#2021 Dance Open Ballet Festival
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Viktoria Tereshkina and Timur Askerov

Viktoria Tereshkina Виктория Терёшкина and Timur Askerov Тимур Аскеров (principal dancers from Mariinsky Ballet Мариинский театр), “Grand Pas Classique”, choreo by Victor Gsovsky Виктор Гсовский and music by Daniel Auber, 2021 Dance Open Ballet Festival, Oktyabrskiy Concert Hall Большой концертный зал Октя́брьский, Saint Petersburg, Russia (November 14, 2021).
Source and more info at: Photographer Nina Danilina on Instagram
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#2021 Dance Open Ballet Festival#Daniel Auber#Grand Pas Classique#Mariinsky Ballet Мариинский театр#Nina Danilina Нины Данилиной#Oktyabrskiy Concert Hall Большой Концертный Зал Октя́брьский#Russian Ballet#Timur Askerov Тимур Аскеров#Victor Gsovsky Виктор Гсовский#Viktoria Tereshkina Виктория Терёшкина#Dans#Dansen#Danser#Danza#Dance#Danse#Dancer#Балет#Ballet#Balet#Balletto#Ballett#Ballerina#Ballerino#Balerino#Balerina#Bailarina#Tänzer#Танец#Танцор
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Shale Wagman - First Soloist, Bavarian State Ballet
Shale Wagman trained in Toronto and in Monte Carlo at the Académie Princesse Grace. He has received numerous awards, including the first prize at the Prix de Lausanne, the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation award for artistry in 2018 and the youth American Grand Prix (2014). He was the youngest guest ever invited to perform in a principal role (James in La Sylphide) at the Mariinsky. He has performed in many gala performances, including the International Ballet Festival in St. Petersburg Dance Open (2019) or the Gala de Danza in Los Cabos, Mexico.
His first engagement was with the English National Ballet in London under the direction of Tamara Rojo. He has performed in productions by Derek Deane (Swan Lake), Marco Goecke (Hungarian Dance No.1, created for him), Akram Khan (Dust), Russell Maliphant (Second Breath), Annabelle Lopez Ochoa (Frida), Jean-Christophe Maillot (Nutcracker), Christopher Wheeldon (Cinderella) and Wayne McGregor (Chroma solo).
Since 2015, Shale Wagman has repeatedly choreographed, including works for the Académie Princesse Grace, Les Rencontres Philosophiques de Monaco and the Gala de Danza, Mexico.
He has been engaged by the Bayerisches Staatsballett since spring 2021 and was promoted to first soloist for the 2022-23 season.
Bayerisches Staatsballett Bio
#Shale Wagman#Bavarian State Ballet#tänzer#bailarín#dancer#danseur#ballerino#boys of ballet#ballet men#dance#ballet
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Viktoria Tereshkina and Timur Askerov (principal dancers from Mariinsky Ballet), “Grand Pas Classique”, choreography by Victor Gsovsky and music by Daniel Auber, 2021 Dance Open Ballet Festival, Oktyabrskiy Concert Hall, Saint Petersburg, Russia (November 14)
Photographer Nikolay Krusser
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Article: Oklahoma’s Gift to Ballet: The Five Moons Ballerinas
Date: August 19, 2021
By: Meryl Cates
A festival at the University of Oklahoma celebrates the impact of these ballerinas on 20th century ballet, honoring their Native American heritage.
At the first Oklahoma Indian Ballerina Festival, in 1957, its founder, Moscelyne Larkin, danced Myrtha in Act Two of “Giselle” and Maria Tallchief performed an excerpt from “Swan Lake.” It was a festival created to honor five Native American ballerinas, all hailing from Oklahoma. But it would take 10 years, and the premiere of a ballet, “The Four Moons,” for the festival to really celebrate the dancers’ heritages as well as their artistry.
As prima ballerinas in the 1940s through the 1960s in major companies, Yvonne Chouteau, Rosella Hightower, Larkin, and Maria and Marjorie Tallchief were transformative artists. This summer, the Five Moons Dance Festival, presented by the University of Oklahoma’s School of Dance, will celebrate their impact on 20th century ballet, honoring the significance of their Indigenous backgrounds.
“The Four Moons” ballet, with a score by the Cherokee-Quapaw composer Louis Ballard Sr., was danced in 1967 at the second Oklahoma Indian Ballerina Festival with four of the ballerinas. The fifth, Maria Tallchief, perhaps the most recognized in American ballet, had retired from dancing and remained firm in her decision not to perform. It was the first time, as professionals, they would represent their own stories as Native American women on the stage.
Without any known recordings of the performance, “The Four Moons” has been fragmented into a few hazy memories, with some clues left by reviewers. Larkin (Shawnee-Peoria), performed a swift and effervescent solo, and then Hightower (Choctaw) appeared in a self-choreographed, playful story. Next came Marjorie Tallchief (Osage), whose elegant variation shifted the atmosphere in the theater, enrapturing the audience. That led into a section by Chouteau (Shawnee-Cherokee) about the devastating Trail of Tears, with delicate yet determined bourrées pulling her heavy heart along, despite her gliding feet.
“I’m very glad we did it,” Marjorie Tallchief, 94, said recently, on the phone from her home in Delray Beach, Fla. “It was amazing, at that time, that they got us all together.”
On a program including works by George Balanchine and Bronislava Nijinska, “The Four Moons” was created to honor the histories of these tribes as they were forced from their land and settled in Oklahoma. The dancers themselves were meant to represent the destinies of the tribes; the original program featured them as four moons in a painting by the artist Jerome Tiger, who was Muscogee-Seminole. They would later become known as Oklahoma’s Five Moons ballerinas. (Marjorie is the only one still alive.)
Audiences loved “The Four Moons,” but some critics stumbled over its convergence of Native American themes and classical ballet, seemingly surprised by a traditional pas de quatre instead of a “corn dance or sun dance,” as The Saturday Review put it.
With so much discussion in the dance world about representation and diversity, the moment for a Five Moons festival seemed right to Michael Bearden, the director of the School of Dance, which was founded by Chouteau and her husband, Miguel Terekhov. Bearden also wanted to involve female choreographers, who are still rare in ballet, and Native communities (there are 39 federally-recognized tribal nations in Oklahoma) through conversations exploring aspects of the Five Moons ballerinas’ careers and lives as Native women.
The festival, which runs Aug. 27-29, will feature works by Stefanie Batten Bland, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Rena Butler and DaYoung Jung, as well as Osage Ballet’s “Wahzhazhe,” about the story of the Osage nation, produced by Randy Tinker Smith and choreographed by Jenna Smith.
Russ Tall Chief, who lives in Oklahoma and is related to Marjorie and Maria through his great-grandfather, is on the festival’s planning committee and will participate in one of the lectures.
“I think it’s important for us to remember that Maria and Marjorie and all five of the ballerinas came out of Oklahoma, from small rural reservation communities,” he said. “To have these women of color, representing not just American Indians, but America, on the ballet stage was profound.”
Excerpts from the ballet “Wahzhazhe” will include an opening prayer section, an important tradition of the tribe.
“To us, to Osages, there’s a direct silence about Native America,” Tinker Smith said. “Because every day we face challenges. We have to work harder, try harder and do better, just to have things that non-Indians have. And I think that the timing is perfect for this. To have this legacy of these five ballerinas in our past, that are part of us, really inspires the kids. You can dream and you can follow your dreams.”
In the 1940s, when Chouteau, Hightower, Larkin and the Tallchiefs were beginning their careers, they were proudly Oklahoman, though ballet as an art form was widely considered European.
The only season in which Hightower, Larkin and Marjorie Tallchief were together in Col. W. de Basil’s Original Ballet Russe, 1946-47, the program linked them together by their home state, and distinguished them among the company’s handful of Americans. (Larkin was billed as Moussia Larkina; like many others she had opted for a Russian-sounding stage name, which she soon shed again for Larkin.) Only Tallchief is identified further as “of Indian ancestry, part Osage.”
“It was part of me, it was my name,” Marjorie Tallchief said, acknowledging that being Osage was significant in her career. After a lengthy pause, she added: “Actually, my father made me promise that I would never change my name. I just suddenly remembered when I was leaving, he said, ‘You promise me you’ll never change your name?’ And I said, yes. So I never did.”
Marjorie and Maria grew up in Fairfax, Okla., and it was their mother who encouraged their early music and dance training. The Tallchiefs performed sister act dance routines, first locally — including at the Tall Chief Theater, built by their father Alex Tall Chief, which still stands today — and then in California, where their mother relocated them for better ballet instruction. It was in Beverly Hills that Maria made the adjustment from Tall Chief to Tallchief.
Maria joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at 17, leaving several years later to join Ballet Society, the company that would become New York City Ballet, after becoming the wife of George Balanchine, its founding choreographer. There she ascended to star status.
Balanchine, who adored America, loved her Osage heritage, she wrote in her 1997 autobiography. But strained cultural characterizations prevailed in the 1944 version of his “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme,” which included a “Danse Indienne” pas de deux. In a performance crisply preserved on 16 millimeter film, Maria dances quick stylized parallel lifts of her knees wearing a billowy feathered headdress, pompoms and a sash. (Balanchine would later rework the ballet entirely, with no “Danse Indienne.”) Maria went on to important roles in ballets including “Firebird” and “The Four Temperaments,” and became a beacon of American dancing.
Marjorie followed her sister into professional ballet, joining Ballet Theater and then de Basil’s Original Ballet Russe and the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas in France. In 1956 she was invited to join the Paris Opera Ballet as the first American étoile, the highest rank in the company, commanding classical repertoire with her exhilarating control and lyrical stage presence.
Hightower also made her career largely in Europe, eventually becoming a leading ballerina with the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas. She was so beloved that when she returned to that company in 1957, after ending a touring contract with Ballet Theater, audiences applauded for 15 minutes during her entrance in “Piège de Lumière.”
These five distinguished Native American ballerinas came out of Oklahoma all within one decade. As students, they frequented some of the same studios and master classes, including in Kansas City and Los Angeles, but in fleeting phases, just as they sometimes performed in companies together during their careers. In several interviews, Chouteau credited her Shawnee-Cherokee heritage as her inspiration to dance. (As a child she toured Oklahoma, her family insisting on the authenticity of each of her dances.) Marjorie Tallchief noted the immense influence the Ballet Russe had on small towns as it made its way through the country.
Chouteau and Larkin would go on to perform alongside the dancers that they once admired from the audience. Chouteau was a leading ballerina with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, which she joined at 14; and Larkin made her career with companies including de Basil’s Ballet Russe and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.
As professionals the Five Moon dancers would each encounter challenges, not only because of the grind of constant traveling, but also because they needed to find their place in the culture of their companies not just as Oklahomans, but also as Native women. Being from the United States, they were perceived by the public and press as demonstrating an overall informality, and possessing an ease onstage. While internationally respected, Hightower was still referred to as a “little American girl” in a Dance Magazine feature. Chouteau recalled her fellow dancers encouraging her to pronounce her name in a more French way, instead of how she grew up saying it in her family. They were Americans in a time when ballet wasn’t exactly American yet.
In an early review written about Maria Tallchief, John Martin of The New York Times noted her Osage heritage and said that “with careful handling,” she might very well “develop into ballerina material.” A decade later, in 1954, she was featured on the cover of Newsweek, with the headline “The Ballet’s Tallchief: Native Dancer,” her Osage heritage used to signal a “new order in the ancient and honorable clan of ballerinas.”
A reframing had occurred, especially in the media — if ballet was now American, it proposed, then here were your truly American dancers. “We were a curiosity,” Chouteau said in an interview in The Oklahoman in 1982, when gathered for the state’s Diamond Jubilee.
Marjorie Tallchief said that in Europe, newspapers mentioned she was Osage, but she thought it was a different treatment than her sister might have experienced in the States.
“They didn’t have anything against me,” Marjorie Tallchief said. “Maybe, but not because of my heritage.”
“Back in the Paris Opera I was the only one who wasn’t French,” she said. “Obviously, they noticed this. It’s very hard to become a dancer at the Paris Opera. So anyone that comes from outside as a first dancer” — or étoile — “I would say there was a little pressure on me because of that.”
Despite every desire to define them, and describe them within ballet’s rigid terms, they established five distinct and powerful careers. “These are American Indian people that have made this impact on ballet,” Russ Tall Chief said. “And that they consider themselves American Indian before they consider themselves ballerinas, I think that’s important. That is part of their vocabulary as dancers. They bring that history of American Indian culture to their dance, and to their interpretation of the way that they see ballet.”
#article#ballet#moscelyne larkin#yvonne chouteau#rosella hightower#marjorie tallchief#maria tallchief#the ny times#thoughts on this article by meryl cates?#i dont like how the article put on emphasis on being 'american'
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February 2021 Fic Read Log
How the bloomin’ heck is it the end of February already? And yes, I’m technically posting a little earlier than I normally do, but due to @knotbang posting beginning tomorrow (and keeping me busy until the 26th, by which point I will have posted another whole 65k or so fic myself with 3 updates weekly to make it on time... pray for me, guys) I thought I’d share today what I’ve been reading this month - especially as last month’s was so warmly received <3
Please note, I don’t have everyone on Tumblr (though I’ve done my best to track authors down like the stalky stalker I am) so if you guys know anyone I’ve missed, please please tag them!
Equally, if anyone has anything I should be reading but haven’t, tell me about that too - self-rec’s absolutely welcome here! <3
So with no further rambling from me, everything else is below the cut...
A (fake) Fiance for Christmas by @darter-blue
~15k, fake dating, Christmas parties, idiots in love
Loved, loved, LOVED this! Didn’t even care I read it late/out of season, I love a decent fake-dating-turned-feels fic and this absolutely delivered. It’s fun, it involves awkward exes and how damn awkward the festive season can be to singletons. Lovely!
Love Me Tender Like What Keeps You Well & My Voice Is Back Home While I’m In Hell by @thiccbuckybarnesfic
~13k all together, A/B/O, age difference, Victorian Era
This was completely different to what I usually read, but I really enjoyed it. The world was cohesive and well written, and I love Steve’s reluctance in this whilst he slowly falls for a much younger Bucky. I also loved that it felt so period-typical with Bucky’s parents being fine with proceedings - definitely recommend!
I’m Gonna Love You Endlessly by @greyhavensking
~5k, fluff, asexual Bucky Barnes, Domestic MCU
So this spoke to me for a whole bunch of reasons, but actually a really nice portrayal of an asexual character in a relationship with someone who isn’t ace, and a lot of the frustrations that can be there especially when it is questioned. Very sweet, very fluffy, and very much showing that love can be romantic and demonstrative without it having to be sexual.
Setting out (for a new tomorrow) by racetoanyways
~31k, Smol Steve Rogers, Prince Charming Bucky Barnes, Stucky AU
Jaded Disneyland ride attendant Steve Rogers doesn’t see the magic in the park, whereas Bucky Barnes AKA Prince Charming very much does. They start off not seeing eye to eye, but they get there in the end! Lovely and fluffy, a surprising amount of background story and family life that I didn’t initially expect and you end up seeing the Disney magic (and the happy ending!) right along there with Steve.
Private Showing by @hanitrash
~21k, Ballet dancing Bucky Barnes, Costume designer Steve, Stucky AU
So, for those of you who know me, you’ll already know that any fic involving a ballet dancing character is going to get my attention. I wish I had given this one my attention a lot sooner and not just had the tab sat there open and waiting! Ballet dancing Bucky gives me life, and watching his walls slowly come down as the sexual tension between himself and Steve grows is… well. It’s gorgeous. Some nice sexy smut, some mild D/S tones and a whole lot of two idiots falling in love. What’s not to love?
The Seed and the Root by @the1918
~32k, Farmer! Daddy Steve, Baby Boy Bucky, part of a bigger series
So continuing my Lynne fan-girling as they continue with The Song Of The Rolling Earth (aka SoRE… which may have some other connotations…) Anyway. If you want the start of the smut...IT IS HERE. YES IT IS. And Steve is an excellent Daddy. Ends on a cliffhanger, but totally okay with it when there is more <3
He said Yes Daddy, I do by bangyababy with art by @callmekayyyyy
~10k, Porn star Steve, Part time porn star Bucky, Smut with feels
Usually behind the camera Bucky Barnes somehow gets dragged into starring in a porno with the actor he’s been crushing on since he saw him. One film turns into several until feels become a problem. Needless to say this features some smut, there IS some Daddy! Kink and some adorable feels <3
Make Yourself at home, and i’ll want you to stay by @its-tortle
~5k, Fuck buddies to lovers, Alpine featuring heavily in Bucky’s decision making
Bucky is pretty much the world’s proudest cat dad and has Big Stupid Feels (™) for his fuck buddy Steve. Shenanigans clearly ensue. Absolutely adorable and heavily featuring Alpine, very sweet and soft and made me smile.
Rounder tummies and asshole coworkers by unknownfin
~1k, Established relationship, A/B/O dynamics, Chubby Bucky Barnes, Caring Alpha Steve
Basically, someone makes an insensitive comment to Bucky regarding his body and Steve makes it all alright again. Very cute and very warm-fuzzy-feels inducing.
#fic read log#fic recs#fic rec list#stucky fic#steve rogers#bucky barnes#fanfiction#how the hell is it march tomorrow#I'm always surprised by how much I did actually read#send me your recs#much love to everyone
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Danny Elfman: Concert Music

