Video still from Portland performance artist Miranda July's short film 'Nest of Tens'.

SOS to my readers: provocative art urgently needed

March 15, 2012

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A reader, Ben F., condemned my position on funding for the arts. He claims that America, outside of San Francisco, L.A. and New York, is at heart "a deeply conservative country and uncomfortable with provocative art." As a foreigner I'm far from an authoritative voice on the subject, but here is my initial round-up of other American cities which have embraced provocative art. Will the rest of my [..]

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angular_momentum

When dancers are physicists

March 13, 2012

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Fouettés rond de jambe en tournant, en dehors.* *Series of turns propelled by a whipping action of the working leg, turning away from the supporting leg. See Gail Grant, Technical Manual and Dictionary of Classical Ballet, p. 57, for step-by-step instructions. (Illustration courtesy of the brilliant xkcd.com)
The Royal Ballet's Akane Takada in Live Fire Exercise. Choreography: Wayne MacGregor. Photo: Bill Cooper, courtesy Royal Opera House.

Hurtling toward the abyss, some more slowly than others

March 3, 2012

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Dance companies worldwide – but above all in the U.S. – have taken a hard hit since the last recession. Large or small, no company has escaped the economic hammering. Some, like Ballet Florida, have collapsed under a mountain of debt. Some, like New York City Ballet, have had to lay off dancers. Many have had to make deep programming cuts, and some have had their dirty laundry publicly aired i [..]

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