TRAVEL TUESDAY 466 - 'EL TROPICANA', HAVANA, CUBA

“Havana is one of the great cities of the world, sublimely tawdry yet stubbornly graceful, like tarnished chrome - a city, as a young Winston Churchill once wrote, where 'anything might happen.’” - Jonathan Miles

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us.

Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

'El Tropicana' Night Club in Havana, Cuba, is located in a lush estate, with a 36,000-square-metre tropical garden. It opened on December 30, 1939 at the Villa Mina in Marianao. It is located next door to the old Colegio de Belén, Havana, presently, the Instituto Técnico Militar.

El Tropicana claims to be the largest and most beautiful nightclub in the world. Located on what was once an extensive private estate, Tropicana has two complete sets of stages, table areas, and dance floors. If the weather is fine, the outdoor area is used; otherwise, everyone moves to the indoor area. Tall palm trees growing among the tables lend the proper tropical atmosphere and blend well with the ultra-modernistic architecture. Shows include 50-dancer chorus lines which often branch out into the trees. Rhythms and costumes are colourfully native (voodoo is a frequent theme.) Top names often star.

No visit to Havana is complete without a night attending the extravagant shows at this night club. Prices are high, but the spectacles staged make the expense justifiable.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY 432 - FLAMENCO, SPAIN

“The flamenco of the Gypsy has nothing to do with the flamenco for tourists. Real flamenco is like sex.” - Klaus Kinski

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us.

Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only. Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.

Flamenco is an artform native to the Spanish regions of Andalusia, Extremadura and Murcia. It includes cante (singing), toque (guitar playing), baile (dance) and jaleo (vocalisations) and palmas (handclapping) and pitos (finger snapping). First mentioned in literature in 1774, the genre originates in Andalusian music and dance styles.

Flamenco is strongly associated with the gitanos (Romani people of Spain) - however, unlike Romani music of eastern Europe, the style is distinctively Andalusian and the fusion of the various cultures of southern Spain is clearly perceptible in Flamenco music.

Although there are many theories on its influences and origins, the most widespread highlights a Morisco heritage, the cultural melting pot that was Andalusia at the time (Andalusians, Moors, Castilian settlers, Romanis and Jews) fostering its development over time.

Flamenco music, as a theatrical representation of Andalusian musical tradition, was first recorded in the late 18th century but the genre underwent a dramatic development in the late 19th century.

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TRAVEL TUESDAY #124 - TAHITI

“I fall asleep thinking there is no better elixir than travel. Old things always bored me, boredom always scared me, while travel - travel is a carnival of wild affairs.” - Carol Vorvain  

Welcome to the Travel Tuesday meme! Join me every Tuesday and showcase your creativity in photography, painting and drawing, music, poetry, creative writing or a plain old natter about Travel.

There is only one simple rule: Link your own creative work about some aspect of travel and share it with the rest of us. Please use this meme for your creative endeavours only.

Do not use this meme to advertise your products or services as any links or comments by advertisers will be removed immediately.   

Tahiti (previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia. The island is located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the central Southern Pacific Ocean, and is divided into two parts: The bigger, northwestern part, Tahiti Nui, and the smaller, southeastern part, Tahiti Iti. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous with surrounding coral reefs. The population is 189,517 inhabitants (2017 census), making it the most populous island of French Polynesia and accounting for 68.7% of its total population. 

Tahiti is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity (sometimes referred to as an overseas country) of France. The capital of French Polynesia, Papeete, is located on the northwest coast of Tahiti. The only international airport in the region, Fa'a'ā International Airport, is on Tahiti near Papeete. 

Tahiti was originally settled by Polynesians between 300 and 800 CE. They represent about 70% of the island’s population, with the rest made up of Europeans, Chinese and those of mixed heritage. The island was part of the Kingdom of Tahiti until its annexation by France in 1880, when it was proclaimed a colony of France, and the inhabitants became French citizens. French is the only official language, although the Tahitian language (Reo Tahiti) is widely spoken. 

One of the most widely recognised images of the islands is the world-famous Tahitian dance. The 'ote'a (sometimes written as otea) is a traditional dance from Tahiti, where the dancers, standing in several rows, execute figures. This dance, easily recognised by its fast hip-shaking and grass skirts, is often confused with the Hawaiian hula, a generally slower more graceful dance which focuses more on the hands and storytelling than the hips. 

