Blog

Could Research Prove That Theatre Is Necessary?

If empirical data can prove the arts positively impact biomechanical function, perhaps connections can be drawn to the indispensability of theatre as an art form. But is there another level of inquiry that can be engaged simultaneously, and in complement, with this scientific, top-down approach? If one has a tree whose branches are in ill health and whose leaves are withering, one’s first impulse might be to treat the leaves and branches. Another might be to look at its roots.

Leonard Bernstein Wrote A ‘Peter Pan’ Musical (Who Knew?)

“[The original] production — which starred the unlikely combo of Jean Arthur as Peter and Boris Karloff as Captain Hook — closed in 1951 after a respectable 321 performances, but then essentially disappeared. … According to most sources, Bernstein was originally commissioned to compose only instrumentals, but became so enamored with the play he volunteered songs, for which he also penned the lyrics. Unfortunately, there was a hitch: Jean Arthur wasn’t much of a singer. This is likely the reason only Wendy and Hook have solos.”

Atlanta Doubles Its Arts Budget

The original budget proposal — the first budget under new Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms — called for the city to maintain its current level of arts funding at $995,000. But Bottoms lent her support to District 2 City Councilman Amir R. Farokhi’s push to more than double that figure to $2 million.

Some Bilingual Authors Argue We Should Stop Putting Non-English Words In Italics

“The format is meant to be used for clarity, to indicate to a reader that she hasn’t come across a typo or an English word she doesn’t know. But the practice reinforces a monolinguistic culture of othering, some writers believe, and it simply doesn’t sound natural. For the world’s bilingual population — by some estimates, more than half — it’s not the way people really talk.”

The Self-Improvement Wars: How we Became Obsessed With Being Better

In 1986, John Vasconcellos, a somewhat tortured California state assemblyman who had attended programs at Esalen, persuaded Gov. George Deukmejian to fund a “task force to promote self-esteem and personal and social responsibility.” Professors from the University of California were to study the links between self-esteem and healthy personal development. And California — nay, the world — could then design programs to nip homelessness, drug abuse and crime in the bud, by teaching people to value themselves and achieve their potential.

Study: We Refer To Women Professionals Differently Than We Do To Men

“On average, people are over twice as likely to likely to refer to male professionals by surname than female professionals,” Cornell University psychologists Stav Atir and Melissa Ferguson write in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. That matters because people “referred to by surname are judged as more famous and eminent,” and therefore worthy of recognition.

Ruins Of 2,000-Year-Old City Unearthed In Albania

“Sometimes, rocks are more than crumbled pieces of the earth. Sometimes, they unveil clues about our planet’s ancient past or future. For archaeologists from the Antiquity of Southeastern Europe Research Centre at the University of Warsaw, the rocks in Shkodër, Albania, turned out to be the ruins of the 2,000-year-old lost city of Bassania.”

What Is ‘Bucking’? It’s ‘A Furiously Energetic, Hyper-Athletic’ Underground Dance Genre

“It’s a style of dancing that’s both hidden and mainstream – simultaneously a part of everything from underground clubs to Beyoncé videos and dance routines, including her recent Coachella extravaganza. … The style was originally invented by women” – in fact, by the marching band’s dance team at a historically black college in Mississippi – “but bucking was soon adopted by gay men in the south, who took what they saw on the college sports field and moved it to the club.”

How China’s Internet Users Maneuver Around Heavy State Censorship

“Many websites that Americans access on a daily basis and take for granted, including Facebook, YouTube and Google, are blocked in China. … There’s always the option of bypassing the Great Firewall of China with VPNs, but not everyone may feel the need to go through the hassle for a single news item. Instead, most of them are cognizant of the confines of the web space they occupy and are comfortable employing ways to circumvent censors.” BJ Pang Chieh Ho explains how they do it.