I first became aware of Danny Elfman in 1985 when I went to see PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE. While I had seen Pee-wee Herman perform his delightfully odd standup on TV, I was excited to see what he’d do with a full-length feature, and I was not disappointed. The tale of a boy and his bike was supported by music that amazed me. Scoring comedy is very difficult, and here was a composer, with clear roots in Bernard Herrmann, knocking it out of the ballpark with the perfect quirky musical accompaniment for Pee-wee’s epic cross-country quest. I next noted Elfman’s work in 1989, deftly underpinning Tim Burton’s sweeping BATMAN, wherein a driving, leitmotiv-driven score perfectly captured The Dark Knight, his nemesis, The Joker, and the milieu of Gotham itself. And thus began my love of this very skilled and prolific composer’s works. I began looking for his name as composer when movies were released, for I knew there’d at least be a fine score, even if the film wasn’t otherwise fully up to snuff, likely with a soundtrack album to enjoy by itself. The many soundtrack CDs in my library composed by Elfman are often in rotation. They have provided me with hours of fulfilling listening.
To my surprised delight, in 2006 I discovered Serenada Schizophrana, commissioned by the American Composer’s Orchestra and written in 2004—Elfman’s first exploration of writing a concert piece for orchestra. It is a quirky suite of six movements and lasts about 42 minutes. In the program notes he presents quite clearly that his influences include Bernard Herrmann, Nino Rota, Dimitri Tiomkin, Max Steiner, Erich Korngold, Sergei Prokofiev, Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Dmitri Shostakovich, Carl Orff, Kurt Weill, Duke Ellington, Harry Partch and Philip Glass. Much like Herrmann often did, the large orchestra (including voices) is used both selectively and deftly amongst the movements for coloristic purposes. The entire ensemble does not continually play, but various instruments are called-out to match the mood for each separate movement. There’s an almost Lewis Carroll sensibility in the progression of ideas—whimsical, perky, but at times ominous and even threatening. A unique beginning!

In 2008, Elfman was commissioned to write a ballet score for Twyla Tharp: “Rabbit and Rogue.” Once again, in six movements there’s a wide range of styles and colors to be found, of particular interest is the Gamelan sensibility which evokes the earlier works of Colin McPhee, and there are even ragtime piano passages! This piece is about 46 minutes in length and certainly the aficionados of his film scores will find familiar riffs and textures, but these flow in an ongoing stream of propulsive ideas that clearly could provide the impetus for dancing.

2017 was the year in which Elfman’s Violin Concerto “Eleven Eleven” was composed and premiered. Violinist Sandy Cameron brought her technical expertise to the composer so he could craft a piece that was both playable and challenging for the soloist—as is expected of a fine concerto. The title is derived from the fact that the piece is 1,111 measures long, and that corresponds to the fact that the composer’s surname means the “11th man” in German. It is a hefty work of four movements that lasts over 50 minutes, and, that Elfman listened to many violin concerti but was primarily drawn to those by Prokofiev and Shostakovich, is heard quite clearly by a knowledgable listener. The orchestra is huge and there’s even a cadenza in the second movement for violin and percussion. It does not end with an upbeat finale, as is often the case with traditional concerti, but comes to a massive climax and then retreats to the dark, pensive mood of the opening.
In his liner notes to the recording of this concerto, Elfman explains that his compositional goal is to create a fusion between 20th-century “post-Romanticism” with the rhythms and harmonies of late 20th-century classical works. He has stated that he loves a challenge and feels that writing concert music that follows his continually evolving and gear-shifting musical “stream of consciousness” is liberating, and a way to bring the worlds of listeners to concert and film music together. His concert scores clearly bear his film scores’ musical characteristics, but he works to bring a complexity and structure to these efforts that can satisfy those who enjoy the great masters of classical music. That’s a hell of a challenge, but Elfman is evolving quite well to meet this concept and crafting some potent tonal music that goes from the intimate to the opulent.

