While the numbers of Blacks in dance has continued to grow, the corresponding increase in the overall presentation of Blacks in dance has been relatively nominal and stagnant. To date, companies of Blacks in dance still face the all too often, “only one per year, and maybe a few more if it’s in February during Black History Month” syndrome. Now, as financial resources have tightened, not only do these companies face the “only one per year” syndrome but find that presenters are too often limited to booking a group based on its cost rather than what it can deliver qualitatively in order to break even. – International Association of Blacks in Dance
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Toward An Anti-Racist American Theatre
“This moment and movement did not come out of nowhere but emerges from longstanding frustration among BIPOC theatremakers … [who] have never truly felt welcome in an industry geared toward and run by white theatremakers and audiences, into which they have only fitfully been invited to do work, and even then under terms that have been variously exploitive, unequal, and harmful.” – American Theatre
How Your Heart Helps Shape Cognition And Perception
As the heart, lungs, gut and other organs transmit information to the brain, they affect how we perceive and interact with our environment in surprisingly profound ways. Recent studies of the heart in particular have given scientists new insights into the role that the body’s most basic processes play in defining our experience of the world. – Quanta
The Detroit Institute Of Arts Borrowed An El Greco From The Director’s Father-In-Law. Ethics Violation?
Because the display of a painting in a prestigious museum can increase its value, the loan can be seen as breaking conflict-of-interest and self-dealing rules and a complaint was filed with the IRS and the Michigan attorney general. The director says that all procedures were properly followed, being shown at the museum wouldn’t really affect the value of an Old Master, and, basically, if you can get the long-term loan of an El Greco, why wouldn’t you? – The New York Times
Joanna Cole, Author Of ‘Magic School Bus’ Series, Dead At 75
“She originally created The Magic School Bus in 1986 with illustrator Bruce Degen. The core idea of a sweet and nerdy crew of schoolchildren taking field trips into scientific concepts, bodily parts, into space and back to the age of dinosaurs — and always led by their teacher, the intrepid Ms. Frizzle — eventually spun out into dozens of tie-ins and more than 93 million copies in print, plus a beloved television show that aired for 18 years in more than 100 countries.” – NPR
When COVID Hit, Arts Groups Put Loads Of Free Content Online. Has It Connected With People?
“Concerts, conversations, classes, collages, child-friendly shorts and more filled arts websites and social media channels daily as institutions and individuals worked to preserve relationships and remind audiences of the arts’ societal importance. Was anybody watching?” Jeremy Reynolds checked in with the performing organizations in Pittsburgh and reports that “not all content is created equal.” – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Nine Black Classical Musicians Talk About How To Change The Field
Conductors Thomas Wilkins and Roderick Cox, clarinetist Anthony McGill, bassoonist Monica Ellis of Imani Winds, singers Lawrence Brownlee and Latonia Moore, and composers Tania León, Jessie Montgomery and Terence Blanchard offer their ideas. – The New York Times
Stop Blind Auditions, Says New York Times Chief Critic, Or Orchestras Will Never Become More Diverse
Anthony Tommasini: “The status quo is not working. If things are to change, ensembles must be able to take proactive steps to address the appalling racial imbalance that remains in their ranks. Blind auditions are no longer tenable.” – The New York Times
Opera Must Stop Ignoring Its Race Problem, Offstage As Well As On
“In 20 years, I’ve never been hired by a Black person; I’ve never been directed by a Black person; I’ve never had a Black C.E.O. of a company; I’ve never had a Black president of the board; I’ve never had a Black conductor,” says bass Morris Robinson. “I don’t even have Black stage managers. None, not ever, for 20 years.” – The New York Times
Smithsonian’s National Museum Of African Art Accused Of ‘Culture Of Racism’
A two-page letter sent by former employees and board members to Smithsonian secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III “alleges that more than 10 former or current Black employees have ‘reported or experienced incidents of racial bias, hostile verbal attacks, retaliation, terminations, microaggressions and degrading comments,’ all of which have been ignored by management when raised formally. … The letter’s signatories are calling for the resignation of the NMAfA’s deputy director and chief curator Christine Mullen Kreamer.” – HuffPost