The Schmooze lies at the intersection of high and low culture. Here, the latest developments and trends in Jewish art, books, dance, film, music, media, television and theater are all assimilated into one handy pop culture blog.
The Schmooze
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Recreating Eden, The Brazilian Landscapes of Burle Marx
Fans of landscape architecture will have enjoyed the four month stay of an exhibit which opened in March at Paris’s Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine (Center for Architecture and Patrimony), honoring Roberto Burle Marx. Son of a German Jewish émigré to Brazil, Burle Marx lavished his fertile imagination on applying modernist abstract art approaches…
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NYC Slashes Funding for Folksbiene Yiddish Theater
Under a rather unfortunate headline alluding to chopped pork, the New York Daily News this weekend reported that the “venerable” Folksbiene Yiddish Theater will lose a $5,000 earmark from New York City Councilman Mark Weprin (D-Queens). The 96-year-old Folksbiene — “the last Yiddish company to still play to huge audiences in Manhattan’s lower East Side,”…
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Monday Music: Saxophonist Unearths New Aaron Copland Score
“You may find it implausible that we are announcing a world premiere by the venerable (and dead) American composer Aaron Copland,” boasts the press release for saxophonist-composer Christopher Brellochs’s new CD, “Quiet City.” Implausible, yes, and perhaps only half true. The piece in question is the score Copland wrote to accompany an Irwin Shaw play…
The Latest
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‘Twilight’ Star Kristen Stewart Discovered Singing Dreidel Song
Lana Turner was supposedly discovered at a soda shop while skipping school. Natalie Portman attracted attention while eating pizza on Long Island. And “Twilight” star Kristen Stewart? She was singing about a dreidel. That’s the story Stewart is sharing in the new issue of W magazine, in which she says a holiday play was the…
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Meet the Two Most Popular JDaters
Apparently, it’s a nice smile and friendly energy that’ll get you noticed on JDate. The New York Post rounded up New York City’s most popular online daters (based on the number of messages in their inbox) — and pinpointed two JDaters — Alla Kellerman, 34, and David Fischer, 39. Kellerman, who says she’s looking for…
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Books Darin Strauss on Faith
Darin Strauss’s most recent book, “Half a Life: A Memoir,” is now available. His posts are being featured this week on The Arty Semite courtesy of the Jewish Book Council and My Jewish Learning’s Author Blog Series. For more information on the series, please visit: Faith is a private issue. At least, I consider it…
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Michele Bachmann’s Letter From the Kibbutz
The Shmooze experienced a twinge of guilt last month when it poked fun at Michele Bachmann’s mispronunciation of “chutzpah” during an interview on Fox News. Yes, her use of the word may have been a shameless attempt at pandering to Jewish voters. But was it really fair to expect a Protestant from the Midwest to…
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Batsheva’s Young Dancers Moved by Spirits
Crossposted from Haaretz The wonderful program of young artists that was presented at the Batsheva Dance Company’s Studio Varda on August 18 was surprising in the freshness and talent of the artists who do as they please based on solid technique and choreographic knowledge. The space is a roomy studio with no props, with uniform…
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Out and About: The Trials of Leonard Slatkin; New Ending for West Memphis Three
Sara Ivry talks to comic book artist Joann Sfar, diretor of a new film about French Jewish songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. Leonard Slatkin has suffered a heart attack, been fired from the Metropolitan Opera and had the Detroit Symphony Orchestra go on strike, but the Los Angeles conductor keeps on trucking. “Paradise Lost: Purgatory,” a documentary…
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This Week in Forward Arts and Culture
Binyomin Ginzberg profiles Chilik Frank, a master Breslov clarinet player. Mark Oppenheimer reviews Lee Siegel’s “Are You Serious?: How To Be True and Get Real in the Age of Silly.” On the 72nd anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, we feature Israeli author Ada Pagis’s story about a speculative image. Josh Lambert reviews…
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After Delay, Jerusalem’s New Light Rail System Opens With Many Kinks
For those of you who drive in Jerusalem, you know that pedestrians just stepping out into the street without looking can be a big problem. Well now it could end up being an even bigger problem as the city’s new light rail system finally [starts running][1] today, after years of delay. The system, which is…
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