“In early 2011, poets began setting their words to the sound of dubstep and electronica. Almost twelve months on, the signs are that poetronica is here to stay.”
Tag: 12.30.11
Arab Protesters Say It Through Art On The Streets
“What is interesting to see in Egypt, and in all these countries, is that artists are not only going out into the city, they also become agents of change in society.”
Are The Blues Going Extinct?
“Ever since notes could be etched on paper, no beloved music has gone completely silent, especially since recorded technology emerged in the late 19th century. But some genres have become so peripheral to American lives as to be reduced to historical footnotes. Studied by academics, performed by die-hards and applauded by connoisseurs, they’re forgotten by nearly everyone else. This is where Chicago blues is headed.”
Of Occupy, The Arts, And Charges Of Elitism
“Yes, the arts, especially in America, where government support is so paltry compared with Europe, have relied on backing from the wealthiest sliver of society. And, yes, top ticket prices at prestigious performing-arts institutions are out of reach for many among the 99 percent. But as we try to grasp what the committed Occupy Wall Street activists are saying to the performing arts, can we all agree to put aside at last the charge of elitism?”
American Movie Box Office Take Down Sharply – Lowest Since 1995
“2011 was the second-straight year that domestic attendance declined sharply, and audiences generally have been shrinking since 2002, when admissions hit a modern high of 1.6 billion.”
Have Ticket Prices To London Theatre Gotten Too High?
“A figure of about £60 has become the basic stalls and dress-circle benchmark for musicals, but even that figure is dwarfed by the “premium seat” option, a “deluxe” price band that has crossed the Atlantic from Broadway.”
It’s Getting More Difficult To Lure Casual Audiences Into Movie Theatres
“Average opening weekend ticket sales have stayed fairly constant over the last decade, when adjusted for inflation. Avid moviegoers excited to see a new picture as soon as possible (think “Twihards” or “Harry Potter” fanatics) still flock to theaters as eagerly as ever in the first few days of release. It’s the more casual audiences, the type of people who read reviews and wait to hear what their friends say, that are becoming increasingly difficult to lure to the multiplex.”
The Odd End Of Ashley Page’s Tenure At Scottish Ballet
“In a decade at the helm of Scottish Ballet, Page is credited to transforming it from a company on the verge of becoming an artistic laughing-stock to a top-ranking troupe with unswerving performance standards. … [Yet the] company has been in an odd kind of limbo since Page’s departure was announced more than a year ago, in an episode that still hasn’t been quite explained.”
Acting Out Unsung Lives Onstage
Stefan Kaegi’s Berlin theatre collective, Rimini Protokoll, “makes professional theatre without trained actors. Its performers are instead described as ‘experts in daily life'” – muezzins in Cairo; underpaid hotel maids and truck drivers in Singapore; an undertaker, a stonemason and a funeral musician in a piece about death.