To all non-dancing friends. As this is what I do, I think it would be nice for me to do some educational work. The following ballet/film is the version of that ballet Swan Lake (that you might have heard of...) by Matthew Bourne:
"Thrilling, audacious and totally original, Matthew Bourne's legendary production transforms one of ballet's best -loved stories into a stylish, witty, poignant, contemporary tale with extravagant, award-winning designs by Lez Brotherston."
Read more about it here: New Adventures: Swan Lake.
All I say is, save it for the evening, make some tea, and watch this. It will be a cultural AND fun watch, and a very important piece of the international world of dance. I have stolen it all from youtube, (but would you have found it on youtube yourselves?) including the text. You don't need to read it, it's just there in case you get lost (well detailed). The story should be clear enough.
ENJOY (and learn)!
Act One
In the prologue, the Prince, as a child, is awakened by a nightmare of a swan. The Prince's mother comes in to comfort him, but becomes nervous with the intimacy of the situation and leaves, looking over her shoulder indecisively.
Scene One opens with the Prince being prepared for a day of official duties by a small army of chambermaids and valets.
In Scene Two, arrayed in his full dress uniform, the Prince becomes bored by a boat christening, a ribbon cutting and other symbolic tasks.
Act One
In Scene Two his mother prods him to keep up appearances while giving most of her attention to handsome young soldiers. During this scene there is a transition from the child actor playing the young Prince to the identically-dressed adult dancer who portrays the grown Prince. This now-adult Prince is introduced to a gawkish girl called "the Girlfriend". Although the girl seems foisted on him by von Rothbart, the Private Secretary.
Act One (Scene Two)
The Prince enjoys her freshness as an alternative to his duty-bound life. The Queen finds the Girlfriend completely inappropriate.
Act One
In Scene Three, the Queen, one of her admiring soldiers, the Private Secretary, the Prince, and the Girlfriend all appear in a theatre box, where they watch a ballet that is staged for the actual audience as well for as the characters. It is a mawkish, campy send-up of a romantic ballet, in which a fairy princess fights off tree goblins and wins the love of a Tyrolean lumberjack.
Act One
Scene Four finds the disgruntled Prince drinking in his private chambers in front of a mirror, to the shock of his mother. A nearly violent pas de deux ensues in which he pleads for her attention and love and she determinedly rebukes him.
This rebuke sends the Prince into the streets and to the Swank Bar, a 1970s-style disco, in Scenes Five and Six. Here is where the choreography most obviously veers from classical ballet, with jazz forms and modern dance dominating. The Prince seeks love from anonymous strangers who reject him.
Act One
In Scene Seven, he sees the Girlfriend being paid off by von Rothbart, the Private Secretary, to disappear.
While sitting in the street at the end of Scene Seven the Prince imagines a group of swans flying towards him but the vision quickly disappears. It is the first flash of the Prince's descent into madness.
Act Two A Park in St Jame's 1/3
Disappointed that he will never find affection, the Prince contemplates suicide in Act Two, but is saved by the sight of beautiful swans on the lake of a public park. This Act is the most direct rendering from the original plot of Swan Lake, but it contains the most talked-about dancing of the ballet due to stylistic changes. Male dancers portray the swans as aggressive and arrogant animals rather than the delicate, sentimentalized swans traditionally portrayed by ballerinas. The traditional white tutus and tiaras are also discarded, to be replaced with bare chests, feathered knee-length trousers, and bold, black facial markings. Initially rejected by the lead Swan, the Prince is eventually taken into his loving embrace. This is what the Prince has always desired, and the Act ends in triumphant happiness. The swans then fly away. It is not entirely clear whether the Prince has in fact interacted with the swans, or if they are figments of his imagination.
Act Two A Park in St Jame's 2/3
Act Two A Park in St Jame's 3/3
Act Three: The Palace Ballroom 1/4
Scene One begins with princesses from various European nations and their escorts arriving at the palace gates for a grand ball. The Girlfriend sneaks in amongst them.
Act Three: The Palace Ballroom 2/4
Scene Two takes place in a proto-fascist ballroom where gigantic torchieres gripped by fists recall those of Jean Cocteau's La Belle et la Bête.
Act Three: The Palace Ballroom 3/4
..... It commences with the arrival of the Queen and the Prince, but quickly degenerates into a debauched party of drinking and lascivious come-ons. Into this arrives the charismatic and sexually aggressive son of von Rothbart,[4] the Private Secretary, in black leather pants, who intensifies the sexual tension even further by flirting with every woman present, including the Queen.
Act Three: The Palace Ballroom 4/4
Just as in the original Swan Lake one ballerina performs the white Odette and the black Odile, the same danseur performs the white Swan and the black-clad young von Rothbart in this version. The Prince sees something of his beloved Swan in the son and he is as much attracted to his bravado and animal magnetism as he is repulsed by his lewdness. During bump and grind group numbers and a sequence of national dances, it becomes clear that the Queen is powerfully attracted to von Rothbart's son. His father, the Private Secretary, looks on with an increasingly triumphant approval. But the Prince, in a pas de deux, also tries to approach young von Rothbart, only to be rebuffed. The Prince retreats into his mind and imagines dancing intimately with him, but the Prince's confusion interrupts the fantasy, and the son's movements turn quickly from loving to violent. The Prince imagines the other guests at the ball laughing and ridiculing him. The Queen and young von Rothbart embrace and begin kissing, signalling her acceptance of him as her lover. Overwhelmed by his conflicted feelings, the Prince produces a pistol and threatens to shoot his mother. In an ensuing scuffle the Girlfriend tries to dissuade the Prince, while the Private Secretary draws a pistol and points it at the Prince. As shots ring out, the Girlfriend and the Prince fall to the ground, but only the Girlfriend has been hit. She lies unconscious on the ground and the Prince is dragged away, while the Queen throws herself into young von Rothbart's arms. He gives the pistol he had taken from the Prince to his father, the two of them laughing.
Act Four (1/2)
In the final act of Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake the Prince, regarded as having lost his mind, is confined to an asylum in a room with a high barred window, and is treated by a doctor and a team of nurses wearing masks that resemble the Queen's face, in a scene reminiscent of his dressing at the beginning of the ballet. Again, the Queen is unable to fully express love for her son.
The Prince crawls into bed and appears to sleep. However, he begins writhing as he dreams of the troupe of swans emerging from under and behind, dancing menacingly around him. He wakes from his nightmare, checking under his bed and around his room for swans. His tortured expression and jerky movements convey the Prince struggling to deal with reality and fantasy.
Act Four (2/2)The Last
......His lead Swan then slowly emerges from within the Prince's bed. It is unclear whether this is happening in reality or is merely another of the Prince's visions. The Swan lovingly dances with the Prince, before the rest of the swans enter and turn on the lead Swan when he makes it clear that he values his relationship with the Prince more than he values membership amongst them. They separate the two and begin attacking the Prince before the Swan leaps in to save him. The swans descend again and begin attacking the Swan. The Prince, despite his efforts, is too weak to save his love. Heartbroken, the Prince cries and collapses onto the bed. The Queen then finds her dead son's body and breaks down in sobs. However, it is in death that the Prince and the Swan can be together; a tableau above showing the lead Swan holding the young Prince from Act One in his arms.
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Passing Days, Ending Terms
Yesterday this music was played in ballet class forwarded to me today and in retrospect I looked at my notes of the class and funnily enough it is there:
"Pliés: the music was simply beautiful. I think it evoked an emotional response within me. But then I think for pliés the structure is not so important because it is repetitive, legato.. in this class I was fine. (...)"
Very rough of course, but that's what these notes are like.
Excited today to get some feedback on my performance CV and even more excited to get it prepared to send off to some fabulous company I have chosen (hopefully before christmas).
Also very excited to find that people whom I have trained with a few years ago have now entered a company - very inspiring for me to try as well, although I do remember them as very hard working and most successful even then.
Dancing in a little sharing of work this week, which will be fun, and which will be the only thing that comes close to performance of this term. Of course, performance assessments next week. I am looking forward to that.
Preparing more applications, thinking about which performances to film for them, and taking some dance pictures hopefully this week.
"Pliés: the music was simply beautiful. I think it evoked an emotional response within me. But then I think for pliés the structure is not so important because it is repetitive, legato.. in this class I was fine. (...)"
Very rough of course, but that's what these notes are like.
Excited today to get some feedback on my performance CV and even more excited to get it prepared to send off to some fabulous company I have chosen (hopefully before christmas).
Also very excited to find that people whom I have trained with a few years ago have now entered a company - very inspiring for me to try as well, although I do remember them as very hard working and most successful even then.
Dancing in a little sharing of work this week, which will be fun, and which will be the only thing that comes close to performance of this term. Of course, performance assessments next week. I am looking forward to that.
