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Expanding Best Picture To More Than Five Nominees Was ‘One Of The Best Moves The Oscars Have Ever Made’

Kyle Buchanan: “Of course, the decision to blow up the best-picture category wasn’t greeted with nearly as much enthusiasm in June 2009 … Industry veterans worried that the expansion would sap a nomination of its prestige factor, and many of the publicists and producers who had won previous best-picture fights felt particularly aggrieved, like high achievers learning that the SAT had become easier after they took it. … [Even so,] I’d go so far as to say it saved the show.” – The New York Times

The “free range” workplace

When we “go to work” in the arts, we often mean actually going to an official and shared physical workspace. But there’s more and more opportunity and reason to cut the tether altogether — to abandon a shared, physical “home base” for an entirely remote or virtual work network that doesn’t have a street address. – Andrew Taylor

Using Fun And Games To Teach Professional Dancers

“Just because students are in an advanced technique level doesn’t mean they’ll feel confident moving without set steps.” To get students to explore outside their comfort zones, Alisia Pobega and Louis-Martin Charest use the lightness of open-ended games and exercises as a kind of permission for students to begin to create something independently, without the goal of technical perfection or aesthetics. – Fjord Review

Dancers Are Expected To Be More Flexible Than Ever — And That Can Be Dangerous

“While high extensions can be very exciting, it is thought that this trend has led to an increase in injuries in the lower back, hips and ankles. Adam Sklute, artistic director of Ballet West, has noticed that dancers who are incredibly supple often have a greater lack of control. … The fact is, the more flexible you are, the more you have to work on gaining the strength to manage it.” – Dance Magazine

England’s Business Tax To Be Cut 50% For Small Music Venues

“230 small and medium-sized venues in England and Wales will see a 50% reduction in business rates, a fee which is charged to most non-domestic properties. It should save each venue an average of £7,500 a year, according to the Independent Venues Trust – a charity which aims to protect and improve UK grassroots music venues – and make it more likely that acts still have small, sweaty spaces to hone their craft.” – BBC

Will AI-Powered Avatars Replace Many Of Our Public Interactions?

The idea is that these kinds of AI interactions scale in a way that actual humans do not, and while that may seem ominous for the future of real human connections, from the AI Foundation’s point of view it’s not all that different from the way we use social media today. In both cases, the interactions are asynchronous, and they allow us to reach people we otherwise might not talk to at all. – Fast Company

The Race To Create The Darkest-Ever Black Was Actually A Series Of Accidents

“We weren’t looking to create the world’s blackest material, “says the founder of Surrey Nanosystems, which introduces Vantablack in 2014. “That wasn’t our thing. We were trying to solve a calibration problem for space instruments using carbon nanotubes.” And five years later, an even darker black was developed, absorbing 99.995% of all light that strikes it. Vivian Le explains how these materials were developed, why they aren’t pigments, and the reason everyone got mad at sculptor Anish Kapoor. (podcast plus text; includes video) – 99% Invisible

“American Dirt” – An Immigrant Story That Rings False To Immigrants

The heart of the problem is the industry — the critics, agents, publicists, book dealers who were responsible for this project. They’ve shown just how little they know about the immigrant experience beyond the headlines. So we are left with this flawed book as our model, these damaging depictions at a time when there’s already so much demonizing of immigrants. – Los Angeles Times