The shared baseline of these conversations is that there are no good old days to go back to. If the cultural sector in the United States returns to the ways things were organized in February, 2020, with all the inequity and unsustainability that implies, we will have failed.
Dance Feature: Sara Juli’s “Burnt-Out Wife” — Scorched
In Burnt-Out Wife, Maine-based performance artist Sara Juli takes on the unarticulated rage lurking in a long-term marriage with a deft touch and the humor of a born stand-up comic.
Arts Commentary: Constraint in Quarantine
Our eyes may be quarantined, but our minds are not.
Arts Commentary: Helping Dance at a Time of Social Distancing
How, frankly, could I help people engage with their inherent creative powers and feel just a little bit better?
Theater Review: “She the People” — Part Protest Rally and Part Catharsis
As my second wave feminist companion said as we left the theater, “That was hilarious. And I am SO ANGRY.”
Book Review: The ‘Papa’ of Male Modern Dance, Ted Shawn — A Story of Changing Norms
In this new biography, Ted Shawn is on display in all his narcissism, paternalism, hypocrisy, originality, and the dedication to creative expression that set American modern dance on its way.
Book Interview: Susan Larson’s “The Murder of Figaro” — Mozart Goes Sleuthing
Susan Larson’s The Murder of Figaro is spiced with raunch, witticisms, and behind the scenes verisimilitude of rehearsal life.
Book Review: Unburied
David Treuer’s expansive new history of native America from 1890 to the present looks with skeptical, Indian eyes from inside simplistic American symbols and narratives.
Dance Review: “See You Yesterday” — Airing Nightmares
The horrors portrayed in See You Yesterday are facts, but this show does not yet address the meaning a new generation can make of those facts.
Arts Commentary: The Authors Guild’s Modest Proposal
Invariably, these economic realities are barriers to entry into the broader cultural arena for the less-well-heeled among us, sustaining inequity.