Haruki Murakami famously wrote his first novel in English and then translated it into his mother tongue himself, resulting in a plainspoken, “neutral” (his word) style far removed from standard literary Japanese. Several critics referred to that style as “translationese.” Masatsugu Ono (both a translator and a novelist himself) makes the case that Murakami, Kenzaburo Oe, Yoko Tawada, Minae Mizumura all write in other languages and translate foreign literature into Japanese, and that this is what has made their work so distinctive. – The Paris Review
Tag: 06.23.20
Under New Director, Ballet San Antonio Will Go Ahead With New Season
“The coronavirus had barely arrived in Germany just before Sofiane Sylve was hired Feb. 1 as the new artistic advisor for Ballet San Antonio. Her experiences there in May with strict coronavirus protocols at the Dresden Semperoper Ballett, where she is principal dancer and ballet master, gave her insight into how BSA will adapt its teaching and performances to keep dancers and audiences safe.” – Rivard Report (San Antonio)
John Zorn – Musician Inside The Cracks
Though Zorn has operated almost entirely outside the mainstream, he’s gradually asserted himself as one of the most influential musicians of our time. His projects and endeavors during the past 40-plus years could fill an encyclopedia: from rigorous classical works and radical reimaginations of Ennio Morricone film themes to deep explorations of his Jewish heritage under the Masada banner, whimsical neo-exotica, and sprawling improv excursions, where his sometimes jagged, sometimes supple saxophone playing mingles with the sound worlds of collaborators like Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson. – Rolling Stone
An Opportunity To Restructure How Arts Organizations Are Governed?
For performing arts venues where a high level of public funding is invested, this may be the time to let go of the myth that somehow, a member of the audience of venue A is exclusive to that organisation and not recognised as being a potential participant in all local performing arts. Letting go of protective control over relationships with single customers and integrating sales and marketing functions – including the box office – could yield several hundreds of thousands of pounds in many areas. – Arts Professional
Retiring From Ballet At 26
Why would Silas Farley leave the stage at New York City Ballet when he was absolutely at the top of his game? “My hope is to become a leader in a really substantive way in the art form. … And I know that there are so many other facets of leadership experience and education that I don’t have.” – The New York Times
A Plan To Diversify American Orchestras
The Catalyst Fund, a three-year, $2.1 million program launched in 2019 by the national support organization, is designed to help its members identify, confront and ultimately correct what Jesse Rosen, the League’s president and chief executive officer, called built-in “systems of inequity.” – Chicago Sun-Times
A Virtual Cannes Is Open. Are Movies Still In Business?
Given the festival’s date shift from early May to late June, Cannes now looks far better than it did a few months ago at the beginning of a lockdown that stretched across the planet, shuttering theaters from Beijing to New York. But now, cineplexes have begun to reopen in Europe and Asia, with box office figures in some territories like Scandinavia, Japan and South Korea exceeding expectations. Adding to the cautious optimism is the fact that U.S. theaters are poised to open up in July. – The Hollywood Reporter
Pandemic Has Shut Down The Cultural Economy Of The Berkshires
The COVID-19 crisis has devastated the Berkshires, where tourists flock for theater, art, music, and dance, as well as yoga, spa treatments, and hiking and biking amid wooded hills. One after another this spring, world-renowned organizations canceled their seasons or shut their doors, some for the entire year — crippling the Berkshires’ tourism industry and the more than 8,000people working in it. – Boston Globe
NY Design Commission Unanimously Denies Mayor’s Plan To Move Wall Street Bull
The artist, who spent $350,000 to make and install the sculpture as a guerrilla artwork in 1989, had argued that moving it would transform it into an advertisement for the stock exchange, which would violate his copyright. – Artnet
Time To Do Away With The Movie Multiplex?
What the past three months of relative confinement—and the resulting shift from theatrical to online releases—have proved is that movie theatres, particularly the multiplexes, hardly matter now. The widespread shutdown has only exaggerated and accelerated a shift that was already occurring. – The New Yorker