Marina Harss: “Imagine if one of America’s most respected modern-dance companies realized that its funding model was no longer sustainable and had to cease operations. This despite having name recognition and a highly identifiable style, and still regularly producing new work. That, in a nutshell, is what has happened to the Richard Alston Dance Company, in England.” – The New York Times
Blog
Radical Empathy
For many, many people going to a concert hall or a museum is a foreign, anxiety-producing prospect. If we want new communities to take advantage of what we have to offer, we need to develop the capacity to imagine what doing so might be like for them. We need empathy. And since the experiences of the arts can be so unfamiliar the empathy must be extreme. – Doug Borwick
“No matter what happens tomorrow”
It struck me the other day that ever since Mrs. T went into the hospital, our life has come to resemble Groundhog Day, an endless succession of repeat performances. I am, like Bill Murray, stuck on hold, the only difference being that I know what has happened to me — and that, sooner or later, it will end. In the meantime, we’re clinging to our memories, but we’re also doing our best to get what’s to be gotten out of the slow-moving present. – Terry Teachout
Meet Oliver Dowden, The UK’s New Culture Secretary
He has a history of handling thorny issues like cybercrime and data privacy. As a Parliamentary Secretary in Theresa May’s cabinet office, Dowden was the Minister for Implementation of the Government’s technology strategy. Though the new BBC licence fee and rolling out gigabit broadband will be pressing tasks, Dowden’s expertise and interest in digital matters could be good news for the creative industries. – Arts Professional
Opera Performed By And For The Deaf? These Folks Are Giving It A Try
Victory Hall Opera in Charlottesville is working on a production of Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites with Deaf performers acting the roles in American Sign Language alongside singers. The first workshops are happening at the end of this month. Reporter Thomas Floyd talks with the leader of Victory Hall Opera and stage director Alek Lev. – The Washington Post
Learning Technology Through Dance
Dance as a basis for problem-solving is a growing field within psychology research. It underlies some of the theories behind dancing as therapy for people with Parkinson’s Disease, for example, but it has also been used to encourage creative thinking among school children. And it seems to work for STEM From Dance. Their programs’ participants reported feeling more confident about STEM courses, and some could even see themselves considering a career in the field. – Forbes
Fan Fiction Has Been Around For Almost 300 Years (And It’s Been About Sex The Entire Time)
The fan-fic phenomenon seems to have gotten its start in the wake of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, with William Hogarth and Alexander Pope riffing on the adventures of Swift’s hero (and, in Pope’s case, his put-upon wife). Add to that Shamela, Henry Fielding’s lusty takedown of Samuel Richardson’s Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded, and the genre is well and truly established. – The Atlantic
End Of The Big Glamorous Cities?
Since 2010, urban inner rings, including central business districts, accounted for barely 10 percent of population growth in the nation’s 53 largest metropolitan areas. More revealing still, the country’s three largest metropolitan areas — New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago—are now losing population. Since 2012, suburbs and exurbs, which have seven times as many people as the core, are again growing faster. Suburbs are also seeing a strong net movement among educated people, those earning over $75,000 and especially those between the ages of 30 and 44. – The Daily Beast
This Could Be The Berkeley Public Library’s Most Treasured Collection
“The Berkeley Tool Lending Library is one of the Bay Area’s great public gifts, a free-to-use service for Berkeley residents looking for anything from saws to ladders to a hard-to-find screwdriver. You’d think a repository of free tools, some very expensive, would disappear frequently, but supervising librarian Dan Beringhele says theft is rare. It’s just that beloved.” – San Francisco Chronicle
Tough Talk On Theatre Diversity Efforts
I am a white, male, liberal administrator working in New York’s nonprofit theatre community. I see firsthand how the word “diversity” has kicked up a lot of dust throughout the industry. Yet for as long as we’ve been having conversations, and task forces, and panel discussions, and industry-wide conferences, I’m still struggling to see how this word aligns with clear, intentional, or lasting change. – Howlround