they serve.” — The New York Times
What It’s Like When *You* Own The Wall Banksy Spray-Painted
“After a Banksy mural appeared on his Port Talbot garage last month, Ian Lewis found himself facing a ‘very, very stressful’ battle to protect the artwork from thieves and vandals. Here, four people share their own, very different experiences of being ‘Banskied’.” — The Guardian