Alexa Maxwell is the girlfriend of Amar Ramasar, the dancer who was fired, and then rehired, by City Ballet for his role in sharing nude photos and videos of dancers – including Maxwell. “‘I am not a victim in this,’ the dancer, Alexa Maxwell, said in a news release. She explained that Mr. Ramasar had expressed his regret over the situation and that she had forgiven him.” (She was not, however, the only one whose images were shared without permission.) – The New York Times
Blog
The Practical And Ethical Challenges Of Conserving, Or Restoring, Damaged Works Of Art
It’s not an easy line to walk, and there’s a question of how far back they should go to “restore” the original work. Now, some conservation studios are also starting to work with contemporary artists, especially those who work in materials that can, er, “morph” over time, so that the art remains in good shape for centuries. – The Observer (UK)
If You Ever Wondered How Crocheting Became Hip, Del Pitt Feldman, Who Just Died At 90, Was The Artist Behind The Trend
Feldman took the classic doily craft and turned it into fashion and art. She sold her creations mostly “at Studio Del, a boutique she opened in 1965 on East Seventh Street in Manhattan’s East Village. The garments — including open-weave vests, string bikinis, minidresses and capes — seemed to capture the freewheeling spirit of the neighborhood and of the 1960s counterculture. Her clientele included Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Grace Slick and Andy Warhol.” – The New York Times
Have Publishers Learned Anything From The ‘American Dirt’ Debacle?
Though we’re not sure why they would, considering the book’s sales, Slate takes a gander at what publishers are saying about #ownvoices books. Or, well, they’re not; they mostly seem to think the book was simply positioned for the wrong market. “‘You can’t be Twitter woke and Walmart ambitious,’ the assistant editor quipped.” Wow, OK. That certainly says something about what publishers are thinking. – Slate
AT&T Paid Billions For A Satellite TV Service That Audiences Are Fleeing By The Millions
DirecTV must have seemed like a good deal in 2015. Now, it’s absolutely hemorhagging subscribers – nearly 3 million last year alone. It’s been a dizzying fall. “DirecTV was an invention of Hughes Aircraft Co., which was founded by eccentric aviator Howard Hughes in 1932. … The service launched in 1994, attracting customers in rural areas that lacked cable TV coverage. Within a decade, DirecTV had 13 million customers. Its groundbreaking NFL Sunday Ticket package proved a big hit with sports bars and die-hard football fans.”- Los Angeles Times
Peter Serkin, Pianist Who Forged His Own Path, Has Died At 72
Serkin, who “was descended from storied musical lineages on both sides of his family,” seemed at an early age destined to follow their path. But he found the expectation a burden, and went on a new path. “Like many who came of age in the 1960s, he questioned the establishment, both in society at large and within classical music. He resisted a traditional career trajectory and at 21 stopped performing, going for months without even playing the piano.” When he returned, it was as a performer who could mix the old and the new. “He played almost all the piano works of Schoenberg, Stravinsky and Wolpe. He also introduced dozens of pieces, including major works and concertos, written for him by composers like Toru Takemitsu, Charles Wuorinen and, especially, his childhood friend Peter Lieberson.” – The New York Times
Making The Leap From Documentary To Feature Film Takes Way, Way Too Long For Women
Liz Garbus and Todd Phillips both won Sundance awards for documentaries in 1998, and they’ve both been working filmmakers ever since. But Phillips is about to go to the Oscars with an obscene number of nominations for The Joker while Garbus opens her first feature at Sundance. “‘I don’t know Todd’s trajectory, and if he tried to make more docs’” said Garbus. ‘But I had a script I was carrying around in my pocket for a long time after The Farm that I couldn’t get made. So why are there more female documentary filmmakers? Because the pay is less. The threshold for entry is less. The budgets are less. I don’t think women are inherently better documentary filmmakers.'” – Los Angeles Times
Protests Against The New ‘West Side Story’ For Hiring A Dancer (Briefly) Fired From City Ballet For Sexual Harassment
Sure, there’s been a lot of buzz around this Ivan van Hove production, with new choreography by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. But: “There’s another buzz gathering around the show—and not because two dancers’ injuries forced the postponement of opening night from Feb. 6 to Feb. 20. It is instead the controversy over the production’s choice to cast dancer/actor Amar Ramasar as Bernardo. Ramasar was fired from New York City Ballet in 2018 for sharing aggressively lewd text messages and nude photos and videos of female company members without their consent with some of his fellow male dancers at NYCB.” – American Theatre
Mary Higgins Clark, Queen Of Suspense, Has Died At 92
All 56 of her books were bestsellers, according to her publisher. “In her memoir, Kitchen Privileges (2002), Ms. Higgins Clark described herself in her younger years as ‘aching, yearning, burning’ to write, certain that she would succeed but needing guidance. She eventually found it in a writing class at New York University. The professor suggested that his students seize upon a situation that they had experienced or read about and begin by asking the questions ‘Suppose …?’ and ‘What if …?'” – The New York Times
Study: Diversity In US Publishing Industry Hasn’t Changed In Four Years
The authors welcomed a drop in the proportion of white executives from 86% in 2015 to 78%, “since true change in company culture almost always requires buy-in from the very top”. But the numbers of white people in editorial roles increased from 82% to 85%, “so, even though more diverse books are being published now, it’s fair to assume that the majority of them are still being acquired and edited by white people”. – The Guardian