Burlesque Beginnings
From its nineteenth-century origins, burlesque developed into a self-aware performance art that celebrates the female form and challenges social norms.
In the Mood for “Fake” Music?
In 2017, it was reported that Spotify was promoting fake artists on its platform. But this type of approach to “content creation” wasn’t new.
Performing as “Red Indians” in Ghana
In Ghana, asafo and Fancy Dress traditions draw on a stereotypical but much-admired figure inspired by the nations of the North American Great Plains.
The Long Shadow of the Jolly Bachelors
More than a century ago, Charlotte Cushman presided over a group of queer female artists who supported one another’s creativity and left a pioneering, if overlooked, legacy.
Sex (No!), Drugs (No!), and Rock and Roll (Yes!)
In the 1980s and 1990s, Christian heavy metal bands used head-banging music to share the politics and values of evangelical Christians with America’s youth.
Revolutionary Writing in Carlos Bulosan’s America
Bulosan’s fiction reflects an awareness of the inequality between the Philippines and the US and connects that relationship to his own class experience.
Pas de Deux With Cancel Culture
Traditionally set amidst an exoticized conception of India, La Bayadère’s recent staging argues for stripping away stereotypes in the creative reimagination of old ballets.
Heritage Bilinguals and the Second-Language Classroom
So-called heritage learners are forcing educators to rethink and reframe their approaches to teaching second languages in the classroom.
The Joy of Burglary
In the early 1900s, a fictional “gentleman burglar” named Raffles fascinated British readers, reflecting popular ideas about crime, class, and justice.
Saving Art from the Revolution, for the Revolution
Alexandre Lenoir’s Musée des monuments français, founded to protect French artifacts from the revolutionary mobs, was one of the first popular museums of Europe.