A journalist meets the 2015 Nobel Prize winner at the Louisiana Literature festival: “She was reluctant, when asked, to describe the evolution of her style. (‘Must I explain everything?’) … ‘When I walk my dog in Minsk, I go past a church,’ she told the festival audience, ‘I see the youth with their new cars. The priest comes out to see them. They want their cars to be blessed.’ This is how she prefers to answer questions – through details. … When the interview ended, after forty minutes, I figured Alexievich had had enough. … Back in New York, a few weeks later, I read the transcript: The translator, mindful of Alexievich’s schedule, had suggested we end the interview much earlier than we had. Alexievich declined and started to ask me questions.”
Tag: 10.16.17
Big Plans For Sydney Dance Company As It Heads Toward 50th Anniversary
Rafael Bonachela, who took the reins of the company from Graeme Murphy and Janet Vernon in 2009, “wants to create a Sydney Dance Company 2, a sibling company of eight young dancers to tour regional theatres throughout Australia. … [He] also wants Sydney to have its own ‘dance house’ – a dedicated theatre just for dance performances such as Sadler’s Wells or The Place in London – and an annual international dance festival.”
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Has Lunch With Dave Eggers
“Adichie looks with a gimlet eye at American liberal doctrine, preferring open and frank debate to the narrow constraints of approved messaging. Though she is considered a global icon of feminism, she has, on occasion, displeased progressive sects when she’s expressed her beliefs about gender with candor and without using the latest terminology.”
The Case For Needing Mavericks
Nowadays scientists tend to shun the ‘maverick’ label. If you’ve hung out in a lab lately, you’ll notice that scientific researchers are often terrible gossips. Being labelled a ‘maverick’, a ‘crank’ or a ‘little bit crazy’ can be career-killing. The result is what the philosopher Huw Price at the University of Cambridge calls ‘reputation traps’: if an area of study gets a bad smell, a waft of the illegitimate, serious scientists won’t go anywhere near it.
Inside The Sprawling, Controversial Museum Of The Bible
It’s the brainchild of the evangelical Christian who owns Hobby Lobby and whose company paid a $3 million fine for intentionally mislabeling smuggled ancient Iraqi artifacts, and it’s opening soon. “Organisers contend that the museum is non-partisan, non-sectarian and educational rather than evangelical, appealing to people of all faiths or no faith. … But that is not how it began.”
The Unsung Heroes Of British (And Other Countries’) Theatre
Lyn Gardner: “The best teachers teach, do and more importantly they enable the future and support and inspire the young. Many have just as much artistic talent as those who appear on our stages and in movies, although they spend more time covered in paint in the school hall than on the red carpet. Their role and dedication is more important than ever at a time when opportunities for the rising generations are drying up, social mobility is stagnant and arts education is under siege in schools because of the EBacc.”
Important New Study Reveals Mental Health Toll On Musicians
Previous research showed that more than 70% of musicians have experienced anxiety and panic attacks. The “precariousness and insecurity” of a career in music can be psychologically damaging, the new report claims, resulting in many experiencing “constant stress” around finding work and being financially stable.
You Should “Know Yourself”? Um, Not Necessarily A Great Idea
This whole ‘knowing thyself’ business is not as simple as it seems. In fact, it might be a serious philosophical muddle – not to say bad advice.
When Philadelphia Eliminated Arts Programs From Its Schools, Here’s How Local Foundations Stepped Up
“Most obviously, the city’s financial woes were so calamitous that, funders, most of whom already had extensive footprints in the city, had no choice but to respond en masse. Samuel Johnson’s old adage applies here: ‘When a man knows he is to be hanged, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.’ That being said, there’s far more to Philadelphia’s success than the threat of (figurative) imminent hanging.”
Lauren Gunderson Is America’s Most-Produced Playwright This Season. So Why Don’t You Know About Her?
“Her plays are staged almost twice as often as anyone else’s on the list, far ahead of venerated figures like Eugene O’Neill and August Wilson, who edged her for the top spot last year. (The survey excludes Shakespeare, America’s perennial favorite.) Although men still write three-quarters of the plays that get produced, Gunderson has built a national reputation with works that center on women’s stories. And, though most playwrights also teach or work in television, she has managed to make a living, in San Francisco, by writing for the stage.”