A clandestine group of “urban explorers” calling themselves La Mexicaine de la Perforation and which claims its mission is to “reclaim and transform disused city spaces for the creation of zones of expression for free and independent art” has claimed ownership of a cinema located in a cave under Paris. The place was discovered by puzzled police last week. “They (the police) freaked out completely. They called in the bomb squad, the sniffer dogs, army security, the anti-terrorist squad, the serious crimes unit. They said it was skinheads or subversives. They got it on to national TV news. They hadn’t a clue.”
Tag: 09.12.04
Shakespeare – The Man Behind The Myth
“How did Shakespeare become Shakespeare? Apart from the poems and plays themselves, the surviving traces of Shakespeare’s life are abundant but thin. The known facts have been rehearsed again and again for several centuries.” But the issue has never been settled. Will it ever be?
Cleveland Theatre Turning Point
This fall marks a turning point for Cleveland theatre. “One of the most important such dramatic dialogues in Cleveland this fall isn’t at one particular theater, it’s at all our theaters. It’s about the theater. What kind of theater are we willing to support? To what degree do we value our theatrical institutions and artists? Enough to keep them around and performing at the same level?”
Pittsburgh Symphony: On Our Own
The Pittsburgh Symphony is without a music director this season. “Most significant will be how the orchestra fares as it steps out on its own for the first time since Mariss Jansons arrived seven years ago. This is not the first time the PSO has been without an active music director. It happened from 1948 to 1952, when Fritz Reiner left for the Chicago Symphony, from 1984 to 1987 after Andre Previn departed and in the 1996-97 season before Jansons arrived. In each of these cases, the PSO survived, and even benefited from the exposure to new conductors.”
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Gets A Home
For the first time in its history, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra has a home of its own. “The center is a symbol of transformation for an orchestra that, in a labor agreement last year, handed more power to its musicians and replaced the position of artistic director with a diverse field of artistic partners.”
BBC For Sale? (At Least Pieces…)
Might the BBC sell off some of its profitable assets? “The BBC is under pressure to become more profitable in the run-up to its charter renewal in 2006 as it needs a war chest to prove to the government it can deliver outstanding programmes. The sale of its commercial wing, BBC Worldwide, could generate up to £2 billion and prevent cuts to the corporation’s 27,000-strong workforce.”
Devoted To Fagan
“Typically, modern dancers stay with a choreographer for months, not years; and those who do stay for years do not often stay for decades. So what is it that keeps dancers performing — and performing with Garth Fagan — for 10, 20, even more than 30 years, up in Rochester, a snowy, medium-size city near Lake Ontario?”
Who Are You? (The Test Says…)
Tests of personality are everywhere these days. “Clearly, there’s something about the elusive notion of personality, and the possibility of capturing it, that draws us to these tests. But an increasingly vocal group of critics is fighting this testing tsunami, arguing that many of the tests themselves have not been tested and that their unscientific conclusions may do far more harm than good.”
Guillem – The Prima Diva At (Almost) 40
Royal Ballet star Silvie Guillem is almost 40. She’s “difficult, it is said, known for being arrogant and argumentative. She stormed out of the Paris Opera following fights with Rudolf Nureyev and took off for the Royal Ballet, where she had more rows, this time with Kenneth MacMillan. She said no to an amazing number of parts and, even where she said yes, she refused to do them in the usual ways or wearing the costumes that other people provided.”
Escapism vs. Confrontation
As America steamrolls towards a vitally important presidential election with bitter recriminations flying on all sides and wild-eyed fury replacing measured discourse, Philip Kennicott sees a distinct split in the art world, mirroring the polarization of the U.S. population. “The arts are sorting themselves out into two camps: one that prizes independence, provocation and even direct political engagement, and another that offers a refuge apart from controversy and argument. They are, in short, diverging down either a secessionist path (come with us, if you will) or a concessionist route (we will work to please as many as we can). Both paths have their promise and their danger.”