Bournemouth To Get £3.2M Dance Centre

“Due to open in 2010, the facility [on England’s southern coast] will feature performance spaces for both professional and public use, plus a 190-capacity studio theatre. It is being built as part of arts venue the Bournemouth International Centre and Pavilion, which is currently undergoing a separate £13 million refurbishment scheme, funded by the Trevor Osborne Property Group, to improve its 1,430-seat auditorium and ballroom.”

Colossus Of Rhodes To Be Reborn As World’s Largest Light Installation

“But unlike the ancient Colossus, which stood 34 metres high before an earthquake toppled it in 226BC, the groundbreaking work of art is slated to be much taller and bigger. […] [I]n the spirit of the 21st century the new Colossus has been conceived as a highly innovative light sculpture, a work of art that will allow visitors to physically inspect it by day as well as enjoy – through light shows – a variety of stories it will ‘tell’ by night.”

Rahm And Billy Are Making Ballet Cool For Boys

“With the flurry of attention for the ballet history of congressman Rahm Emanuel (President-elect Obama’s pick for White House chief of staff), it’s suddenly become a lot cooler to be a guy who knows his way around toeshoes, turnouts and tights.” But it’s not just because of Emanuel. “‘Billy Elliot the Musical,’ which opened this week to enthusiastic reviews, has thrust boys and ballet into the bright Broadway spotlight.”

U Of Cincinnati’s Tall Order (Maybe): 165 Steinways

“A vast fleet of pianos is expected to arrive in Cincinnati next month, part of the largest order — by number of instruments — ever filled by the Steinway & Sons piano company. The College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati said it is plunking down $4.1 million for 165 pianos, to be delivered over the course of the academic year.”

Prop. 8 Opponents Target Sundance

“With activists against Proposition 8 — California’s ban on same-sex marriage — turning to threats of boycotts, attention is focusing on a surprising target: The Sundance Film Festival. The festival has been fielding calls and emails from activists calling for Sundance to pull its films from a Park City fourplex operated by Cinemark Theaters…. Other activists have called on a boycott of Sundance altogether, merely because of its ties to Utah, where the Mormon Church is headquartered.”