The more astute among you, or those that can simply read a calendar, may have noticed that this column has not been updated since June of last year when, ironically, we spoke of the arts world and its reluctance to speak out on any subject at all.
June was also the month of the catastrophic referendum when a subset of this country’s population decided, against all reason, rational thought and common sense, to vote to leave the EU before settling down in front of a pile of burning wood wrapped in a Union Jack and their own, ignorant, self-satisfaction. It was at that point that we, here in TheLab™ decided that enough was enough and it was time to walk away, for a while at least.
The ensuing months however have not been kind to the world. The USA especially has gone more insane than usual by electing a man that lost an election by almost 3 Million votes before all of his voters settled down in front of a pile of burning wood wrapped in a Stars and Stripes and their own, ignorant, self-satisfaction…
In the world of dance things have gone on much as they have before. Mathew Bourne is still making work like it’s the latter half of the 19th century, were still spending millions on buildings that will serve little or no useful purpose that will open late and Rambert Dance Company made whatever the hell this thing is and filmed it without even a small hint of shame.
So far, so depressingly predictable.
We’re Back
Having pondered long and hard atop a mountain we have returned with a new plan. Article19 will carry on as before only in a slightly more streamlined way. The features, editorial, interviews, offbeat, blogs and the old news section have been retired and archived. You can still get to them, up there in the main menu on the right, but they will remain forever in limbo.
TheImp™ will become the main point of written discourse for Article19 which makes a lot of sense because he is the fan’s favourite (yes, TheImp™ has fans, Ed). News will appear as and when there is something newsworthy to report and the Video features will come as and when we have them. Auditions and Shout posts will appear as they always have done so sign up for the audition update email at the bottom of the page if you are looking for work.
The video section has also undergone a bit of an overhaul. The HD (high definition) videos have all been more properly organised with tagging and whatnot to make related work easier to find and explore if you fancy watching a lot of dance. The SD (standard definition) material will be integrated into the main Video Features section over time with a lot of the older material receiving a makeover to make it look a lot better in a new world of high resolution phones and tablets. There is a lot of it though, so bear with us on that one.
Over the next few weeks we have a lot of new video material for you to enjoy so stay tuned for that and if you want to interact with Article19 then we are very active on the Twitter and the Facebook, don’t be shy, we don’t bite, unless provoked.
Onward
There are interesting times ahead, to say the least, not only for the arts but for the world in general, and we have made ourselves a lot leaner and a lot meaner as a result (if that’s even possible). Article19 will continue to be the arts publication that all the others wish they were but they’re too busy trying to sell advertising, demanding your email address before you can read anything or they have a board of trustees that makes getting new mouse pad a task akin to renewing Trident and almost as expensive.
Welcome to 2017, hold on tight, it’s going to be a rough ride and remember, the best way to kill a zombie is a well-timed swing with a 4 iron to the right temple!