Lightsey Darst profiles dancer Elayna Waxse: what happened when she lost her passion for ballet, found a new fire, and came back to dance in a way neither she nor anyone else ever expected.

Usually the rules of going to a gallery are simple: Don’t touch anything, don’t even get particularly close. But at the Walker’s The Living Years: Art after 1989, ways of seeing the art quickly get more complicated.

David Oppegaard’s third novel—a foray into the popular YA fantasy genre—was supposed to be his sellout work, until his publishing deal fell through. Here he offers a field guide to the shifting sands of the books business.

A week packed with dance—burlesque, avant garde, modern—prompts a question for Lightsey Darst: “How did these performances make me so want what they had to offer?”

Twin Cities artists were shocked at news of the impending closure of the College of Visual Arts. Camille LeFevre digs into CVA’s talking points and claims there’s more to the story.

The labels accompanying Cindy Sherman’s photos at the Walker are at once unnecessary and gross, argues Lightsey Darst: “They reduce Sherman’s kaleidoscopic effect to unitary statement.”

A playlist for unsettling times: “The noise of division and cynicism, exploitation and condescension, and oligarchical finger wagging are silenced by this music’s sound and beauty, at least for a moment.”

Lightsey Darst never felt the new Cowles Center crack its cold facade until J-Sun’s Hip Hop!, which gave the venue the feel of a high school gym—in the best possible way.

Rei Kawakubo’s costumes for Merce Cunningham’s company created a best-case scenario: a classic in the annals of modern dance, artistic collaboration and fashion history.