The Wife Of Putin’s Spokesman Does An Ice Skating Routine In The Uniform Of A Holocaust Victim

The routine went over well on Russian reality TV – but not on social media: “Former Olympic figure skating champion Tatiana Navka and actor Andrey Burkovsky wore striped concentration camp uniforms and yellow Stars of David for their performance on state-owned Channel 1’s ‘Ice Age’ show, in which professional skaters are paired with celebrities.”

This Week in Audience: The Trump Era Will Force The Arts To Define Its Audiences; The Stories We All Respond To…

This Week: The Trump victory forces theatres to figure out who its audience is… A classic example of starting small in Kenya and developing a demand for books… How did an 80-year-old self-help book get on this year’s bestseller list?… The six stories to which we all respond… Authenticity and an unlikely concert venue.

Top Posts From AJBlogs For The Weekend 11.27.16

This Week in Audience: The Trump Era Will Force The Arts To Define Its Audiences; The Stories We All Respond To… This Week: The Trump victory forces theatres to figure out who its audience is… A classic example of starting small in Kenya and developing a demand for books… How did an 80-year-old self-help book … read more
AJBlog: AJ Arts AudiencePublished 2016-11-27

Paul Desmond, Born 11/25/24 Normally, I pay little attention to my smart phone, but today it alerted me to several social media messages pointing out that I had not posted about Paul Desmond on his 92nd birthday. Believe me, … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-11-25

Two thoughts about music
Mrs. T and I just got back from seeing Maria Schneider’s first set at the Jazz Standard. Two thoughts come to mind, the first original and the second not: • In the presence of music, … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2016-11-25

Premium Snow: Are the Luxe New West Coast Nutcrackers Worth the Bucks ?
Nutcracker season has arrived. Photo: Doug Gifford/Segerstrom Center for the Arts Two highly anticipated, top-draw Nutcracker productions that premiered on the West Coast last season — Peter Boal’s new setting of “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker” … read more
AJBlog: Fresh Pencil Published 2016-11-25

Reasons to Be Thankful: Rock n roll
Here are my 25 favorite rock records. Trying to focus on proper studio albums, so live concerts and anthologies strongly discouraged. No jazz, classical music, pure country, electronica, acoustic blues, or hip hop. (I’ll … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrashPublished 2016-11-25

This Week’s Top AJ Stories: Does Pittsburgh Symphony Strike Settlement Solve Anything? Should Arts Funding Be Dependent On Encouraging Bad Behavior?

This Week: Did settling the Pittsburgh Symphony strike just kick the can down the road?… The idea of progress is a fragile (and recent) notion… Why should this arts funding depend on encouraging bad behavior?… The art establishment is caught in an increasingly high-stakes investment battle… We celebrate reading – but has the dissemination of ideas and knowledge moved on?