Preparing more applications, thinking about which performances to film for them, and taking some dance pictures hopefully this week.
Monday, 6 December 2010
About Mood/Atmosphere in Ballet vs. Contemporary Class
A very striking thought about the difference in music in ballet and contemporary class was suggested today by a pianist during a conversation:
In ballet, the musician reproduces the dynamics of the step in his music, and this varies for each exercise. He termed the music "more narrative", which I found striking: the music narrates, or it tells you what the step is. In contemporary however, the musician, rather than respond to the structure of the steps, sets a more general mood. It struck me that this might be explaining my different musical experiences in both styles.
What does the teacher do? Really, I find that the teacher's use of voice is much more even in contemporary than in ballet. In ballet, the voice reflects the dynamics of the step (at least that's what we are taught!) and in contemporary the voice, whatever step of the sequence is being set, reflects the overall mood. The teacher is setting a certain mood, and that makes it more of an organic experience for all learners...yes or no?
The teacher in ballet are often not setting an exercise in a certain mood. I think of adage, where however beautiful the choreography might be, the steps are set in the same matter of fact manner than the allegro - albeit with very different dynamics. The dancers are expected to implement these dynamics. But if they do not feel any mood/atmosphere of the setting, it will still seem shallow, if not to the audience so at least to themselves. Maybe that is in part responsible for my experiences in ballet to be less memorable than those in contemporary? Maybe memorable experiences are anchored in moods/atmospheres?
Contemporary dancers seem to have much more of a connection to mood than ballet dancers - even in terms of their personal philosophy (think about the kind of people attracted to ballet versus contemporary). They get into a mood before class (stretching on the floor in silence and engaging with breath) and after class (cool down that often is part of a contemporary class). Ballet is not related to mood so much. Even the révérence is not "mood-ful"; I experience it as more superficial than the breathy cool downs of contemporary, after which the teacher even sometimes does not want applause to "keep the feeling" (quote by anonymous inspiring person and teacher).
All this raises many questions:
Do musicians continue a certain mood they set for an exercise into the next setting? Is there a continuity, or do they approach each exercise/sequence as a separate setting, and respond solely to the teacher's momentary input?
How do pianists choose which mood to set, as this freedom obviously, and as experienced, leaves them with a great responsibility for the overall atmosphere/mood of the class?
So does this mean that it is the musician who is reponsible for the atmosphere? How much does the teacher influence him/her?
Are musicians aware of this?
This has not emerged from any analysis but are raw thoughts about the thing this pianist said to me today, and which I have thought about during class this evening. Writing up the data of the day, I was trying to capture a feeling in words: "I felt elated, I felt in the right place, I felt beautiful and connected, and in a complete moment. There was nothing but the pianist, the music, my body, my movement and a right feeling to it." Although this might sound naive, it is the best I could do to describe what I felt at that moment. And I can't remember when I felt like this the last time in ballet? Do you?
Hopefully once this has been integrated a bit more in data I will be able to say more about it with more confidence.
I would love for anyone to contribute their thoughts on this to further my thinking!
In ballet, the musician reproduces the dynamics of the step in his music, and this varies for each exercise. He termed the music "more narrative", which I found striking: the music narrates, or it tells you what the step is. In contemporary however, the musician, rather than respond to the structure of the steps, sets a more general mood. It struck me that this might be explaining my different musical experiences in both styles.
What does the teacher do? Really, I find that the teacher's use of voice is much more even in contemporary than in ballet. In ballet, the voice reflects the dynamics of the step (at least that's what we are taught!) and in contemporary the voice, whatever step of the sequence is being set, reflects the overall mood. The teacher is setting a certain mood, and that makes it more of an organic experience for all learners...yes or no?
The teacher in ballet are often not setting an exercise in a certain mood. I think of adage, where however beautiful the choreography might be, the steps are set in the same matter of fact manner than the allegro - albeit with very different dynamics. The dancers are expected to implement these dynamics. But if they do not feel any mood/atmosphere of the setting, it will still seem shallow, if not to the audience so at least to themselves. Maybe that is in part responsible for my experiences in ballet to be less memorable than those in contemporary? Maybe memorable experiences are anchored in moods/atmospheres?
Contemporary dancers seem to have much more of a connection to mood than ballet dancers - even in terms of their personal philosophy (think about the kind of people attracted to ballet versus contemporary). They get into a mood before class (stretching on the floor in silence and engaging with breath) and after class (cool down that often is part of a contemporary class). Ballet is not related to mood so much. Even the révérence is not "mood-ful"; I experience it as more superficial than the breathy cool downs of contemporary, after which the teacher even sometimes does not want applause to "keep the feeling" (quote by anonymous inspiring person and teacher).
All this raises many questions:
Do musicians continue a certain mood they set for an exercise into the next setting? Is there a continuity, or do they approach each exercise/sequence as a separate setting, and respond solely to the teacher's momentary input?
How do pianists choose which mood to set, as this freedom obviously, and as experienced, leaves them with a great responsibility for the overall atmosphere/mood of the class?
So does this mean that it is the musician who is reponsible for the atmosphere? How much does the teacher influence him/her?
Are musicians aware of this?
This has not emerged from any analysis but are raw thoughts about the thing this pianist said to me today, and which I have thought about during class this evening. Writing up the data of the day, I was trying to capture a feeling in words: "I felt elated, I felt in the right place, I felt beautiful and connected, and in a complete moment. There was nothing but the pianist, the music, my body, my movement and a right feeling to it." Although this might sound naive, it is the best I could do to describe what I felt at that moment. And I can't remember when I felt like this the last time in ballet? Do you?
Hopefully once this has been integrated a bit more in data I will be able to say more about it with more confidence.
I would love for anyone to contribute their thoughts on this to further my thinking!
Sunday, 5 December 2010
What ten random books say about me
An idea I came across on Jonathan Still's site here a long while ago and ever since wanted to do it too - only I didn't have a space for it then. It's about choosing ten books from your shelf with your eyes closed and telling the world what they say about you. Here we go.
The Plumed Serpent by D.H. Lawrence
I can't remember what this says about me. Except that I cannot pass a bookshop without finding new must have books. I actually got this on a rainy night to the Royal Opera House - or did I? Anyway, the reason I got it was because I had read many earlier works of Lawrence and thought he was rather good. I like the thought of following an author to the end, like easily Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters.
Das Glasperlenspiel by Hermann Hesse
First thing that comes to mind is a school friend of mine from Luxembourg, her love for Hesse and her having read this. Second thing is the old book fair where I bought 61 books for 61 Euros and broke the fair sales record. Third thing is that I have attempted to read this three times but never got very far. But since Steppenwolf I am determined to have another try. I had this book since I was sixteen or so. Me having brought it to London proves my determination.
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Mostly there because I can never remember which books of his I have read and which I haven't. Saving it for a rainy and sad day. It looks new though..
Observing Children: A Practical Guide by Carole Sharman, Wendy Cross and Diana Vennis
I was surprised when it landed on my bed just then. I picked this up because the library had it cleared out and it was only 2 pounds. I tend to pick up stuff with any potential to further my knowledge in teaching dance world. However, not having looked at it and forgotten it was there seems a bit disappointing.
Aspects of Folk Dance in Europe by Helen Wingrave and Robert Harrold
I had to get this for a few reasons: 1. It goes back to trying to be a better teacher for character dance. 2. I was interested in finding out more about the backgrounds having danced with a Russian/Ukrainian/Moldavian Dance Ensemble for a couple of years. It's really clear about costumes as well. I'm getting slightly excited again only looking at it.
Dance Composition by Jacqueline Smith-Autard
Trying to save up some helpful books for future workshops that I might never give or use. But this was part of the library clear-out, although it was rather expensive for the occasion. I wonder when I will have a closer look at it. It's vaguely comforting and vaguely irritating that it's sitting on my shelf.
L'Esprit du Ballet by Marcel Schneider
This is one of the first - if not the first - serious ballet books I got. I got it in Metz where I used to buy my pointe shoes, in the Fnac. I had no idea who Diaghilev was then but already I was guided by a sense of frantic need to know/should really know.
Le Testament Français by Andreï Makine
The original is really French. This was recommended to me by a family member during a family trip and of course I got it in the next best book shop in Geneva - amongst probably six other books, and some more books as presents for a loved one.
I was to expect an interesting treatment of the French language since this author had learned French from his Grandmother (originally French) who had passed her whole life in Siberia. But although I missed the subtleties of this influence, nevertheless the book was beautifully and very calmly telling the story of this grandmother.
This book was then given to me as a present by said family member and now I treasure two copies.
Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire
My complicated relationship with poetry. I take this book with me wherever I move, only to read half a poem now and then. I must read aloud because it's French and I have been taught that passion for French poetry comes with the sound of it, and I must stand up because my English teacher once said he'd read standing up in his room and the image has never left me. Also got it from said book fair.
The Progressions of Classical Ballet by the Royal Academy of Dance
Yes, notation and description and drawings all in one. All about knowing the detail. It's really a good help. It probably speaks for itself.
The Plumed Serpent by D.H. Lawrence
I can't remember what this says about me. Except that I cannot pass a bookshop without finding new must have books. I actually got this on a rainy night to the Royal Opera House - or did I? Anyway, the reason I got it was because I had read many earlier works of Lawrence and thought he was rather good. I like the thought of following an author to the end, like easily Jane Austen and the Brontë sisters.
Das Glasperlenspiel by Hermann Hesse
First thing that comes to mind is a school friend of mine from Luxembourg, her love for Hesse and her having read this. Second thing is the old book fair where I bought 61 books for 61 Euros and broke the fair sales record. Third thing is that I have attempted to read this three times but never got very far. But since Steppenwolf I am determined to have another try. I had this book since I was sixteen or so. Me having brought it to London proves my determination.
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Mostly there because I can never remember which books of his I have read and which I haven't. Saving it for a rainy and sad day. It looks new though..
Observing Children: A Practical Guide by Carole Sharman, Wendy Cross and Diana Vennis
I was surprised when it landed on my bed just then. I picked this up because the library had it cleared out and it was only 2 pounds. I tend to pick up stuff with any potential to further my knowledge in teaching dance world. However, not having looked at it and forgotten it was there seems a bit disappointing.
Aspects of Folk Dance in Europe by Helen Wingrave and Robert Harrold
I had to get this for a few reasons: 1. It goes back to trying to be a better teacher for character dance. 2. I was interested in finding out more about the backgrounds having danced with a Russian/Ukrainian/Moldavian Dance Ensemble for a couple of years. It's really clear about costumes as well. I'm getting slightly excited again only looking at it.
Dance Composition by Jacqueline Smith-Autard
Trying to save up some helpful books for future workshops that I might never give or use. But this was part of the library clear-out, although it was rather expensive for the occasion. I wonder when I will have a closer look at it. It's vaguely comforting and vaguely irritating that it's sitting on my shelf.
L'Esprit du Ballet by Marcel Schneider
This is one of the first - if not the first - serious ballet books I got. I got it in Metz where I used to buy my pointe shoes, in the Fnac. I had no idea who Diaghilev was then but already I was guided by a sense of frantic need to know/should really know.
Le Testament Français by Andreï Makine
The original is really French. This was recommended to me by a family member during a family trip and of course I got it in the next best book shop in Geneva - amongst probably six other books, and some more books as presents for a loved one.
I was to expect an interesting treatment of the French language since this author had learned French from his Grandmother (originally French) who had passed her whole life in Siberia. But although I missed the subtleties of this influence, nevertheless the book was beautifully and very calmly telling the story of this grandmother.
This book was then given to me as a present by said family member and now I treasure two copies.
Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire
My complicated relationship with poetry. I take this book with me wherever I move, only to read half a poem now and then. I must read aloud because it's French and I have been taught that passion for French poetry comes with the sound of it, and I must stand up because my English teacher once said he'd read standing up in his room and the image has never left me. Also got it from said book fair.
The Progressions of Classical Ballet by the Royal Academy of Dance
Yes, notation and description and drawings all in one. All about knowing the detail. It's really a good help. It probably speaks for itself.
Saturday, 4 December 2010
Hierarchy in Dance Class
Identifying Self-worth through Hierarchical Position in Class
In a class situation, there is a hidden curriculum of hierarchical categorisation, and people involuntarily take on a position within that hierarchy: the regulars, the new ones, the ones who always find themselves in the front row, the ones at the back, the sneering ones, the hard working ones...
In this case, I grew aware of my advancing position and scared of loosing it at the same time. Sometimes I say to myself, I will just be at the back today, and I will not expect any attention, I will be humble and that's okay. A higher position brings with it an expected amount of attention (perhaps only imagined) by either teacher or others, and will lead to being on the look-out for signs of this attention, while trying not to appear to be so. Thus, I linked my perception of self, and self value to this perceived hierarchical position.
Making Adjustments in Choice
The hierarchical choice of the day will be made after an assessment of the understood personal skill against the competition that day in class. Adjusting hierarchical aspirations and being satisfied with less is relieving oneself from the burden of expectations of praise and attention, spacing, personal performance, which all lead to not being calm.
However, although the hierarchical position is self-perceived, others shape it through their behaviour. One might decide to be at the back satisfied with less and one will be praised, or one might be at the front and performing to the maximum and never receive a comment. This might lead to further adjustments.
Teacher Influence
The teacher can create strong momentary hierarchical positions by highlighting a performer - depending on whether this is done on true merit or on favoritism, this is momentary or becomes accepted fact.
When the teacher becomes involved in hierarchy that's where the dancers instinctively step back. Because, those stepping boldly forward with a remark or demonstration are often rebuked and put back into a humble place. The teacher in a class might choose each time who will be in front, and when this is constantly changing, no-one tries to look eager or anxious in order not to betray a pre-conceived idea of one's own standing in the hierarchy. This practice might create a forced humility in class.
Students might really work more humbly, or might cross the line and become self-conscious.
Do they feel they have been judged?
Where the teacher is more subtle, like giving feedback (as opposed to praise, space, applause or highlight) to all and sundry, hierarchy develops more naturally by itself through general mutual appreciation of skill and generosity of spirit.
Hierarchy and Exclusion
In another class, I was at the low end of the hierarchy by not being a regular and by not knowing the routine. This meant I had to work harder and mark stuff more, but many people seemed to be defending their hierarchical position as the regular group by reacting with annoyance at the inconvenience of me using space to mark and bumping into them or touching them. I started by apologizing nicely, but met with no sympathy and grounding looks. There was perpetual competition for space. I felt excluded from the group through spatial and non-verbal negative interaction. Hierarchy was here defined by knowing the settings, not dance skill, because the class was so fast and the exercises so complex that no-one mastered them completely.
Not Responding to Students' Needs: General Influence on Class
In this class the teacher perhaps had a share in the negative interaction of the group. He did not respond to the needs of the students - he went fast and did not allow the new students time for assimilation in his demonstrations. My learning needs were ignored, and the regulars/upper hierarchy - for fear of loosing their position if they would loose their mastery of the exercises - focused so frantically on getting it right that they withdrew sympathy for those who struggled and sided with the teacher as long as they were still in a position to.
This process ended in me finding my potential blocked: in subsequent easier sequences, I was not able to give everything/to unfold my full skill.
Rough drafts. Any thoughts?
In a class situation, there is a hidden curriculum of hierarchical categorisation, and people involuntarily take on a position within that hierarchy: the regulars, the new ones, the ones who always find themselves in the front row, the ones at the back, the sneering ones, the hard working ones...
In this case, I grew aware of my advancing position and scared of loosing it at the same time. Sometimes I say to myself, I will just be at the back today, and I will not expect any attention, I will be humble and that's okay. A higher position brings with it an expected amount of attention (perhaps only imagined) by either teacher or others, and will lead to being on the look-out for signs of this attention, while trying not to appear to be so. Thus, I linked my perception of self, and self value to this perceived hierarchical position.
Making Adjustments in Choice
The hierarchical choice of the day will be made after an assessment of the understood personal skill against the competition that day in class. Adjusting hierarchical aspirations and being satisfied with less is relieving oneself from the burden of expectations of praise and attention, spacing, personal performance, which all lead to not being calm.
However, although the hierarchical position is self-perceived, others shape it through their behaviour. One might decide to be at the back satisfied with less and one will be praised, or one might be at the front and performing to the maximum and never receive a comment. This might lead to further adjustments.
Teacher Influence
The teacher can create strong momentary hierarchical positions by highlighting a performer - depending on whether this is done on true merit or on favoritism, this is momentary or becomes accepted fact.
When the teacher becomes involved in hierarchy that's where the dancers instinctively step back. Because, those stepping boldly forward with a remark or demonstration are often rebuked and put back into a humble place. The teacher in a class might choose each time who will be in front, and when this is constantly changing, no-one tries to look eager or anxious in order not to betray a pre-conceived idea of one's own standing in the hierarchy. This practice might create a forced humility in class.
Students might really work more humbly, or might cross the line and become self-conscious.
Do they feel they have been judged?
Where the teacher is more subtle, like giving feedback (as opposed to praise, space, applause or highlight) to all and sundry, hierarchy develops more naturally by itself through general mutual appreciation of skill and generosity of spirit.