Every July, the Heiva Festival is celebrated. Heiva comes from the Tahitian words hei and va, which mean “to assemble” and “community places”. It is a time of celebration, a national get together in a festival which showcases the very best of the Polynesian culture – by far the most exotic in the South Pacific Islands. It is a month-long celebration of life in paradise, a time to respect the past, and a time to share with the rest of the world the rich Polynesian heritage.

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

IF MUSIC BE THE FOOD OF LOVE...

Then dance must be its sweet dessert... 

“The silver swan, who, living had no note, When death approached unlocked her silent throat.” - Orlando Gibbons 

Pavlova is a meringue-based dessert named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova (February 12 1881 – January 23, 1931). It is a meringue dessert with a crisp crust and soft, light inside, usually topped with fruit and whipped cream. The dessert is believed to have been created in honour of the dancer either during or after one of her tours to Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. The nationality of its creator has been a source of argument between the two nations for many years.

In 2008, Helen Leach published “The Pavlova Story: A Slice of New Zealand’s Culinary History”, in which she argued that the earliest known recipe was published in New Zealand. Later research by Andrew Wood and Annabelle Utrecht suggested the dessert originated in the United States and was based on an earlier German dish. The dessert is a popular dish and an important part of the national cuisine of both Australia and New Zealand, and with its simple recipe, is frequently served during celebratory and holiday meals.

It is a dessert most identified with the summer time and popularly eaten during that period including at Christmas time, however it is also eaten all year round in many Australian and New Zealand homes.

Here is a recipe for Pavlova: 

Pavlova
Ingredients
Whites of 6 medium, very fresh eggs, separated
300 g caster Sugar
2 generous teaspoons cornflour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
300ml thickened cream
2 tablespoons CSR Pure Icing Sugar, sifted
Pulp of 3 passionfruit (if fresh not available use canned pulp 170g)
1 teaspoon gelatin powder
2 tablespoons boiling water
Other seasonal fruits (strawberries, kiwi fruit, raspberries, blackberries) or glace fruit or preserved fruit (peaches) if fresh fruit is unavailable. Passionfruit is a must!

Method
Preheat oven to 120°C. Line an oven tray with foil. Brush with melted butter and dust with cornflour, shaking off excess. Mark a 24cm-diameter circle on foil.
Use an electric mixer to whisk egg whites in a clean dry bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition, until meringue is thick and glossy and sugar dissolved. Rub a little meringue between fingers. If still "gritty" with sugar, continue to whisk until sugar dissolves. Add cornflour, vinegar and vanilla and whisk until just combined.
Spoon meringue onto the foil, using the marked circle as a guide. Smooth sides and top of pavlova. Use a small spatula to forms little peaks around edge of pavlova. Bake in oven for 11/2 hours or until pavlova is dry to the touch. Turn off oven. Leave pavlova in oven with the door ajar to cool completely. When completely cold, transfer to serving plate or store in an airtight container until required.
Boil the water in a cup in a microwave and dissolve the gelatin in it, adding the passionfruit pulp. Let this cool until it is just beginning to set.
Meanwhile, use an electric mixer to whisk the cream and icing sugar in a medium bowl until firm peaks form. Spoon cream onto the top of pavlova. Pour the passionfruit jelly mixture on top and decorate pavlova with fruit.

And here is Anna Pavlova dancing the Dying Swan to music by Camille Saint Saëns. 

MOVIE MONDAY - THE RED SHOES

“The dance can reveal everything mysterious that is hidden in music, and it has the additional merit of being human and palpable. Dancing is poetry with arms and legs.” - Charles Baudelaire

Last week we watched a classic old film, which although I had heard lots about I had never actually seen. It was Michael Powell’s and Emeric Pressburger’s 1948 film “The Red Shoes”, starring  Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Moira Shearer and Robert Helpmann. It is loosely based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, but is more of a chronicle of the world of ballet dancers, teachers and impresarios. It is one of the early British colour films and it quickly became one of the most popular British films in the post-WWII period. The film is included among the “1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die”, edited by Steven Schneider.

The film has original music by Brian Easdale and cinematography by Jack Cardiff, and is well regarded for its creative use of Technicolor. Filmmakers such as Brian De Palma and Martin Scorsese have named it one of their all time favourite films. The movie employs the story within a story device, with the lives of the dancers, choreographers and impresarios being the main story, and a ballet they are producing being the other story. The film includes a staging of the ballet they are working on, which runs for about 15 minutes.

