Unlike music or theater that can be written down and faithfully reproduced, dance has always had the problem of being recreated faithful to the original. “Videotaping and dance notation now augment the age-old handing down of dances from one performer to another. But what about differences in individual interpretation or even a choreographer’s different versions? Which should be the interpretation of record?” – New York Times
Tag: 05.06.00
ON DOING THE CANNES CAN
So it’s your first time in Cannes for the “The Festival.” You’re understandably nervous and want some guidance. Herewith some assistance with the details… – National Post (Canada) 05/06/00
NO EYE FOR ART
A Berlin thief named Krysztof stole a van and discovered the next day that he had pulled off one of the city’s biggest art thefts ever. Too bad. He’d gotten rid of most of it. “Chagall and Miro he had never heard of, so he sold them to a fence for the equivalent of a few hundred pounds. But some of the loot, estimated to be worth DM1.6m (£500,000), was thrown away, conscientiously sorted into the relevant bins at the city dump. A portfolio of drawings went into the paper recycling skip, the metal sculpture and engravings were discarded in the box marked ‘scrap’. Some paintings had to be cut up because they would not fit. But Krysztof enjoyed the task. He never did like post-modernism.” – The Independent (UK)
A BLOODY MESS
An exhibit in London seeks to confront its audience. The piece that provoked the strongest reaction was a punching bag filled with pig’s blood hanging in a boxing ring which, one of the curators explained was meant as a comment on the sport. “Unfortunately one of the guests ignored the ‘Do Not Touch’ signs and punched it so hard it burst. Blood went everywhere, spattering the floors, the walls and even the startled bystanders, many of whom started screaming.” – The Independent (UK)
WOODMAN CUSTODY
In a memorabilia dispute, the Detroit Institute of Arts is battling with the family of a Connecticut puppeteer over who gets custody of the original Howdy Doody puppet. The museum claims the puppet was promised to it, and wants to add it to its collection of puppets. The family claims the puppeteer made no such promise. – Detroit News
POET’S EYE VIEW OF THE WORLD
At age 81, Lawrence Ferlinghetti is still feisty as ever. A recording company recently put out a recording of him reading his work – with musical accompaniment that makes him furious. “I find that music is a complete bring-down of the poems. They went ahead with complete disregard of my wishes in the matter.” – New Zealand Herald
THE AFTERLIFE OF INDEPENDENTS
It’s been a year since Duthie Books, Vancouver’s largest independent bookstore, succumbed to the mega-store onslaught and went out of business. Owner Celia Duthie had to do something in her next life, so she started a book-lovers retreat on the Gulf Islands. “Book clubs have taken off across the continent over the past decade, whether they’re small groups of friends who once studied English lit together or TV audiences turned on to reading by book-promoting celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey. Even the rise of megabookstores like Chapters and Indigo signal a new corporate awareness of the appetite for books and the rise of a so-called salon culture – people from all walks of life who remain interested in reading and ideas, despite the prevailing media obsession with movies, television and the Internet.” – National Post (Canada)
POET’S EYE VIEW OF THE WORLD
At age 81, Lawrence Ferlinghetti is still feisty as ever. A recording company recently put out a recording of him reading his work – with musical accompaniment that makes him furious. “I find that music is a complete bring-down of the poems. They went ahead with complete disregard of my wishes in the matter.” – New Zealand Herald