Hierarchy and Exclusion
In another class, I was at the low end of the hierarchy by not being a regular and by not knowing the routine. This meant I had to work harder and mark stuff more, but many people seemed to be defending their hierarchical position as the regular group by reacting with annoyance at the inconvenience of me using space to mark and bumping into them or touching them. I started by apologizing nicely, but met with no sympathy and grounding looks. There was perpetual competition for space. I felt excluded from the group through spatial and non-verbal negative interaction. Hierarchy was here defined by knowing the settings, not dance skill, because the class was so fast and the exercises so complex that no-one mastered them completely.
Not Responding to Students' Needs: General Influence on Class
In this class the teacher perhaps had a share in the negative interaction of the group. He did not respond to the needs of the students - he went fast and did not allow the new students time for assimilation in his demonstrations. My learning needs were ignored, and the regulars/upper hierarchy - for fear of loosing their position if they would loose their mastery of the exercises - focused so frantically on getting it right that they withdrew sympathy for those who struggled and sided with the teacher as long as they were still in a position to.
This process ended in me finding my potential blocked: in subsequent easier sequences, I was not able to give everything/to unfold my full skill.
Rough drafts. Any thoughts?
Friday, 3 December 2010
The pianist as an active presence
Listening to music... How did people feel today about listening to the pianist as a performer at the end of class?
Thursday, 2 December 2010
A Linha Curva, Choreographer Itzik Galili
Just to share with those who don't know about this work.
Shorter but better quality extract:
The chequer-board stage of Itzik Galili's A Linha Curva is filled with rhythmic pulses and sexual tension, with irresistible samba-inspired lines and curves, blended with a Brazilian style and contemporary dance technique. The original music, composed by Dutch percussion band Percossa, drives the rhythms and electrifies the atmosphere to an incredibly powerful level.
A Linha Curva made its UK première as part of the Sadler's Wells spring season in May 2009 and was back at Sadler's Wells in May 2010 due to huge demand.
(Source: Rambert dance company website)
Shorter but better quality extract:
The chequer-board stage of Itzik Galili's A Linha Curva is filled with rhythmic pulses and sexual tension, with irresistible samba-inspired lines and curves, blended with a Brazilian style and contemporary dance technique. The original music, composed by Dutch percussion band Percossa, drives the rhythms and electrifies the atmosphere to an incredibly powerful level.
A Linha Curva made its UK première as part of the Sadler's Wells spring season in May 2009 and was back at Sadler's Wells in May 2010 due to huge demand.
(Source: Rambert dance company website)
Getting On
It is inspiring to start building connections with artists (teachers, musicians, dancers), and to start to know some people. This has happened for me over the last few classes, and it is very simple and good. Apart from spending time with inspiring people, opportunities for the future might be linked to them in some ways. I feel like I could do much more to advance my dance life - go to more classes, talk more, learn more.
But at the moment the overarching worry is my dissertation progress: I cannot code and analyse data quicker than I collect data, because all is data in grounded theory, and I have pages and pages.
Tomorrow I hand in my dissertation proposal:
How do people experience dance class (ballet and contemporary) and why?
What phenomena have an impact on these experiences?
What are the reasons, implications, links?
But at the moment the overarching worry is my dissertation progress: I cannot code and analyse data quicker than I collect data, because all is data in grounded theory, and I have pages and pages.
Tomorrow I hand in my dissertation proposal:
How do people experience dance class (ballet and contemporary) and why?
What phenomena have an impact on these experiences?
What are the reasons, implications, links?
Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Interaction, Engagement and Isolation in Student-Teacher-Musician Relationship
If the musician is not present, in a class used to having a musician, there is a void - especially in terms of interaction and engagement with the music - suddenly the class has no one to respond to, no one who will care whether they respond to them, and especially they will not be responded to as dancers by the musician. One is responding to the musical structure and qualities (recorded) rather than connecting with the source, it is a lonely engagement with self and hearing rather than an atmosphere of interactive engagement.
The relationship with a recording is different: in this case the CD was unknown by the teacher and dictated the class inasmuch as the teacher had to devise exercises to fit the chosen musical structure. The exercise then was a self-engaged cognitive act by the teacher rather than team engagement.
What happens:
The teacher devises something with the music on his own (isolation), then tells the class (interaction), who pick it up (engagement) and then perform it to what they hear (isolation) - the teacher looking on (can be isolation), then feedback (interaction) and feedback implementation (engagement).
As opposed to the teacher giving a setting to the class, having worked it out beforehand (interaction) then the class engaging with it, then the musician playing his music and the class marking it - engagement by musician and dancers - then the students performing it to the musician playing (interaction). Goal: eliminating the isolated moments in class.
As an aside, teachers often clarify their setting while interacting with the group through demonstration so engagement (learning it) and interaction are happening straight away or are more interspersed with the isolated act of devising, or still have the class practice (engage) while checking notes to be ready to go on with interaction smoothly without an isolation break. Isolation happens when the teacher thinks settings over and others are waiting.
By having to manage the music, and by having to adapt to the limitations of the recordings and time, the teacher could not respond to the moment, to the students' needs, especially as time was being lost through CD maniplation. Responding to the moment and to students' emerging needs seems to be crucial. More to be thought about that.
The relationship with a recording is different: in this case the CD was unknown by the teacher and dictated the class inasmuch as the teacher had to devise exercises to fit the chosen musical structure. The exercise then was a self-engaged cognitive act by the teacher rather than team engagement.
What happens:
The teacher devises something with the music on his own (isolation), then tells the class (interaction), who pick it up (engagement) and then perform it to what they hear (isolation) - the teacher looking on (can be isolation), then feedback (interaction) and feedback implementation (engagement).
As opposed to the teacher giving a setting to the class, having worked it out beforehand (interaction) then the class engaging with it, then the musician playing his music and the class marking it - engagement by musician and dancers - then the students performing it to the musician playing (interaction). Goal: eliminating the isolated moments in class.
As an aside, teachers often clarify their setting while interacting with the group through demonstration so engagement (learning it) and interaction are happening straight away or are more interspersed with the isolated act of devising, or still have the class practice (engage) while checking notes to be ready to go on with interaction smoothly without an isolation break. Isolation happens when the teacher thinks settings over and others are waiting.
By having to manage the music, and by having to adapt to the limitations of the recordings and time, the teacher could not respond to the moment, to the students' needs, especially as time was being lost through CD maniplation. Responding to the moment and to students' emerging needs seems to be crucial. More to be thought about that.
Pro-activity and Pilates
It was a mini struggle to go to the contemporary and pilates evening classes today, fighting a way through the routinal tube strike, and sporting a heavy bagpack.
But - I did make the decision to go, after many changes of mind in the scope of the five minutes I had after finishing my last rehearsal today and the time I needed to get the bus.
I wonder nothing great has come of it - except the teacher remarking I looked tired, which I had been trying to hide.
I think my tired nature in the class was reflected through the following:
being worse at controlling my technique, indulging in certain movement patterns like rocking, missing oportunities to focus on breath, wondering about the dubious state of my own engagement, struggling to make pro-active decisions, seeing the music as rousing my energy, as opposed to inspiring my performance quality, making adjustments and expecting less of my technique.
In Pilates class actually I have closed my eyes and could quite comfortably have seen a little dream while my turn out muscles were burning through the exercise. My muscles were burning and working, my mind was sleeping. That was interesting.
One thing I think I have come to note is that nowadays I genuinely feel as though I could get through any class, even though I am tired. I used to block and drag myself through the class. Perhaps it is having the bodily strength to make the muscles work in the used way, even though they lack rest.
But - I did make the decision to go, after many changes of mind in the scope of the five minutes I had after finishing my last rehearsal today and the time I needed to get the bus.
I wonder nothing great has come of it - except the teacher remarking I looked tired, which I had been trying to hide.
I think my tired nature in the class was reflected through the following:
being worse at controlling my technique, indulging in certain movement patterns like rocking, missing oportunities to focus on breath, wondering about the dubious state of my own engagement, struggling to make pro-active decisions, seeing the music as rousing my energy, as opposed to inspiring my performance quality, making adjustments and expecting less of my technique.
In Pilates class actually I have closed my eyes and could quite comfortably have seen a little dream while my turn out muscles were burning through the exercise. My muscles were burning and working, my mind was sleeping. That was interesting.
One thing I think I have come to note is that nowadays I genuinely feel as though I could get through any class, even though I am tired. I used to block and drag myself through the class. Perhaps it is having the bodily strength to make the muscles work in the used way, even though they lack rest.
Saturday, 27 November 2010
Flow - the space between output and input in dance class
My dissertation begins by looking at people's experiences in dance class - especially ballet and contemporary classes. My methodology is grounded theory, which means my findings will be grounded in the actual phenomenon of people experiencing a dance class, instead of in a literature review for example. I find data through my own observations, experiences and discussions or interviews with others.
