Ever since 9/11, various social and political commentators have declared flatly that the only hope for global peace is for the Islamic world to undergo an “Enlightenment” of the type the West experienced a couple of centuries back. Such an Enlightenment would overturn religious misconceptions, dispel ethnic hatred, and bring the Islamic world into harmony with its neighbors and with itself. Sounds good, hmm? One problem: many highly intelligent people don’t see what was so great about the Western Enlightenment, and make a compelling argument that it caused at least as many problems as it solved.
Tag: 06.22.03
San Antonio Looks For Answers
Deep in the heart of Texas, there are those still hoping for a savior to step forward and save the bankrupt San Antonio Symphony. To be sure, the city has no shortage of billionaires who could make the SAS solvent again in the blink of an eye, but it’s fairly clear that none of them are going to help, says Mike Greenberg. So why isn’t anyone looking at realistic options instead of waiting for a miracle? “There’s only one real answer for the symphony: It has to make more money by doing more of what it does well: making music… To build a future, the symphony needs a hammer in the hand, not a rabbit in a hat.”
America’s Theatres – How’re We Doin?
Leaders of America’s non-profit theatres gather in Milwaukee to talk about the state of the business. “Last year more than 50 percent of the membership’s theaters ran deficits (compared to 29 percent the previous year). ‘For this [current] year, if I’m hearing the murmurs in the field correctly, it brings an even darker picture’.”
Joffrey – At Home In Chicago
A dozen years after the Joffrey Ballet moved to Chicago, director Gerald Arpino says the city has become the ideal home. Chicago is “a typical American city in that it’s still striving for its standards. It has that pioneer quality about it. It’s ambitious – you can see it in the architecture, you can see it in the museums. Yet it’s still always looking forward to new frontiers in the arts. This is always what the Joffrey has been about to me.”
West End Waste
Cameron Mackintosh is spending £30 million to clean up some of his West End Theatres. But the West End itself is a dismal disgrace. “The West End is absolutely sordid. No Londoner goes there. It only exists for junkies, itinerants and tourists. It’s not London, it is something else. Having better, more attractive streets makes people behave better. Why don’t they wash the streets, as they do in Paris? I don’t know what the Mayor of London is doing but addressing the West End would be a start. Ten years ago, in Barcelona, the mayor spirited the city into something else, stopped it from being a sleazy tip. I don’t know anybody who goes to West End theatres – if you were to ask them, it would be as if you had passed them a dead rat.”
Brain Jolting
Scientists have discovered that stimulating the brain with a “transcranial magnetic stimulator” enhances brain function and creativity. “You could call this a creativity-amplifying machine. It’s a way of altering our states of mind without taking drugs like mescaline. You can make people see the raw data of the world as it is. As it is actually represented in the unconscious mind of all of us.”
Is Corporate Philanthropy On The Rise Again?
“Overall corporate giving decreased in 2001, according to the American Association of Fundraising Counsel, which will release 2002 estimates Monday. But anecdotal evidence suggests that Philanthropy Inc. is growing again. Despite the struggling economy, many socially responsible companies are not only matching past giving, they’re increasing it.”
Lost In America – When All The Radio Sounds The Same
Used to be you could tell where you were in America by what was on the radio. “When I turned on the radio, I heard America singing, even in the dumb banter of ‘morning zoo’ hosts. But then last summer, rolling down a highway somewhere between Montana and Wisconsin, something new happened. I lost my way, and the radio couldn’t help me find it. I twirled the dial, but the music and the announcers all sounded alike, drained, disconnected from geography, reshuffling the same pop playlists and canned bad jokes. What a miserable trip. I heard America droning.”
Dance Dreams – NY’s International Ballet Showcase
Forty-eight dancers with dreams of the big time converge on New York for the New York International Ballet Competition. “Arriving from as far away as New Zealand and as nearby as Brooklyn, the dancers, in tattered tulle skirts, ripped T-shirts or see-through tights, are a varied lot with a common denominator: most view the dance world from centerstage in a mid-level company, or through the crowd in a corps de ballet. They want to catapult their careers into what many believe is the center of their universe.”
A Month of Surprises
The classical music world is so tightly guarded, so underreported on, and so frustratingly predictable that surprises are rare. Yet, in the past month, Anthony Tommassini has found himself stunned by no fewer than three announcements from some of the world’s top classical figures. The New York Philharmonic’s surprise move to Carnegie Hall is, of course, at the top. Second on the list: the Cleveland Orchestra’s decision to extend the contract of its young and (some say) unproven music director through 2012 after only one year on the job. And last, but not even remotely least, there is the stunning news that Luciano Pavarotti has scheduled a farewell performance at the Met. Again. And he promises to show up this time.