For me, the most jaw-dropping instance of curatorial (and directorial) trend-chasing was the Met’s announcement that the Canadian Cree artist Kent Monkman had been commissioned by the museum to create two monumental paintings for the museum’s Great Hall. – Lee Rosenbaum
Blog
Why Australian Ballet Dancers Stopped Stretching
A decade long study at The Australian Ballet has delivered some surprising results as to what works in stretching and what is actually damaging to the body and increasing the risk of injury. This statement to ‘not stretch’ is proving highly controversial to what has been seen as ‘common practice’ in dance studios globally for generations. – Dance Informa
‘This Is One Of The Best Times Ever To Be A Black Creative’ In Theatre, Says One Of UK’s Top Directors
Kwame Kwei-Armah, artistic director of the Young Vic in London (and former artistic director of Center Stage in Baltimore): “People are listening in a way they didn’t 10 years ago, 20 years ago, and history has taught us that they certainly didn’t listen any time before that.” – Backstage
Report: A Crisis In Local News Threatens America’s Civic Life
While the disruption has hampered the ability of newsrooms to fully cover communities, it also has damaged political and civic life in the United States, the report says, leaving many people without access to crucial information about where they live. – The New York Times
New Global Version Of EU’s ‘European Capital of Culture’
The World Performing Arts Capitals, a joint project of the International Theatre Institute and UNESCO, “twin a major metropolis like London or New York with a smaller city or town, similar to those selected for the European Capitals of Culture, or a major city with limited budget as found in Africa, Latin America, Asia and parts of Europe.” (Another report says that the first two cities selected are Shanghai and Wrocław, Poland.) – The Stage
Trump Proposes Shutting Down NEA, NEH, Cultural Agencies… Again
For the third time in as many years, the White House has proposed a federal budget that would shutter the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — which supports PBS and NPR — and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Like last year, the plan provides small appropriations for each agency to facilitate its orderly demise. – Washington Post
Walter J. Minton, Publisher Who Dared To Print ‘Lolita’, Dead At 96
As president of G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Minton published such classics as Lord of the Flies, The Godfather, and The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, and he was “among the first to recognize the potential of mass-market paperbacks … But he was perhaps best known for books that challenged the nation’s prevailing notions and legal definitions of pornography.” – The New York Times
French Academy Issues Rules For Swearing In French
The academy, founded in 1634 by Cardinal Richelieu, is the official gatekeeper of the French language whose members are known as ‘the immortals’. Its mission is to keep the French language pure and it frequently coins new French words to cover newly invented technology, not all of which catch on. – The Local
MacArthur ‘Genius’ Tyshawn Sorey Is Opera Philadelphia’s Next Composer-In-Residence
“Although he has never written an opera, his appointment grew out of Cycles of My Being, a set of emotionally complex songs he composed for [tenor Lawrence Brownlee and] Opera Philadelphia exploring the African American male experience.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Formal ‘Directing Nudity And Simulated Sex’ Guidelines Created For British Filmmakers
“Launched by Directors UK, the professional association for screen directors, the guidelines were, according to the organization, ‘born of the need to set clear and shared professional expectations that apply to everyone involved in making sensitive content, with the aim that they will become standard working practice within the industry.'” – The Hollywood Reporter