Wendy Whelan On Christopher Wheeldon

“One day I found [young] Chris sitting in the wings after a stage rehearsal … He told me that he was interested in choreography and that he hoped to get the chance to make some work of his own one day. I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I didn’t put much stock in his dream, though I found it endearing that he wanted to grow up to be a choreographer one day.”

Chinese Web Video Companies Battle For Viewers Abandoning State TV

“Beijing has allowed such private companies to flourish with fewer of the controls imposed on China’s entirely state-owned newspapers, TV and radio, possibly to avoid stifling what is seen as a promising high-tech industry. Their surging popularity threatens to erode viewership for state TV, which Beijing sees as a tool to mold public opinion. That raises the threat communist leaders might tighten controls to protect their media presence.”

Why Should England Fund The Arts? (Do We Have To Answer That Question Again?)

“Please God, no. Over 60 years after the foundation of the Arts Council, 50 years after the creation of the RSC, with publicly funded British plays the toast of Broadway, visits to newly free museums doubling in a decade and British concert life the envy of the world, surely we don’t have to justify giving public money to the arts? Again? Well, yes, we do.”

Why Are We Still Fascinated With Joan Of Arc After Almost 600 Years?

“The self-proclaimed agent of God’s will, she wasn’t immortalized so much as she entered the collective imagination as a living myth. Centuries after death, she has been embraced by Christians, feminists, French nationalists, Mexican revolutionaries and even hairdressers. (Her crude cut inspired the bob flappers wore as a symbol of independence from patriarchal strictures.)”