A Successful BroadwayCon Gets A Bigger Sequel
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“The gathering drew 5,000 people this year; organizers hope it will draw up to 15,000 next year. The convention, inspired by ComicCon and a multitude of other pop culture fan gatherings, consisted of panels, workshops, performances and presentations by theater artists and theater industry officials.”
The New York Times Published: 04.07.16
Festivals Are Getting More And More Popular. Here’s Why
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“The AIF’s research in 2014 found that 58% of people cite overall experience and atmosphere as the main reasons for their purchase of a festival ticket, and that just 7% said it was the headlining acts. This adds credence to the theory that participation is going to be the prevalent theme in modern festival-going.”
The Guardian (UK) Published: 04.07.16
Nigeria’s Booming Literary Genre: Romance Novels
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“The books shift between morality tales and classic pulp romance. Often written by hand in small composition books, the books are sold in crowded marketplaces, where you can buy thousands of different titles for a dollar or two.” (text and audio)
Public Radio International Published: 04.06.16
An Arts Foundation Closes Abruptly In Seattle, Leaving Questions
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Funding artists is great but when the support happens only through the whim of a single funder, the ground might not be stable…
The Stranger Published: 04.07.16
‘Fainting And Nervous Breakdowns’ – Argentina’s National Library Lays Off A Quarter Of Its Staff
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“The cuts at the Biblioteca Nacional, once run by Jorge Luis Borges, were announced last Tuesday to ‘tears and cries of outrage’ … Staff had been phoned by authorities throughout the day to be given the news, which caused ‘fainting and nervous breakdowns’.”
The Guardian Published: 03.30.16
Heartbreaking: Before And After-ISIS Images Of Palmyra
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“A single stone arch is all that remains of Palmyra’s most important site and the Middle East’s most significant ancient temple, alongside Baalbek in Lebanon. Isis blew up the temple building in August 2015, destroying two inner sanctums dedicated to the Palmyrians’ supreme deity, Bel, the sun god Yarhibol and the moon god Aglibol.”
The Guardian Published: 04.08.16
Inge Hardison, 102, Sculptor Of African-Americans Heroic And Ordinary
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“A former actress, artist and photographer, Inge Hardison sculpted a cast-iron collection in the 1960s that she called Negro Giants in History, which included George Washington Carver, W. E. B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson and Harriet Tubman. She titled another series, featuring relatively obscure black inventors, ‘Ingenious Americans’.”
New York Times Published: 04.06.16
Is It Really Intelligent To Pooh-Pooh IQ Tests?
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“‘IQ tests just measure how good you are at doing IQ tests.’ This is the argument that is almost always made when intelligence-testing is mentioned. It’s often promoted by people who are, otherwise, highly scientifically literate. … In fact, decades of well-replicated research point to IQ tests as some of the most reliable and valid instruments in all of psychological science.”
Aeon Published: 04.07.16
How To Judge A Movie Based On Its Director (Can You?)
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“No one sees the director but everyone sees the actors, so the notion of directorial authorship flies in the face of common sense as well as of the theatrical tradition on which movies appear to be based. Yet the very notion of authorship (whether with movies or books or elsewhere) isn’t a theory, a policy, or a wish—it’s either the viewer’s experience or it’s nothing at all.”
The New Yorker Published: 04.08.16
Podcasts Have Been Around For 15 Years, And They’re Finally Coming Of Age
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Yes, it’s been that long: the iPod was launched back in 2001. But – except for a few popular radio shows like This American Life – the first generation of podcasts weren’t always professional quality, and most faded away. But over the past couple of years, the form – led by Serial – had leapt upward in quality, variety, and popularity.
The Economist Published: 04.07.16
Are Library Cards Going The Way Of The VCR Tape?
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“Library cards have always had the same purpose—to keep track of borrowers’ loans—but originally they were invented for a different type of library.”
The Atlantic Published: 04.07.16
Where They Keep The Ghosts: Behind The Scenes At The Met Museum
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Christine Coulson, chief adviser to the director: “It is a Met that exists just beyond the walls of the galleries, where the staff move through tunnels and hallways like the below-stairs cast of Downton Abbey. It is also where we keep the ghosts.”
T Magazine (New York Times) Published: 04.07.16
It’s Fashionable To Poo-Poo IQ Tests. But Think Again
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“So what does an IQ test – which might consist of, for example, shape-based puzzles, timings of how quickly you can check through lists of meaningless symbols, memory tests, and vocabulary measures – actually tell you?”
Aeon Published: 04.07.16
The GIFs Take Famous Paintings To Their Illogical Conclusions
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“Goya’s Saturn devours his son on a park bench, flinging chunks of arm to a flock of pigeons; the lady in pink of Edward Hopper’s Morning Sun snaps out of her reverie when a bird crashes into her bedroom window; the raining men of René Magritte’s Golconda jump out of a plane and splatter bloodily on the ground, alarming local newscasters.”
Hyperallergic Published: 04.06.16
A Stone Angel Plunges To The Ground And The Met Museum Has To Pick Up The Pieces
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The “painstaking job began the morning just after the della Robbia’s fall, when conservators gathered in its closed-off gallery to begin making sense of the pieces, some of them as tiny as fingernails. “It was a lot like an archaeological dig — all the pieces were collected and bagged and numbered.”
The New York Times Published: 04.07.16
The Loneliest Cities In The World
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“One thing is certain: the percentage of those who live alone has increased dramatically. In the US, 27% of people live alone, up from 5% in 1920, and in New York City it’s roughly one third. The same trend is evident in Canada, and even more pronounced in Europe – 58% of people in Stockholm live alone, a figure that is considered the highest in Europe.”