Basically, it is a study of how what happens in dance class influences how people feel about it, and why. How do you experience a class?
Here is what I have thought today about flow:
Flow is enhanced where the teacher for instance talks students through the very moments the dance is happening (by saying the steps to be performed next as the music plays as the students perform), so there is a real engagement with the moment from the teacher, who is guiding the flow of movement, from the students who need to be listening while thinking fast to embody the movement into a flow: as soon as it is output it is input. The space between teacher output and student input is minimized - this is flow.
Disruption of flow means that the way we experience class changes: attention is drawn to the full implications of a moment, a conscious experiencing of a moment, a matter of fact consciousness of reality, stand alone moments.
Flow is disrupted when a learning curve is broken off too early, when the teacher moves on too quickly.
Also, the way a class is built up influences the flow: experience has shown that after moving a lot, controlling a balance in a static way is harder. Not sure about the validity of this.
Also, flow is disrupted when
1. people struggle with the material,
2. the sound is wanting in fullness - more rooted in rhythm than melody - and
3. when expectations of musical flow are violated.
Moreover, the emotional energy of collaborators in the class (such as musicians), if different from the mood focus, minimises the own success in getting into that mood.
Having to wait for others disrupts the flow of the class, and also prevents ideal concentration and engagement of individual.
Flow is also disrupted if subconscious expectations are not met (role of music, musical cultural up-bringing, ballet class routine, hidden curriculum).
In these circumstances disruption need not be disruption. Our judgement may be clouded through expectations and assumptions. We are our own obstacles in these situations in that we hinder ourselves through lack of open mind to go with the flow.
Basically, it is a study of how what happens in dance class influences how people feel about it, and why. How do you experience a class?
Here is what I have thought today about flow:
Flow is enhanced where the teacher for instance talks students through the very moments the dance is happening (by saying the steps to be performed next as the music plays as the students perform), so there is a real engagement with the moment from the teacher, who is guiding the flow of movement, from the students who need to be listening while thinking fast to embody the movement into a flow: as soon as it is output it is input. The space between teacher output and student input is minimized - this is flow.
Disruption of flow means that the way we experience class changes: attention is drawn to the full implications of a moment, a conscious experiencing of a moment, a matter of fact consciousness of reality, stand alone moments.
Flow is disrupted when a learning curve is broken off too early, when the teacher moves on too quickly.
Also, the way a class is built up influences the flow: experience has shown that after moving a lot, controlling a balance in a static way is harder. Not sure about the validity of this.
Also, flow is disrupted when
1. people struggle with the material,
2. the sound is wanting in fullness - more rooted in rhythm than melody - and
3. when expectations of musical flow are violated.
Moreover, the emotional energy of collaborators in the class (such as musicians), if different from the mood focus, minimises the own success in getting into that mood.
Having to wait for others disrupts the flow of the class, and also prevents ideal concentration and engagement of individual.
Flow is also disrupted if subconscious expectations are not met (role of music, musical cultural up-bringing, ballet class routine, hidden curriculum).
In these circumstances disruption need not be disruption. Our judgement may be clouded through expectations and assumptions. We are our own obstacles in these situations in that we hinder ourselves through lack of open mind to go with the flow.
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Les Sylphides (Fokine, 1909)
For those who are no ballet-buns or who are not sure about what they remember:
Les Sylphides is a short, non-narrative ballet blanc. Its original choreography was by Michel Fokine, with music by Frédéric Chopin orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. Glazunov had already set some of the music in 1892 as a purely orchestral suite, under the title Chopiniana, Op. 46. In that form it was introduced to the public in December 1893, conducted by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
The ballet, often described as a "romantic rêverie", was indeed the first ballet ever to be simply that. Les Sylphides has no plot, but instead consists of many white-clad sylphs dancing in the moonlight with the poet or young man dressed in white tights and a black top. (Source: Wikipedia)
Chopin, as we discovered earlier, later had an relationship from 1937 to 1947 with George Sand, the French writer, before he died in 1949 - see post A Cluster of French. For a really nice book about Chopin, try Chopin: The Reluctant Romantic by Jeremy Siepmann (quite cheap: used on amazon). Siepmann alternates chapters about Chopin's musical development and heritage (accessible also to interested non-musicians like me) with accounts of his personal life, namely also going into depth about his relationship with George Sand! A very enlightening and inspiring read, especially if you listen to the pieces referred to in the book as you go along. This is amazon's description:
"Chopin remains one of the best-loved and most-played 19th-century composers. Friend of Liszt and Turgenev, lover of George Sand and lionized by Parisian society, he was seen by many as the archetypal romantic. Less well-known, however, was the inner turmoil of a man who felt largely out of sympathy with the age he came to personify. Drawing on much new material (including many previously unpublished letters), this text provides an account of Chopin's colourful life along with a discussion of the music. The appendices cover the subject of Chopin interpretation, for which Siepmann interviewed many leading pianists, including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Tamas Vasary, Emmanuel Ax and Mitsuko Uchida."
Les Sylphides:
This is the whole ballet in three parts: Although the beginning and end tableaux are cut off rather criminally, and the transitions are not as accurate as one would hope, the quality is fine:
3:32 - 7:20 is the solo for my exam in Part 2
Les Sylphides is a short, non-narrative ballet blanc. Its original choreography was by Michel Fokine, with music by Frédéric Chopin orchestrated by Alexander Glazunov. Glazunov had already set some of the music in 1892 as a purely orchestral suite, under the title Chopiniana, Op. 46. In that form it was introduced to the public in December 1893, conducted by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
The ballet, often described as a "romantic rêverie", was indeed the first ballet ever to be simply that. Les Sylphides has no plot, but instead consists of many white-clad sylphs dancing in the moonlight with the poet or young man dressed in white tights and a black top. (Source: Wikipedia)
Chopin, as we discovered earlier, later had an relationship from 1937 to 1947 with George Sand, the French writer, before he died in 1949 - see post A Cluster of French. For a really nice book about Chopin, try Chopin: The Reluctant Romantic by Jeremy Siepmann (quite cheap: used on amazon). Siepmann alternates chapters about Chopin's musical development and heritage (accessible also to interested non-musicians like me) with accounts of his personal life, namely also going into depth about his relationship with George Sand! A very enlightening and inspiring read, especially if you listen to the pieces referred to in the book as you go along. This is amazon's description:
"Chopin remains one of the best-loved and most-played 19th-century composers. Friend of Liszt and Turgenev, lover of George Sand and lionized by Parisian society, he was seen by many as the archetypal romantic. Less well-known, however, was the inner turmoil of a man who felt largely out of sympathy with the age he came to personify. Drawing on much new material (including many previously unpublished letters), this text provides an account of Chopin's colourful life along with a discussion of the music. The appendices cover the subject of Chopin interpretation, for which Siepmann interviewed many leading pianists, including Vladimir Ashkenazy, Tamas Vasary, Emmanuel Ax and Mitsuko Uchida."
Les Sylphides:
This is the whole ballet in three parts: Although the beginning and end tableaux are cut off rather criminally, and the transitions are not as accurate as one would hope, the quality is fine:
3:32 - 7:20 is the solo for my exam in Part 2
Today, presentation of my personal body conditioning programme to the tutors and class, and which I will post partly when it's finished.
And then only personal coaching of Solo from Dark Elegies (Tudor, 1937). After and inbetween rehearsals started watching White Nights with darling Mikhail Baryshnikov in it and some bad Russian accents and had a huge thanksgiving dinner not so compatible with sleeping well or class tomorrow..
And then only personal coaching of Solo from Dark Elegies (Tudor, 1937). After and inbetween rehearsals started watching White Nights with darling Mikhail Baryshnikov in it and some bad Russian accents and had a huge thanksgiving dinner not so compatible with sleeping well or class tomorrow..
I will have the performance exam in a few weeks, performing this solo and the Prélude one from Les Sylphides (Fokine, 1909).
About this solo:
Choreographer - Antony Tudor:
Antony Tudor (1908-1987) believed that ballet could and should engage the general public, not just an elite group. Throughout his career as a choreographer, he chose universal themes such as death, societal oppression and the nuances of personal relationships, exploring emotions at a primal level.
"We do Tudor's ballets because we must. Tudor's work is our conscience."
