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David Hallberg Looks Back On His Final Days At The Bolshoi

In 2011, Hallberg joined the Bolshoi Ballet as a principal, the first American (and one of the few foreigners) ever to do so. In 2019, he danced what would turn out to be his final performances there, and perhaps anywhere. A New York Times photographer followed him over his last months at the Moscow theater, and here he talks with Roslyn Sulcas about some of the photos. – The New York Times

Meet The Musicians Who Are Going To The Scenes Of Tragedies to Play

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Twenty volunteer musicians, all Black and Latinx string players from in and around Milwaukee, make up the Black String Triage Ensemble. When a tragedy occurs, they bring their instruments to the scene and play a concert. They go to shootings, suicides, overdoses, house fires, car accidents. They organize their concerts around the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. – Chicago Tribune

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Why Won’t Publishers Fact-Check Their Nonfiction Books?

“Without widespread consumer awareness that most books are not fact checked, or about which imprints publish which books, there’s no real reason for publishers to care about fact checking. If it comes to light that a book contains major errors, it’s the author, not the publisher, whose reputation takes the hit. … Meanwhile, the stakes of not fact checking books only continue to get higher, as it’s become easier and easier to destroy a book’s credibility with a few clicks.” – Esquire

What Ancient Statues Tell Us About Universal Facial Expressions

Previous research on universal facial expressions has centered largely on similar responses by people from different modern communities. These studies seems to suggest that individuals across cultures classify emotions in similar ways—but the fact that many non-Western communities have interacted with Western cultures (often through colonialism) raises the possibility that participants share surveyors’ understanding of facial expressions not because they’re universal human knowledge, but because they were introduced to the culture in recent history. – Smithsonian

Should Critics Be Reviewing Movies Showing In Theaters While COVID Is Still Rampant?

Richard Lawson: “If the reason for my hesitancy to go to a restaurant or, when New York theaters are open, go see a movie is safety, then is it a bit, I don’t know, morally compromised to review a movie that is coming out, thus offering a tacit encouragement for people to go watch the thing, out where it’s still dangerous?” – Vanity Fair

As Movie Theatres Reopen, Audiences Weigh The Safety Calculation

As high-profile titles like Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi epic “Tenet” and “The New Mutants” gear up to hit the big screen, marking the first major films to open since theaters were forced to close in March, audiences are faced with the choice of whether or not to return to the movies. Sure, they’re desperate for some entertainment and eager to do something more social after months of relative isolation, but do the risks associated with indoor activities justify a few hours of big screen escapism? – Variety

Powell’s Books Says It Will Stop Selling Through Amazon

“For too long, we have watched the detrimental impact of Amazon’s business on our communities and the independent bookselling world,” Powell wrote. “We understand that in many communities, Amazon — and big box retail chains — have become the only option. And yet when it comes to our local community and the community of independent bookstores around the U.S., we must take a stand.” – Geekwire

Applause Is The Crucial Thing We Lack In Performances Without An Audience

“So reflexive is applause, it can be easy to forget how powerful it is, what makes it important enough to fake” in performances and sports events without live audiences. “Applause is a marvel of atonal expressiveness. A spontaneous projection of unity. And much like the art it responds to, we are worse off without it; it’ one of those things we do to make us less afraid of each other.” – The Washington Post