Tag: 05.03.16

France’s Angry ‘Intermittents’: There’s An Agreement On Unemployment Insurance For Temporary Arts Workers, But They’re Still Occupying Theatres

After several weeks of demonstrations and several days of long negotiations, five unions, one organization of presenters, and the Ministry of Culture finalized a deal to more-or-less preserve France’s system of unemployment payments for performing arts workers between jobs. But not everyone’s on board yet, venues in several cities are still being occupied by demonstrators, and there’s a very tempting target – the Cannes Film Festival – about to begin. Sophie Rahal explains what’s in the agreement and where things stand. (in French; Google Translate version here)

My Dinner With Rasputin (A True Account)

“And again a spasm went through his shoulder and he let out a low moan. Each time he sensed that his power, the current of his will, was not penetrating me and was meeting resistance, he experienced physical pain. … And in this there was no pretence, as he was evidently trying to conceal both the spasms in his shoulder and his strange, low groan.”

Julio Bocca Returns To His Ballet Company, A Month After His Mysterious Departure

At the beginning of April, Bocca suddenly announced that, for “personal reasons,” he was temporarily stepping down as artistic director of Uruguay’s National Ballet. This week, equally unexpectedly, he appeared at a gala to announce that he was back – with two new lieutenants: Sofía Sajac (interim director while he was away) as co-director and María Noel Bonino as ballet mistress. And it turns out, naturally, that there was some backstage discord involved. (in Spanish; Google Translate version here)

Why Does It Drive Literary Types Nuts That It’s The Attractive Novelists Who Get Promoted? This Is Why

“Somehow every time it gets reported (every six or seven years or so) it is always received as a disgusting revelation. … I hear you protest. I concur: It sucks that this matters. And most people in publishing think it sucks, too, I assure you. … Given how pervasive the imperatives of celebrity culture are, why are we so surprised by this?” Laura Miller has the likely answer.

White Woman Sues Getty Foundation Over Multicultural Internship Program

“Rejection sure is tough, especially when you’re a white applicant vying for a spot in a museum internship program that’s explicitly open only to minority groups. So tough, in fact, that one Samantha Niemann is now suing the Getty Foundation for racial discrimination after the institution refused to accept her application to its paid Multicultural Undergraduate Internship program.”

How Septime Webre Transformed The Washington Ballet

“What had been a well-schooled but bland troupe in its last years under aging founder Mary Day woke up when Webre took over. … The Washington Ballet’s audience grew so much that the company regularly filled the Eisenhower Theater. Webre was developing a vigorous, outgoing style that drew attention from arts enthusiasts of all kinds.” Yet perhaps his greatest legacy, says Sarah Kaufman, got started in a wet basement.