Featuring pioneering prima ballerina Marie Tallchief (Osage ๐ผ๐ฃ๐ธ๐๐ค๐๐ธ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ธ๐ฒ๐) in the principal role, following after her revolutionary performance in Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird as choreographed by George Balanchine, the premier of The Nutcracker under the same creative team behind the staging by the company of the New York City Ballet on this day in 1954. Enchanting thanks to Tallchief’s magical moves, it has been an annual tradition ever since.
Thursday, 2 February 2023
sugar plum fairy (10. 518)
Sunday, 29 January 2023
8x8 (10. 509)
musiclm: a Google sandbox experiment for audio generation from rich captions—via Waxy and Web Curios—see previously
krewe of karens: i would like to see the Mardi Gras manager
semi-stagionato: an ancient method for surviving the COVID cheese glut made have improved the region’s pecorino cheeses

party (of one): Broadway Barbara’s “Dance for Your Life!”—see also
an absurd italian gastronomic religion: the ironical, fascist sauce that outlived the war on pasta—via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Links—lots more to explore there
you know i always wanted to pretend that i was an architect: attribute these quotes to either Seinfeld’s George Costanza or GOP darling George Santos
magic voice: more prompts and audio continuation courtesy of Google’s suite of AI tools
Tuesday, 3 January 2023
6x6 (10. 383)
shift happens: a comprehensive history of keyboards by Marcin Wichary—via Waxy
luni-solar: the people who are living in multiple timelines—see previously

hydraulic press interpretive dance: the impressive choreography of Sarah “Smac” McCreanor—see previously
nangajo: prominent figures of the Japanese design community present their greeting cards for 2023 (see previously), the Year of the Rabbit
franklin ace 100: the Apple clone (see previously) with a bizarre users’ guide—via Waxy
Friday, 21 October 2022
7x7 (10. 242)
lettuce rejoice: a bit of highly monitored produce outlasts the prime minister
cincinattus: the real and fraught possibility that Boris Johnson could be brought back as the Tory leader

hive mind: how studying the decision making approach of bumble bees can lend insights into the mechanics of human memory
on pointe: ballet dancers caring for the tools of the trade
not another experiment: UK opposition political parties call for a General Election
every inch of you: a punny produce display
Sunday, 16 October 2022
7x7 (10. 229)
symphony of the birds: CBS Radio director Jim Fassett’s 1960 experimental arrangement

benevolent dictator: a profile of President Kevin Baugh and his micronation of Molossia—via the New Shelton wet/dry
kunstradfahren: a graceful bicycle ballet by a skilled practitioner of this 130 year old sport
barcalounger: ten homes whose decor is tied together with classic Eames chairs—see previously
unreliable narrator: microbrews and hipster beer names
peer-reviewed: birdsong helps alleviate human anxiety and paranoia
Tuesday, 27 September 2022
8x8 (10. 174)
on pointe: an Australian ballet company recites an alphabet of foot poses
detour: experts urge adding a Venus-flyby to first crewed mission to Mars

puffling: with blรกsa Icelanders help to reset sea bird chicks internal compass
bisexual lighting: the story of a strange picture and other Wikipedia articles in need of an illustration—via Super Punch
only you could be so bold: whilst Putin invades Ukraine, a studio in Kyiv is creating the voice of Darth Vader
asteroid! coming in from the void: ripped from the headlines
tiptoe: performer dazzles with their bottle-walking routine
Friday, 18 March 2022
8x8
the fiume endeavour: Neutral Moresnet and other countries that fell off the map
international male: thirty-three national costumes from the 2022 Mister Global pageant via Miss Cellania

