Writer, Educator, Translator
Hi all, moving forward I ll be using the blog feature of this website more selectively in lieu of a new monthly newsletter, which I m calling Carefully Taught, the working title of my book in progress. Please sign up for a free subscription here hope to see you there!
“Rarely does one find in one woman both an expert primary teacher and discerning business woman. Add to that combination spiritual leader, public relations woman, adept seamstress, and furniture mover, and you have one woman, Mother Denise Mohr.” Oklahoma Courier 47, No, 20, June 16, 1967 As best I can recall, the black and white [ ]
As is my habit I avoided reading any reviews of Terence Blanchard’s Champion prior to attending the “Live in HD” broadcast of the opera this past Saturday. As a rule I like to go in with fresh eyes and ears, and in this case I’m especially glad I did, as the lukewarm accounts from New [ ]
Saturday evening was the twenty-third stop on the world tour of Joyce DiDonato’s conceptual concert experience called Eden, presented at Zellerbach Hall by CalPerformances (one of the project’s co-commissioners). Begun prior to the disruptions of early 2020, the show has now been touring for the better part of a year and after two performances in [ ]
Dear Dr. Steichen: I got into an argument with a friend about Balanchine s famous quote, But first, a school. From the materials in your book it seems to me that the school was an idea of Lincoln Kirstein and Edward Warburg, and Balanchine went along with it rather than spearheading it. I haven t been able [ ]
Toni Bentley has a new book out, called Serenade: A Balanchine Story, a title that matches its contents well. Although the book is autobiographical, the author’s personal experiences are intentionally sublimated to the “real” story: George Balanchine’s ascendance as the preeminent choreographer of the twentieth century, with the ballet Serenade posited as a sacred object [ ]
(No spoilers except for one that doesn’t really count but I flag it anyway!) I waited until after finishing the final episode of Tiny Pretty Things to read reviews online, and was not entirely surprised by the reactions. There was the predictable highbrow takedown in the New York Times, whose main advice was “don’t bother,” [ ]
As a graduate of the University of Virginia who relished the beloved traditions of my alma mater, I’m grateful that one of its own professors, Alan Taylor, has chosen to take as an object of inquiry the founding and founder of the school itself. Thomas Jefferson s Education is a timely and necessary corrective to the [ ]
When and how to pick up much less finish a book is always a mixed bag, especially when the collapse of the world order and the rapid transformation of art forms you ve devoted your life and career to are playing out at the same time. As the memes have reminded, 2020 has already done a [ ]
Upon the occasion of the newly-opened exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, Lincoln Kirstein s Modern, below is a short introduction to his remarkable life and work, and a list of writings by and about him. Lincoln Kirstein (1907–1996) possessed a seemingly unlimited reserve of energy and ideas, and the quantity of his many unrealized [ ]