The plot is as follows: Under the authoritarian rule of charismatic ballet impresario Boris Lermontov (Wallbrook), his protégés realise the full promise of their talents, but at a price: Utter devotion to their art and complete loyalty to Lermontov himself. Under his near-obsessive guidance, young ballerina Victoria Page (Shearer) is poised for superstardom, but earns Lermontov’s scorn when she falls in love with Julian Craster (Goring), composer of “The Red Shoes”, the ballet Lermontov is staging to showcase her talents. Vicky leaves the company and marries Craster, but still finds herself torn between Lermontov’s demands and those of her heart.

Pressburger originally wrote the screenplay for Alexander Korda as a vehicle for Korda’s future wife Merle Oberon. After some years had passed without the film being made, Powell and Pressburger rewrote the screenplay, including more emphasis on dancing, and produced it themselves. Powell and Pressburger decided early on that they had to use dancers who could act rather than actors who could dance a bit. To create a realistic feeling of a ballet company at work, and to be able to include a fifteen-minute ballet as the high point of the film, they created their own ballet company using many dancers from The Royal Ballet. The principal dancers were Robert Helpmann (who also choreographed the main ballet), Léonide Massine (who also choreographed the role of The Shoemaker), Ludmilla Tchérina and Moira Shearer.

Boris Lermontov is the film’s dominant character, and is an obvious portrait of Sergei Pavlovich Dyagilev (1872-1929), one of the 20th century’s greatest cultural figures and the driving force of the ‘Ballets Russes’. Walbrook plays this character with restraint and is a perfect “bad guy” in a gentlemanly sort of way. Shearer and Goring as the lovers are rather more conventional leading actors and give good but perhaps slightly clichéd performances. Nevertheless Shearer is quite enchanting once she starts to dance.

The film gives an insight into the creative process in the arts, especially so the ballet, but also highlights the sad lot of the composer of the music used in ballet… The conflict between professional life and personal is well depicted, as well the way that true artists are passionate about their art. One exchange that stuck with me was: “Why do you want to dance?” Boris Lermontov asks Victoria Page; “Why do you want to live?”, is her response.

The 15 minute ballet “The Red Shoes” is a highlight of the film and this is a gloriously cinematic view of a ballet sequence. The music conducted flawlessly by Sir Thomas Beecham suits the action well and the choreography by Robert Helpmann and Leonide Massine is amazing. The glorious Technicolor cinematography by Jack Cardiff is quite stunning. Incidentally, we watched the film on Bluray, which was the copy of the 2006 digital restoration of the film done by Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging. The digital pictures were frame by frame digitally restored at Prasad Corporation to remove dirt, tears, scratches, and other artifacts, giving the film its original look.

Quite an amazing film and indeed well worth looking at, especially if you like ballet, music, the arts and the creative process.

ART SUNDAY - ANDRÉ DERAIN

“I do not innovate. I transmit.” - Andre Derain

André Derain (1880-1954) was considered by leading critics in the 1920s to be the most outstanding French avant-garde painter and at the same time the upholder of the classical spirit of French tradition. He was born on June 10, 1880, in Chatou, and began to paint when he was about 15. He studied at the Academy Carrière in Paris (1898-1899), where he met Henri Matisse. Derain was a close friend of Maurice Vlaminck, with whom he shared a studio in 1900 and also his radical views on painting, literature, and politics.

Derain was drawn, through Vlaminck and Matisse, into the art movement known as Fauvism. Derain’s first artistic attempts were interrupted by military service (1901-1904), after which he devoted himself exclusively to art. He experienced impressionism, divisionism, the style of Paul Gauguin and Vincent Van Gogh, and Vlaminck’s and Matisse’s techniques by applying them to his own work. He copied in the Louvre and travelled a great deal in France to paint its various landscapes. He spent the summer of 1905 at Collioure with Matisse and that fall exhibited with the Fauves.

The art dealer Ambrose Vollard signed a contract with Derain in 1905, and the following year the artist went to London to paint some scenes of the city commissioned by Vollard. Derain’s Westminster Bridge is one of his Fauve masterpieces. About 1908 Derain became interested in African sculpture and at the same time explored the work of Paul Cézanne and early cubism. He became a friend of Pablo Picasso and worked with him in Catalonia in 1910.

In Derain’s work, which comprises landscapes, figure compositions (sometimes religious), portraits, still lifes, sculptures, decors for ballets, and book illustrations, we can discern various periods, all of which are distinguished by masterpieces. About 1911 he was attracted by Italian and French primitive masters; he also admired the “primitive” art of Henri Rousseau.

