New York Times

Helping artists to fabricate and install new works entails trust, commitment and risk taking. All of those elements went terribly wrong in a project with the artist Christoph Buchel. Ever escalating demands resulted in legal action that brought Mass MoCA to a standstill. Eventually a judge found in favor of the museum. It is painful even now to revisit the incident from which Joe Thompson and the museum have moved on.

New York City Ballet (NYCB) will bring a dazzling, diverse repertory of 16 stunning ballets from its unparalleled repertory to its summer stage at Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) July 10 - 21, including the July 14 World Premiere of a new ballet by NYCB dancer Justin Peck at the annual Ballet Gala. Other major highlights include the Saratoga premieres of new ballets by Christopher Wheeldon and Benjamin Millepied; Peter Martins’ dramatic, full-length production of Romeo + Juliet; Balanchine classics including Firebird, Symphony in C and Kammermusik No. 2 and first-ever Saratoga performances of Peter Martins’ The Waltz Project and Wheeldon’s DGV: Danse à Grande Vitesse.

Too much TV turns your brain to mush and causes cancer. Which is what I love about it. This week we saw the first episode of Smash. It was awesome. But I just don't understand Luck on HBO. Something about horse races. So, if you like TV as much as I do here's an update.

The evening begins at 7 p.m. with a reception in the Beard House’s charming Greenhouse Gallery as guests enjoy an assortment of hors d’oeuvres. A seated tasting menu begins around 8 p.m. The James Beard House is located at 167 West 12th Street. The price is $130 per person for James Beard Foundation members and $170 per person for the general public.

The Cartographer's Conundrum is a major multi-disciplinary installation By New York-based artist Sanford Biggers. This new work is inspired by the Houston, Texas based artist, scholar and Afro-futurist John Biggers (1924-2001). A cousin of his subject, Sanford Biggers' goal is to both study and expand the emerging genre of Afro-futurism, which engages science-fiction, cosmology and technology to create a new folklore of the African Diaspora.

We may be years away from the installation of a new Music Director at the BSO, but Nelsons presence at an important event, made me wonder.

Huntington Theatre Company announces that its 2012-2013 Season will include MacArthur “Genius” David Cromer’s groundbreaking new production of Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning American classic Our Town December 7, 2012 – January 13, 2013. Cromer will direct and play the Stage Manager, a role he previously performed in Chicago and Off Broadway productions.

This summer at Shakespeare & Company John Douglas Thompson will premiere a one man play Satchmo at the Waldorf written by the Wall Street Journal drama critic Terry Teachout. Thompson is in the early stages of research on the life and music of the legendary jazz musician Louis Armstrong.

Jacob’s Pillow Dance and MASS MoCA will co-present leading Australian contemporary dance company Chunky Move in Connected. Based in Melbourne, the company brings “blasts of choreographic excitement” (Jack Anderson, New York Times) to its performances.

It is that time of year when we look back at the highlights and insights of the past season. Take a deep breath and anticipate what lays ahead for 2012. There is much to remember as well as look forward to.

Starting around Thanksgiving, filmmakers and studios start showing there wares for consideration of major recognition and box office rewards. Some years there are just a few notable movies. For some reason, this 2011 holiday season there are many. Looking at some of the major cinema presentations, there is something for everyone and probably a lot more than was expected. These few holiday weeks collectively have been like a film festival of good movies.

Happy Hanukah. This is the last week of 2011, a heavy year by many accounts. Boston will have several exciting events with first night please check http://www.firstnight.org. The American Repertory Theater showcases two productions The Snow Queen and Three Pianos. The Museum of Fine Arts presents two films on the art of cooking:Three Stars and the famous restaurant El Bulli: Cooking in Progress. Happy New Year 2012....

January 2012 will kick off the momentous 80th Anniversary of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, a National Historic Landmark, National Medal of Arts honoree, and America’s longest-running international dance festival. Founded in 1933 by modern dance pioneer Ted Shawn as a retreat for his company of Men Dancers, Jacob’s Pillow has been a mecca of dance for eight decades.

James Aponovich is regarded as among the foremost American realist painters. He is in the midst of a conceptual project to finish a painting a week for a year. It was the subject of a broadcast on Chronicle this past week. In May the entire series of 52 paintings will be shown at Clark Gallery in Lincoln, Mass. This was an occasion to catch up with a superb artist and old friend.

For the upcoming winter and spring 2012, the ICA has developed a full and provocative series of events that include an array of performances, film programs and lectures. Be there or be square.

In 2001 Peter Plagens wrote about a new group of New York realists in a rather nasty manner. Not content to discuss their work he also had things to say about their then media inspiring life style. About which I begged to differ. This is a re posting of the article which appeared in Maverick Arts.

David A. Ross started a career in museums at 20 while still an undergraduate. He became curator of video art for the Everson Museum of Syracuse. His career as a museum director ended abruptly, at 53, in 2001 when he was fired just short of four years at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Currently he lives in Beacn, New York and commutes as chair of the MFA in Art Practice program at New York's School of Visual Arts.

On November 1, 2011, WGBHBoston hosted the first TEDx New England Conference, an offspring of the TED Conference's ever-expanding franchise. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design -- three broad subject areas that are, collectively, shaping our future. Heavily technologically driven, TEDx gathered together and created connections and networking among a group of New England academics, artists and business people offering them a forum for stimulation and creative thinking.

In conjunction with the world premiere of Captors, the Huntington Theatre Company will host a Jewish Community Night featuring Alan Dershowitz on Wednesday, November 16 at the BU Theatre, Avenue of the Arts (264 Huntington Avenue). Captors, by Evan M. Wiener and directed by Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois, tells the thrilling true story of the capture of architect of the Holocaust Adolf Eichmann by secret Israeli agents in Argentina in 1960.

In this third installment of a dialogue with Julianne Boyd, artistic director of Barrington Stage Company, we discussed the value and impact of reviews and critical dialogues. Is theater more of a life than a profession? What happens when boundaries get blurred?

Boston premiere ends after six performances the 9 year, international run of Mabou Mines DollHouse. A free-wheeling adaption of Henrik Iben's 19th century play A Doll's House makes use of scale to undress power.

The Restaurateur by Roger Sherman provided a tasty start for the second weekend of the Williamstown Film Festival. It was a nasty, stormy Thursday night but Images Cinema was packed for a film about New York entrepreneur Danny Meyer. He and Sherman were on had for a post film chat with organizer Steve Lawson. Then the audience decamped for a tasting party at Mezze.

This week highlights are: "Women of Will" at Central Square Theatre; Berlioz: Beatrice et Benedicte at the Cutler Majestic Opera Boston; the Palestinian Film Festival at the Museum of Fine Arts; ICA Art Music: Babaa Maal

By the end of this second run the riveting new drama The Best of Enemies by Mark St. Germain will have sold some 10,000 tickets which is an all time high for a drama presented by Barrington Stage Company. Critics are unanimous that this was the best new play of the Berkshire season. Don't miss out on this too brief second chance.

A day by day calendar of selected cultural events from concerts, musicals, plays, and films in Boston and Cambridge.