It’s always interesting to see which arts medium the chairs of the National Endowment for the Arts will come from. This year it’s the theater. The announcement was made today that Broadway producer Rocco Landesman was nominated for the chair of the NEA following poet and literary critic/scholar Dana Gioia who resigned in January and is now director of the Harman-Eisner Program in the Arts at the Aspen Institute. (Gioia brought us The Big Read initiative.)
The next most interesting thing about a new chair is what initiative he or she will bring to the Endowment and to the nation to energize citizen participation in its national arts. Landesman’s credits include “Big River,” “Angels In America,” and “The Producers.” According to the New York Times article, he’s got both the entrepreneurial and the artistic eye – probably a must these days. The article also says, “….he is not famous for his skills as an administrator or diplomat. Rather, he is known for his energy, intellect and irreverent — and occasionally sharp-elbowed — candor.” But didn’t I say Washington could use more Simons? Someone’s reading my blog over there on Pennsylvania Avenue.
The appointment is final pending confirmation by Congress.
How this will play out for the NEA? For now, we’ll have to wait until the curtain rises, but I suspect my theater friends are applauding.
I happen to be browsing on the JackandJill Politics blog, and decided to take a look at this Politico widget – The White House calendar. As my schedule is too full sometimes to commit to my blog as I’d like, I thought I’d take an easy out, copy some code.
7:47 tonight the President and the Vice President are hosting a poetry jam. Hmmm. I know E-bert would like that one. In 2003, then First Lady Laura Bush wanted to give poetry its due until the poets led by publisher Sam Hamill wanted to give the White House its poetic due about the Iraq war. And then there was none. The event was called off.
Arts Beat – New York Times What effect is the economy having on your life and work as an artist, writer, actor, or musician? Tell us your story by commenting below or by e-mailing us at artsbeat@nytimes.com. The responses come from beyond the burroughs. Some artists say the downturn may be good for art in terms of quality and vision. Some are using the down time to spend more time with their art. Of course, losing the day job cuts back on other things if you’re not making a living from your art and especially if you have a family to support. But artists seem to have some practice in managing the bad times. But hopefully it doesn’t become habit.
Read responses at this link: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/attention-artists/
Quite a few artists say down-times may be good for art (mostly visual) in terms of quality.
Washington Post dance critic Sarah Kaufman is asking for a little more heft on the ballet stage from its choreographers. “The art form is suffering through a dearth of daring and imagination. Critics and audiences alike have been complaining about a prolonged fallow period. Yet the artistic sclerosis din’t just happen. One inescapable reason for it is Balanchine’s dominance, overshadowing other avenues of creativity–for instance, the one-act short-story ballets that almost no one creates anymore.”
The economy of avant-garde applied to set, story, and body mass from the Balanchine aesthetic has apparently worn out its welcome as a standard with Kaufman and maybe others including audiences or new audiences to ballets. Story ballets are expensive to produce but what would Christmas be without “The Nutcracker”? No one’s hating on Balanchine, but apparently a shout out is going to the next generation — if the modern Mark Morris, Paul Taylor, and Bill T. Jones can tell stories, what’s up? What would a ballet dancer’s biography look like without a “Swan Lake,” “Giselle” or an Anthony Tudor on their CV?
Ironically, when Balanchine was alive, the argument was going the other way. Does ballet always have to be about dying pricesses and princes, and love stories?
In the 1977 film “The Turning Point,” real-life American Ballet Theatre principal Leslie Brown as the up-and-coming ballerina Amelia comes up against this “generational” argument when the “fresh, new choreographer” yells at her during a rehearsal of “his new work” demanding that she not show emotion. You are a body in space. No feeling. If the filmmakers had known better, they would’ve asked a real life “fresh, new choreographer” to create a new work for this part of the story. In real life on film, Brown was rehearsing Alvin Ailey’s “The River” set to the music of Edward Kennedy Duke Ellington. [It appears in the closing credits, but isn’t part of the script.] The symbolism of the river in African American culture and history does evoke emotion — listen to Sam Cooke. The river has a story. The Ailey company’s program note says as much: “A legendary collaboration between renowned choreographer Alvin Ailey and musical genius Duke Ellington, The River celebrates birth, life and rebirth. Ailey’s choreographic allegory combines modern dance, Classical ballet and Jazz to convey the mutability of water on its voyage to the sea — much like the journey of life.”