After World War I, during which Derain served at the front, he studied the masters of the early Renaissance and then Pompeian art. All these left traces in his work. Finally he emerged as a realist and intensified his contact with nature. In rejecting the cerebral art of cubism and abstraction, he defended the return of the human figure to painting. His development as an artist was dramatic, and although Picasso called him a guide de musées, in other words, not an innovator but a traditionalist, Derain's best work will survive many of the experimental attempts of his contemporaries because of its inherent painterly qualities.

Toward the end of his life Derain lived, practically forgotten, in his country home at Chambourcy. The retrospective exhibition in Paris in 1937 was the climax of his fame. He died in Garches on Sept. 2, 1954. The large retrospective exhibitions organized from 1955 to 1959 established a new appreciation of Derain as a major artist.

The painting above is “The Dance”, painted in 1906. After receiving an African fang mask in 1906 by one of Derain’s fauvist contemporaries, Derain started an impressive collection of African art. “The Dance” is an example of the influence that Derain’s African art collection had on his painting. The painting features a brightly coloured landscape, with three main human figures and one figure in the background. The piece references both African art and Fauvism. With the wildly, vibrant colours its apparent that the painting is fauvist in nature. The rest of the painting references African art through African masks, primitive body painting, and curvy forms that reflect ancient stylised female figurines. These heads reflect African fang masks, in particular the face of the figure on the very left. Overall, the canvas is full of vibrant colour, exuberant movement and a rhythm that typifies vivacious African dances.

MUSIC SATURDAY - FANDANGO

“If you can’t get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you’d best teach it to dance.” - George Bernard Shaw

For Music Saturday, an extract from a longer work by Luigi Boccherini played by The Carmina Quartet (Matthias Enderle, violin 1, Susanne Frank, violin 2, Wendy Champney, viola & Stephan Goerner, violoncello). It is the fourth movement (“Fandango”) from Boccherini’s Guitar Quintet G. 448 in D Major, with Rolf Lislevand, guitar and Nina Corti, castanets.

Rodolfo Luigi Boccherini (February 19, 1743 – May 28, 1805) was an Italian classical era composer and cellist whose music retained a courtly and galante style while he matured somewhat away from the major European musical centres. Boccherini is most widely known for one particular minuet from his String Quintet in E, Op. 11, No. 5 (G 275), and the Cello Concerto in B flat major (G 482). The latter work was long known in the heavily altered version by German cellist and prolific arranger Friedrich Grützmacher, but has recently been restored to its original version.

Boccherini composed several guitar quintets including the “Fandango” which was influenced by Spanish music. His biographer Elisabeth Le Guin noted among Boccherini’s musical qualities “an astonishing repetitiveness, an affection for extended passages with fascinating textures but virtually no melodic line, an obsession with soft dynamics, a unique ear for sonority, and an unusually rich palette of introverted and mournful affects.” Boccherini’s overriding concern was the production of smooth, elegant music; thus, his favourite expression marks were soave (soft), con grazia (with grace), and dolcissimo (very sweetly).

It is in his gentle warmth and superlative elegance—often with a hint of melancholy just below the surface—that Boccherini's most characteristic contribution may be found. His treatment of instrumental texture is richly varied, emerging as one of the most characteristic features of his music, particularly in his concertante writing, in which he obtained a wide variety of tone colours by writing high viola or cello parts (he was clearly influenced here by his own instrumental facility).

The illustration above is “The Fandango” by Charles Christian Nahl (1873).

TO DANCE

“Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.” - Carl Sandburg
 
An Edgar Degas photograph, “Danseuse ajustant sa bretelle” has been provided by Magpie Tales to function as the creative spark for all who will take up her challenge. Here is my offering, with a slightly modified image (with apologies to Monsieur Degas!).
 
To Dance
 
To dance, her limber body
And her supple limbs, prepare;
The rhythm now part of her,
The melody like blood running in her veins.
 
Her feet, accustomed as they are
To practiced movement,
Step through their paces
With the ease familiarity brings.
 
And as the final preparation
Before the closed curtain is made,
Adrenalin rushes forth,
Like a fountain, firing up her every cell.
 
The music starts, the curtain parts,
And her body begins its own song:
A counterpoint of motion, adding
A new line of melody to the orchestral strains.
 
Each fibre, finely tuned, each muscle taut,
Each sinew stretching tight;
Herculean efforts made to seem effortless
As she pirouettes, and jumps, and nimbly dances.
 
