Barbara Bush – who died Tuesday at age 92 and was scheduled to be buried today in the presence of four former presidents – has been the subject of many remembrances and reactions this week, most of them admiring of a woman who turned a sharp gaze and an even sharper wit on herself as much as others. So, she no doubt would’ve been amused by The New York Times’ official reflection, whose undercurrent was a motif she often addressed – her appearance. …
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Viva, Uribe
Recently, I had the pleasure of writing an essay for a new monograph on the contemporary Colombian artist Federico Uribe – whose haunting mixed-media paintings and sculptures draw on a difficult childhood, his complex relationship with Roman Catholicism and the violence of his homeland to explore issues of sex/gender, passion and the body, among others. Now the book is set to be released. ...
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‘Giselle’ in the #MeToo age
The ballet “Giselle” – the quintessence of 19th century Romanticism – tells the story of a simple, open-hearted peasant girl driven mad for love of Albrecht, a man who’s hidden his aristocratic identity and engagement to another. Dying, Giselle becomes a Wili, one of the female spirits compelled to avenge themselves on the men who wronged them in life by dancing them to death.
In the excellent, though far from perfect, Bolshoi Ballet production given an encore simulcast last Sunday in theaters around the world, there was a great moment in Act 2 when the Wilis dispensed with Hans, Giselle’s unrequited suitor, whose jealousy of the beloved Albrecht sets the tragedy in motion. Under Yuri Grigorovich’s choreography, two of the lead Wilis basically tossed Hans away. They were like elegant bouncers. The ladies sitting behind us ...
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An inspiring event with Billie Jean King
Here I am with (left to right) judge and journalist Lisa Wexler, tennis legend Billie Jean King and WAG society editor Robin Costello at a benefit for Fairfield County’s Community Foundation: The Fund for Women & Girls at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich earlier today. The Foundation, which empowers underserved girls and women to do everything from leaving abusive relationships to starting businesses, raised a projected $110,000 — $10,000 from King herself. She is like that ...
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Zagitova tops Medvedeva for skating gold
Well, it’s official: Alina Zagitova has Tara Lipinski-ed Evgenia Medvedeva.
It was at the Nagano Games in 1998 that Lipinski landed seven triple jumps in the long program, or free skate, to overtake Michelle Kwan and become the youngest Olympic gold medalist in the individual ladies’ figure skating event.
On Thursday night, with Lipinski calling the competition with Johnny Weir and Terry Gannon for NBC, another 15-year-old overtook her celebrated countrywoman for gold as Russia’s Alina Zagitova bested Evgenia Medvedeva. ...
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The emotional minefield of #MeToo
The #MeToo movement continues to explode, and we continue to tread gingerly through its landmine-riddled landscape.
The New York Times skewers Alec Baldwin for satirizing P-Grabber in Chief Donald J. Trump while defending filmmakers Woody Allen and James Toback, both accused of sexual abuses. Actress/author Rose McGowan – who’s been fiercely outspoken in her accusations of film producer Harvey Weinstein raping her – cuts off interviewer Christiane Amanpour before she can read a Weinstein response to McGowan’s new book, “Brave.” Museums wonder what their response should be to photographer Chuck Close, who has apologized for sexual harassment.
And yet, a woman friend of mine, a Hillary Clinton supporter whom I consider to be strong on women’s issues, wonders if we’ve gone too far ...
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The State of the Union – the Trumps’ and ours
President Donald J. Trumpet went all “Kumbaya” in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, proclaiming the pablum platitude that every president proclaims – that the state of the union is strong, because the American people are strong and together they’ll continue to be strong, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Look, it’s too little, too late. The mean-spirited, divisive damage is already done, with more always just an unscripted tweet away. And in case you didn’t get that message ...
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