Brown walks out on the rehearsal as she’s been influenced more by the life of her mentor/Godmother played by Anne Bancroft who is now realizing she is way past her prime. Amelia was right though maybe her interpretation was coming from a different place. But I digress.
“Ballet has to get its humanity back,” Kaufman writes.” “Telling a story may be viewed as unhip in our postmodern age, but human cravings don’t subside just because artistic manifestos tell them to. We’ll always love stories, especially when they’re about us.”
It’s interesting for Kaufman to write this as Balanchine’s protegee, muse. and other musings Suzanne Farrell has a resident ballet company at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC – The Suzanne Farrell Ballet. Farrell makes no bones about her mission to restore Balanchine’s works and keep the technique and artistry in the ballet vocaulary.
I’m just realizing I rarely attend the ballet since the companies have cut back on story ballets. And I was blown away by my first Balanchine performance by New York City Ballet. For me Balanchine transformed music into a living, moving body. I was studying music at the time, so what I saw was music. And in music, there is some sense of story through the rise, tempo, and fall of the notes — I guess if you’re a musician. But Kaufman’s article is worthy of a debate on this topic.
It looks as if journalist Roxana Saberi is free, read released. She was originally sentenced to an 8-year jail term in Iran for spying. The court reduced it to a two-year suspended prison term. She worked as a freelance journalist for NPR and the BBC. I suppose Iran is more interested in being at the talk table than North Korea.
Book Addiction Michael Dirda asks is book buying an addiction or compulsion? I suffer from a book something to the point that I have to bargain with myself: “For each book you buy, you give away one or two.” I’ve given away books I’ve ended up buying back from the used book store or purchasing a new copy because some where down the line, I needed it again. Addiction? Compulsion? I’ll buy a book before buying a pair of shoes. And guess what, the book lasts longer and takes me further.
WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS DINNER
I admit, I watched both President Obama and Wanda Sykes’ videos twice. But where are the journalists in this crowd? There are some enthusiastic locals I’ve heard of who crash this party. But for some reason I’m sure this year’s ticket was so hot, the old “put on a tux,” show up and look the part probably didn’t fly, especially with so many Hollywood party crashers at the door. Hopefully, the Lincoln bedroom will not see the designer foot traffic of the Clinton years. Hollywood really seem to be making an effort to stake their claim and make their mark on the coat tails of the Obama presidency. Celebrity with more purpose. As I’ve observed, there’s a love/envy thing between celebrity and political cultures. But this time we have a President who has topped them both. Ideas seem to turn his head, not necessarily glamour or fame. But I’m sure during the campaign his fundraisers’ heads were spinning.
HEALTH CARE – Don’t sit this one out!
Is the President asking the health care industry to change their evil ways or “if you don’t do something, I will”? It’s hard to say where this one will go. I don’t think Americans are totally opposed to paying a little something for healthcare. What people hate most are the hidden fees, multiple billings, the outrageous high costs, and the quality of care or refusal to treat people based on a person’s insurance type, ability to pay or a pre-existing condition. It’s enough to drive Harry and Louise over a cliff. All healthcare is not equal.
I was taught credit was earned not a given. And if it came too easy, there had to be a hitch. I didn’t have a credit card in college. My mother said, if there’s anything I needed, she would provide. Once I took out a small loan for $50 to pay for something (I can’t even remember). It showed up on the monthly invoice sent home. Even though I paid the loan back, I got a call from home. “What is this for?” No answer from me was satisfactory.
By the time I graduated, I thought I was ready for a credit card. Not so fast, my mother counseled. “You get a credit card when you get a full-time job. And you get an American Express because you have to pay the balance in full every month. That will give you discipline.”
The way I was brought up, credit was a convenience – a way of paying for something without carrying the cash around in your pocket. Credit card companies probably hate people like me and my mom. But we do go a bit in the hole for big ticket items like an education, home or a car (as needed).
