ByGD
PNB company dancers in Yuri Possokhov’s RAkU, 2018. Photo © Angela Sterling.
Not gonna lie. I didn’t really like RakU, the ballet that premiered in Seattle as part of Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Emergence program last week. Despite absolutely loving some elements, there were a couple things I just don’t think audiences should tolerate. Even so, I keep turning the piece over in my mind, worrying at it like a splinter that won’t come out. There’s just so much to say about RakU. Read More
ByGD
Seattle Opera Panelists
“Asian Leaders Respond to Madame Butterfly”
I was excited to hear that Seattle Opera was performing Madame Butterfly because I love Puccini’s music and Butterfly is one of the most famous operas ever written. I didn’t know the opera was controversial for its racist depiction of the Japanese – especially its promulgation of the stereotype that Japanese women are suicidal, subservient sex puppets – until I heard about Seattle Opera’s free community panel discussion “Asian Arts Leaders Respond to Madame Butterfly,” moderated by Frank Abe, co-founder of Seattle’s Asian American Journalists Association. Read More
ByGD
From the awesome Gratisography.com
In March, most of my work involved endless revisions of technical documentation only a solid waste engineer could love. It’s good money and flexes writing muscles I don’t often use anymore, but I don’t think most of you are solid waste engineers, so I’m not going to share any of that here. But as I reviewed my work flow spreadsheets and invoices for the month of March, I was pleased to see that my output of charming web-based articles continued apace, and was reminded that I got to write about some pretty interesting stuff. Read More