THE MAGAZINE
How a Vogue Fashion Model Turned into a War Correspondent: Lee Miller’s Legacy
How did a Vogue fashion model become one of the most important war correspondents of the 20th century? This article traces the remarkable life and legacy of Lee Miller, from her early career in fashion and Surrealist circles to her groundbreaking work documenting World War II for Vogue, revealing how she reshaped photojournalism and challenged the boundaries between art, journalism, and history.
Nahre Sol, Pianist and Composer: Composing Variations on the iPhone Ringtone “Opening”
What happens when a classical composer reimagines a familiar sound through centuries of musical style? Pianist and content creator Nahre Sol discusses her project of composing variations on the iPhone ringtone “Opening,” created during her residency at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, and reflects on musical style, composition, and why listening closely matters more than ever.
Edges of Ailey: A Celebration of Alvin Ailey
What does it mean to honour a choreographer whose work reshaped American dance and cultural history? Edges of Ailey explores the expansive legacy of Alvin Ailey through a landmark exhibition at New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art, bringing together archival materials, live performance, and contemporary voices to reflect on dance, Black life, and the enduring power of Ailey’s vision.
Reckoning with Colonial Art: Yinka Shonibare's “Mr. and Mrs. Andrews Without Their Heads”
What happens when a canonical work of British art is reimagined through a postcolonial lens? This article examines Yinka Shonibare’s Mr and Mrs Andrews Without Their Heads (1998), a radical reworking of Thomas Gainsborough’s 18th-century portrait, revealing how landscape painting, wealth, and colonial power are deeply intertwined—and how revisiting art history can expose the uncomfortable truths beneath its surface.
Guest Artist: Emma Cormier Simola, Student, Courtauld Institute of Art, London
How can art reclaim the female body from imposed expectations? In this guest contribution, Emma Cormier Simola, a student at the Courtauld Institute of Art, reflects on her sculptural and photographic work exploring the female experience, sexism, and self-representation—inviting women to take control of their own image and challenging the gaze that has long defined them.
Silent Stories: The Language of Style from the Old Masters to Bridgerton
What if clothing is the key to understanding art—and storytelling—across centuries? From Renaissance portraiture by Agnolo Bronzino to the richly symbolic costumes of Bridgerton, this article explores fashion as a silent visual language, revealing how style communicates identity, power, and inner life—from Old Master paintings to contemporary television.
The Dream Ballet: Introducing the “Golden Age” Movie Musicals of the 1950s
What if dance could reveal what words cannot? This article revisits the “dream ballet” as a defining feature of 1950s Hollywood musicals, exploring how films like An American in Paris, Singin’ in the Rain, and Oklahoma! used choreography to enter their characters’ inner worlds—transforming love, doubt, and desire into movement, and cementing dance as a powerful storytelling language of the Golden Age movie musical.
Guest Artist: Joseph Cornelius, 18, Courtauld Institute of Art, London
How does illustration bridge imagination, storytelling, and artistic technique? In this guest feature, Joseph Cornelius, an 18-year-old illustrator and Courtauld Institute of Art student, reflects on his creative process, influences ranging from cartoons to Studio Ghibli, and why illustration remains a powerful and often underestimated form of visual expression.
Birthday Celebration: A PlayLiszt for Beginners
Is all of Franz Liszt’s music really impossibly virtuosic? Marking the composer’s birthday, this article explores a selection of lesser-known beginner and intermediate piano works by Franz Liszt, revealing a more intimate, lyrical side of the composer and offering an inviting entry point into Liszt’s music for pianists of all levels.
Pianist Glenn Gould’s Radical Neurodivergent Legacy
What if Glenn Gould’s so-called eccentricities were not obstacles, but the source of his artistic brilliance? This article reconsiders the life and legacy of Glenn Gould through the lens of neurodiversity, arguing that his distinctive mind, behaviours, and working methods were central to his musical vision—and that his legacy is best understood as the triumph of a neurodivergent artist on his own terms.
