“This is what the Greeks called ‘glory,’ and it expresses a very different understanding of immortality than is common amongst us. One lives on only through the stories, accounts and anecdotes that are told about one. It is in this that happiness consists. This has a very peculiar consequence for societies like the United States, so singlemindedly devoted to the pursuit of happiness. We assume that the question of happiness is a question of my happiness or, more properly, of my relation to my happiness. But why?”
Tag: 06.23.09
Nina Ananiashvili On Her Final Bow: ‘I’m Trying Not To Think About It Too Much’
A Q-&-A with the 46-year-old ABT star, who gives her final performance with the company this weekend as Odette/Odile. She’s heading home to Tbilisi to concentrate on directing the State Ballet of Georgia – and to be with her two children and her husband, Georgia’s foreign minister.
Gergiev Hires Hot Young Director To Restage Mariinsky Ring
The company’s version of Wagner’s tetralogy, which has been touring the world for several years, has had no credited stage director; critics far and wide have made note of a certain dramatic slackness in the performances, while reaction to George Tsypin’s designs has ranged from “magical” to “outlandish” to “pretty funky.” But “it will be different in¬London [this summer], promises Gergiev. He has enlisted the young Anglo-Russian theatre director, Alexander Zeldin, to re-direct the existing production – the word being used is ‘re-imagining’ – so the version we see will be tighter and fresher.”
Frédéric Mitterrand Is France’s New Culture Minister
“He’s a TV personality with a trademark booming voice, a writer, film-maker and gay activist who is not only an expert on world monarchy but part of the closest thing the French republic has to a royal family: the Mitterrand clan.” (He’s François’s nephew.)
A Spiritual Jihad, Via Hip-Hop
“Real hip-hop heads know that Islam and hip-hop have been longtime friends, feeding off each other’s energy. Muslim ideals of self-respect and social change have inspired some of the greatest emcees, and hip-hop is giving voice to the dreams and daily struggles of a generation of Muslims.” The new documentary New Muslim Cool looks at the phenomenon through a Puerto Rican-American drug dealer-turned-Muslim family man.
NEA Handing Out More Than $3 Million For Bigger Big Read
“The National Endowment for the Arts is giving out funds totaling over $3 million to 269 organizations as part of its latest Big Read initiative. The program, which launched as a pilot initiative in 2006, has grown exponentially since its inception; in its first Big Read push in 2006, the NEA gave $265,000 to 10 cities to start community reading programs.”
Passages In Chris Anderson’s Free Appear Plagiarized
“In the course of reading Chris Anderson’s new book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price (Hyperion, $26.99), for a review in an upcoming issue of VQR, we have discovered almost a dozen passages that are reproduced nearly verbatim from uncredited sources. … Most of the passages, but not all, come from Wikipedia.”
Yvonne Rainer To Take Stage For First Time Since 2007
“The news in L.A.’s dance world this week has been the West Coast premiere of works by choreographer Yvonne Rainer. But today’s bigger news is that when Rainer’s ‘RoS Indexical’ and ‘Spiraling Down’ are performed at REDCAT on Thursday through Sunday, the esteemed 74-year-old will be on stage as well.”
Every Movie Has At Least Two Versions
“Nowadays, when somebody says, ‘I’ve just seen a movie,’ we don’t necessarily know whether the speaker saw it in a theater or on a mobile phone, alone or with a thousand other people, on celluloid or on a disc. These aren’t really the same experiences, even if we choose to call them all The Godfather or Up. And when it comes to distinguishing between film history and advertising, we may be even more confused.”
Off-Broadway Claims Economic Impact Of $461 Million
“Off Broadway business generated a citywide economic impact of $461.3 million during the 2007-08 season, according to a report from the Off Broadway Alliance. Tickets sales hit $173.02 million, according to the report, from 5.47 million ducats sold. The OBA … compiled the data for use as a tool in advocating for and promoting the Off Broadway scene.”