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.
Saturday, 27 November 2010
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.
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