A couple of weeks ago a minor storm erupted when an audition notice for Ace Dance and Music, based in Birmingham, was released that stated the company would charge dancers £20 each for attending. Charging for auditions (or in this case an audition workshop) is generally not accepted practice in this country or any other. […]
On Sunday a comment appeared on our piece “Then We Could Stop” which is, in and of itself, a comment on a request for Article19 to change the way we do things around here. “If you were good writers then the acrid sarcasm and bitchiness might be excusable. There is plenty of space for a […]
For a long time it’s all been about cuts, cuts, cuts in the arts and everywhere else. The world is having a fire sale and if the media was to be believed the four horseman of the apocalypse are merely having a coffee and a danish before they do their thing. The winter of a […]
It was mentioned to us, here in TheLab™, a few days ago that our “attitude” might not be helping. We should, perhaps, let the facts speak for themselves and leave our particular brand of satire, sarcasm and hooliganism at the door. To this we simply say….. No! We would love nothing more than to bring […]
Some newspaper or other was reporting on the exploits of professional hair care products salesperson Justin Bieber. What the story was about is irrelevant but the online piece included a tweet, from Mr Bieber, embedded in the story which stated “worst birthday ever” and nothing more. The data within the embed noted that Mr Bieber’s […]
A reader asked us why Article19 didn’t ask Arts Council England any questions regarding the announcement from the Brewhouse Theatre in Taunton about the fact the theatre was going into administration and essentially closing down. Arts Council England was one of many organisations responsible for the venue simply not having enough money to operate. Funding […]
Many folks working in the performing arts will tell you that one of the biggest problems they have is actually getting people into the theatre in the first place. Judging by the behaviour of certain ushers at one particular theatre last week (as witnessed by members of TheLab™) the problem they had was people actually […]
In October last year we covered the story of a £22,000 website being built by the NDA DanceXchange, in Birmingham. At that time they declined to answer any questions about it but since the project is a website it had to show its face one day, and that day has come. Westmidlandsdance.com (WMD) is intended […]
We passed on making fun of the National Dance Awards (NDA) this year because, let’s face it, there’s not a whole lot more to say that we haven’t said already. The Critics Circle, who decide the winners of these awards, are still picking the usual suspects, still cannot define what an “independent” dance company is […]
Have you ever listened to programmers and theatre directors talk about “their” audience? You probably have at some point, especially if you’ve ever tried to get your work programmed in a theatre of some description. You might have been told that your work is not good for “them” because “their” audience doesn’t respond well to […]