I also note some Mahlerian influences, but that could have come in via both Shostakovich and Korngold, who were both deeply studied in Mahler’s works. There are even some aspects of Leonard Bernstein, in the jazzy flavor and rapidly shifting meters and uneven beats in measures, as well as some characteristics of the richly scored works of Respighi, particularly his manic “Feste Romane.” Ultimately, Elfman has distilled these many influences into a style that, in its almost schizophrenic progression, immediately is recognizable as his own, and that is a hallmark of a great composer.
The Piano Quintet, premiered in 2018, is a more intensely intimate work in which once again the shade of Herrmann hovers over the typical blend of Elfman’s circus of rapidly shifting ideas. There was also a Percussion Quartet premiered in 2019, which I’ve not yet heard. Via BMI in March of 2019, Elfman announced his upcoming roster of concert works:
“I have accepted a symphonic commission for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain for next summer’s Proms festival in London 2020. Should be wild! One hundred and sixty-five extremely talented young musicians, all on stage together. I’ve also accepted a concerto for percussion and orchestra written for Colin Currie who’s an amazing British percussionist, to be played with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in London, spring of 2021. I’m also hoping to finalize plans for a cello concerto that I’m super excited about, but it’s not finalized yet. I’m also working on a “semi-secret” personal project that involves a chamber orchestra and my own voice.”
So, there is much to look forward to for the concert hall from this remarkable composer, who’s progress reversed the course of one of his influencers—Erich Korngold (1897-1957). Korngold began as a child prodigy, writing concert music and operas and eventually, after escaping the Nazis and settling in Hollywood, he became one of the most influential masters of film scoring. His concertos for violin and cello as well as his powerful Symphony have been both recorded and played in concert halls with increasing frequency as time passes.
I have hopes that Elfman might try his hand at a symphony at some point, though a concerto for orchestra might more likely suite his temperament—rather like Bartók’s masterful effort from 1943 which in five movements has a similar gamut of moods and colors as one now finds in Elfman’s efforts. Its timing of close to 40 minutes is also in the realm of Elfman’s current compositions. But, I could also see him writing something along the lines of Mahler’s Symphony No. 3. That six movement symphony is a vast canvas using a huge orchestra and vocal soloists to depict an evolutionary progression from insensate Nature through the evolution of plants and animals to the arrival of human consciousness and both the sorrows and ecstasies inherent in our species. The movements vary wildly in mood and in orchestration, and the work lasts roughly 105 minutes, being one of the longest symphonies in the standard repertoire. I suspect, if Elfman could find the right subject matter to inspire his thinking, that he too might create something along those lines in scope and scale. Whatever he is moved to create, I’ll be eager to hear all that he produces, for he is certainly a master musician who works very hard to compose pieces that will challenge, thrill, and, in so many ways, deeply move his listeners. I’m certain his film and concert scores will be cherished for many years to come.
—Peter H. Gilmore
#Danny Elfman#eleven eleven#violin concerto#serenada schizophrana#rabbit & rogue#film scores#piano quintet#Bernard Herrmann#bela bartok#Shostakovich#Prokofiev#erich wolfgang von korngold#Sandy Cameron#pee-wee's big adventure#batman#mahler#leonard bernstein
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The Widow’s best of 2020
Well… during a year when we haven’t been able to see many live shows we’ve still managed to find lots of things we loved. Here are some of them; live shows are indicated, otherwise we watched them online – our grateful thanks go to all the companies that streamed their productions for free – listened to them or read them. You’ll notice that our list includes lots of women and the occasional man.

But before that we start with a new category…
PERSON OF THE YEAR: Circus director Carol Gandey (pictured) of Gandeys Circus. If UK touring circus – an artform championed by The Widow’s Liz Arratoon for more than 25 years – is to survive Covid-19, it will be in large part to her. Gandeys had produced three shows before the UK’s March lockdown, two of which never had a chance to open, incurring hundreds of thousands of pounds in costs. It then provided accommodation and living expenses for 33 stranded artists, and meanwhile developed an air-flow working model for circus – trialling an opening at Butlins – which gave the government enough confidence to allow circuses to reopen with reduced seating capacities.
Carol constantly lobbied the government and the Arts Council for aid – as did other industry figures – and her application to the Arts Council Recovery Fund, which was said to be exceptional, resulted in a £1.1 million grant; the largest amount awarded to any UK circus company. Gandeys used some of the money to cover the losses due to the lockdown, and to fund a survival package that included some reduced-capacity performances this autumn, as well as funding the production costs for reopening in 2021.
From one strong and inspirational woman to another…

BEST EXTRAVAGANZA: Rhianna’s Savage X Fenty Volume 2 TV special for her lingerie range. Wow! What a mix! This was an explosion of creativity; part fashion show, part dance show, part gig, part circus, part ad, and included a simply stunning floral set. Add a cast of big names, a wonderfully diverse choice of dancers and models, no expense had been spared. Exciting, fresh and really impressive.
BEST LIVE SHOW: Zebra, a solo show by juggling genius Wes Peden, which was part of the London International Mime Festival at the Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room.

BEST CIRCUS SHOW: The really inventive CAPAS by Circo Eia (pictured) – so great to see so many new ideas, and here’s our chat with cast member Francesca Lissia. Plus the intricate and dazzling Twenty Twenty by Gandini Juggling.

BEST DANCE SHOW: Faust by the Ballets de Monte-Carlo, featuring the spectral Bernice Coppieters (pictured) as Death; and Cia de Dança Deborah Colker’s super-stylish Belle, inspired by the novel Belle de Jour.

BEST KIDS’ SHOW: Little Angel Theatre’s hat trilogy, presented by puppeteer Ian Nicholson; an adaptation of the picture books by Jon Klassen: I Want My Hat Back, This Is Not My Hat and We Found a Hat.

BEST COSTUME: The Widow has always considered costumes to be extremely important. As Federico Fellini said: “Don’t forget that costumes, like dreams, are symbolic communication,” and frankly we wish more artists would make the sort of effort Dua Lipa made on Saturday Night Live!
Staying with costumes… slightly less glamorous, but an effort was made by Hot Mess in party-sketch work-in-progress Dirty Stop Outs.
MOST EXCITING: Meeting Marina Abramović in the foyer at London’s Barbican before the Efterklang gig.

BEST SHOWGIRLS: Seen in the 1972 film Un Flic; costumes by Colette Baudot. Also featured is a stunning black dress, worn by Catherine Deneuve, designed by Yves Saint Laurent.
BEST BURLESQUE: Lady of Burlesque, starring Barbara Stanwyck, who wears costumes by the great Edith Head.

BEST FILM CREDITS: Sudden Fear, starring Joan Crawford as a scorned – but impeccably dressed – woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown!
BEST CASTAWAY: Hard to choose between Rupert Everett, Ian Wright or Daniel Radcliffe, who all washed up on BBC Radio 4′s Desert Island Discs.

BEST SHOWBIZ STORY: Catherine Russell – on Outlook, BBC Radio 4 – who has played the same role for 32 years and said the same lines more than 13,000 times. She holds the world record for the most theatre performances in the same role; Margaret Thorne Brent – a psychiatrist who might also be a cold-blooded killer – in the off-Broadway play Perfect Crime.

BEST TV SERIES: It was a close call with The Queen’s Gambit, but our choice is the utterly brilliant My Brilliant Friend; the adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s series of Neapolitan novels.
BEST DOCUMENTARY: The Bee Gees – How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.

BEST CABARET PIC: The ever-lovely Eve Ferret at the Crazy Coqs in London. Picture: @marc_t_albert
BEST SHOWBIZ MEMOIR: John Cooper Clarke’s I Wanna Be Yours.

BEST SHOWBIZ BIOGRAPHY: Jon Gresham: The Life and Adventures of a Sideshow Showman, Fire-Eater and Magician by Edwin A Dawes, Pat Gresham and Jon Marshall. This is a painstakingly detailed and enthralling account of Gresham’s life, lovingly compiled by his widow and friends from material written by Gresham himself. Want one? Details below.

BEST SHOWBIZ AUTOBIOGRAPHY: The heartbreaking Everything and Nothing: The Dorothy Dandridge Tragedy by Dorothy Dandridge and Earl Conrad. The revealing autobiography of Hollywood’s first African-American sex symbol and screen legend.

BEST GIG: Sevdaliza’s only show this year, streamed live from The Hague's Koninklijke Schouwburg (Royal Theatre) to a global audience.
BEST SONG: Désormais by Charles Aznavour, which was used as the title track for the film Chambre 212 or On a Magical Night.

BEST ALBUM COVER: Charles Aznavour’s Désormais. That hat!
MOST CHARMING: The sheep invasion during Isabella Rossellini’s show Sex and Consequences, which was streamed live from her farm in Bellport, Long Island, USA. Yes, her live sheep!
BEST TWITTER CIRCUS PIC: The stunning Crystal Pyramids by Severus posted by @PablosCircus.
BEST LIVE COMEDY: Myra Dubois – star of Britain’s Got Talent – at The Poodle Club in Sydenham. Some of us recognised the greatness of Rotherham’s finest before she was famous!
GONE TOO SOON: Actor Chadwick Boseman (pictured) at just 43, funnymen Eddie Large, Tim Brooke Taylor and Bobby Ball, and dancer, choreographer and actor Ann Reinking.
MOST MISSED: Davenports magic shop that closed at the end of January – but you luckily can still order from it online – and a more recent casualty, after 96 years, London’s beautiful Café de Paris.
MOST DISAPPOINTING: Madonna’s Madame X show at the London Palladium. Goodness, this was shoddy! She was so incapacitated that she simply marked all the dance moves and had to be helped around the set, and up and down the stairs. The tickets were exorbitantly expensive and no one paid to see someone hobbling about onstage. We paid to see Madonna!
But let’s not end on a sour note…
BEST SHOWBIZ MASK: Shirley Bassey’s fabulous sequinned number!
REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL: Some things we’re looking forward to include: The 45th London International Mime Festival, which will be screening free-to-view videos of shows from past LIMF editions, running an extended workshop series with live and online classes, and hosting a series of talks.
We’re also awaiting the new series of Call My Agent, which starts on Netflix on 21 January 2021.

And, last but by no mean least, one of the world’s truly funny clowns, Gloria – also known as Mooky Cornish – has been busy training her chickens – Kukuruzza (pictured top), who has been taking piano lessons, and the athletic Galina – and will be touring the Canadian prairies with them next summer. Now that’s something we’d love to see! Picture: Nichole Huck
Better days ahead!
*Jon Gresham book is available via PayPal from [email protected]: P&P incl, UK – £25, EU – £30, USA tracked – $52
#best of 2020#showbusiness best of 2020#rhianna#savage x fenty#Wes Peden#Gandini juggling#circo eia#Ballets de Monte-Carlo#deborah colker#myra dubois#bbc outlook#desert island discs#eve ferret#john cooper clarke#Jon Marshall#sevdaliza#charles aznavour#desormais#isabella rossellini#davenports magic#carol gandey#gandeys circus#Mooky Cornish#gloria#madonna#little angel theatre#marina abramović#bee gees#shirley bassey#dua lipa
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Travel to Holguin, explore this part of Cuba in 2021.

