A consultant tells the BSO that it needs a “vision” in order to deal with the debt and the uncertain future. The consultant said that “the BSO should be building a blueprint for the next seven to 10 years. In Detroit, where the orchestra had ‘zero liquidity’ and went through a months-long strike nearly a decade ago, articulating a long-term plan encouraged donors to commit new funds, he said.” – Baltimore Business Journal
Blog
A 90-Foot Tall Mural Of A Ballet Dancer Is Possibly A Tool To Inspire Others
In Columbus, Ohio, ballerina Rachael Parini was the inspiration for a 90-foot billboard that advertises the BalletMet company, but it means more than that to her – it means that young dancers of color might be inspired to try, and stick with, ballet. – 10TV (Ohio)
A ‘Lion King’ Swing, Backstage In London
Swings are more than understudies – they have to learn multiple roles within one show. Twenty-year-old swing Debôrah Godchaser, who was barely born when Lion King opened, says she’s learned to control her nerves and just trust that she knows the choreography. – BBC
Drawing, Dancing, And Deradicalization
Can a madrasa that teaches children of suicide bombers to draw and dance help them get deprogrammed from hours and hours of militant videos? The school is sure trying, but “when they first arrived from Surabaya, the children shrank from music and refrained from drawing images of living things because they believed it conflicted with Islam, social workers said. They were horrified by dancing and by a Christian social worker who didn’t wear a head scarf.” – The New York Times
Why Is The Kids’ Movie ‘Abominable’ Being Banned In Countries In Asia?
Well, it’s because of a brief scene with a map, you see. “It’s not every day that a largely forgettable Dreamworks yeti movie can come under fire from multiple national governments for violating a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.” That’s some map, right? Indeed. – A.V. Club
The Short, Dreamy Film That Goes In Search Of David Hockney’s House
The narration begins, “You were too young to lose your mum, and we were too young to organize a funeral. So because we were in Yorkshire, with nowhere else we wanted to be and nothing else we wanted to be doing, we decided to go and look for David Hockney.” – Aeon
The Nobel Literature Committee Defends Itself For Rewarding A Prize To An Accused Genocide Denier
Sure, Peter Handke spoke at the funeral of Serbian war criminal Slobodan Milošević in 2006, and sure, before that he had compared the fate of Serbia to that of Jewish people during the Holocaust, but Nobel committee members “predicted that in the future, Handke would be considered ‘among the most obvious choices’ for the prize. Writing in the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, [one member] described Handke as an advocate for peace and said he was ‘anti-nationalistic.'” – BBC
Netflix’s U.S. Subscriber Growth Is Slowing As Competitors Ramp Up
This is a bit of a problem for the massive company: “The big question now is whether some of Netflix’s existing subscribers will decide to cancel its service and defect to cheaper alternatives that Apple and Disney will launch within the next month.” Or will the other two just be add-ons for people who get most of what they want through Netflix? The company is counting on it. – The New York Times (AP)
Backup Dancers Are Leaping To The Forefront With The Power Of Smart Social Media
Backup dancers aren’t very “backup” anymore; instead, like the 16-year-old who began touring with Janet Jackson at age 12 and is now a major social media influencer, they’re at the center of the conversation. That’s thanks to Instagram. “Internet popularity can be a dancer’s entree to choreographing and starring in her own viral videos, traveling the world as a guest artist and teacher, and inking lucrative brand deals and endorsements.” – The Washington Post
Julie Andrews’ Biggest Regret Is Losing Her Singing Voice
We regret it an awful lot as well, Dame Julie. But oh, the stories she’s accumulated, this one quite early: “I had forgotten to pack my dress shoes, so my mother painted white ballet slippers over my socks with what they used to call ‘wet white.’ But my socks were still wet and I left little white footprints all over the stage”. – The Guardian (UK)