Dvořák’s “New World” Symphony may not have been the work of a Black composer. But Dvořák embraced the African-American experience to a degree that would be controversial today. – Joseph Horowitz
Blog
“Porgy” and Race — continued
On “the Porgy Exchange,” in which an ordinary woman changed, on the spot, the opinion of two prominent Black opera singers that white baritones should be able to take on the lead role in Gershwin’s opera. – Joseph Horowitz
BBC Gets 15,000 Complaints After Dance Group’s BLM Performance
The dance group, who won the talent show in 2009, took to the stage with a politically charged performance during the ITV show’s semi-finals this month. It depicted a white police officer kneeling on the Diversity star and temporary BGT judge Ashley Banjo, echoing the killing of the unarmed black man George Floyd in the US. – The Guardian
A “Supply Chain”? – How Metaphor Insulates Us From Seeing Injustice
There is, of course, no actual chain linking companies together, but since then the image of a supply chain has shaped the way we picture our global economy and how products move through it. It’s become so entrenched in our thinking that we find it hard to describe the process in any other way. But when we lose sight of the role that these images play in our thoughts, our ideas and imaginations are left constrained, shaped by a metaphor we’ve forgotten is there. – Aeon
The Science Behind That Bright Orange San Francisco Sky
The reason for the orange—and for the wan yellows and sickly grays that followed—is a combination of atmospheric chemistry and the physics of teeny-tiny things. – Wired
First Hollywood Blockbuster “Tenet” Earns $2000M Worldwide, Only $6.6M In US
The time-bending sci-fi thriller Tenet generated $6.7 million in the U.S. and Canada during its second weekend of release, representing a 29% drop compared to opening weekend. Initially, Warner Bros., the studio behind “Tenet,” touted a $20 million debut. But a closer dissection of those numbers reveal they were heavily spun to include weekday preview screenings and the long holiday weekend. In reality, “Tenet” only made about $9 million between Friday and Sunday. – Variety
The Smiley Pig That Got This Violinist Fired
Responding to a post on social media about Chinese-American relations a few months ago, he typed in the image of the smiley pig face — “the cute one,” Yi-Wen Jiang said — and went about his day. But his posting soon caused an outcry and he was called a bigot for what his critics said was his effort to deride the Chinese people as pigs. Within days, Mr. Jiang had lost his job and, he said, his reputation. – The New York Times
Dance Out In The Wild – NYCB And Martha Graham Dancers Out Of The Theatre And Online
The next day, back home in Brooklyn, I watched the livestream of the Saturday evening show, curious about the difference. In truth, the virtual experience was in some ways an improvement. The frame of the camera, like the arch of a proscenium stage, brought a focus and a sense of proportion to the choreography that it had lacked outdoors. “Natural History,” I thought, is a theater dance without a theater. – The New York Times
Online Chess Is A Breakout Online Streaming Hit
The coronavirus pandemic and stay-at-home orders have crowned a host of unlikely winners catering to bored audiences. But watching livestreams of chess games? Could one of the world’s oldest and most cerebral games really rebrand itself as a lively enough pastime to capture the interest of the masses on Twitch? Turns out, it already has. – The New York Times
Richard Florida: We Need To Save Our Arts Infrastructure
We cannot allow this piece of our social and economic infrastructure to fall apart. Our creative economy of arts, culture, design and entertainment is no mere luxury. It is one of the three key sectors that power innovation and economic growth. More than gross domestic product or economic power, the true measure of a nation’s vitality and resilience is its cultural and technological creativity. From Louis Armstrong to Beyoncé, and from Irving Berlin to Lin-Manuel Miranda, arts and culture reflect and reinforce the power of our diversity. – USA Today