Located in the warm Caribbean Sea, the island of Cuba is a major tourist destination, where Havana and Varadero, share almost half of the visitors who arrive each year. However there are other places that stand out, today I will show you how to travel to Holguin and what you will find in 2021. You will discover a region that has everything to satisfy the most diverse tastes: beautiful beaches, excellent hotels, biodiversity, history, culture, safety (childproof), and a friendly and polite population. That magical town is called Holguín, and it is located in the northeastern part of Cuba. Although it does not have the glamour of Havana, the history of Santiago de Cuba, or the exclusivity of the beaches of Varadero and Cayo Largo, little by little it has been positioning itself as the third most important Cuban tourist destination.

Holguín Boulevard, one of the most popular sites in the city. Photo credit: Manuel de Nacimiento. According to the Statistical Yearbook of Holguín, published by the National Statistics and Information Office (ONEI), a total of 439,464 tourists travelled to Holguin in 2019. Let's close our eyes and take an imaginary journey through the region. This way you can find the answer to the question that gives this article its name. Related link: - Best rated experiences in Holguín - Get Your Guide. Interesting:On January 18, 1752, in the presence of all the neighbors the Marshal Arcos and Moreno made to record in order of date and years indicated that obeying to orders of the King of Spain he gave the title of City to San Isidoro de Holguín, being able to enjoy in front of all the privileges, honors and proper franchises of these institutions.
Travel to Holguin: how to get there
Frank País International Airport is only 10 kilometers from the city, and also has a terminal for domestic flights to Havana and Santiago de Cuba. Built in 1996, it is considered a medium-sized airport, capable of handling a flow of up to 1,000 incoming and outgoing passengers. In 2020, the runway was resurfaced to receive large aircraft. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkhEXpJvJ84 It offers car rental services, cafeterias, travel agencies, medical and currency exchange services, specialized services for the handicapped, duty free stores and VIP lounge. A total of 13 airlines connect Holguín with cities in all continents except Asia and Africa. Among them are: Jet Blue, Air Canada, Arkefly, Belair, Blue Panorama, Condor, Monarch, and Neos. To get to the main city, cabs are readily available at a cost of approximately 15 USD. But if you are a sailor in search of adventure, Holguín offers you the Marina Internacional Puerto de Vita. This port, located only 40 kilometers from the city, has 38 berths and all the necessary amenities. It is also the starting point for catamaran excursions, fishing trips, diving and jet ski rides.

Loma de la Cruz, in Holguín, is a viewpoint of important tourist interest.
Holguin, the City of Parks
The existence of more than 70 parks in the perimeter of the city has earned it that title and is the first thing you will notice when you travel to Holguin. Although if you ask any Cuban, or a foreigner who knows the city well, he or she will surely tell you that its main distinguishing feature, besides the Loma de la Cruz, is the cleanliness and straightness of its streets. They will also tell you that in spite of the distance that separates it from the capital, its inhabitants are lovers of good art and that they have the privilege of having one of the three Lyric Theaters of Cuba, the famous Rodrigo Prats, one of the best dance companies, Codanza, and the Chamber Ballet of Holguín. So, if you wish to enjoy lyrical singing, contemporary dance or ballet, in Holguín you will not lack options. The presentations take place mainly in the beautiful Eddy Suñol Theater and in the different hotels of the northern coast.

The city's ancient architecture is one of its greatest charms. However, if your thing is not classic, don't worry, we also have Discotheques, Cabarets, Bars, Cafes and Night Clubs. The city's nights are very lively, especially between Friday and Sunday. Names such as El Nocturno and Bariay, open-air cabarets in the style of the world-famous Tropicana, as well as El Pétalo, Shambalá, El Benny, Pico Cristal, El Siboney, Jazz Club, Piano Bar or Las Tres Lucias, are widely known nationwide. There are cultural events that have acquired international renown: the May Pilgrimages and the Vladimir Malakhov Dance Competition and Grand Prix of the North Atlantic. Related link: - Top 5 experiences in Holguín - Get Your Guide. - What to do in Holguín - Vigorous Ways.

The Romerías de Mayo is an important traditional popular festival. The Romerías are celebrated at the beginning of May, and although originally a religious festivity, they have become an international Youth Festival. Concerts, street theater, photographic exhibitions and works of art, dance shows, and poetry are continuously happening during a fun week. Moreover, since 2014, the famous Ukrainian dancer Vladimir Malakhov (First Dancer and Director of the Berlin Opera Ballet), has established together with the local dance company Codanza, an International Ballet and Dance Competition that attracts numerous visitors from abroad and from other cities of the island. This year, it will be held in September, albeit virtually due to the presence of COVID 19.
Gastronomy, Habanos and cycle tourism on your travel to Holguin

Hotel Iberostar Selection is a popular accommodation in Holguín. Gastronomy in Holguin To taste the local flavors, the city has about 30 restaurants that offer delicious dishes of Creole and international cuisine. Prices range from 10 to 20 USD in private establishments. Keep in mind that 1 U.S. dollar is currently traded in the informal market for 50 Cuban pesos.Tweet State-owned establishments are more economical, although they generally have less variety and quality in their offerings. Payment is made in local currency. Based on Tripadvisor surveys, popular opinion, and my personal experience, I have compiled a list of the 10 best restaurants in Holguin in 2020: - Restaurante Bar 1910 - La Pasión - Delicias Cubanas - Ranchón Los Almendros - Maragato - Restaurante Bar Parrillada San José - La Torre - La Bodeguita del Medio - Avilés - Noi Due https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aubiEDB5LPM Habanos Cigars in Holguin Inhaling the smoke of the famous Cuban cigars can be harmful, but it is the ambition of many tourists. In Holguín, it is possible to visit an important cigar factory located in the center of the city. In addition to seeing how they are manufactured, you can also buy them at advantageous prices. There is no shortage of major brands: Cohiba, Romeo y Julieta, Montecristo, Partagás and Hoyo de Monterrey. The factory produces 16 million units annually and uses as raw material the leaves harvested in Pinar del Rio, the mecca of Havana cigars. Related link: - Top 5 experiences in Holguín - Get Your Guide. - What to do in Holguín - Vigorous Ways. Cycling when you travel to Holguin A tourist sport activity that has developed rapidly in the region is bicycle tourism. The well-asphalted road that links Holguín with the seaside resort of Guardalavaca guarantees a safe trip full of beautiful landscapes. The 54 kilometers of mostly straight and flat roads lead to the paradisiacal beaches of the north-eastern coast, famous for their white sands, warm waters and all-inclusive hotels.

The beautiful Pesquero Beach should be one of the places you cannot miss on your trip to Holguín. The town of Sao Arriba is located just 11 kilometers from the start of the trip. If you are passionate about mountain biking, you will find trails and paths that cross the picturesque region: hills, rivers, caves, pure nature. After traveling the first 30 kilometers, and always turning off to the left side of the road, we will first find Playa Blanca, famous for witnessing the arrival of Admiral Christopher Columbus to Cuba, Don Lino, Vita Bay, Playa Pesquero, Naranjo Bay, and Playa Esmeralda.
Beaches and All Inclusive Hotels in Holguin
If there is something that differentiates hotels in Holguín from those in the rest of the country, it is the quality of service. Professionalism, responsibility and experience are evident as soon as you arrive: speed, command of several foreign languages, friendliness and empathy towards the client. You can choose among the 14 hotels that serve the region's beaches. Four of them are 5-star hotels: Paradisus Rio de Oro (for couples only), Playa Pesquero (the largest hotel in Cuba), the brand-new Iberostar Selection and the recently built Hotel Almirante. The rest are 4 stars except Villa Don Lino with 3 stars.

Hotel Paradisus Rios de Oro, in Holguin, Cuba. Interesting:With a cost of only 2.00 USD per pax, and three daily frequencies, comfortable buses travel between the different hotels, Guardalavaca, La Aldea Taina, and the Naranjo Bay Dolphinarium. A must visit site is the Aboriginal Cemetery and the Taino Village. There you can discover our pre-Columbian history in a museum located on the remains of an ancient indigenous cemetery. It exhibits 56 of the 180 skeletons found to date. The village recreates the environment of an aboriginal tribe from 5 centuries ago: dwellings, 38 human sculptures, work tools, recreational objects, clothing, etc. Are you bored spending all your time at the hotel? No problem, the different Travel Agencies propose excursions through sales points in each establishment. Don't forget that the province has a total of 17 protected natural areas, including two national parks: Bahía de Naranjo and La Mensura.

