Chinese Hospitals Warn About the Flash Step; Louvre Faces €800M Overhaul; Minnesota Opera Orchestra Authorizes Strike

Last month, a 2018 instructional video from the Beijing Dance Academy gained immense popularity in China after being shared by a graduate aiming to preserve it. The choreography is based on the Flower Drum Lantern dance, recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage of Anhui province. A hospital linked to Yangzhou University has issued a warning about untrained individuals risking ligament injuries by attempting to replicate the dance. Meanwhile, on Saturday Night Live, Rosalía performed "Reliquia," appearing en pointe for nearly four minutes, prompting Ballet de Catalunya's director, Leo Sorribes, to comment on the difficulty of maintaining balance. In Paris, the new contemporary art center Le Large, located on Île Seguin, offers around 40 percent of its space for free. The Louvre's director, Christophe Leribault, cautions that without a €700 to €800 million renovation, the museum may face closure due to deteriorating infrastructure. In Minnesota, all 46 members of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra have voted to authorize a strike, as their salaries have remained stagnant for four years, coinciding with the October 31 premiere of Kamala Sankaram's The Many Deaths of Laila Starr. At the Met, librettist Royce Vavrek describes the upcoming opera Lincoln in the Bardo, debuting on October 19, as "quite hilarious at times," focusing on Lincoln's grief for his son Willie.