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Basically, Antony Tudor was born in England and started dancing late in his teens. He payed for his dance classes at Marie Rambert's studios by doing work around the place, and took classes in the evenings because he was working during the day. Apparently he did not love dancing but choreographing most:
"Although Tudor later admitted he liked dancing in his (and other people’s) ballets, especially dramatic roles where he could emotionally connect with the audience (like Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet), he knew if he truly had ambitions as a dancer, he would have to work on steps, which he loathed. It appeared that, for Tudor, dancing was always a means to an end. And that end was to becoming a choreographer." (Source: http://www.antonytudor.org/index1.html)
Synopsis:
Dark Elegies is danced to the Song Cycle Kindertotenlieder (“Songs on the Death of Children”) by Gustav Mahler (1860-1911). This is a work consisting of five songs to lyrics by Friedrich Rückert.
Tudor described this work as his favorite ballet. And many consider it to be his greatest. From tender moments of quiet devastation to careering bursts of rage, Tudor’s “ballet requiem,” set to Mahler’s absorbing Kindertotenlieder, expresses the raw emotion of a tight –knit community faced with the inexplicable loss of their beloved children.
Tudor described this work as his favorite ballet. And many consider it to be his greatest. From tender moments of quiet devastation to careering bursts of rage, Tudor’s “ballet requiem,” set to Mahler’s absorbing Kindertotenlieder, expresses the raw emotion of a tight –knit community faced with the inexplicable loss of their beloved children.
Tuesday, 23 November 2010
A cluster of French
What I find the most fascinating about literature is to know how it all links. Here are some selections from Wikipedia, but hopefully also showing some links:
Gustave Flaubert:
(December 12, 1821 – May 8, 1880) was a French writer who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary (1857), and for his scrupulous devotion to his art and style.
From 1846 to 1854, Flaubert had a relationship with the poet Louise Colet (his letters to her survive). After leaving Paris, Flaubert returned to Croisset, near the Seine, close to Rouen, and lived with his mother in their home for the rest of his life; with occasional visits to Paris and England, where he apparently had a mistress.
Flaubert never married. According to his biographer Émile Faguet, his affair with Louise Colet was his only serious romantic relationship. He sometimes visited prostitutes. Eventually, the end of his affair with Louise Colet led Flaubert to lose interest in romance and seek platonic companionship, particularly with other writers.
Louise Colet (August 15, 1810 – March 9, 1876), born Louise Revoil, was a poet born in Aix-en-Provence in France. In her twenties she married Hippolyte Colet, an academic musician, partly in order to escape provincial life and live in Paris.
At her salon she associated with many of her contemporaries in the Parisian literary community, such as Victor Hugo.
In 1840 she gave birth to her daughter Henriette, but neither her husband nor her lover, Victor Cousin, would acknowledge paternity. Later she became the paramour of Gustave Flaubert, Alfred de Musset, and Abel Villemain. After her husband died, Colet supported herself and her daughter with her writing.
Though married to Hyppolite Colet, Louise had a steamy eight-year affair with Gustave Flaubert. The relationship turned sour, however, and they broke up. Louise is said to be inspiration for Gustave Flaubert's famous book, Madame Bovary a story of an adulterous woman whose ideals and desires lead to her own ruin. I have read somewhere she was not thrilled about it.
Her love affair with Alfred de Musset was more towards the end of his life, after de Musset's celebrated love affair with George Sand. The affair lasted from 1833 to 1835 from early despair to final resignation, and is told from his point of view in his autobiographical novel, La Confession d'un Enfant du Siècle (The Confession of a Child of the Age, made into a film, Children of the Century).
Now, the same affair is told from George Sand's point of view in her Elle et Lui. It is very interesting indeed to read about the same journey to Italy, the same illness that de Musset had as a fact and about the factual circumstances, and how G.S. had an affair with the doctor who was curing de Musset during his illness, from the two perspectives.
In 1859, two years after the death of his brother, Paul de Musset published Lui et Elle, a parody of the autobiography of George Sand, Elle et Lui, published six months previously and dealing with his relationship with Alfred de Musset.
Louise Colet, de Musset's later mistress, had evidently heard from him about his previous experiences and represented her version of the affair in her publication called Lui. I know wikipedia says she wrote this book in a rage to attack Flaubert because he had written Madame Bovary, but if one has read the book, it becomes evident that it is retelling Sand's and de Musset's story, so I am taking this stance here.
Here we are with four books and four slightly different accounts of the beginning and deterioration of the relationship between George Sand and Alfred de Musset:
As to George Sand:
She married in the country but then left her provincial husband to live in Paris: In 1822, at the age of nineteen, she married Baron Casimir Dudevant. She and Dudevant had two children: Maurice (1823–1889) and Solange (1828–1899). In early 1831, she left her prosaic husband and entered upon a four- or five-year period of "romantic rebellion." In 1835, she was legally separated from Dudevant and took her children with her.
George Sand was actually called Aurore Dupin.
Sand's reputation came into question when she began sporting men's clothing in public — which she justified by the clothes being far sturdier and less expensive than the typical dress of a noblewoman at the time. In addition to being comfortable, Sand's male dress enabled her to circulate more freely in Paris than most of her female contemporaries, and gave her increased access to venues from which women were often barred — even women of her social standing.
Also scandalous was Sand's smoking tobacco in public; neither peerage nor gentry had yet sanctioned the free indulgence of women in such a habit, especially in public (though Franz Liszt's paramour Marie d'Agoult affected this as well, smoking large cigars). These and other behaviors were exceptional for a woman of the early and mid-19th century, when social codes—especially in the upper classes—were of the utmost importance.
As a consequence of many unorthodox aspects of her lifestyle, Sand was obliged to relinquish some of the privileges appertaining to a baroness — though, interestingly, the mores of the period did permit upper-class wives to live physically separated from their husbands, without losing face, provided the estranged couple exhibited no blatant irregularity to the outside world.
Poet Charles Baudelaire was a contemporary critic of George Sand: "She is stupid, heavy and garrulous. Her ideas on morals have the same depth of judgment and delicacy of feeling as those of janitresses and kept women.... The fact that there are men who could become enamoured of this slut is indeed a proof of the abasement of the men of this generation."
Other writers of the period, however, were more favorable in their assessments of Sand. Flaubert, who was by no means an indulgent or forbearing critic, held unabashed admiration for her, as did Marcel Proust. Honoré de Balzac, who knew Sand personally, once said that if someone thought George Sand wrote badly, it was because their own standards of criticism were inadequate. He also noted that her treatment of imagery in her works showed that her writing had an exceptional subtlety, having the ability to 'virtually put the image in the word'.
Sand conducted affairs of varying duration with Jules Sandeau (1831), Prosper Mérimée, Alfred de Musset (summer 1833 – March 1835), Louis-Chrystosome Michel, Pierre-François Bocage, Félicien Mallefille and Frédéric Chopin (1837–47). Later in life, she corresponded with Gustave Flaubert. Despite their obvious differences in temperament and aesthetic preference, they eventually became close friends.
She was engaged in an intimate friendship with actress Marie Dorval, which led to widespread but unconfirmed rumors of a lesbian affair. Letters written by Sand to Dorval mentioned things like "wanting you either in your dressing room or in your bed."
In Majorca one can still visit the (then abandoned) Carthusian monastery of Valldemossa, where she spent the winter of 1838–39 with Chopin and her children. This trip to Majorca was described by her in Un Hiver à Majorque (A Winter in Majorca), published in 1855. Chopin was already ill with incipient tuberculosis (or, as has recently been suggested, cystic fibrosis) at the beginning of their relationship, and spending a winter in Majorca - where Sand and Chopin did not realize that winter was a time of rain and cold, and where they could not get proper lodgings - exacerbated his symptoms.
They split two years before his death, for a variety of reasons. Sand's insecurities at forty probably contributed to her boredom and sexual dissatisfaction with Chopin. In Lucrezia Floriani, a novel, Sand used Chopin as a model for a sickly Eastern European prince named Karol. He's cared for by a middle-aged actress past her prime, Lucrezia, who suffers a great deal by caring for Karol. Though Sand claimed not to have made a cartoon out of Chopin, the book's publication and widespread readership may have exacerbated their antipathy to each other.
However, the tipping point in their relationship involved her daughter Solange. Chopin continued to be cordial to Solange after she and her husband, Auguste Clesinger, had a vicious falling out with Sand over money. Sand took Chopin's support of Solange as outright treachery, and confirmation that Chopin had always "loved" Solange. Sand's son Maurice also disliked Chopin. Maurice wanted to establish himself as the 'man of the estate,' and did not wish to have Chopin as a rival for that role. Chopin was never asked back to Nohant.
In 1848, he returned to Paris from a tour of the UK and died at the Place Vendôme. Chopin was penniless at that point; his friends had to pay for his stay there, as well as his funeral at the Madeleine. The funeral was attended by over 3,000 people, including Delacroix, Liszt, Victor Hugo and other famous people. George Sand, however, was notable by her absence.
To Recap:
The links go on and on....................