Jeep Safari Adventour is one of the best-selling excursions. These are 10 of the most popular excursions: - Jeep Safari Adventour - Crucero del Sol - Catamarán Gibara - Cayo Saetía en Catamarán - Baño con Delfines en el Acuario Bahía de Naranjo - Cayo Bariay - Aldea Taina - Island Paradise - Ocean Paradise - Jeep Safari Salto del Guayabo. These and other excursions may be available through Get Your Guide, a secure site where you can book quality experiences.
Although we are discovering the beach hotels, it is worth mentioning that there are three very good hotels in the city, located in old and centrally located buildings that have been very well restored: El Caballeriza, Esmeralda, and El Saratoga. The latter was inaugurated in 2020. Private accommodations are also a good option, but this will be the subject of another article. We hope you already know why it is worth taking as you travel to Holguin‼. Read the full article
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Not only that, to become good at ballet, you need to do regular exercise and spend hours at the barre. Still, most Indians consider ballet as the dance form practiced by the elitists. While taking the Online Ballet Dance Classes in India over the weekend is acceptable, no one considers that it can be a profession for a person.
However, over the last few years, things have been changing slowly. The recent news of two Indian ballet dancers getting accepted in the reputed international ballet schools might have helped to change the perspective.
The enrolment in the Online Ballet Dance Classes in India have enhanced, and the number of performances and screenings are also enhancing with it. Take a look at the following section of this article to understand how the scenario of ballet is slowly changing in India.
Learning, Collaborating and Networking:
The changes that the Online Ballet Classes by International Faculty are bringing in India seems to be ideal for creating a ballet community. Sensing the drift, the experts and masters of ballet in India is trying to do just that. Ballet Certified Dance Classes festivals are getting arranged in different parts of India where the teachers with International repute are coming to teach the students about the dance form.
Online Ballet Dance Classes in India are being held. With the surging numbers of performances, the ballet teachers are thinking about opening ballet companies of their own.
Balancing It Right:
While ballet is an extremely difficult dance form, a little motivation on the student's part can go a long way. That is where India is showing amazing progressiveness. The teachers of Online Ballet Classes by International Faculty often find people, especially young kids, associate the ballet music with that of Barbies.
In this way, Barbie has helped to advance the progress of ballet in India. Other Online Ballet Dance Classes for Kids teachers have noted that most people who enroll in the ballet classes have some ideas about the dance form.
It has helped them to teach ballet Certified Dance Classes to motivated students. However, the Indian teachers have already recognized two different bumps in the road. One is rigorous work. At 11-12 years of age, students start to realize that Online Ballet Dance Classes for Kids require more dedication and practice when they drop out of the class.
Academia is yet another stumbling block that gets in the way. As most people do not see a ballet as the career, it becomes difficult for the parents as well as the teachers to justify the hard work and commitment that ballet demands.
While there is no doubt that the journey of Online Ballet Dance Class is difficult, the binary numbers are changing. With a new generation of dancers offering Online Ballet Classes by International Faculty to change the field of ballet in India, things are getting better every day.
#Ballet Dance Class Online#Ballet Dance Classes#Ballet Dance Classes for Beginners#Online Ballet Dance Classes#Ballet Dance Classes in India
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I know everyone’s industry is affected, but here are some not so fun facts on the live entertainment industry
:* Legendary New York Metropolitan Opera has just announced its closure until September 2021. Their musicians, choirs, stage techs, etc, along with the rest of the industry have been without pay since last April.
* Broadway is closed until mid-2021
* 6 West End venues THINK they can open right now.
* Cirque du Soleil cut over 3500 jobs
.* Feld Entertainment (family tours - Disney on Ice, Monster Jam, circus, etc) has permanently fired 90% of their workforce.
* Live Nation, AEG and other concert promoters have laid off a majority of their employees.
* Talent agencies and management companies who plan & book concerts, appearances, festivals, etc have laid off over half their employees.
* Cruise boat artists are unemployed and amusement park productions have no idea when they will be rehired.
* There are no concerts, festivals, or tours scheduled until 2021 and if they don't perform next year they are likely to go bankrupt & may never happen again. No Jazz Festival, no Coachella, no Bonnaroo, no EDC, no Glastonbury, no tours, no ballet, no opera.... it's all gone
.* It is predicted that 90% of independent music rooms could close if this continues.
* Artistic and musical organizations of all kinds - choirs, theaters, orchestras, dance companies, festivals, music rooms, not to mention all technical and independent suppliers - all are trying to find alternatives to succeed in working
.* Over 12,000,000 people work in entertainment production, we are not insignificant and this industry can't reopen until mass gatherings are allowed.
This doesn't include the additional dismissal of techs and openers, maintenance staff for bar rooms and staff, safety and thousands of vendors.
So when you see your entertainment friends begging you to wear masks and stay home, understand that we are watching, helplessly, our industry collapse before our eyes because not enough people care about taking the necessary means to reduce the spread.
This is personal to us, our whole livelihood depends on social solidarity and we will not accept to be labeled 'non-essentials'.
Music & Arts are necessary for a happy and balanced society.
Everyone's career and industry is indefinitely pending. PLEASE wear your mask (on your mouth AND nose) and wash your hands!
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Holidays 3.4
Holidays
Benjamin Harrison Day (Indiana)
Brain Injury Awareness Day
Casmir’s Day (Lithuania, Poland)
Catherine O’Hara Day
Charter Day (Pennsylvania)
Courageous Followers Day
Dance the Waltz Day
Do Something Day
Festival of Pirate Utopias
Game Master’s Day
Global Day of the Engineer
Healing From the Inside Out Day
Hot Springs National Park Day
Holy Experiment Day
Hug A G.I. Day (a.k.a. Hug a Member of the Military Day)
International GM Appreciation Day (a.k.a. Game Master’s Day)
International HPV Awareness Day
International Scrapbooking Industry Day
March Forth — Do Something Day
Marching Music Day (a.k.a. Marching Band Day)
National Backcountry Ski Day
National Grammar Day
National Ida Day
National Marching Arts Day
National Quinton Day
National Ray Day
National Safety Day (India)
National Sons Day
National Waltz Day
Old Inauguration Day (US)
Racial Healing and Reconciliation Day
Sultan’s Coronation Day (Malaysia)
This Way To the Egress Day
Toy Soldier Day
U.S. Congress Day
World Day of the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation
World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development
World Evanescence Day
World Information Architecture Day
World Obesity Day
Zhonghe Festival (China)
Food & Drink Celebrations
American Tavern Day
Cadbury Chocolate Day
National Pound Cake Day
National Snack Day
1st Saturday in March
Georgia Beer Day (Georgia) [1st Saturday]
Iditarod Dogsled Race begins [Saturday of 1st Full Weekend]
International Open Data Day [1st Saturday]
National American Paddlefish Day
National Platypus Day [1st Saturday]
National Play Outside Day [1st Saturday of Every Month]
National R&B Music Day [1st Saturday]
Running of the Reindeer (Alaska) [1st Saturday]
Satyr's Day (Silenus, Greek God of Beer Buddies and Drinking Companions) [1st Saturday of Each Month]
Sock Monkey Day [1st Saturday]
World Telemark Day [1st Saturday]
Independence Days
Vermont Statehood Day (#14; 1791)
Feast Days
Adrian of Nicomedia (Christian; Saint) [brewers] *
The Anestheria (Festival of Flowers; Ancient Greece)
Bulwar-Lytton Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)
Casimir, Prince of Poland (Christian; Saint)
Feast of Ra in His Barge at Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)
Feast of Rhiannon (Celtic/Welsh Mother Goddess)
Feast of Tou Tei (Earth God; Macau) [2nd Day of 2nd Lunar Month]
Felix of Rhuys (Christian; Saint)
Giovanni Antonio Farina (Catholic Church)
Humbert III, Count of Savoy (Roman Catholic Church)
Lucius, Pope and Martyr (Christian; Saint)
Maha Shivaratri (Great Night of Shiva, Vigil & Feast for Transendence; Hinduism)
March Forth and Demand Something Day (Pastafarian)
Media Hiems II (Pagan)
Paul Cuffee (Episcopal Church)
Peter of Pappacarbone (Christian; Saint)
Random Day (Pastafarian)
Rowlf the Dog (Muppetism)
Smerdley (Muppetism)
Thales (Positivist; Saint)
Zoltán Meszlényi (Christian; Saint)
Lucky & Unlucky Days
Fatal Day (Pagan) [6 of 24]
Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]
Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [12 of 37]
Premieres
The Adjustment Bureau (Film; 2011)
Babette’s Feast (Film; 1988)
The Batman (Film; 2022)
Cinderella (Animated Disney Cartoon; 1950)
Be Cool (Film; 2005)
The Chase (Film; 1994)
Chocolat, by Joanne Harris (Novel; 1999)
Cinderella (Animated Disney Film; 1950)
Fallen, by Evanescence (Album; 2003)
Here’s Little Richard, by Little Richard (Album; 1957)
London Has Fallen (Film; 2016)
No, by Meghan Trainor (Song; 2016)
Nosferatu (Silent Film; 1922)
Pluto’s Surprise Package (Disney Cartoon; 1949)
Police Squad! (TV Series; 1982)
Rango (Animated Film; 2011)
’Round About Midnight, by Miles Davis (Album; 1957)
Sherlock Holmes in “A Study in Scarlet” (Novel; 1881)
The SpongeBob Movie on the Run (Animated Film; 2021)
Surfing’ U.S.A., by The Beach Boys (Song; 1963)
Swan Lake, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Ballet; 1877)
Symphony No. 2, a.k.a. Resurrection, by Gustav Mahler (Symphony; 1895)
Tender Mercies (Film; 1983)
Up Periscope (Film; 1959)
The Voice of Frank Sinatra, by Frank Sinatra (Album; 1946)
Waterloo, by Abba (Song; 1974)
We're Only in It for the Money, by Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention (Album; 1968)
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (Film; 2016)
Zootopia (Animated Film; 2016)
Today’s Name Days
Edwin, Humbert, Kasimir (Austria)
Bozhidar, Bozhidara, Dora, Gerasim, Teodor, Teodora, Todor (Bulgaria)
Eugen, Kazimir, Miro, Natko (Croatia)
Stela (Czech Republic)
Adrianus (Denmark)
Almar, Eimar, Elmar, Elmer, Elmet, Elmo (Estonia)
Ari, Arsi, Atro (Finland)
Casimir (France)
Edwin, Humbert, Kasimir (Germany)
Gerasimos, Theodoros (Greece)
Kázmér (Hungary)
Casimiro, Lucio, Nestore, Umberto, Urbano (Italy)
Alise, Auce (Latvia)
Daina, Daugvydas, Kazimieras, Vaclava (Lithuania)
Ada, Adrian (Norway)
Adrian, Adrianna, Arkadiusz, Arkady, Eugeniusz, Kazimierz, Lew, Lucja, Łucja, Lucjusz, Wacław, Wacława (Poland)
Gherasim, Teodor (Romania)
Kazimír (Slovakia)
Casimiro (Spain)
Adrian, Adriana (Sweden)
Julianna, Julianna (Ukraine)
Casimir, Humbert, Humberto, Kasimir, Kasimira, Placida, Placidia (USA)
Today is Also…
Day of Year: Day 63 of 2023; 302 days remaining in the year
ISO: Day 6 of week 9 of 2023
Celtic Tree Calendar: Nuin (Ash) [Day 14 of 28]
Chinese: Month 2 (Yi-Mao), Day 13 (Xin-You)
Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)
Hebrew: 11 Adar 5783
Islamic: 11 Sha’ban 1444
J Cal: 2 Ver; Twosday [2 of 30]
Julian: 19 February 2023
Moon: 93%: Waxing Gibbous
Positivist: 67 Aristotle (3rd Month) [Thales]
Runic Half Month: Tyr (Cosmic Pillar) [Day 9 of 15]
Season: Winter (Day 74 of 90)
Zodiac: Pisces (Day 13 of 29)
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Maria Khoreva and Kimin Kim