The President and my mother seem to have a lot in common when it comes to financial matters. He may have a little more on his side in the knowledge base, but my mom’s instincts are dead on. She called Wall Street out on inflated profits based on hype before everything started crashing down. She scoffed at the rising interest rates with the credit card companies and cut up her cards in protest. “Always question money,” she advises. That’s her way of saying don’t let these people dictate the terms. Everything’s negotiable.
President Obama spent a lot of time with his grand-parents and it shows especially when it comes to his values around money. It’s not about getting more, it’s getting it right and rightly. Afterall his grandmother worked in a bank.
It may look more sophisticated and hip to bank and pay bills without seeing a human face. It may seem like “Somebody loves me” to be qualified for every pre-approved credit application that shows up in the mail box. But it comes at a price, if you can read the tiny print.
Thanks Mom for your eagle eyes! Happy Mother’s Day!
I’m looking forward to meeting Alex Nicholson next weekend. So far we’ve only conversed by email. Alex knows five languages. [I’m jealous.] And he is an Arabic linguist. Alex served in the U.S. Army during the height of 9-11 and its fall out wars in Iraq and Afgahanistan. But Alex was discharged in 2006 because…he is gay.
The Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT) policy has discharged 54 skilled Arabic linguists from the U.S. military while at the same time the military and branches of government have been scrambling to find people with Arabic language skills. If there is any example of how the DADT policy is cutting your nose off to spite your face or just plain wrong-headed regarding national security, Alex and the 54 other linguists are case in point.
Alex and another discharged linguist, Jarrod Chalapowki appear in Johnny Symons’ documentary “Ask Not.” ITVS Community Cinema is hosting over 50 screenings nationwide. Washington, D.C. will have two: May 17 at 3 PM (Washington, DCJCC – 1529 16th Street, NW); and May 31 at 5 PM (Busboys and Poets – 2021 14th Street, NW). All the screenings are free, but RSVPs are requested for DC – email asknot@communitycinema-dc.org or call 202-939-0794. Alex, Jarrod, and other speakers will be part of the Q&A at each event. (See www.communitycinema-dc.org for more information.)
Here’s a trailer:
While doing my outreach for Community Cinema, I seem to have stumbled across some crazy luck. What better time to promote ASK NOT in DC. I’m listening to Kojo Nnamdi’s show now about the DC City Council’s vote on marriage equality aka “gay marriage.” When I logged onto Huffington Post, the lead story at 7:30 AM this morning was the discharge of Dan Choi, a West Point graduate, officer in the National Guard who served in Iraq, is an Arabic linguist (ding-ding), and after an appearance on television where he said he was gay, got his walking papers from the U.S. Army. That appearance was on the “Rachael Maddow Show,” and Rachael followed up with the news of the day about Choi’s discharge.
Since 1993, the debate about gay servicemembers in the military has centered around “military culture” and keeping up morale. I don’t deny, there is a military culture just as there is any other occupational culture private, public, blue or white collar. And there are some aspects of military culture that shouldn’t be part of the culture just like in any other occupational culture especially when it comes to intolerance.
The military does seem to have a special kind of culture that creates a a bond between service members like no other. I admire their accountability culture and their sense of duty. However, the arguments for DADT in defense of maintaining “the culture” resemble the same arguments that were made to keep women out of the military and African Americans from serving side-by-side with Euro-Americans.
As one friend said while we were discussing DADT, “If I’m in a foxhole or a fire fight, I’m not thinking ‘whoo-whoo’ about the person next to me.”
Inquiring minds are waiting to find out what President Obama will do in the short term, but not so short to be a replay of Bill Clinton’s first 100 days. Secretary Gates has put the issue in the “not high priority” pile, but I suppose it won’t stay there for long.
Second Lieutenant Sandy Tsao wrote to President Obama earlier this year to repeal DADT. Tsao came out and was discharged per the routine. This week she received a hand-written note from President Obama. Short, but in his own handwriting[!].
Sandy – Thanks for the wonderful and thoughtful letter. It is because of outstanding Americans like you that I committed to changing our current policy. Although it will take some time to complete (partly because it needs Congressional action) I intend to fulfill my commitment. — Barack Obama.