“We Work All The Time” poster. (Courtesy of the artist) A LABOR CAMP IS A DETENTION FACILITY where inmates are held and forcibly engaged in penal toil. These facilities typically incarcerate political dissidents along with hardened criminals. Throughout history, particularly in the twentieth century, there have been many notable—and notorious—labor camps. Some of the most infamous of these include the…

ONE DAY IN DECEMBER, RIGHT AFTER BALLET CLASS, ballerina Sally Rousse stopped me with an idea for an article: would I be interested in writing something on what it means to be a dance muse? It was a topic Rousse was thinking quite a bit about at the time, because she was then separating from her husband James Sewell, for whom she has been an invaluable muse for nearly twenty years. Of course, I agreed…

Photo (top) is JoAnn Verberg with her camera during a shoot (Photo by Kristine Walsh appears courtesy of the Walker Art Center) by Profile by Euan Kerr   January 21, 2008 but if you�re going to talk to JoAnn Verburg about her work, at some point you will need to have a conversation about her camera. She uses a large format camera, which produces negatives five inches by seven inches across. It�s a close…

by Interview by Allison Herrera   January 10, 2008 Hot on the heels of success with one short, , which became a festival favorite around the country and internationally, just about wherever it screened; and with another short picked up by public television last year for broadcast in its MNTV series, Coleman Miller should be on track to fame and riches, right? You’d think, at least, it would be easy enough…

Image (top) is a photo of Ruth MacKenzie and the eponymous salmon from a recent performance, “Kalevala: The Dream of the Salmon Maiden.” (Courtesy of the artist’s website) by Essay by Dean J. Seal   January 7, 2008and has its origins in music for the chapel performed in a cathedral setting. The voice was the only instrument allowed, because it was the only one created by God and was, therefore, sacred…