“Wang Zhi … says he can make a tidy 2m yuan ($290,000) a year from his cross-dressing routines. … He regularly appears on nationally televised variety shows. Officials often invite him to entertain people in poor areas.” And why does Xi Jinping’s increasingly conservative government tolerate this? Wang Zhi and his fellows do drag Beijing opera-style. – The Economist
Tag: 07.20.19
Sculptor Marisa Merz, Key Figure In Arte Povera Movement, Dead At 93
“Merz was the lone woman among a loose coterie of men who came to be grouped in late-1960s Italy under the banner of Arte Povera — ‘poor art’ — a term [denoting use of] humble, raw materials. … Recent exhibitions have made it clear that she was the most versatile and inventive member of the group.” – ARTnews
‘Radical Hospitality’ — Why Seattle’s Intiman Theatre Has Made All Its Tickets Free
“The initiative, artistic director Jen Zeyl explained, is about more than the standard theater problem of getting ‘butts in seats.’ (Though, of course, there’s that.) It’s about getting the butts one wants in seats — not just the people who can afford to take the $25+ crap shoot known as a theater ticket, but the people who can’t: the woman at the corner store, high-school sophomore, the guy asking for spare change on the sidewalk.” – The Seattle Times
In The Moment: The Essential Challenge For Dance
There is no full way to capture the presence of dance except through dance itself. This tension—between dance and the representation of dance—is always at the heart of dance; dancers feel it, too, and so do the people who watch dance and the people who write about it. – New York Review of Books
Former Yale Law School Dean: Universities Need To Treasure Their Elitism, Not Hide It
Anthony Kronman: “Our most elite universities are today running away from their elitism, denying it, doing their best to conceal or suppress it. In running away from it, they not only disown values and traditions that are an important part of their identity, but they also disserve the great democratic country in which they sit. These elite schools are national treasures. Their elitism is what makes them such. It’s not a problem, it’s an asset, a value, something to be cherished and cared for.” – Chronicle of Higher Education
The Algonquin Round Table Crew Was Famously Witty. But They Made Little Lasting Impact
“The Algonquin Hotel became a city landmark in 1987, in large part because of the vicious circle’s outsize fame. This is a fine way of acknowledging a tourist destination, but it shouldn’t be mistaken as an endorsement of the group’s larger intellectual significance — because in the end, there isn’t much of one.” – The New York Times
What Role Do The Arts Have To Play In Dealing With Climate Change?
In the past few years, as the climate crisis has become a political emergency, artists have discovered a crucial role for themselves, making an issue that sometimes seems abstract instead feel emotional and urgent. – The Guardian
A Rich New Vein Of Stories From/About Millennials
On paper they are the most educated, diverse and materially privileged generation in history but, in the western world at least, millennials are also the first to face dimmer prospects than their elders. – The Guardian
A Chinese American Teenage Dancer Says ‘Haters Will Always Be There Hating’
But the 16-year-old says she wants to focus on what she’s passionate about – and she wants ballet to change, “to be a welcoming place for everyone and step away from traditions that can be harmful to people who might look different.” – The Oregonian
Hong Kong Actor Simon Yam Was Stabbed On Stage In China
Yam, who was in the city of Zhongshan, was attacked during an appearance by a man who rushed him and slashed the actor’s stomach and hand. Yam had surgery for what his management team says are “minor wounds.” – South China Morning Post