Maria Khoreva Мария Хорева as “Niriti” (daughter of the Queen of the Heavens) and Kimin Kim as “Vayou” (the Wind God), pas de deux from “The Talisman” (rehearsal), music by Ricardo Drigo, choreo by Marius Petipa, 2021 Dance Open Ballet Festival, Oktyabrskiy Concert Hall Большой концертный зал Октя́брьский, Saint Petersburg, Russia (November 14, 2021).
Source and more info at: Photographer Nina Danilina on Instagram
Note I: This blog is open to receiving and considering any suggestions, contributions, and/or criticisms that may help correct mistakes or improve its content. Comments are available to any visitor.
Note II: Original quality of photographs might be affected by compression algorithm of the website where they are hosted.
#2021 Dance Open Ballet Festival#Kimin Kim#Maria Khoreva Мария Хорева#Mariinsky Ballet Мариинский театр#Marius Petipa#Nina Danilina Нины Данилиной#Niriti#Oktyabrskiy Concert Hall Большой Концертный Зал Октя́брьский#Queen of the Heavens#Riccardo Drigo#Russian Ballet#The Talisman#Vayou#Dans#Dansen#Danser#Danza#Dance#Danse#Dancer#Балет#Ballet#Balet#Balletto#Ballett#Ballerina#Ballerino#Balerino#Balerina#Bailarina
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Holidays 3.4
Holidays
Benjamin Harrison Day (Indiana)
Brain Injury Awareness Day
Casmir’s Day (Lithuania, Poland)
Catherine O’Hara Day
Charter Day (Pennsylvania)
Courageous Followers Day
Dance the Waltz Day
Do Something Day
Festival of Pirate Utopias
Game Master’s Day
Global Day of the Engineer
Healing From the Inside Out Day
Hot Springs National Park Day
Holy Experiment Day
Hug A G.I. Day (a.k.a. Hug a Member of the Military Day)
International GM Appreciation Day (a.k.a. Game Master’s Day)
International HPV Awareness Day
International Scrapbooking Industry Day
March Forth — Do Something Day
Marching Music Day (a.k.a. Marching Band Day)
National Backcountry Ski Day
National Grammar Day
National Ida Day
National Marching Arts Day
National Quinton Day
National Ray Day
National Safety Day (India)
National Sons Day
National Waltz Day
Old Inauguration Day (US)
Racial Healing and Reconciliation Day
Sultan’s Coronation Day (Malaysia)
This Way To the Egress Day
Toy Soldier Day
U.S. Congress Day
World Day of the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation
World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development
World Evanescence Day
World Information Architecture Day
World Obesity Day
Zhonghe Festival (China)
Food & Drink Celebrations
American Tavern Day
Cadbury Chocolate Day
National Pound Cake Day
National Snack Day
1st Saturday in March
Georgia Beer Day (Georgia) [1st Saturday]
Iditarod Dogsled Race begins [Saturday of 1st Full Weekend]
International Open Data Day [1st Saturday]
National American Paddlefish Day
National Platypus Day [1st Saturday]
National Play Outside Day [1st Saturday of Every Month]
National R&B Music Day [1st Saturday]
Running of the Reindeer (Alaska) [1st Saturday]
Satyr's Day (Silenus, Greek God of Beer Buddies and Drinking Companions) [1st Saturday of Each Month]
Sock Monkey Day [1st Saturday]
World Telemark Day [1st Saturday]
Independence Days
Vermont Statehood Day (#14; 1791)
Feast Days
Adrian of Nicomedia (Christian; Saint) [brewers] *
The Anestheria (Festival of Flowers; Ancient Greece)
Bulwar-Lytton Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)
Casimir, Prince of Poland (Christian; Saint)
Feast of Ra in His Barge at Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)
Feast of Rhiannon (Celtic/Welsh Mother Goddess)
Feast of Tou Tei (Earth God; Macau) [2nd Day of 2nd Lunar Month]
Felix of Rhuys (Christian; Saint)
Giovanni Antonio Farina (Catholic Church)
Humbert III, Count of Savoy (Roman Catholic Church)
Lucius, Pope and Martyr (Christian; Saint)
Maha Shivaratri (Great Night of Shiva, Vigil & Feast for Transendence; Hinduism)
March Forth and Demand Something Day (Pastafarian)
Media Hiems II (Pagan)
Paul Cuffee (Episcopal Church)
Peter of Pappacarbone (Christian; Saint)
Random Day (Pastafarian)
Rowlf the Dog (Muppetism)
Smerdley (Muppetism)
Thales (Positivist; Saint)
Zoltán Meszlényi (Christian; Saint)
Lucky & Unlucky Days
Fatal Day (Pagan) [6 of 24]
Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]
Tycho Brahe Unlucky Day (Scandinavia) [12 of 37]
Premieres
The Adjustment Bureau (Film; 2011)
Babette’s Feast (Film; 1988)
The Batman (Film; 2022)
Cinderella (Animated Disney Cartoon; 1950)
Be Cool (Film; 2005)
The Chase (Film; 1994)
Chocolat, by Joanne Harris (Novel; 1999)
Cinderella (Animated Disney Film; 1950)
Fallen, by Evanescence (Album; 2003)
Here’s Little Richard, by Little Richard (Album; 1957)
London Has Fallen (Film; 2016)
No, by Meghan Trainor (Song; 2016)
Nosferatu (Silent Film; 1922)
Pluto’s Surprise Package (Disney Cartoon; 1949)
Police Squad! (TV Series; 1982)
Rango (Animated Film; 2011)
’Round About Midnight, by Miles Davis (Album; 1957)
Sherlock Holmes in “A Study in Scarlet” (Novel; 1881)
The SpongeBob Movie on the Run (Animated Film; 2021)
Surfing’ U.S.A., by The Beach Boys (Song; 1963)
Swan Lake, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Ballet; 1877)
Symphony No. 2, a.k.a. Resurrection, by Gustav Mahler (Symphony; 1895)
Tender Mercies (Film; 1983)
Up Periscope (Film; 1959)
The Voice of Frank Sinatra, by Frank Sinatra (Album; 1946)
Waterloo, by Abba (Song; 1974)
We're Only in It for the Money, by Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention (Album; 1968)
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (Film; 2016)
Zootopia (Animated Film; 2016)
Today’s Name Days
Edwin, Humbert, Kasimir (Austria)
Bozhidar, Bozhidara, Dora, Gerasim, Teodor, Teodora, Todor (Bulgaria)
Eugen, Kazimir, Miro, Natko (Croatia)
Stela (Czech Republic)
Adrianus (Denmark)
Almar, Eimar, Elmar, Elmer, Elmet, Elmo (Estonia)
Ari, Arsi, Atro (Finland)
Casimir (France)
Edwin, Humbert, Kasimir (Germany)
Gerasimos, Theodoros (Greece)
Kázmér (Hungary)
Casimiro, Lucio, Nestore, Umberto, Urbano (Italy)
Alise, Auce (Latvia)
Daina, Daugvydas, Kazimieras, Vaclava (Lithuania)
Ada, Adrian (Norway)
Adrian, Adrianna, Arkadiusz, Arkady, Eugeniusz, Kazimierz, Lew, Lucja, Łucja, Lucjusz, Wacław, Wacława (Poland)
Gherasim, Teodor (Romania)
Kazimír (Slovakia)
Casimiro (Spain)
Adrian, Adriana (Sweden)
Julianna, Julianna (Ukraine)
Casimir, Humbert, Humberto, Kasimir, Kasimira, Placida, Placidia (USA)
Today is Also…
Day of Year: Day 63 of 2023; 302 days remaining in the year
ISO: Day 6 of week 9 of 2023
Celtic Tree Calendar: Nuin (Ash) [Day 14 of 28]
Chinese: Month 2 (Yi-Mao), Day 13 (Xin-You)
Chinese Year of the: Rabbit 4721 (until February 10, 2024)
Hebrew: 11 Adar 5783
Islamic: 11 Sha’ban 1444
J Cal: 2 Ver; Twosday [2 of 30]
Julian: 19 February 2023
Moon: 93%: Waxing Gibbous
Positivist: 67 Aristotle (3rd Month) [Thales]
Runic Half Month: Tyr (Cosmic Pillar) [Day 9 of 15]
Season: Winter (Day 74 of 90)
Zodiac: Pisces (Day 13 of 29)
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iVisit... Barbican brings back Concerts On Demand and announces new films on Cinema On Demand alongside more digital content
With England currently in lockdown, the Barbican announces a new programme of music and films On Demand, alongside fresh and existing digital content, inspired by the Barbican’s international arts programme. A curated mix of streams, podcasts, playlists, films, videos, talks and articles enables audiences to continue to enjoy the Centre’s rich and varied programme from home or on the go during its temporary closure and beyond.
Digital content is available via the Barbican’s website through Read, Watch & Listen, Cinema On Demand, Concerts On Demand, Live from the Barbican and its social media channels (Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Spotify). In addition, podcasts can also be accessed by subscribing to the Nothing Concrete podcast via Acast, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Highlights of the Barbican’s current and upcoming digital content include:
Concerts as part of the acclaimed Live from the Barbican series in 2020 are available via Concerts On Demand from 9 Feb until 24 Mar 2021. Included are performances from celebrated artists who reflect the wide spectrum of the Barbican’s distinct music offer:
Nubya Garcia, The Divine Comedy, Emmy the Great, Richard Dawson, SEED Ensemble, Ian Bostridge and Dame Sarah Connolly, Shabaka Hutchings, Barbican’s Associate Orchestra and Ensembles BBC Symphony Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music and Britten Sinfonia
Also available On Demand are two seminal performances by the Barbican’s Resident Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra recorded at the Barbican in 2015 and 2017
An excerpt from the Olivier-Award nominated work, Blak Whyte Gray, performed by Barbican Artistic Associate Boy Blue and filmed at the Barbican Theatre, will feature in a three-part boxset Dancing Nation, available on BBC iPlayer and Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage until Fri 26 Feb 2021
Inspired – the Barbican’s Theatre and Dance in-conversation podcast series – returns, with the latest episode just released. This sees some of the amazing artists who work with us paired with Barbican young artists, sharing their personal stories about the influences that impact their work creatively
A full programme of exclusive films and ScreenTalks on Cinema On Demand including Martine Deyres’s 2019 documentary Our Lucky Hours in anticipation of the Barbican Art Gallery’s exhibition Jean Dubuffet: Brutal Beauty
As part of the Barbican Guildhall Creative Learning’s programme Subject to Change: New Horizons, interdisciplinary artist Mandisa Apena and Tice Cin have released: "cos now im missing our touchhh", a new musical score and video exploring the loss of nightclubs and queer nightlife in the UK due to the Covid-19 pandemic
The annual literary festival New Suns returns entirely online from Fri 5 – Sun 7 Mar 2021 for a weekend of talks, workshops and a film centred around feminist storytelling
The Barbican believes in creating space for people and ideas to connect through its international arts programme, community events and learning activity. To keep its programme accessible to everyone, and to keep investing in the artists it works with, the Barbican needs to raise more than 60% of its income through ticket sales, commercial activities and fundraising every year. Donations can be made here: barbican.org.uk/support-us
Full details of digital content below.
MUSIC
Barbican Concerts On Demand available from Tue 9 Feb until Wed 24 Mar 2021
A range of concerts that have already taken place as part of the Barbican’s successful autumn 2020 concert series Live from the Barbican have just been made available to re-watch on Concerts On Demand until 24 Mar 2021.
Live from the Barbican was first devised during the summer of 2020 when it became apparent that, due to the pandemic, the Centre’s music season could not go ahead as planned in the autumn. A new series was born which, for the first time, made Barbican concerts accessible online for a global digital audience through a livestream and, also, for a reduced, socially distanced live audience in the Barbican Hall. This hybrid experience, developed and delivered entirely in-house, has enabled the Barbican to bring music to its audiences during a difficult year, and, to also support artists and partner organisations during the pandemic. The Barbican is now pleased to be able to bring back a range of these autumn performances as part of the On Demand offer at a time when it had to postpone its planned Spring 2021 series of concerts.
Tickets are £12.50 for new bookers and half price for those who booked tickets to watch the concerts originally. Discounted tickets at £5 are available to 14–25-year-olds through the Young Barbican scheme. Once tickets are bought, audiences have 48 hours to watch the concert.
Please find a list of Live from the Barbican – Concerts On Demand on offer in date order below
The Divine Comedy: Live from the Barbican
Original performance date: 14 Oct 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm
On Demand Tickets £12.50
Produced by the Barbican
Emmy the Great: Live from the Barbican
Original performance date: 17 Oct 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm
On Demand Tickets £12.50
Produced by the Barbican
Richard Dawson: Live from the Barbican
Original performance date: 25 Oct 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm
On Demand Tickets £12.50
Produced by the Barbican
Nubya Garcia: Live from the Barbican
Original performance date: 29 Oct 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm
On Demand Tickets £12.50
Produced by the Barbican
Ian Bostridge / Dame Sarah Connolly
Mezzo-soprano Dame Sarah Connolly, tenor Ian Bostridge, piano Julius Drake, Carducci Quartet
Original performance date: 1 Nov 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm
On Demand Tickets £12.50
Produced by the Barbican
BBC SO/Oramo: Live from the Barbican
Soprano Anu Komsi, conductor Sakari Oramo, BBC Symphony Orchestra,
Original performance date: Fri 6 Nov 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm
On Demand Tickets £12.50
Anna Clyne: Within Her Arms
Haydn: Symphony No 49 La Passione
Magnus Lindberg: Accused (world premiere of chamber orchestra version)
Co-produced by the Barbican and BBC SO
SEED Ensemble and Special Guests Celebrating the music of Pharoah Sanders: Live from the Barbican
Part of EFG London Jazz Festival 2020
Original performance date: 14 Nov 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm
On Demand Tickets £12.50
Co-produced by the Barbican and Serious in association with EFG London Jazz Festival
Shabaka Hutchings with Britten Sinfonia: Live from the Barbican
Part of EFG London Jazz Festival 2020
Original performance date: 18 Nov 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm
On Demand Tickets £12.50
Copland Clarinet Concerto
Stravinsky Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet
Copland Appalachian Spring
Co-produced by the Barbican and Britten Sinfonia
The Cosmos with Professor Brian Cox & BBC SO
presenter Professor Brian Cox, conductor Dalia Stasevska, BBC Symphony Orchestra
Original performance date: 13 Dec 2020, Barbican Hall, 8pm
On Demand Tickets £12.50
Sibelius arr. Iain Farrington: Symphony No. 5 Mov. 3
Ives: The Unanswered Question
Mahler arr. Michelle Castelletti: Symphony No.10 Mov. 1
Co-produced by the Barbican and BBC SO
Handel’s Messiah - Academy of Ancient Music / Egarr
Original performance date: 19 Dec 2020, Barbican Hall, 7pm
On Demand Tickets £12.50
Co-produced by the Barbican and the Academy of Ancient Music
London Symphony Orchestra
Barbican audiences get the chance to re-watch two great concerts by its Resident Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, as part of its On Demand programme, which will be available till 24 March 2021.
Michael Tilson Thomas 70th Birthday Gala
pianist Yuja Wang, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, London Symphony Orchestra,
Original performance date: Thu 12 Mar 2015, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm
On Demand Tickets £12.50
Colin Matthews: Hidden Variables
Gershwin: Concerto in F
Shostakovich: Symphony No 5
The LSO’s Conductor Laureate and former Principal Guest Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas celebrated his 70th birthday at the Barbican in 2015 with a pair of concerts focusing on British and Russian music, but with a nod to his native USA. In both concerts he was joined by the pianist Yuja Wang in Gershwin’s popular Concerto in F.
This is Rattle
conductor Sir Simon Rattle, London Symphony Orchestra
Original performance date: Thu 21 Sep 2017, Barbican Hall, 7.30pm
On Demand Tickets £12.50
Stravinsky: The Firebird (original ballet)
Stravinsky: Petrushka (1947 version)
Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring
An authority on Stravinsky, Sir Simon Rattle continued the 2017/18 season opening ‘This is Rattle’ celebrations with three of the composer’s revolutionary ballets. Stravinsky sent shockwaves through classical music in the 20th century. His first three ballets – The Firebird, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring, all composed between 1911 and 1913 – brought a new and frenzied sense of rhythm, so distressing to audiences that it caused uproar; The Rite of Spring even caused a riot.
From Barbican partners
British baritone James Newby’s song recital as part of the ECHO Rising Stars Festival is now available to watch again for free via Read, Watch & Listen on the Barbican’s website. James Newby is the Barbican’s ECHO (European Concert Halls Organisation) nominee. The recital took place at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg on 28 January 2021.
The Guildhall School alumnus, ECHO Rising Star, BBC New Generation Artist, Kathleen Ferrier Award winner and member of the Hanover State Opera’s ensemble presents a selection of atmospheric Lieder by Clara and Robert Schumann. He is accompanied by pianist Marcelo Amaral. James Newby’s debut album with pianist Joseph Middleton I wonder as I wander came out in 2020.
James’s London ECHO recital was due to take place at Milton Court Concert Hall in January this year but had to be postponed due to the current lockdown restrictions.
CINEMA
In February Cinema On Demand brings together an exclusive programme of worldwide, bold, independent films for audiences to enjoy at home, while the venues remain closed.
Preceding the Barbican Art Gallery’s exhibition Jean Dubuffet: Brutal Beauty, Barbican Cinema On Demand will host an exclusive presentation of Martine Deyres’s 2019 documentary Our Lucky Hours (19 Feb – 31 Mar), including a live ScreenTalk between art historian Sarah Lombardi, director of the Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne and Ben Platts-Mills, who works with artists with disabilities in London and has supported the development of Hackney-based inclusive art studio, Submit To Love. The live ScreenTalk will take place on Thu 11 Mar at 7pm.
In this thought provoking documentary, photos, archival footage and sound recordings tell the story of a pioneering psychiatric institution in 1930s France. The asylum was radically re-thought, with doctors, patients and nurses working side by side to run the facility, with the support of the local community. Patients were respected and integrated and individually supported. They took up roles in the hospital kitchen and on local farms, they published a newspaper, and many pursued flourishing visual art practices.
During the Second World War, the asylum also sheltered refugees and Resistance fighters, among them such figures from the Parisian avant-garde as Paul Éluard, Tristan Tzara, Georges Sadoul and Georges Canguilhem. At the end of the war, another visitor was Jean Dubuffet, whose discovery there of the sculptures by patient and artist Auguste Forestier supported his elaboration of the notion of ‘Art Brut’.
Other exclusive highlights on Cinema On Demand during February include:
Cat in the Wall (Dirs Mina Mileva & Vesela Kazakova), set on a South London council estate – in which a Bulgarian family gets into conflict with their neighbours due to an abandoned cat – it’s a striking and provocative drama about the aftermath of the Brexit vote. Screening as part of the New East cinema programme, the film is followed by a recorded ScreenTalk with directors Mina Mileva and Vesela Kazakova.
Screening as part of Forbidden Colours – a Barbican Cinema strand celebrating queer films from places where LGBTQ+ people continue to face oppression – is Several Conversations about a Very Tall Girl (Dir Bogdan Theodor Olteanu), a sensitive Romanian romance in which two young women – one out and proud, the other less confident – begin a tentative affair.
Following on from its sold out screening in Cinema 1 in December, as part of Barbican
Cinema’s Emerging Film Curators’ programme, Reframing the Fat Body (Dirs various) makes its online debut. In this programme of shorts, writer and curator Grace Barber-Plentie celebrates the bigger body; here fat bodies are freed from the constraints put upon them by modern society and allowed to be fluid, free, sexy and radical. This programme features a recorded ScreenTalk with film curator Tara Brown and co-founder of The Fat Zine, Chloe Sheppard, hosted by Grace Barber-Plentie.
Also available are The Capote Tapes (Dir Ebs Burnough) which explores the social rise and fall of Truman Capote, the infamous American writer; Song Without a Name (Dir Melina Léon), which follows a woman’s journey to get her stolen baby back, taken from her just after child birth; and Shahrbanoo Sadat’s tender film The Orphanage, about a young boy in 1980s Afghanistan, who is sent to a Soviet orphanage and finds himself in a complex social hierarchy.
For families and younger audiences there’s Creepy Crawly Films for Families (Dirs various), a compilation of fun shorts celebrating all that’s creepy and crawly in the ground.
Cinema On Demand is available to audiences across the UK with a rolling four-week programme of titles and events that reflect the Barbican’s international cinema programme.
Barbican Cinema has been supported by the Culture Recovery Fund for Independent Cinemas in England which is administered by the BFI, as part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund supporting arts and cultural organisations in England affected by the impact of COVID-19. #HereForCulture
THEATRE AND DANCE
Inspired Series 2
Inspired is the Barbican’s Theatre and Dance in-conversation podcast series in which some of the amazing artists who work with us share their personal stories about the influences that impact their work creatively. Part of the Barbican’s Nothing Concrete podcast, the first Inspired series was released weekly in September 2020. This new Inspired series, released weekly from the beginning of February, pairs Barbican young artists with those that inspire them.
In episode 1 interdisciplinary artist Riwa Saab talks to writer and director Kirsty Housley about her extensive career in theatre, the craft of dramaturgy and directing, and the political nature of her work.
In episode 2 Barbican Young Poet Amani Saeed talks to storyteller Amrou Al-Kadhi about gender identity and drag performance.
In episode 3 sound artist and composer Rebekah Alero talks to vocalist, movement artist and composer Elaine Mitchener about improvisation, contemporary music theatre and performance art.
In episode 4 author Rogan Graham talks to actress and writer Susan Wokoma about acting and activism.
In episode 5 multidisciplinary practitioner Gabriel Akamo, and writer and performer Jeremiah Brown talk to actor Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù about his career, heritage and legacy.
Blak Whyte Gray
Co-commissioned and co-produced by the Barbican, Blak Whyte Gray by Barbican Artistic Associate Boy Blue premiered at the Barbican in 2017 and was restaged here in 2018 due to demand. Created by co-artistic directors Kenrick ‘H2O’ Sandy and Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante, an extract from the piece, Whyte, is available on BBC iPlayer and Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage until Fri 26 Feb 2021. This fierce, bold and galvanising dance work, set to a multilayered electronic score, reflects themes of identity, oppression and transcendence. The time is once again right to ask questions, to break free from a system that isn’t working, to emerge on the other side to an awakening – a return to roots, a celebration of culture.
CREATIVE LEARNING
Subject to Change: January 2021 commission
As part of Barbican Guildhall Creative Learning’s programme Subject to Change: New Horizons, interdisciplinary artists Mandisa Apena and Tice Cin have released: "cos now im missing our touchhh", a new musical score and video exploring the loss of nightclubs and queer nightlife in the UK due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The audio of Mandisa & Tice’s track uses ASMR sounds of their own breath and laughter to create the drumline, mixed together with a collage of video snippets of clubbing scenes and people dancing. The piece aims to illustrate how nightclubs can be a vital space for deep healing, the excitement of being openly queer and feeling united through digital spaces, mutual love and understanding. Through this work, Mandisa & Tice hope to show queer club culture during lockdown and chatroom bonding, celebrate togetherness through technology, as well as making note of the physical spaces that they miss so much, and the way lack of touch has affected them.
The Subject to Change: New Horizons programme commissions a different young creative, each month for a year, to produce new and powerful artistic work responding to the uncertain times in which we are living. Mandisa & Tice’s piece is the seventh in the series. New work will be shared every month on the Barbican’s website and social media channels until June 2021.