Gustave Flaubert:
(December 12, 1821 – May 8, 1880) was a French writer who is counted among the greatest Western novelists. He is known especially for his first published novel, Madame Bovary (1857), and for his scrupulous devotion to his art and style.
From 1846 to 1854, Flaubert had a relationship with the poet Louise Colet (his letters to her survive). After leaving Paris, Flaubert returned to Croisset, near the Seine, close to Rouen, and lived with his mother in their home for the rest of his life; with occasional visits to Paris and England, where he apparently had a mistress.
Flaubert never married. According to his biographer Émile Faguet, his affair with Louise Colet was his only serious romantic relationship. He sometimes visited prostitutes. Eventually, the end of his affair with Louise Colet led Flaubert to lose interest in romance and seek platonic companionship, particularly with other writers.
Louise Colet (August 15, 1810 – March 9, 1876), born Louise Revoil, was a poet born in Aix-en-Provence in France. In her twenties she married Hippolyte Colet, an academic musician, partly in order to escape provincial life and live in Paris.
In 1840 she gave birth to her daughter Henriette, but neither her husband nor her lover, Victor Cousin, would acknowledge paternity. Later she became the paramour of Gustave Flaubert, Alfred de Musset, and Abel Villemain. After her husband died, Colet supported herself and her daughter with her writing.
Though married to Hyppolite Colet, Louise had a steamy eight-year affair with Gustave Flaubert. The relationship turned sour, however, and they broke up. Louise is said to be inspiration for Gustave Flaubert's famous book, Madame Bovary a story of an adulterous woman whose ideals and desires lead to her own ruin. I have read somewhere she was not thrilled about it.
Her love affair with Alfred de Musset was more towards the end of his life, after de Musset's celebrated love affair with George Sand. The affair lasted from 1833 to 1835 from early despair to final resignation, and is told from his point of view in his autobiographical novel, La Confession d'un Enfant du Siècle (The Confession of a Child of the Age, made into a film, Children of the Century).
Now, the same affair is told from George Sand's point of view in her Elle et Lui. It is very interesting indeed to read about the same journey to Italy, the same illness that de Musset had as a fact and about the factual circumstances, and how G.S. had an affair with the doctor who was curing de Musset during his illness, from the two perspectives.
In 1859, two years after the death of his brother, Paul de Musset published Lui et Elle, a parody of the autobiography of George Sand, Elle et Lui, published six months previously and dealing with his relationship with Alfred de Musset.
Louise Colet, de Musset's later mistress, had evidently heard from him about his previous experiences and represented her version of the affair in her publication called Lui. I know wikipedia says she wrote this book in a rage to attack Flaubert because he had written Madame Bovary, but if one has read the book, it becomes evident that it is retelling Sand's and de Musset's story, so I am taking this stance here.
Here we are with four books and four slightly different accounts of the beginning and deterioration of the relationship between George Sand and Alfred de Musset:
- La Confession d'un Enfant du Siècle (The Confession of a Child of the Age) - Alfred de Musset, 1836
- Elle et Lui (Her and Him) - George Sand, 1859
- Lui et Elle (Him and Her) - Paul de Musset (brother of Alfred), 1859
- Lui (Him) - Louise Colet, 1880
As to George Sand:
She married in the country but then left her provincial husband to live in Paris: In 1822, at the age of nineteen, she married Baron Casimir Dudevant. She and Dudevant had two children: Maurice (1823–1889) and Solange (1828–1899). In early 1831, she left her prosaic husband and entered upon a four- or five-year period of "romantic rebellion." In 1835, she was legally separated from Dudevant and took her children with her.
George Sand was actually called Aurore Dupin.
Sand's reputation came into question when she began sporting men's clothing in public — which she justified by the clothes being far sturdier and less expensive than the typical dress of a noblewoman at the time. In addition to being comfortable, Sand's male dress enabled her to circulate more freely in Paris than most of her female contemporaries, and gave her increased access to venues from which women were often barred — even women of her social standing.
Also scandalous was Sand's smoking tobacco in public; neither peerage nor gentry had yet sanctioned the free indulgence of women in such a habit, especially in public (though Franz Liszt's paramour Marie d'Agoult affected this as well, smoking large cigars). These and other behaviors were exceptional for a woman of the early and mid-19th century, when social codes—especially in the upper classes—were of the utmost importance.
As a consequence of many unorthodox aspects of her lifestyle, Sand was obliged to relinquish some of the privileges appertaining to a baroness — though, interestingly, the mores of the period did permit upper-class wives to live physically separated from their husbands, without losing face, provided the estranged couple exhibited no blatant irregularity to the outside world.
Poet Charles Baudelaire was a contemporary critic of George Sand: "She is stupid, heavy and garrulous. Her ideas on morals have the same depth of judgment and delicacy of feeling as those of janitresses and kept women.... The fact that there are men who could become enamoured of this slut is indeed a proof of the abasement of the men of this generation."
Other writers of the period, however, were more favorable in their assessments of Sand. Flaubert, who was by no means an indulgent or forbearing critic, held unabashed admiration for her, as did Marcel Proust. Honoré de Balzac, who knew Sand personally, once said that if someone thought George Sand wrote badly, it was because their own standards of criticism were inadequate. He also noted that her treatment of imagery in her works showed that her writing had an exceptional subtlety, having the ability to 'virtually put the image in the word'.
Sand conducted affairs of varying duration with Jules Sandeau (1831), Prosper Mérimée, Alfred de Musset (summer 1833 – March 1835), Louis-Chrystosome Michel, Pierre-François Bocage, Félicien Mallefille and Frédéric Chopin (1837–47). Later in life, she corresponded with Gustave Flaubert. Despite their obvious differences in temperament and aesthetic preference, they eventually became close friends.
She was engaged in an intimate friendship with actress Marie Dorval, which led to widespread but unconfirmed rumors of a lesbian affair. Letters written by Sand to Dorval mentioned things like "wanting you either in your dressing room or in your bed."
In Majorca one can still visit the (then abandoned) Carthusian monastery of Valldemossa, where she spent the winter of 1838–39 with Chopin and her children. This trip to Majorca was described by her in Un Hiver à Majorque (A Winter in Majorca), published in 1855. Chopin was already ill with incipient tuberculosis (or, as has recently been suggested, cystic fibrosis) at the beginning of their relationship, and spending a winter in Majorca - where Sand and Chopin did not realize that winter was a time of rain and cold, and where they could not get proper lodgings - exacerbated his symptoms.
They split two years before his death, for a variety of reasons. Sand's insecurities at forty probably contributed to her boredom and sexual dissatisfaction with Chopin. In Lucrezia Floriani, a novel, Sand used Chopin as a model for a sickly Eastern European prince named Karol. He's cared for by a middle-aged actress past her prime, Lucrezia, who suffers a great deal by caring for Karol. Though Sand claimed not to have made a cartoon out of Chopin, the book's publication and widespread readership may have exacerbated their antipathy to each other.
However, the tipping point in their relationship involved her daughter Solange. Chopin continued to be cordial to Solange after she and her husband, Auguste Clesinger, had a vicious falling out with Sand over money. Sand took Chopin's support of Solange as outright treachery, and confirmation that Chopin had always "loved" Solange. Sand's son Maurice also disliked Chopin. Maurice wanted to establish himself as the 'man of the estate,' and did not wish to have Chopin as a rival for that role. Chopin was never asked back to Nohant.
In 1848, he returned to Paris from a tour of the UK and died at the Place Vendôme. Chopin was penniless at that point; his friends had to pay for his stay there, as well as his funeral at the Madeleine. The funeral was attended by over 3,000 people, including Delacroix, Liszt, Victor Hugo and other famous people. George Sand, however, was notable by her absence.
To Recap:
Flaubert + Colet = letters amazing to read if you read French
Colet + Musset = Lui, 1880
Musset + Sand = La Confession d'un Enfant du Siècle, 1836 and Elle et Lui, 1859
Sand + Chopin = Un Hiver à Majorque, 1855
Sand + Chopin = Un Hiver à Majorque, 1855
The links go on and on....................
Lettres de Gustave Flaubert à Louise Colet, I
Mardi soir, minuit. 4 Août 1846.
Il y a douze heures, nous étions encore ensemble ; hier à cette heure-ci, je te tenais dans mes bras... t'en souviens-tu ? Comme c'est déjà loin ! La nuit maintenant est chaude et douce ; j'entends le grand tulipier, qui est sous ma fenêtre, frémir au vent et, quand je lève la tête, je vois la lune se mirer dans la rivière.
