Banes was the first dance critic to write about the exciting new urban form known as break dancing. Her article “To the Beat Y’All: Breaking is Hard to Do,” in the Village Voice in April 1981, introduced break dancing to readers before there was even a name for hip-hop culture. Fascinated by what she saw, she returned to this genre again and again. – Wendy Perron
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Sometimes ‘Dad-Gummit’ Just Won’t Do: Researchers Say That Profanity Can Increase Pain Tolerance
British researchers found that subjects could bear a painful stimulus for 33% longer by repeating the f-word than by repeating a regular or a made-up word. Why? They think (for now) that it’s because of either the sympathetic or the parasympathetic nervous system. – Public Radio International
Boarded Up Museums Send The Wrong Message
Why did most of New York’s largest museums botch this chance to connect to a younger audience—one that has grown distrustful of their boards, labor practices, executive salaries, and even the art on their walls? Were they too impaired by the prolonged shutdown and associated financial hardship? Or could the lobbies themselves not offer adequate support in these extraordinary times? – Artnet
Kristin Linklater, Revered Vocal Coach For Actors, Dead At 84
“For more than a half-century, Ms. Linklater taught vocal technique to A-list stars like Patrick Stewart, Donald Sutherland and Sigourney Weaver; to students at New York University, Emerson College and Columbia University; and to people far removed from the performing arts who simply wanted to be less timid vocally. … Two books she wrote … have become part of many actors’ kit bags: Freeing the Natural Voice: Imagery and Art in the Practice of Voice and Language (1976) and Freeing Shakespeare’s Voice: The Actor’s Guide to Talking the Text (1992).” – The New York Times
A New Indie Online Bookstore Has Soared During Lockdown. Can It Continue?
Some wonder whether Bookshop will remain a viable player in the online retail ecosystem as stores begin to reopen, and customers who turned to the site during the shutdown revert to in-store and curbside shopping. Meanwhile, Amazon, which accounts for some 70 percent of online book sales, has strengthened its position as the world’s largest online retailer. The company reported $75.5 billion in sales during its most recent fiscal quarter, a 26 percent increase from the year-ago quarter. – The New York Times
A Fisherman May Have Just Found A 700-Year-Old Statue Lying In A Riverbed
“The mossy and somewhat eroded form of a granite statue of the Virgin Mary and child that could date from the 14th century … was discovered 11 days ago in the Sar River on the outskirts of Santiago de Compostela by an angler looking for trout.” – The Guardian
Humboldt Forum In Berlin Will Open Before Year’s End (They Swear!)
Well … “As long as there are no further pandemic-related hold-ups or lockdowns, the first parts of the complex will open on the ground floor and first floor in December, the Humboldt Forum’s leadership said in a statement. An exhibition on the history of the location and a Berlin city history exhibition will be among the first spaces to open to the public, along with an arcade of museums shops and a restaurant in the Schlüterhof courtyard. – The Art Newspaper
L.A.’s Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson, and Kirk Douglas Theatres Will Stay Closed Until Late Next Spring
“Center Theatre Group announced on Tuesday that it would remain dark until spring 2021 to help curb the spread of COVID-19 — an unprecedented, more than 56-week closure period. The largest nonprofit theater company in Los Angeles — which stages productions at the Ahmanson Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and Kirk Douglas Theatre — said programming is scheduled to resume in late April.” – Los Angeles Times
Chicago’s Mercury Theater Closes Permanently Due To Corona-Lockdown
“Opened in 1920 as a silent film nickelodeon, the movie theater would undergo several retail business incarnations in the decades that followed. … It ‘reopened’ in 2011 under the current owner/leadership team as an Equity-affiliated commercial theater house, having since produced 25 plays including four world premieres.” – Chicago Sun-Times
‘Live From Here With Chris Thile’, Successor To ‘A Prairie Home Companion’, Cancelled
American Public Media, the Minnesota-based public radio network that produced the shows, announced the layoff of 28 employees and the immediate end of the weekly program that was heard on roughly 600 local public radio affiliates and drew an estimated audience of 2.6 million. APM attributed the decision to “our pressing financial deficit due to COVID-19 and the priorities of our long-term strategic plan.” – Billboard