Gong Li is the most recognizable and lauded actress in Chinese film today, yet she still has trouble finding satisfying roles, and when she does they are nearly always historical drama, rather than films tackling contemporary issues. “’Historical dramas are freer from government interference.” – Sydney Morning Herald
Tag: 10.11.00
QUEEN OF THE GREAT WHITE WAY
Elton John’s “Aida” was disliked by the critics, dissed by the Tony awards, and generally made fun of in the theatre world. Yet the show has become a surprising hit on Broadway, pulling in $800,000 a week. – New York Post
BACK-SEAT DIRECTOR?
Critic Michael Billington blasted London’s Royal National Theatre (and its artistic director Trevor Nunn) several months ago for a “lack of imagination” and “saturation diet of musicals.” Now he’s outlined a plan to save the RNT, with developing new work at its core. “My complaint at the moment is that the National programme resembles that of the more conservative opera houses which assume that there are simply 50 golden masterpieces to be endlessly revived from here to eternity.” – The Guardian
TAKING A STRONG STAND
In a bold stand against the Australian government’s recent restructuring of performing arts funding (in which state theater companies will have to turn to private investors for substantial backing), Sydney Theatre Company Artistic Director Robyn Nevin has pledged to quit her position rather than comply with a more commercial business model. – Sydney Morning Herald
“BECKETT TIME”, —
— an international festival of the Irish writer’s work, kicks off in Scotland this week. But unlike other tributes, this one won’t rely on “Godot” and other Beckett staples. “I wouldn’t want the festival to be predictable. With a Brazilian puppet group redefining three of his short plays, Beckett texts projected on to well-known Glasgow buildings, a season of his films at the GFT, and a Beckett flotation tank inspired by his work for radio, it could hardly be called that.” – The Herald (Scotland)
SOME COMMITMENT TO THE ARTS
Boston’s mayor likes to boast of his commitment to the arts. But a new report suggests that Boston’s Office of Cultural Affairs is in disarray. Last month a request for a three-year grant to the Boston Office of Cultural Affairs from the state was rejected by a panel. The city was further embarrassed when the state panel gave the Boston agency the lowest rating of all 36 applications by arts organizations across the state. – Boston Herald 10/11/00
MICHELANGELO DRAWING DISCOVERED
A previously unknown 500-year-old Michelangelo drawing, a study of a mourning woman valued at up to £8 million, was discovered by a Sotheby’s agent during a routine insurance visit to an estate in North Yorkshire. The ink drawing was pasted into an otherwise unremarkable scrapbook. “It is the most significant Michelangelo work to be discovered in living memory.” – The Telegraph (UK)
HOW I SNOOKERED SOTHEBY’S
Michel Van Rijn, infamous art dealer, smuggler, and author is full of stories about his dealings with the auction house, including a claim he faked artwork that Sotheby’s then sold. Are the stories true? Who knows, but they’re entertaining reading. – ARTNewsroom.com
DANCE ABUSE
A New Zealand dance teacher conducts a survey of teaching dance in New Zealand and finds widespread abuse – “splinters of glass deliberately being placed in the shoes of a young ballerina, a mother pushing her daughter’s rival down a flight of stairs, a mother giving her daughter alcohol and drugs to calm her before ballet exams, and girls forced to diet to maintain the thin ballerina’s figure.” – New Zealand Herald
- DENIAL? Most of Auckland’s ballet teachers met at an emergency meeting to discuss the survey, which attracted wide media attention this week. – New Zealand Herald 10/13/00
- PROTESTS: New Zealand’s ballet world is “up in arms over the survey, which was initially based on 40 students’ experiences.” – New Zealand Herald 10/14/00
- DEFENSE: “It is disconcerting to realise that there are obvious parallels to be seen between the 19th-century model of a perfect female and the 21st-century model of a desirable ballet student/dancer. – New Zealand Herald 10/16/00
CORPORATE READ
“American life is affected by the seemingly never-ending growth of large corporations… Will it change fundamentally the way we read and what books are available to us? The big publishers, who comprise some eighty percent of all publishing volume, are largely owned by media conglomerates who are accustomed to earning profitability ratios of their other media holdings. Book publishing often disappoints those expectations and has to turn to a kind of publishing that will ‘please their parents’.” – Feed