The Original Queen of the Fouettés: Pierina Legnani
Who was the ballerina behind one of classical ballet’s most feared technical feats? This article revisits the life and legacy of Pierina Legnani, the first dancer to perform 32 consecutive fouettés, tracing how her virtuosity reshaped Swan Lake, transformed ballet training in Russia, and earned her the rare title of prima ballerina assoluta.
The Art of Pouring Milk
How does a simple domestic gesture become timeless art? This article takes a closer look at Johannes Vermeer’s The Milkmaid, exploring how light, texture, and quiet observation transform the everyday act of pouring milk into a masterful study of realism, stillness, and beauty in 17th-century Dutch painting.
In Memory of Michaela DePrince
The dance world is mourning the sudden death of Michaela DePrince at the age of 29. Born in Sierra Leone during a brutal civil war and orphaned by the age of three, DePrince went on to become an internationally acclaimed ballerina, a powerful advocate for Black representation in ballet, and a voice for children affected by conflict and violence. This tribute honours her extraordinary life, resilience, and lasting legacy.
Carry That Weight: Yoko Ono’s “Cut Piece,” Womanhood, and Power
What happens when vulnerability becomes a form of power? This article revisits Yoko Ono’s landmark performance Cut Piece, exploring how audience participation, exposure, and silence turned the work into a radical meditation on womanhood, control, and the politics of the gaze—long before Ono was defined by anything other than her art.
What is Your Star Sign? “Tierkreis” by Karlheinz Stockhausen
Can music reflect personality, symbolism, and the cosmos itself? This article explores Tierkreis by Karlheinz Stockhausen, a cycle of twelve zodiac-inspired melodies that blends astrology, serialism, and performer freedom—inviting listeners to hear their star sign through one of the most imaginative works of 20th-century music.
Why John Cage’s Provocative ‘Silent Piece’ is Still Powerful Today
Is silence ever really silent? This article revisits John Cage’s provocative work 4′33″, exploring how its apparent stillness challenges concert rituals, heightens awareness, and remains a powerful—and unsettling—experience for performers and audiences alike more than seventy years after its premiere.
Choosing the Right Variation for a Ballet Competition
Are you planning to compete at a ballet competition this school year? Choosing the right variation can make all the difference. What principles should guide your decision? TWoA speaks with Inna Bayer, artistic director of Bayer Ballet Academy, and her student Crystal Huang—prize winner at the Prix de Lausanne 2024, Youth America Grand Prix 2024, YoungArts 2024, and Grand Prix winner at the South Africa International Ballet Competition—about strategy, growth, and showcasing your strengths on stage.
Crystal Huang, 15, Prix de Lausanne Prize Winner 2024: “The Love for Dance Comes First!”
Crystal Huang, 15, is having a remarkable year. Until just two years ago, she was training primarily in commercial dance—but in 2024 she emerged as a prize winner at the Prix de Lausanne, one of the world’s most prestigious international ballet competitions. She also claimed top awards at Youth America Grand Prix 2024, YoungArts (Dance/Ballet), and the Grand Prix at the South Africa International Ballet Competition. TWoA spoke with Crystal about her unconventional journey and the lessons she’s learned about succeeding at competitions—onstage and beyond.
Bayreuth, 13th August 1876
On a sweltering August afternoon in 1876, Bayreuth became the epicenter of the musical world as Richard Wagner unveiled Der Ring des Nibelungen in a purpose-built theatre designed to realize his radical artistic vision. This vivid account revisits the birth of the Bayreuth Festival and explores how Wagner’s innovations reshaped the operatic experience—while raising questions that still haunt his legacy today.
“Sleeping Beauties:” Reawakening Fashion, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
How can fashion truly be experienced in a museum, once it can no longer be worn? At The Met’s Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion, visitors are invited into a multisensory journey through four centuries of dress, where sight, touch, scent, and imagination come together to awaken garments—and reflections on time, memory, and mortality.