smpte colour bars: a BBC test pattern jumper and mural—see also
bad actor mode: an AI normally tasked with developing new, novel medications had its parameters switched seek out toxicity and suggests tens of thousands of chemical weapons and poisons in the space of a few hours—via Slashdot
cameo appearance: Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams portrayed the President of United Earth on the season finale of Star Trek and brought the planet back into the Federation
state-of-the-art: ten breakthrough technologies online now that could change our trajectory for the better—via Kottke
geopolitics: charting the advance of democracy
Saturday, 29 January 2022
idomeneo
Considered one of the greatest operatic works of all time, the Italian language dramma per musica based on a 1705 stage play by French tragedian Prosper Jolyot de Crรฉbillon about the eponymous King of Crete by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had its premiere as the opener for court carnival season in Mรผnchen on this day in 1781. The piece in three acts with ballet interludes tells the story of the homecoming of the commander-in-chief who led the Cretan navy into the Trojan War, comrade of Ajax and rebuffed suitor of Helen, Idomeneus (แผธฮดฮฟฮผฮตฮฝฮตฯฯ—like The Odyssey)—grateful for peaceable relations again after decades of fighting, exercises clemency over prisoners of war brought from Troy, including Priam’s daughter Princess Ilia, though Argonaut Princess Electra is not happy about the potential competition to marry into the dynasty. In contravention to an earlier pledge that would have the king sacrifice his son to the sea on condition of a safe return, Neptune relents and spares the life of the king’s son Prince Idamante, on the promise that he relinquishes his throne to the younger generation, with the new king taking the Trojan princess as his queen. All are happy except Electra—her later parricidical frenzy attributed to this early rejection.
Monday, 27 December 2021
7x7
the year that was: Miss Cellania’s Winterval tradition of annual lists—including arts and entertainment, animals and more
market volatility: unusual vintage shot glasses track ups and downs of the Dow Jones Industrial Average—via Super Puncha sight for sore eyes: a coffee table edition from rock royalty The Residents
where the wild things are: Maurice Sendak directed a darker version of The Nutcracker ballet, truer to the original narrative and far more captivating
ultimate rendering: Picasso’s first and last self-portraits—see also—via Messy Nessy Chic
boop: robot reacts to a poke in the nose
lend me your ears and i’ll sing you a song about a sad, dysfunctional d.c.: US president Joe Biden’s first year in review presented by Politico
Wednesday, 25 August 2021
7x7
the dance of the proletariat: a cultural revolutionary ballet
reefer madness: an excerpt from “Cocaine, the Princess of Perdition” (1939) beef and dairy network: a 1986 board game called “Grade Up to Elite Cow”music to moog by: Melbourne’s Electronic instrument museum
old growth: an anthology of the most memorable trees in the literary canon
ambiguate: a notable lacuna, lexical gap for a word that ought to have been formed
rhythm is a dancer: a comprehensive dance music archive covering the recent past—via Things Magazine
Monday, 7 June 2021
9x9
glass menagerie: a Murano bestiary on display in Venice
glow up: beauty tips from Ancient Roman—via Strange Company’s Weekend Link Dump
coconuรritter: a short about Foley artists and creating soundscapes
happy little clouds: explore a relaxing gallery of Bob Ross paintings (previously), via Nag on the Lake’s Sunday Linksculaccino: a database of words that do not readily translate succinctly, like this Italian term from the mark left on a table by a cold glass—via Swiss Miss
electrobat vi: antique electric forerunners side-by-side with modern EVs
the perils of everybody: a ‘mistake waltz’ that illustrates the pratfalls all ballet recitals are prone to
where the buffalo roam: restoring the ecosystem of the North American Great Plains by reintroducing charismatic megafauna
kitchenette: re-examining Liza Lou’s beaded exhibits
Sunday, 16 May 2021
9x9
segmentation and targeting: A/B testing “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”—see also
light house customer: we appreciated the chance to revisit a new and improved version Lights at Sea—via Nag on the Lake—both times
nice.walk.ruined: award-winning global addressing scheme what3words (previously) subject to some juvenile humour with locations mapped in smutty language, both real and bespoke
isotopia: a high-brow 1950 ballet and pantomime presented to the steering committee of the Atomic Energy Association to extol nuclear power from Weird Universeapartment d3: seven printed homes around the world
l’art de payer ses dettes et de satisfaire ses crรฉanciers san dรฉbourser un sou: credit culture in nineteenth century France
alpha version: drag and drop personal, old school websites from mmm—via Kicks Condor
sovietwave radio: broadcasting a selection of the sub-genre’s best space age and syntho-pop—via Dark Roasted Blend
the writers’ block: a suite in Chelsea Carlyle mansion home to Henry James, T. S. Eliot and Ian Fleming on the market
catagories: ⚛️, ๐ฌ, ๐, ๐, ๐บ️, ๐ฉฐ, ๐ข, architecture, lifestyle, networking and blogging
Friday, 18 December 2020
ัะตะปะบัะฝัะธะบ
Debuting in Saint Petersburg on this day in 1892 (Old Style, 6 December), the stage, fairy ballet (ะฑะฐะปะตั-ัะตะตัะธั) adaptation of the short story by E. T. A. Hoffmann—The Nutcracker and the Mouse King—opened as a double-feature with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s ultimate opera Iolanta, a one-act performance about the Duchess of Lorraine, Yolande de Bar—a romanticised biography of figure who was more retiring and reserved in real life. Though initially not well-received and critics using rather harsh language, the overture and suite that the composer score was an enduring success, with countless Christmas season performances accounting for an incredible forty percent of attendance for ballet companies in North America in normal times.