The dancer manufactures her new world,
Her body a magic wand transforming sound
Into movement, and music into graceful gesture;
To dance, and make of flesh and bone, gossamer.

ART SUNDAY - DEGAS

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” - Edgar Degas
 

Edgar Degas was born in Paris France on July 19, 1834 to Célestine Musson De Gas and Augustin De Gas who was a wealthy banker. He was the oldest of five children. Degas began to paint as a young boy. By the time he turned eighteen, he had turned his bedroom into an artist's studio. He registered to be an art copyist at the Louvre museum in Paris, the done thing for young artists being to copy paintings there, thus developing their skill. He was one of the few artists of the time who had plenty of money and could devote himself wholeheartedly to his art.
 

In 1855, Degas met Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres whose art he respected very much. He never forgot his advice: “Draw lines, young man, and still more lines, both from life and from memory, and you will become a good artist”. Later that same year Degas enrolled in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and studied drawing with Louis Lamothe who was a former student of Ingres. After having finished his studies he went to Italy where he stayed for five years, studying and copying meticulously the old masters of the Renaissance. His decision to study the old masters was typical for his personality - that of a perfectionist.
 

Back in France in 1859, Degas exhibited his works for the first five years at the official Salon in Paris. Later he joined the Impressionists and showed his artwork in their exhibitions from 1874 to 1886. The favourite subjects of Degas were scenes from the world of entertainment and later from everyday life. Ballet dancers, little ballerinas, women in intimate situations and horse races are the subjects that are immediately associated with him. Degas in contrast to his impressionist colleagues, preferred to work in a studio. He made sketches of his subjects on the spot and created the painting later in his studio. Toulouse-Lautrec, who was a great admirer of Edgar Degas, had the same work style.
 

Degas' “Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer”, which he displayed at the sixth Impressionist exhibition in 1881 is one of his most famous works. It was also one of his most controversial. Some art critics thought it was of “appalling ugliness” while others called it a “blossoming”. He wanted to show his dancer at rest, in an unposed way. The young dance student that posed for Degas was Marie van Goethem. Though she never became a famous dancer, she always will be remembered from Degas' work.
 

Japanese prints were very popular at the end of the nineteenth century and had a great influence on the French impressionists. Edgar Degas was one of the admirers of Japanese prints. Their influence can be seen in some of his daring compositions using large areas of flat colour. Degas was an artist torn between traditional art and the modern impressionist movement. He admired the French artist Ingres and the great Italian painters. His own compositions of images are harmonious and follow the traditions of the old masters. And what often looks like the spontaneous sketch of a fleeting moment, was in reality the elaborate result of a perfectionist at work. From the impressionists he had learned the use of creating effects with light, a daring use of colour and new ways to show the human figure in motion.
 

Degas used a wide variety of mediums and techniques. When he grew older, he turned to sculpturing, pastels and printmaking. Striving for perfection, he repeated the same subjects again and again. When he concentrated on printmaking in the nineties, his preferred subjects were female nudes, either nude women at their toilette or nude dancers. Edgar Degas had a collection of decorative utensils like a bathtub, a sofa and a curtained bed in a corner of his studio, which he used to assist his models posing for him.
 

During the war with Germany in 1870-1871 Degas served in the French army. Since his time in the army, he developed problems with his eyes, although the exact medical cause is not precisely known. In his late years the artist's eyesight deteriorated more and more. He was unable to create paintings and focussed his artistic creativity on sculptures. Degas formed his sculptures using wax or clay. Favourite subjects were ballerinas and race horses. When Degas had died, he left more than 2000 oil paintings and pastel drawingss and 150 sculptures. The sculpture models were all cast after his death. Even before his death, Degas was considered an important artist. His colourful works of everyday life crossed over the accepted ways of creating art, his work collectively being considered a corpus of great beauty. Degas himself is now recognised as one of the greatest Impressionists.
 

The work reproduced above is The Entrance of the Masked Dancers” of 1884 - pastel on paper (49x65 cm, at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, Massachusetts USA).