Tes petites pantoufles sont là pendant que je t'écris ; je les ai sous les yeux, je les regarde. Je viens de ranger, tout seul et bien enfermé, tout ce que tu m'as donné ; tes deux lettres sont dans le sachet brodé ; je vais les relire quand j'aurai cacheté la mienne. Je n'ai pas voulu prendre pour t'écrire mon papier à lettres ; il est bordé de noir ; que rien de triste ne vienne de moi vers toi ! Je voudrais ne te causer que de la joie et t'entourer d'une félicité calme et continue pour te payer un peu de tout ce que tu m'as donné à pleines mains dans la générosité de ton amour. J'ai peur d'être froid, sec, égoïste, et Dieu sait pourtant ce qui, à cette heure, se passe en moi. Quel souvenir ! et quel désir ! Ah ! nos deux bonnes promenades en calèche ! Qu'elles étaient belles, la seconde surtout avec ses éclairs ! Je me rappelle la couleur des arbres éclairés par les lanternes, et le balancement des ressorts ; nous étions seuls, heureux. Je contemplais ta tête dans la nuit ; je la voyais malgré les ténèbres ; tes yeux t'éclairaient toute la figure. Il me semble que j'écris mal ; tu vas lire ça froidement ; je ne dis rien de ce que je veux dire. C'est que mes phrases se heurtent comme des soupirs ; pour les comprendre il faut combler ce qui sépare l'une de l'autre ; tu le feras, n'est-ce pas ? Rêveras-tu à chaque lettre, à chaque signe de l'écriture ? Comme moi, en regardant tes petites pantoufles brunes, je songe aux mouvements de ton pied quand il les emplissait et qu'elles en étaient chaudes... le mouchoir est dedans...
Ma mère m'attendait au chemin de fer ; elle a pleuré en me voyant revenir. Toi, tu as pleuré en me voyant partir. Notre misère est donc telle que nous ne pouvons nous déplacer d'un lieu sans qu'il en coûte des larmes des deux côtés ! C'est d'un grotesque bien sombre.
J'ai retrouvé ici les gazons verts, les arbres grands et l'eau coulant comme lorsque je suis parti. Mes livres sont ouverts à la même place ; rien n'est changé. La nature extérieure nous fait honte ; elle est d'une sérénité désolante pour notre orgueil. N'importe, ne songeons ni à l'avenir, ni à nous, ni à rien. Penser, c'est le moyen de souffrir. Laissons-nous aller au vent de notre coeur tant qu'il enflera la voile ; qu'il nous pousse comme il lui plaira, et quant aux écueils... ma foi tant pis ! Nous verrons...
Et ce bon X... qu'a-t-il dit de l'envoi ? Nous avons ri hier au soir. C'était tendre pour nous, gai pour lui, bon pour nous trois. J'ai lu, en venant, presque un volume. J'ai été touché à différentes places. Je te causerai de ça plus au long. Tu vois bien que je ne suis pas assez recueilli, la critique me manque tout à fait ce soir. J'ai voulu seulement t'envoyer encore un baiser avant de m'endormir, te dire que je t'aimais. A peine t'ai-je eu quittée, et à mesure que je m'éloignais, ma pensée revolait vers toi. Elle courait plus vite que la fumée de la locomotive qui fuyait derrière nous (il y a du feu dans la comparaison - pardon de la pointe). Allons, un baiser, vite, tu sais comment, de ceux que dit l'Arioste, et encore un, oh encore ! encore et puis, ensuite, sous ton menton, à cette place que j'aime sur ta peau si douce, sur ta poitrine où je place mon coeur.
Adieu, adieu. Tout ce que tu voudras de tendresses.
Il y a douze heures, nous étions encore ensemble ; hier à cette heure-ci, je te tenais dans mes bras... t'en souviens-tu ? Comme c'est déjà loin ! La nuit maintenant est chaude et douce ; j'entends le grand tulipier, qui est sous ma fenêtre, frémir au vent et, quand je lève la tête, je vois la lune se mirer dans la rivière.
Tes petites pantoufles sont là pendant que je t'écris ; je les ai sous les yeux, je les regarde. Je viens de ranger, tout seul et bien enfermé, tout ce que tu m'as donné ; tes deux lettres sont dans le sachet brodé ; je vais les relire quand j'aurai cacheté la mienne. Je n'ai pas voulu prendre pour t'écrire mon papier à lettres ; il est bordé de noir ; que rien de triste ne vienne de moi vers toi ! Je voudrais ne te causer que de la joie et t'entourer d'une félicité calme et continue pour te payer un peu de tout ce que tu m'as donné à pleines mains dans la générosité de ton amour. J'ai peur d'être froid, sec, égoïste, et Dieu sait pourtant ce qui, à cette heure, se passe en moi. Quel souvenir ! et quel désir ! Ah ! nos deux bonnes promenades en calèche ! Qu'elles étaient belles, la seconde surtout avec ses éclairs ! Je me rappelle la couleur des arbres éclairés par les lanternes, et le balancement des ressorts ; nous étions seuls, heureux. Je contemplais ta tête dans la nuit ; je la voyais malgré les ténèbres ; tes yeux t'éclairaient toute la figure. Il me semble que j'écris mal ; tu vas lire ça froidement ; je ne dis rien de ce que je veux dire. C'est que mes phrases se heurtent comme des soupirs ; pour les comprendre il faut combler ce qui sépare l'une de l'autre ; tu le feras, n'est-ce pas ? Rêveras-tu à chaque lettre, à chaque signe de l'écriture ? Comme moi, en regardant tes petites pantoufles brunes, je songe aux mouvements de ton pied quand il les emplissait et qu'elles en étaient chaudes... le mouchoir est dedans...
Ma mère m'attendait au chemin de fer ; elle a pleuré en me voyant revenir. Toi, tu as pleuré en me voyant partir. Notre misère est donc telle que nous ne pouvons nous déplacer d'un lieu sans qu'il en coûte des larmes des deux côtés ! C'est d'un grotesque bien sombre.
J'ai retrouvé ici les gazons verts, les arbres grands et l'eau coulant comme lorsque je suis parti. Mes livres sont ouverts à la même place ; rien n'est changé. La nature extérieure nous fait honte ; elle est d'une sérénité désolante pour notre orgueil. N'importe, ne songeons ni à l'avenir, ni à nous, ni à rien. Penser, c'est le moyen de souffrir. Laissons-nous aller au vent de notre coeur tant qu'il enflera la voile ; qu'il nous pousse comme il lui plaira, et quant aux écueils... ma foi tant pis ! Nous verrons...
Et ce bon X... qu'a-t-il dit de l'envoi ? Nous avons ri hier au soir. C'était tendre pour nous, gai pour lui, bon pour nous trois. J'ai lu, en venant, presque un volume. J'ai été touché à différentes places. Je te causerai de ça plus au long. Tu vois bien que je ne suis pas assez recueilli, la critique me manque tout à fait ce soir. J'ai voulu seulement t'envoyer encore un baiser avant de m'endormir, te dire que je t'aimais. A peine t'ai-je eu quittée, et à mesure que je m'éloignais, ma pensée revolait vers toi. Elle courait plus vite que la fumée de la locomotive qui fuyait derrière nous (il y a du feu dans la comparaison - pardon de la pointe). Allons, un baiser, vite, tu sais comment, de ceux que dit l'Arioste, et encore un, oh encore ! encore et puis, ensuite, sous ton menton, à cette place que j'aime sur ta peau si douce, sur ta poitrine où je place mon coeur.
Adieu, adieu. Tout ce que tu voudras de tendresses.
Deep River Running: Return To Me
Well done NADYA and Glauco
On youtube at last.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYw87AU7510
Nick Schinder: Vocals, keyboards, guitars.
Jacqui Doherty: Lyrics.
Glauco Alves: Guitar solo.
Nacho Sagues: Bass.
Hernan Burset: Drums
Video by Nadya Gorodetskaya
http://vimeo.com/user3634101
and lovely girl from the video: Simone Mousset
On youtube at last.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYw87AU7510
Nick Schinder: Vocals, keyboards, guitars.
Jacqui Doherty: Lyrics.
Glauco Alves: Guitar solo.
Nacho Sagues: Bass.
Hernan Burset: Drums
Video by Nadya Gorodetskaya
http://vimeo.com/user3634101
and lovely girl from the video: Simone Mousset
импровизация на вокзале Новосибирск главный 2007
Improvisation at the main train station in Novosibirsk:
http://rutube.ru/tracks/2849070.html?v=22a8b8f789de90f79729b961e146b5ee
A spontaneous day's project during travels in Russia with Olga Theer, Sergey L., Ravil A., Simone Mousset.
http://rutube.ru/tracks/2849070.html?v=22a8b8f789de90f79729b961e146b5ee
A spontaneous day's project during travels in Russia with Olga Theer, Sergey L., Ravil A., Simone Mousset.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)