Tuesday, 21 April 2020
do the sabre dance
A short movement in the final act of his ballet Gayane, premiering in Moscow in 1942, composer and choreographer Aram Khachturian (*1903 – †1978, the Georgian artist’s music later denounced by the state as “anti-people”) lamented how this one section based on an Armenian folk dance deflected from the rest of his repertoire, in 1948 becoming a jukebox hit in the United States and elsewhere and being reinterpreted by various charting artists, including a lounge and boogie version in the early 1960s.
Monday, 18 November 2019
triadic ballet
In keeping with the theme of all the pieces featured in this year’s Performa in New York City that paid tribute to the Bauhaus movement on its centenary anniversary, Kia LaBeija’s contribution takes the outline of the third act of Oskar Schlemmer’s 1922 experimental choreography (previously here and here) and expands it as a showcase not only for her talent but moreover as a reappropriating of a school which for all its subsequent influence and resonance was rather still a product of its age and the domain of the few—not representative of the reach that the members’ aspired for. The costumes not only exaggerate the dancers’ figured and invites one to think on the function that belies our conceits but also what sort of prosthetics and inventions we can avail ourselves of, not just in terms of image and health but also as something enhanced beyond human weaknesses. Much more to explore at the links above.
Monday, 3 June 2019
6x6
someday my prince will come: life lessons gleaned at the Princess Academy
decolonise this place: a collection of maps presented from an aboriginal perspective, via Nag on the Lake
bathyscope: a ten-hour montage of mesmerising ocean footage
if you just smiled more: an epic discussion thread uses classical paintings to illustrate everyday sexism
the master and margarita: a compelling reading recommendation for Mikhail Bulgakov’s Soviet satire
ะฑะตััะทะบะฐ: the floating step of a ballet ensemble founded by choreographer Nadezhda Nadezhdina
Thursday, 23 May 2019
7x7
bit part: a preview of a biopic about Claude Shannon (previously)—the unsung Father of Information Theory
the revolution will not be biennialised: Banksy (previously) makes an appearance at a Venice expo, selling paintings of giant cruise ships moored in the canals
en pointe: the Hong Kong Ballet celebrates its fortieth birthday
๐พ ๐พ ๐พ: Thangrycat is exploiting vulnerabilities in the underpinning architecture of the internet
urban spelunking: when the Jehovah’s Witnesses relocated from Brooklyn Heights to upstate, their vacated properties included a series of underground passageways, via Super Punch
conducive to learning: a collection of striking maps and charts that inspired pupils in the late nineteenth century
walking trot: phones can now determine who is carrying them by knowing their users’ gait and other kinematic factors, via Slashdot
Wednesday, 8 August 2018
6x6
glou glou: TYWKIWDBI regales us with an overview of new wine terminology
ะณะพัะพะดะฐ́-ะฟัะธ́ะทัะฐะบะธ: a visually stunning gallery of abandoned places in Russia, via Things Magazine
voluntarily generated pilomotor reflex: studying goosebumps produced at will is a lot more intriguing than it first appears
i’ve got to break free: Freddie Mercury trains with the Royal Ballet in 1979
der phantashische film: German animator Heinz Edelmann, best known for his work on Yellow Submarine, created a psychedelic opening sequence for broadcaster ZDF
south street squidport: as sort of a reverse trap-street, one online mapping service is creating neighbourhoods and districts according to the branding of advertising agencies
Friday, 26 May 2017
she’s got electric boots, a mohair suit
Singer, song-writer duo Sir Elton John and Bernie Taupin have collaborated with several film-makers to produce music videos to three of their iconic songs over forty years after their initial release. Go to this link to see all three songs—the others being Rocket Man and Tiny Dancer, other numbers like Crocodile Rock achieved perfection already with a guest appearance on the Muppet Show—and learn about their production and choreography, which in the featured video reminded me of the Triadic Ballet of the Bauhaus movement.
Sunday, 11 December 2016
choreographed geometries
Our thanks to the brilliant Messy Nessy for her extended and studied appreciation of the sublimely strange Triadic Ballet of the Bauhaus Theatre movement of the 1920s.
We had marvelled at the production and revivals beforehand but we were not clued into the backstory, inspiration and legacy enough to be able to enjoy it to the full extent, one always being induced to learning more, like realising the aspirations of Bauhaus itself was in a way realised in the lifestyle engine that is IKEA. The passage through the acts to something darker and more mechanised, formal and constrained in its expression, symbolised synthesizing the Dionysian impulse (which we’d assign to dance) in purely artificial and abstract Apollonian terms—which is ultimately the fate or anything staged and the burden of performance art. In fact, one of the character designs of Oskar Schlemmer that appeared in the third triad became the inspiration for Kansai Yamamoto’s 1973 Ziggy Stardust exaggerated jodhpur jumpsuit. There is currently an exhibit on set layout, choreography and costumes in Metz, and while no troupe is performing the piece right now, you can watch a video of a seminal production at the source link above.