This article is a part of the Daily Arts “Canceled” b-side. For a full look at our b-side pieces exploring this theme, click this link.
2020 was hard. Most of it was not fun, and some of it was downright miserable. I am aware that this is neither a beautifully written nor insightfully derived statement, but I’ve spent the last several hours sitting on my couch trying to come up with a way to convey this sentiment that is not overused, boring or absolutely run-of-the-mill.
I’m aware that I am not alone in missing Michigan football — I do believe, however, that my specific reasoning for missing football is more unique than most others, because I do not miss the actual game. I barely know what a fourth down is, and I could not tell you our quarterback’s name. I also do not miss tailgates, or the smell of beer on State Street, or my brother’s inevitable depression whenever we lose to Ohio State.
School of Music, Theatre and Dance alum Maya Ballester started her career at the University in the vocal performance program, but soon realized her heart lay closer to musical theatre. Through the Bachelor of Musical Arts track, she customized her degree to add acting and dance classes and then started work as a photographer as well.
This article is a part of the Arts b-side on Icons. For a full look at our b-side pieces exploring this theme, click this link.
Randazzo Dance Studio normally has around 250 students that waltz in and out of its doors on Washtenaw Ave. The school, founded in 1940, hosts three studios that support classes in ballet, tap, modern, jazz, musical theatre, hip hop, lyrical and pilates, plus rehearsals for the affiliated ballet and tap performance companies.
I adopted my cat from a small shelter in Grosse Isle, Mich. The two-room cat rescue was run out of a 20th-century house with one desk and two dozen felines; the cat that would become mine sat nestled under a plastic folding table right next to several packages of food. He purred as soon as I picked him up, gently rolling his 18-pound body into a cradle position with his back against my arms, looking directly into my eyes.
The world first saw Anthony Mmesoma Madu dance back in June — his teacher and studio-founder Daniel Owoseni Ajala posted a video of the 11-year-old student turning and leaping in the rainy outdoors of his native Nigeria. The boy’s bare feet propelled him off the muddy ground through an impressive combination of classical ballet, and the clip soon went viral.
It’s said that every theatre is inhabited by at least one ghost, and contrary to legends propagated by Halloween, these ghosts do not like the dark. Thus, when the curtain falls and a theatre’s house empties, an employee will leave a light — a ghost light — to burn onstage until the performers return. Across the world, ghost lights have remained on and untouched for months. But the lives of performers continue offstage, each day adding pressure to find performance spaces on digital platforms.
It’s said that every theatre is inhabited by at least one ghost, and contrary to legends propagated by Halloween, these ghosts do not like the dark. Thus, when the curtain falls and a theatre’s house empties, an employee will leave a light — a ghost light — to burn onstage until the performers return. Across the world, ghost lights have remained on and untouched for months. But the lives of performers continue offstage, each day adding pressure to find performance spaces on digital platforms.