LEVEL G
Experience the 2021 programme of the New Suns Feminist Literature Festival from home
The annual literary festival New Suns returns for a weekend of talks, workshops and a film centred around feminist storytelling. The weekend will feature acclaimed writers, activists, artists, and academics including adrienne maree brown, Season Butler and Dorothea Lasky. This third edition of the festival, running from Friday 5 – Sunday 7 March 2021, will take place entirely online for the first time. New Suns is a co-production between the Barbican and independent publisher and curator Sarah Shin.
This year’s New Suns will look to the legacy of eminent science-fiction author Octavia Butler, to explore the power we have to both sustain and change the world around us, and how to commune with others. In particular, New Suns will reflect on Butler’s prophetic, unfinished Earthseed series, which imagines Earth in the 2020s ravaged by ecological disaster and violent divisions.
The festival will navigate the books’ central themes, such as the inevitability of change, community-building, examinations of race and gender, and humanity’s relationship to the cosmos. For the first time, there will be a limited edition New Suns anthology booklet to purchase which includes an extract from Octavia Butler’s book The Parable of the Sower; poetry by Dorothea Lasky and Daisy Lafarge; guides for self-reflection and meditation; as well as herbal recipes for strength and healing to enjoy this spring and beyond. The anthology is accompanied by thyme seeds and instructions on how to use the herb beyond the culinary.
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😨don't know if the public really understands how dire the situation is for millions of hard-working professionals in the music industry. The legendary New York Metropolitan Opera just announced its closure until September 2021. Their musicians, choir, stage technicians, etc ... have been without salary since last April! Broadway is closed until 2021, 6 West End theaters think they can open right now. The Circo du Soleil is bankrupt and cuts more than 3,500 jobs. Feld Entertainment laid off 90% of its workforce consistently. Live Nation had to lay off a large number of employees. Cruise artists are unemployed and amusement park productions have no idea when they will be returned. There are no concerts, festivals, or tours scheduled for 2021 and if they don't happen next year, they may never happen again. There will be no jazz festival, Coachella, Bonnaroo, EDC, Glastonbury, tours, ballet, opera and several more ... everything is gone. 90% of independent music venues are expected to close if this continues. Artistic and musical organizations of all kinds - choirs, theaters, orchestras, dance companies, festivals, music venues, not to mention production, logistics, transport, bookings, all technical and independent providers - all try to find alternatives to work. More than 12,000,000 people work in entertainment production, we are not insignificant and this industry cannot reopen until mass gatherings are allowed. This does not include the additional layoffs of technicians and engineers, openers, room maintenance and bar staff, security and thousands of salespeople. So when you see your friends from entertainment begging you to wear masks and stay home, understand that we see our industry powerless collapse before our eyes, because many people don't mind taking the means necessary to reduce the spread. It is personal for us, all our livelihood depends on social solidarity and we will not accept being labeled '' nonessential ''. Music and art are necessary for a happy and balanced society. The career of everyone and the entire industry is on hold indefinitely. 🙌 #SaveOurStages #SaveTheArts #artseducationmatters #WeMakeEvents #AlertaRoja #alertarojacultura
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10 Cool Things About Seattles Green Lake Neighborhood
Seattle is known for its greenery, which makes sense, it is the Evergreen state afterall. It’s no wonder one of our favorite spots is Green Lake, accurately named after the freshwater lake at the heart of Seattle. A little bit of history: the Green Lake neighborhood was settled in the late 1800s and has always been residential and the scenic backdrop to many people’s lives. Perhaps that’s why it’s still such a popular spot for locals and tourists alike along with the occasional celebrity! We’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite Green Lake legends, stories and highlights that show what a quirky, beautiful spot Green Lake is and we hope will continue to be!
Duck Island: Duck Island was originally created as a safe habitat for swans which obviously didn’t pan out. This small island is located in the middle of Green Lake and is off limits to visitors. In fact, it’s even against the law to trespass on this island as it was deemed a wildlife refuge back in the 50’s (this changed in the 80’s). If caught, you could get a misdemeanor for trespassing. But rules were meant to be broken, right? In 2017, a group of skaters handbuilt their own skatepark in the middle of Duck Island. Some videos can still be found online. Did they get caught, yes. Did they get in trouble? You know it. Let this be a lesson, Duck Island is for the birds.
Twin Teepees: There’s a local legend that Colonel Harland Sanders (yes! The KFC guy) was a short order cook at the former Twin Teepees, a local establishment that was destroyed by fire and then later torn down in 2001. John Owen, who wrote Walking Seattle said that the owner of the Twin Teepees, Walter Clear “met another energetic restaurateur who had fallen upon hard times. He offered his new friend Harold Sanders a temporary job as a short order cook at one of his Seattle restaurants. Clark moved his friend to the Twin Teepees, where the man’s fascination with herbs and spices continued.” After almost a year in Seattle, Harold decided to head home to Kentucky and later began to refer to himself as “Colonel Sanders.” We may never know if he developed his famous recipes here in our very own Green Lake neighborhood but it’s still a pretty tasty story.
The Green Lake Arch: Originally located as a prominent fixture in the Martha Washington School for Girls, a historic school building on Lake Washington. This looming piece of history now resides in Green Lake, but how? You may have heard stories about the Martha Washington School for Girls. Ghost stories to be specific. The school, which has since been demolished, was built in 1921. The school offered support for neglected and unfortunate young girls until the school closed their doors in 1952. It sat empty and neglected for decades, some say satanic cults took place in the structure which led to the 1972 decision to demolish it. The City of Seattle purchased and tore down the building and built a park (which you can visit today). Sightings only intensified of young girls haunting the shores of Lake Washington. So how did the huge arc get to Green Lake and not in a landfill? For some reason, it was put in storage in 2009 and brought to Green Lake as part of Seattle’s Shade Park and Plaza. For many decades this eerie arch greeted young girls as they entered their school each day and now you too can visit it in Green Lake, just watch out for the paranormal, it’s probably still haunted.
Magnet Fishing: It’s how it sounds and it works with varying success. Local man, Sam Miller was out magnet fishing on the lake and uncovered an unlabeled can with an expiration date of 2020. Sam, who is also a local comedian in Seattle, opened the mystery can at Emmett Montgomery & Brett Hamill’s Joketeller’s Union show in the summer of 2019 and proceeded to taste this mystery meat. Spoiler alert, it wasn’t spoiled! The cool lake temperatures keep things like beer cans and food cans nice and chilled! You can watch the “uncanning” here.
Spuds Fish N Chips: Founded in 1935, this place has history! Two brothers, Jack and Frank Alger, are credited with bringing the phenomenon that is “fish & chips” to Seattle. The brothers, originally from England (where the whole fish and chips fad started) decided to open a restaurant in Alki and later Green Lake. It’s rumored the brothers even helped out Ivar’s with his famous fish and chips recipe. Taste test anyone?
Milk Carton Races: This quirky event has been taking place every year since its opening event in 1972 (sorry 2020, the next race has been rescheduled for 2021). It’s officially called the Lucerne Seafair Milk Carton Derby and features the weirdest, most colorful milk carton boats you have ever seen. You never know what kind of boat or floatation creation will float by as they vary in size and designs. May the best milk carton boat win!
Water Lantern Festival: This is another annual event that has been rescheduled due to COVID-19 but their website says to check back in 2021. Watch as a spectator or take part by purchasing a lantern that you’ll personalize with a message or drawing. Watch as it drifts in tandem with hundreds of other lanterns across Green Lake. It’s a sight to see! Food trucks and live music make for a fun filled evening.
First Date: Green Lake can seem like the perfect romantic spot, a stroll around the scenic lake, canadian geese honking in harmony as you pass by with your new love…except when you realize you have absolutely nothing in common with your date and you’re only a quarter way around Green Lake. A stroll with your date can turn awkward really fast and can feel like a ride you can’t get off of. So romantics beware, Green Lake may be the best or worst place to go on a first date. It can be a long 2.8 miles around the lake.
The Aqua Theater: Originally built in 1950 for Seattle’s Seafair as a way to showcase “swimusicals”, which is just how it sounds. Singing, dancing and synchronized ballet swimming a la water musical! Besides swimusicals, many plays have taken place at the Aqua Theater along with jazz festivals, wrestling matches, comedy shows, and live music concerts. After the summer productions, the activity at the Aqua Theater waned (most probably due to the near constant wet weather) and was for the most part abandoned. After Led Zeppelin and Grateful Dead played at the Theater in 1960, the City of Seattle deemed it unsafe. In 1970 it was torn down and repurposed. Some sections of the grandstand remain today and offer a great way to exercise those glutes.
Gaines Point: The murder of Sylvia Gaines was huge news in Seattle when it happened in June of 1926. A man was walking around the north end of Green Lake on his way to work when he discovered a pair of women’s shoes. He investigated further and found Sylvia, dead near the shore. Sylvia Gaines was only 22 and had just moved to Seattle to reconnect with her estranged father whom she hadn’t seen since she was 5. It didn’t take long for investigators to charge her father, Bob Gaines with her murder. It only took 3 hours for the jury to find Bob Gaines guilty. The grove of Alder trees where Sylvia was found was replaced by Cottonwood trees (many of which were planted as a memorial to Sylvia). The trees grew to be 70 years old and offered a habitat to bald eagles but unfortunately their limbs began to fall. Deemed too dangerous, the cottonwoods were then removed. They have since been replaced with Populus Robusta trees. There are many who say the ghost of Sylvia has been seen peeking through the branches of these trees at night!
Photo Sources:
1. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/city-sues-capitol-hill-skate-shop-over-illicit-skateboarding-bowl-built-on-green-lakes-duck-island/ 2. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/266134659217502616/ 3. https://seattlemortgageplanners.com/seattle-neighborhood-guide/green-lake/ 5. https://www.seattlegreenlaker.com/2018/01/spud-fish-and-chips-building-nominated-for-seattle-landmark-status/ 6. https://parkways.seattle.gov/2018/07/11/july-14-seafair-milk-carton-derby/ 7. https://www.shorelineareanews.com/2019/10/green-lake-water-lantern-festival.html 9. https://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/2010/10/04/p-i-archives-the-aqua-theater-at-green-lake/ 10. https://blogs.columbian.com/corks-and-forks/2013/12/24/a-walk-around-green-lake/
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