DEGAS FOR ART SUNDAY

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” - Edgar Degas
 

Edgar Degas was born Hilaire-Germain-Edgar de Gas on July 19, 1834, in Paris, France. His father, Auguste, was a banker, and his mother, Celestine, an American from New Orleans. Their family were members of the middle class with nobler pretensions (as is seen with the adopted affected spelling of their surname). Known to have influenced such great artists as Picasso and Matisse, Edgar Degas was an artist known as the “painter of the ballet”. However, he had an active mind and keen curiosity, working to perfect his skills in photography, lithography, oil paintings, pastels, etching and later in his life, sculpture. Degas’ numerous artistic innovations set the standards for the Impressionists. He was especially intrigued by Parisian life, and his depiction of women in the entertainment world are particularly notable.
 

Born in Paris, young Edgar was brought up in an upper, middle-class family who sent him to some of the best schools. Although his mother passed away when he was only thirteen years old, Degas dedicated his attention to his studies, books, and art. Only in 1855 did he begin attending the Ècole des Beaux-Arts where he mastered the drawing that would influence so positively his later creations. Degas soon left his formal studies and set out for Italy, where he lived in Naples and Rome supported financially by his father. He became very interested in medieval, Christian, and Renaissance art. He spent hours each day drawing, sketching, admiring art works, and learning about composition, light, colour and technique directly from the works of the great masters.
 

After spending three-years in Italy, Degas was ready to return to Paris where he would attempt to make a living from his art. Instead, he became a member of the National Guard during the Franco-Prussian War. After two years, he decided to travel to the United States to visit his family who had ties in New Orleans, in the cotton growing business. During this time, he became attracted to painting horses, racetracks and cafés. He was at this stage becoming quite famous in art circles for his previous work and was actually commissioned for a few pieces that brought him enough money to live comfortably.
 

When Degas returned to Paris, he found that he was tired of displaying his work in the traditional Salon and became associated with the impressionists. However, his paintings reveal an almost innate urge not to conform completely to all the fashions and trends of the day. Degas still worked on portraits and produced some of the best works in Paris. His later works are composed of carefully planned snapshots of Parisian life in all of its breadth and depth. His paintings of “Absinthe” and “Dancers Practicing at the Bar” are typical of his mature style and enjoy wide appeal. He often worked in pastel, his favourite medium, producing series of women, bathers, ballerinas, and horse races. From 1880 he modeled wax figures, which were cast in bronze after his death. He was the first of the Impressionists to achieve recognition. He died on September 27, 1917 in Paris.
 

The painting above, “Dress Rehearsal” of 1878-9 is an oil on canvas 52.5 × 71 cm exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. It is a characteristic piece of this artist’s ballet works with wonderful composition, delightful colour and light, and a great sense of place. The viewer is immersed in the scene, right there on stage with the ballerinas and the choreographers, feeling very much part of the ambience of the theatre, almost hearing the strains of music and the counting of the beat. There is an intense clarity in the colour and despite being painted in oils, the powdery feel of pure pastel tones is evident. A painting such as this with its underlying masterly drawing, great composition and delightful colour and light shows Degas’ immense talent and great workmanship.

MOVIE MONDAY - MAO'S LAST DANCER

“I don’t want people who want to dance, I want people who have to dance.” - George Balanchine

We watched the Bruce Beresford 2009 film “Mao’s Last Dancer” at the weekend. This was a film that I had heard a lot about and some friends had recommended the autobiographical book by Li Cunxin, on which the film is based. As the movie was on special at the video shop we decided to get it and watch it. Jan Sardi wrote the screenplay based on this book and as I haven't read the book I shall refrain from commenting on how faithful an adaptation the film was, and thus review the film only.

First, if you dislike ballet, this film is not strictly speaking for you as it is about a ballet dancer and his rise to success. Admittedly, the actual ballet scenes themselves do not make up an enormous part of the film (so if you are a ballet fan, you may think that this is a disadvantage), however, there is lot of time spent on screen on the training of ballet dancers. This may drag on for people who do not like ballet. But, at the same time one cannot be but impressed by the rigour of this training, which is not unlike that of a top athlete (in fact more rigorous than some types of athletic training!).

The story is an oft-told tale of gifted youngster, who grows to be an exceptional artist in a non-Western country. He is given the opportunity to travel to the West and make a choice of whether to defect or not, sacrifice all for his art, fame and fortune, or forget his art and go back to his homeland and family. This film tells the real story of a boy, Li Cunxin, born sixth in a poor peasant family with seven sons. He is picked out from a provincial school in Qingdao by Madame Mao’s artistic scouts to train as a ballet dancer in Beijing in the 1970s. In the early 1980s, a visiting American choreographer from Houston notes Li’s talent and brings him to the USA to dance, where Li gains fame as a ballet dancer in the short time he is there. After experiencing first-hand the differences in the lifestyle and culture of  China and America, Li is faced with a dilemma. Should he return to the motherland to which he had always been taught to be loyal, or should he remain in his newly-found land of freedom and home of the girl he loves?

