Kennedy Center

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., has dissolved its Social Impact division, which partnered with local organizations to bring in diverse artists and audiences.

A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center says the threat targeted Shen Yun, a touring dance troupe that is banned in China, because it is associated with the religious group Falun Gong.

President Trump and his appointees are now solely in charge of the Kennedy Center. Performers protested by dancing.

Comedian W. Kamau Bell speaks with NPR's Michel Martin about his decision to perform at the Kennedy Center after President Trump assumed the organization's chairmanship.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks to Deborah Rutter, former head of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in her first interview since the board installed President Trump as its new chair.

The president announced Friday that he would remove multiple board members, including the Chairman, who do not share his vision for a "Golden Age in Arts and Culture."

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with composer Levi Taylor and librettist Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton about two new operas featuring Black female protagonists that were commissioned by the Kennedy Center's Social Impact program, in collaboration with the Washington National Opera.

A packed house honored the Grateful Dead, director Francis Ford Coppola, jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt. The venerable Harlem theater The Apollo also was recognized.

The award for lifetime artistic achievements will also recognize jazz trumpeter, pianist and composer Arturo Sandoval. The Apollo Theater will receive a special Honors as "an iconic American institution."

Percussionist Steve Scales has played with the Talking Heads and Tina Turner. Lately, though, he’s led a drum circle for clients of the Kennedy Center, a…