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At One Of Europe’s Top Ballet Schools, Young Students Are Overworked, Medically Neglected, And Encouraged To Smoke

An Austrian government commission found that, at the ballet academy at the Vienna State Opera, “it is clear that children and adolescents are not sufficiently protected from discrimination, neglect and negative medical effects,” with their training and performance schedules being overloaded and insufficient healthcare provided. And the young students are openly encouraged to smoke in order to stay thin. – Yahoo! (AFP)

Do You Hear The People Singe? Set Of ‘Les Miserables’ Catches Fire During Show

At the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff on Monday night, the performance of the musical had to stop for ten minutes after the actor playing Javert accidentally lit part of the set on fire with his flaming brand. One audience member tweeted, “I thought the fire was part of the show … until all the dead bodies started running off set!” – WhatsOnStage (UK)

Are The Arts In Crisis Or Is This A Great Opportunity?

While some have reacted to this trend with protests of ‘art for art’s sake’, perhaps we should view the increasing focus on the usefulness of the arts as an opportunity. The cultural sector now has the chance to define how it would like to be valued. Perhaps having to prove “relevance” will seem a light touch when compared to metrics like gross value added or wellbeing adjusted life years.  – Arts Professional

Developers Propose £3.5 Billion London-Themed Fantasy Park… In London

Working in partnership with Paramount Pictures, BBC and ITV, on behalf of a Kuwaiti developer, the team have concocted a perfect vision of little Britain that will bring a tear to even the most steely of Corbynite eyes. After being drawn into the great union jack glass tent, visitors will be funnelled into High Street, a place “full of shops and restaurants” – like actual British high streets used to be. Maybe there’ll be an empty library and an interactive food bank experience, too. – The Guardian

When Classical Music Mattered

“As a common language of celebration or eulogy, as a means of expressing collective joy or sorrow, classical music is indeed a dying tongue. Would 2,500 people cram into the nave and transept  of the National Cathedral today to hear Haydn’s Mass in the Time of War, as they did in January 1973, when Leonard Bernstein conducted a concert in protest of President Nixon’s second inaugural?” – American Scholar

How Will You Remember The 2010s? A Series Of Crises

“How will we remember the last 10 years? Above all, as a time of crises. During the 2010s, there have been crises of democracy and the economy; of the climate and poverty; of international relations and national identity; of privacy and technology. There were crises at the start of the decade, and there are crises now. Some of them are the same crises, unsolved. Others are like nothing we have experienced before. Some of them are welcome: old hierarchies collapsing. Others are catastrophes.” – The Guardian

America’s Forbidden Composer: Take Two — Listening to Arthur Farwell

“America’s forbidden composer” is Arthur Farwell (1872-1952), leader of the “Indianists” movement in music. Politically, he seems hopelessly incorrect today. But his significance is not merely historical. He composed some of the most original and compelling American piano, choral, and chamber music of the early twentieth century. – Joseph Horowitz