Beresford is an experienced enough director to weave the story of Li’s childhood and youth in China with his life in the US expertly and in a way that is engaging and lucid. Too many films with flashbacks end up being annoying, but this was well done. Beresford is a veteran Australian director who can produce popular films, and for this film, he definitely pleases the crowd, at least the crowd that likes to watch ballet and ballet dancers.

The two actors playing Li were Chengwu Gao (Li as a boy) and Chi Cao (as an 18-year-old), who both did fantastic work, given that neither is a professional. Chi Chao played in this film his first ever role with aplomb and disarming ingenuousness. As Ben Stevenson, the Houston Ballet artistic director who campaigns for Li to study in the US, Bruce Greenwood displays competency, with a well-grounded performance that ensures Ben’s culture and flamboyant personality is portrayed with restraint. There are fine performances also by all actors playing the Chinese characters, for example Joan Cheng, Chengwo Guo and Ferdinand Hoang. There are a few Australians in the cast also, Penne Hackforth-Jones and Jack Thompson being instantly recognisable faces for Australian viewers.

The film has humour and poignancy, is fast-moving, interesting and yes, even the non-balletic amongst the crowd will find it engaging to watch. The ballet sequences that are portrayed are well done and well-placed within the film. There are some wonderful scenes from Tchaikovsky’s “Swanlake”, Minkus’ “Don Quichotte” and Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring”. We enjoyed the film and recommend it highly.

Interestingly, even though it’s not mentioned in the film, when Li’s dance career came to an end he re-trained as a stockbroker, and he now lives in Melbourne. Certainly a “lived happily ever after in the decadent West” story!

A RESTFUL SATURDAY

“My guitar is not a thing. It is an extension of myself. It is who I am.” - Joan Jett

The day today was thankfully rather more relaxed than yesterday. A late breakfast (at 7:30 am, as usually I am in at work by 7:00 am) and then a leisurely walk in the garden. The day started out fine, although windy, ahead of a change in the afternoon that brought rain. It’s still raining now and probably will for the rest of the night. How pleasant it is to listen to it gently falling outside, while in a warm, dry room…

We went and visited some friends in the morning and then did our shopping in Sydney Rd, Coburg. The street was busy with people were milling around the place, in and out of shops, in cafés and malls. This is multicultural Melbourne at its most vibrant with Turkish, Vietnamese, Greek and Lebanese shops, Chinese and Yugoslavian restaurants, Middle Eastern, Indian and Pakistani people talking their language as they walk in the street, many wearing their traditional clothes. We bought fruits and vegetables at the market, cheeses and bread and then finished by going to the library where we borrowed some books and CDs.

As it was still early when we got home, after putting away the shopping we went out again, this time to the Fairfield Boathouse by the Yarra River. This is very close to home and it is a beautiful restful place with extensive parklands all along the shores of the river and many venues for all sorts of entertainment and sport. Once again many people had the same idea, but nevertheless we enjoyed the walk and took some delightful photographs.

This evening was lovely as always and as I heard a some Spanish music on the way home, here is a wonderful Fandango by the group Mojacar Flamenco, featuring dancers Lauren Santiago, Misuda Cohen, Micaela Castellanos, with musicians Stephen Dick, Johnny Sandoval, Paulo Gustavo, playing Stephen Dick’s music.

FULL MOON SOON

“There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery.” - Joseph Conrad

Back home in Melbourne and to a beautiful Spring day: Sunny, warm and fair. We went out to do some shopping this morning and it seems everyone else had the same idea as it was so very busy even quite early. Unusual, as on Saturdays people take their time and it is rarely so busy before 10:00 a.m. I suppose between now and Christmas it will start to get busier and busier, crazier and crazier…

The rest of the day just flew with chores, gardening and fixing a few things around the house. At least this evening was beautiful as usual on Saturday nights. The full moon in the sky brings to mind a good old song, play it Glenn Miller!




"Moonlight Serenade" by Glenn Miller

LIBERTANGO

“Dance till the stars come down from the rafters
Dance, Dance, Dance till you drop.” - W.H. Auden

Another difficult and busy week is over and thankfully the weekend is here. A lovely night tonight with candlelight, lovely food and music and then a warm embrace. What else could sum it all up except Astor Piazzola’s “Libertango”?

