Kennedy Center shakes off staid image

WASHINGTON - The Kennedy Center, the giant arts complex in Washington, recently announced a new bid to shake off its staid reputation with a festival of risque and genre-blurring performances.

Opening next year, the Direct Current festival will bring 80-year-old Philip Glass, often considered the leading living US composer, to the national arts center for the first time.

Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter says that Direct Current, which she intends to make an annual event, was part of a mission to present works that are "fresh and provocative".