“Dr. Adams, a tweedy anthropologist and former provost of the University of Chicago, was secretary of the Smithsonian from 1984 to 1994 … [and he] sought to make ‘confrontation, experimentation and debate’ part of the Smithsonian’s mandate.”
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Top Posts From AJBlogs 02.05.18
Magnificent Gesu Exhibit: Ask and You Shall Receive
As great projects often do, the amazing exhibition on view at the Fairfield University Art Museum began with an impossible dream. … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2018-02-04
John Mahoney, R.I.P.
John Mahoney, who died today at the age of seventy-seven, was an actor whose talents were discovered comparatively late in life — he became a member of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1977, having previously … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2018-02-05
Berkshire Museum Saga: Proposed Agreement to Resolve Art-Sale Dispute Expected Soon in Court
It looks like an agreement may be in the works (subject to court approval) between the Berkshire Museum’s trustees and the Massachusetts Attorney General, regarding the museum’s controversial deaccessions. … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2018-02-05
Would you vote for Julius Caesar?
Be honest – would you vote for any of these dodgy, blundering political contenders? The talking point around Nicholas Hytner’s production of Julius Caesar has been that many of us get to swarm around … read more
AJBlog: Performance Monkey Published 2018-02-05
Horn ensemble
The French horn presents composers with an interesting challenge. Inextricably tied to the heroic aspirations of the Romantic era, it often struggles to find a range of expression that lies outside of Wagnerian fantasies. … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2018-02-05
Monday Recommendation: Sultanof On Big Bands
Jeff Sultanof, Experiencing Big Band Jazz: A Listener’s Companion (Rowman & Littlefield) … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2018-02-05
How Do You Trace Influences In Dance?
Siobhan Burke: “I’ve often wanted to make a map tracing who mentored and influenced and studied with whom, to make some sense of the present — not to impose order on dance history, but to do justice to its sprawl. Where do generations begin and end? What little-known links connect them? How does one movement become another? Maybe the map would illuminate stories we hadn’t seen.
Why The Arts Should Stop Trying To Get On More School Curriculums
“The arts could become invisible everywhere except arts organisations if they don’t make themselves more relevant and more job-focused in schools. We need the whole arts sector to engage with education. If we stay in the bubble surrounding the arts, we get marginalised.”
Is Democracy Really Such A Great Idea? Mob Rule?
“Over the past few years concerns about “unchecked” democracy and rule by the people have exploded—but such concerns have been around as long as democracy itself. The ancient Greeks commonly equated democracy with mob rule. Aristotle, for example, worried about democracy’s tendency to degenerate into “chaotic rule by the masses” and in Plato’s The Republic, Socrates argues that given power and freedom the masses will indulge their passions, destroy traditions and institutions, and be easy prey for tyrants. Classical liberals, meanwhile, lived in mortal fear of democracy, convinced that once given power ‘the people’ would trample the liberties and confiscate the property of elites.”
The Marketplace Of English As A Global Language
English is in an age of decline; English is in an age of vigor. No language, not even Latin when it was lingua franca, has attained the full-spectrum dominance of Global English. Meanwhile in the home territories, the quality of written English has declined as its quantity has increased. In expression, the hierarchies of formality are flattened rather than reinforced. Grammar, once a benchmark of basic literacy, is now a luxury. In spelling, the prizes go to texted acronyms. KWIM?
Collaborations Are Now Dominating The Pop Music Charts
According to data from the Billboard Hot 100, a weekly ranking of the most popular singles in the country, collaborations now represent more than a third of hit songs. Of the top ten songs on the current Hot 100 chart, half are credited to more than one artist.
Balanchine’s Guys Made A Difference
One of Balanchine’s most famous maxims, for better or worse, was “ballet is woman.” Yet at City Ballet, he produced a number of extraordinary male dancers, including Jacques d’Amboise and Arthur Mitchell, both 83, and Edward Villella, 81 — American treasures who overcame stereotypes about men and ballet and, on Mr. Mitchell’s part, racism, to devote themselves to the art form and to Balanchine.
Sound Engineers Can Bend Sound To Their Will. So Why Are Some Music-Lovers Resistant?
“What I find particularly interesting in this technological revolution is the continuing resistance from many musicians, conductors, architects, clients and funders who remain vehemently opposed to electronic acoustics — despite their obvious benefits. This camp claims that the technology and underlying power supplies are not dependable, that the complexity of the system is beyond them, and that the sounds are just not good. This resistance is not a small thing. Installation of these new technologies forces huge additional expenditures and investments in order to create the volumes of space, proper materials and reflecting angles required.”
Kentucky Governor Tries To Kill The State’s Arts Programs
Bevin has spent two years trying to undermine the Arts Council and its work. In addition to his 2016 board reorganization, he forced out veteran executive director Lori Meadows. Her successor, Lydia Bailey Brown, lasted nine months. Since Brown quit five months ago, there has been little apparent effort to find a new director. The annual Governor’s Awards in the Arts, which the Arts Council manages for the governor’s office, also has gotten weird.