Editor James Inverne: “I’m afraid the ‘we’re Brits waving the flag’ charge is a red herring. Our jury included judges from (deep breath) Russia, Germany, America, Brazil and Australia as well as the U.K. and even the non-British judges tended to vote overwhelmingly for British choirs.”
Tag: 12.21.10
Cherry Lane Theater in Greenwich Village to Be Closed, Sold
“Angelina Fiordellisi, the artistic director of the nonprofit Cherry Lane Theater, a Greenwich Village institution since 1924, will step down next year … She said that she plans to sell the building … and that constant financial struggles in recent years and the changing nature of the business had led to her decision.”
Cuban Defectors Reshape Ballet in America
“Over the past two decades, dozens of dancers … have left the Caribbean island, without assurance of the ability to return … Today they hold principal positions in many of the United States’ top ballet companies. The distinctive Cuban style – which emphasizes speed and athleticism, as well as theatricality – has colored technique standards from New York to San Francisco.”
David Foster Wallace and Wittgenstein
The late writer’s father is a philosophy professor, and DFW seriously considered becoming one himself. James Ryerson considers the ways in which serious philosophical issues suffused DFW’s work: e.g., “Roger Federer as Religious Experience” (the role of aesthetics in watching sports) and “Consider the Lobster” (the ethics of boiling a crustacean alive).
China Tries to Ban Foreign Words and ‘Chinglish’ From Media
“China’s state press and publishing body said such words were sullying the purity of the Chinese language. It said standardised Chinese should be the norm: the press should avoid foreign abbreviations and acronyms, as well as ‘Chinglish’ – which is a mix of English and Chinese.”
Parents Use Technology to Convince Children of Santa Claus
“Video and photo editing, smartphone apps, email and other digital tools are gaining popularity as parents try to persuade their 21st-century kids that there is a Santa Claus. Technology can create evidence more convincing than fake reindeer tracks in the snow – though without a deft touch, Santa can come off looking like a perp in a security video.”
A Pilgrimage to Santa Claus Village in Lapland
“At Santa Claus Village, I saw the same sort of bewilderment on the faces of parents that I’d seen at Fatima, in Portugal, when I’d visited earlier this year. At Fátima, many of those faces belonged to people who had crawled, painfully, on their knees for miles in hopes of some miracle to be found … Yet for me, the greatest mystery at Fatima was: How could one small town support so many tacky souvenir vendors hawking the exact same religious tchotchkes?”
The Ignominious Origin of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer first appeared in 1939 when the Montgomery Ward department store asked one of its copywriters, 34-year-old Robert L. May, to create a Christmas story the store could give away to shoppers as a promotional gimmick.”
Jennifer Homans Speaks About Dance
“What is it that makes a great dancer? It’s that the body is somehow illuminated. There’s something expressive that’s coming through. It’s that that makes a great dancer – not whether they have perfectly turned out legs or a very thin body.”
Christie’s Had Record Sales In 2010; Sotheby’s Sales Doubled
“Christie’s will announce record global sales of £3.2 billion ($5 billion) for 2010 next month. The figure includes both auction sales and private sales, and just nudges ahead of the company’s previous high of £3.1 billion in 2007. Sotheby’s will announce its figures in dollars, and its website indicates that its global auction sales have almost doubled last years, reaching $4.3 billion, not including private sales.”