Judith Mackrell: “In classical ballet, casting can be everything. In modern dance, performances are no less individual, but we rarely get to compare different interpretations of a single role. … So last weekend, I was fascinated to see what would happen with Pina Bausch’s Kontakthof, performed by a senior cast (men and women aged over 65), and then, on the following night, by a junior cast (aged under 19).”
Tag: 04.07.10
Creating An Orchestra For The United Arab Emirates
In 2005, Philipp Maier, a pianist and conductor, quit his day job as a Dubai-based pilot for Lufthansa when he decided that a nation as wealthy and advanced as the UAE should develop its own musical culture by having a professional (Western) symphony orchestra. By December 2006, he had assembled the 70-member UAE Philharmonic. Now he’s trying to find the $10 million in annual funding he needs to pay his players full-time.
Social Programs, Xenophobia, And The Human Brain
“The ethnic makeup of an area changes due to increased immigration, and support for social welfare programs declines. As ‘outsiders’ move in, high-minded notions of compassion and equality give way to an every-man-for-himself ethos. What is it with those Swedes, anyway?” It may be neural mirroring.
How King Tut Was Like Imelda Marcos
“When Howard Carter discovered King Tutankhamun’s treasure-packed tomb in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings, he found a large collection of footwear of different sizes and shapes.” There were simple sewn sandals of palm leaf and papyrus, shoes with elaborate veneer soles depicting foreign captives, and gold-and-beadwork orthopedics to accommodate the Pharaoh’s club foot.
Quiz: How Well Versed Are You In Fictional Elections?
“7. The novel Primary Colors, following the presidential campaign of one Jack Stanton, became notorious for its clear inspiration from the real career of Bill Clinton. It was first published under the excitingly cloak-and-dagger byline ‘Anonymous’. Can you name the actual writer?”
CBC, Radio-Canada Get Millions Less In Production Funds
“Heritage Minister James Moore announced last week that the fund for creating Canadian content for TV and new media had been boosted to $350 million. But funding for English-language programming at CBC is to fall by $8.9 million in the 2010 broadcast year,” while “[f]unding for Radio-Canada programming is down $3.7 million.”
German Choir’s Mission: Bring The Unemployed Together
“Three quarters of the men and women in the choir are jobless, and half have been unemployed for more than five years. … For many, the rehearsals provide the structure and human contact they miss from being on the job.”
Harryette Mullen Wins $50,000 Jackson Poetry Prize
“In their announcement of the award, the judges wrote that Mullen’s work is ‘brilliant and enigmatic, familiar and subversive.'” Mullen, a UCLA professor, is “[c]onsidered an innovative, experimental poet.”
A Third Cultural District Proposed For Baltimore
“Baltimore’s west side would become the city’s third arts and entertainment district under a proposal endorsed by Mayor Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake for making the area more of a cultural hub.”
Would A Third Cultural District In Baltimore Even Work?
“This is not the solution. Why? Baltimore already has two arts districts – Highlandtown/Patterson Park and Station North. It doesn’t need a third. … [What’s more,] Highlandtown/Patterson Park hasn’t seen a sliver of the artistic explosion and revitalization that was supposed to happen.”