Slow Dancing

Last night, I went to the Music Center plaza with Joan my ballet teacher, Peggy who takes class with me and Pam, who is one of my designer-knitting-reading friends. We were going to see 'Slow Dancing', the free video installation by David Michalek. He is a photographer, married to NYCB dancer Wendy Whelan, who filmed all different kinds of dancers using a high definition high speed camera, then played it back so the movements were all in super slow motion. The variety of dance forms was remarkable: ballet, modern, krump, tap, capoiera, a whirling dervish, belly dancer, indonesian and indian classical dance. We went down for dinner on the patio and then stayed for 3 hours just watching the videos. I was particularly enthralled with the ballet and modern dancers. Their bodies are so remarkable, and then to see the movements ripple across their muscles, the little adjustments that happen during a turn or jump, it was so beautiful. You could see the way their bodies elongate when they jump and then contract as they land, how they isolate the moving parts from the still parts, and how serene many of their faces were as they moved. This installation was shown in NYC this summer and I think there are plans to tour it. If it ever comes to your neighbourhood, it is well worth a visit. The website has a video excerpt of Herman Cornejo of ABT doing a double tour.

Recommended

I recently went to the Pink Martini show at the Hollywood Bowl. They really put on a great show. They performed songs from all three of their albums. They are a very large group: in addition to the main singer and the piano player, they had a trumpet, trombone, drum set, percussion, 2 violins, cello, guitar, backup singer, and I might have missed someone in the crowd. It was the fireworks finale so the Bowl was packed. They did the fireworks to Bolero, which is perfect because after awhile of hearing that melody over and over, you just need something to look at. They had actual flames shooting up from the stage and the top of the Bowl. Everyone went 'Ooooh!!" when the flames started, just goes to show you how elemental fire is for we humans.

Our latest book group read was "The History of Love" by Nicole Krauss. This was a terrific book, definitely not linear or straight forward. As you get to the end, you realize that things are not as they at first appeared, and there are layers that you completely missed initially. Some really beautiful writing in parts as well, and some great characters. I can't wait for the discussion.