Occasionally, the best things in life really are free — especially if you’re a dance fan in New York, where some of the world’s best dancers are performing at a free festival under the stars.

Joni Mitchell has received honorary membership in the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the century old institution where general inductees have ranged from Henry James and Georgia O’Keeffe to Sonny Rollins and Jasper Johns.

They both carved out sterling reputations as military and political leaders over years of public service.

Carla Fracci, an Italian cultural icon and former La Scala prima ballerina renowned for romantic roles alongside such greats as Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov, died Thursday at her home in Milan.

NEW YORK – The new PBS documentary on dancer-choreographer Twyla Tharp is called “Twyla Moves.” In retrospect, that sounds a bit weak. AdGiven all that, it would seem obvious that something like a global pandemic wouldn't force Tharp off course, or keep her on the sofa binge-watching Netflix. Tharp explains it simply: "Part of the adventure for me has always been a physical challenge." In one old clip, TV host Dick Cavett asks Tharp what she does to relax after a long period of work. Tharp didn’t want the film, directed by Steven Cantor and part of the American Masters series, to feel like a biography.

(AP Photo)NEW YORK – One of the country's oldest cultural instititutions, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, is undergoing some of its biggest changes in more than a century. AdHarjo, the first Native American to be appointed U.S. poet laureate, said she looked forward to having an influence on future academy choices. “There are so many incredible Native visual artists,” she told the AP, while also citing such authors as N. Scott Momaday and Leslie Marmon Silko. But the academy will still call itself an academy, while working to make itself more accessible to artists and to the general public. Besides choosing members, the academy also gives dozens of prizes and grants each year, totalling more than $1 million.