QUISQUEYA

“In music the passions enjoy themselves.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Today is the Independence Day of the Dominican Republic  (celebrated since 1844). The Dominican Republic gained its independence from Spain in 1821.  It is in the Eastern part of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, the Eastern part of the island occupied by Haiti.   The mountainous country has an area of about 48,500 square km and a population of 7.5 million people.  The capital San Domingo is found on the Southern coastal plain where the island’s main agricultural products are grown.  Coffee, cocoa, sugar and tobacco are the main exports.  Mineral resources include bauxite, gold, silver and nickel. The Dominican Republic has become the Caribbean's largest tourist destination and its economy is the second largest in the Caribbean. The country's year-round golf courses are among the top attractions. “Quisqueya”, as Dominicans often call their country, has an average temperature of 26 °C. Music and sport are of the highest importance in Dominican culture, with merengue as the national dance and song and baseball the favorite sport.

Juan Luis Guerra (b. 1957) is a Dominican singer/songwriter who has sold 20 million records, and won numerous awards including nine Latin Grammy awards, two Grammy awards and two Latin Billboard Music Awards. He does not limit himself to one style of music, instead, he incorporates diverse rhythms like the merengue, bolero-bachata, balada, salsa, rock and gospel.

Here is a wonderful love song of his, “Señales de Humo” (Smoke Signals):

Te mando señales de humo
como un fiel apache
pero no comprendes el truco
y se pierde en el aire
Te mando la punta de un beso
que roza la tarde
y un código Morse trasmite
el "te quiero" de un ángel
se pierde en el aire...
Ay, amor...

I send you smoke signals
Like a loyal Apache,
But you don’t understand the trick
And it loses itself in the air.
I send you the tip of a kiss
On the edge of the afternoon,
And a Morse code that transmits
The “I love you” of an angel,
But it is lost in the air,
Ah, love!

MOVIE MONDAY - HULA GIRLS

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” - Japanese Proverb

This weekend we watched a wonderful 2006 Japanese movie directed by Sang-il Lee, who also co-wrote it. It is the poignant comedy/drama “Hula Girls”. The film is simple in its premise, but touches subtly on many important social issues including progress, change, unemployment, social inequality, and what it means to be an “outsider”.

The film is set in 1965 in rural northeastern Japan, in a small mining town where almost all of the residents live employed by the coal mine. The changing times and the advent of oil will force the closure of the coal mine and about 2,000 people will lose their jobs. The mining company, in an effort to provide something for the town and give some means of a livelihood to about 500 people, plans to open a “Hawaiian Centre” complete with palm trees and hula dancers right in the middle of the harsh winter climate of Iwaki. The union bosses are set dead against the plan but some girls decide they want to become hula dancers and join a class that is to be taught by a professional dancer who arrives from Tokyo (fleeing from her creditors, it appears). The film depicts the struggle of the young girls to become accomplished dancers amidst an inimical climate, with even their families against them. Kimiko, Sanae and Yasuri are the leaders of the girls and Mrs Hirayana, the dancer from Tokyo first confronts them and then wins them over.

The film is a tender memoir of a different time and pays tribute to the fascination the Japanese have with things Hawaiian. Like the Peter Cattaneo film “The Full Monty”, “Hula Girls” looks at a group of misfits who conquer their insecurities and problems through learning of a particular skill or utilising a hidden talent (in this case, hula dancing). The film was inspired by the real life Jouban Hawaiian Centre (at present called 'Spa Resort Hawaiians') in Iwaki City, Fukushima, which was developed in 1961 in an attempt to stimulate the local prefecture’s economy.

Yû Aoi who plays Kimiko, one of the hula girls, does a wonderful job and is perfectly counterfoiled against Matsuyuki Yasuko who plays the dancing instructress from Tokyo. Kimiko’s mother (and union leader) is also well cast and the supporting actors all make for a good show. The music is well chosen and in keeping with the theme, while the cinematography is also very good. The dancing is excellent and one must remember that this is the Japanese interpretation of Pacific island dancing and even though many Hawaiians may object to the authenticity of the dances, the Japanese versions are a quintessential distillation of hula dancing which is presented in a marvellous way. The final dance sequence is quite stunning.

Although the film contains many humorous moments, its dramatic elements are more of its strength and there are many poignant and teary moments in it. Overall, an unexpectedly enjoyable film that surprised and delighted us.