The Guardian Published: 04.07.16
Even Vanity Fair Says Justin Peck Is Making Ballet Cool
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“Last year, for example, he commissioned Shepard Fairey – of Obama-Hope poster fame – to design the set for his Miami City ballet, Heatscape, and collaborated with Opening Ceremony for their New York Fashion Week show.”
Vanity Fair Published: 04.06.16
Meet The Dancers Who Live And Breathe Martha Graham
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“The company features dancers from all over the world who have had varying entry points into the Graham organization. Yet each was pulled in by the force of Graham, who died in 1991 at 96, and by her technique, which is rooted in the breath; movement is initiated in the pelvis and concentrates on the oppositional force of contraction and release.”
New York Times Published: 04.03.16
‘Sweeney Todd’ Production Called Off After Necks Actually Get Cut Onstage
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It had to happen eventually, we guess. A student production at an elite Auckland secondary school used a prop that was, in fact, a real straight razor covered in duct tape and silver paper.
Stuff.co.nz (New Zealand) Published: 04.07.16
This Dance Piece Reminds Us All That Adult Men Interacting With Young Girls Doesn’t *Have* To Be Creepy
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The project Men & Girls Dance “is exactly what its title suggests: adult male performers dancing with young girls. That relationship, though, has been tainted in recent years. Put the words ‘men’ and ‘girls’ in the same sentence and it’s likely to call to mind suspicions of abuse. This is what Fevered Sleep is hoping to challenge.”
The Guardian Published: 04.07.16
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Graduate program in NYC provides launchpad for arts leaders
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Do you want to become an innovative arts management leader? Explore the M.A. in Leadership in the Arts and Entertainment Industries, a fast-paced, industry-focused graduate program based in New York … [Read More...]
President & CEO, New Jersey Symphony
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The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) presents subscription concerts in six venues throughout the state and is the resident orchestra of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, … [Read More...]
National Critics Institute Fellowships: Deadline April 25
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Spend a summer at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center as a National Critics Institute fellow! Selected writers and journalists, looking to deepen their perspectives and experience, will strengthen their … [Read More...]
House Manager/Coordinator of Volunteers opportunity
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Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, The Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston, Texas is a major performing arts center presenting an eclectic mix of year-round programming in an … [Read More...]
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Philadelphia Museum Of Art Launches Pop-Up Art Shows
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“Pop-up art exhibitions will begin to appear throughout the region Wednesday, when high-quality reproductions of artworks from the Philadelphia Museum of Art will be installed in public places from Coatesville to Doylestown.”
Philadelphia Inquirer Published:04.06.16
Seven Ways For Actors To Get Better At Handling Rejection
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“Some of the most successful actors cite their setbacks and failures as their most formative experiences; experiences that have moved them forward and propelled them to success. … So how can you, as a working actor, become more resilient?”
The Stage (UK) Published:04.07.16
When You Get A Bad Review, Should You Hit Back At The Reviewer?
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These days, “when amateur enthusiasts are as likely to review your work as Fleet Street experts (albeit self-proclaimed) and when most readers, if we’re honest, skim newspaper reviews and skip to the pithier comments, are you entitled to tell the blogger to fuck off as publicly as they rubbish your work when you think they’ve been unfair?” Maybe, suggests Phil Wilmott.
The Stage (UK) Published:04.07.16
This Poor Arts Center: First The Censors Cracked Down On It, Then The Walls Fell In
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Egypt’s leading contemporary arts space, “Townhouse gallery in central Cairo has been shut to staff after a section of the recently renovated five-storey building collapsed on Wednesday. The neighbouring Cairo Hackerspace, a community workspace for engineers, designers and artists, was completely destroyed.” The attached Rawabet Theatre has reportedly come through without damage.
The Guardian Published:04.07.16
Arena Di Verona Opera Festival Goes Into Liquidation
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One day after unionized staff narrowly voted to reject cost-cutting measures to reduce debt of €25 million, the board of the Fondazione Arena di Verona, which operates the popular summer festival, voted unanimously to ask the national culture minister to shut the organization down. Verona’s mayor claims that this action won’t affect the actual performances this summer, though a new, privatized entity will have to run the festival. (in Italian; Google Translate version here)
Corriere della sera (Italy) Published:04.07.16
Philadelphia Orchestra Launches New Social-Impact Programs
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“The group is instituting [one new] program, increasing others, and packaging them under an umbrella acronym: HEAR, which stands for health, education, access, and research. … The initiatives are part of a changing institutional direction, [orchestra president Allison Vulgamore] said, taking the orchestra more heavily into social-mission work. ‘I want to be off stage as much as we are on stage.'”
Philadelphia Inquirer Published:04.07.16
This Year’s Pritzker Prize Winner Makes His Low-Cost Housing Plans Available For Free
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“Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena … is releasing a number of his residential designs as an open-source resource to help tackle the global affordable housing crisis. … The aim is to provide the material to government agencies and developers who might think it’s ‘too expensive’ to invest in well-designed social housing.”
Dezeen Published:04.06.16
U. Texas Student Found Murdered Was Promising Ballet Dancer
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“The body of 18-year-old Haruka J. Weiser was found Tuesday in a creek in the heart the University of Texas campus, one day after her roommate reported her missing … She was in Austin on a full dance scholarship.”
The Oregonian Published:04.07.16