Tag: Arts & Entertainment Wednesday

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World Ballet Day 2018

I found out that October 2 was World Ballet Day and thought that would make a great excuse to talk about ballet today.

First, I had to find out what World Ballet Day is.  The first World Ballet Day happened in 2014. The original host companies participating were the Australian Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, the Royal Ballet, National Ballet of Canada and the San Francisco Ballet participated.  2016 was the first year that it became a live Facebook event, the idea being that there would be 24 hours of dance content being presented via livestream. The livestreams include company classes, rehearsal, and other “exclusives.”

This year’s host companies were the Australian Ballet, the Bolshoi, and the Royal Ballet.

The Australian Ballet was established in 1962. Founding Artistic Director woman, Peggy Von Praagh.  She had previously directed Sadler’s Wells Ballet before returning to Australia. I found a fun, short video on their website of one of the ballerina’s prepping her point shoes: https://australianballet.com.au/tv/en-pointe-with-jade-wood.

The Bolshoi Ballet was established in Moscow in 1776. The Bolshoi style is described as “flashy” and “colorful” in contrast to the older ballet company in St. Petersburg (originally the Imperial Ballet, then the Kirov, it is called the Mariinsky Ballet these days) which is known for is pure, classical style.

The UK’s Royal Ballet, originally called Vic-Wells Ballet, was founded by Ninette de Valois in 1931. The company was granted a royal charter and its name changed to the Royal Ballet in the 1950s. Ninette de Valois had performed with the Ballet Ruses in the 1920s and credits Serge Diaghilev with teaching her everything she knew about running a ballet company. Alicia Markova and Margot Fonteyn were some of the notable ballerinas that were a part of this company.

I started watching a video of the Royal Ballet’s company class on their website and couldn’t tear myself away (here is the link to their website: http://www.roh.org.uk/about/the-royal-ballet *scroll down to almost the bottom of the page). I love ballet class. My feet are already mad at me for just watching the tendus.  However, my thighs assure me that I won’t be getting anywhere near a fifth position.

It turns out that World Ballet Day is not just for ballet.  Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was among others participating.  I watched a bit of their rehearsal of Rennie Harris’ Lazarus on Facebook.  My first thought was, “there is a reason that rehearsal is rehearsal.” Then they got to a run-through of the work.  It was sharp! I haven’t seen Ailey perform for a while and the last time I did, I was starting to feel that they had come to rely on trotting out their greatest hits. I don’t know how new this work is, but it feels fresh and I really enjoyed. It had the signature Ailey feel without being derivative.

While I didn’t watch anywhere near 24 hours of ballet, World Ballet Day reminded me that there is a lot of dance out there and it’s not that hard to find interesting dance to watch online.  There are a couple of performances here locally in the next couple of weeks that I might manage to get out for.  If I do, I’ll let you know!

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Belmont Shore Car Show

Earlier this month, Mr. Man and I took a stroll down the street to the Belmont Shore Car Show. This year was the 29th Annual event but the first year that a new organizer took over.  We don’t make it down every year, but it is always a fun time when we do.  I love the beautifully maintained classic cars and there is always a Lamborghini or two for me to covet.  Sometimes the cars have really entertaining set-ups, like the old-timey limousine with a chauffer mannequin behind the driver’s seat.

My favorite car at this year’s car show was Jolly. 

She had wicker seats and her trunk was actually a wicker trunk! 

I think that if you were driving a car like Jolly, you’d have to be in a good mood (unless it was cold or raining or you had to get on the freeway).

There was also this terrific turquoise Volkswagen Karmann Ghia that caught my eye.  This little, sporty car had this teeny trailer and a whole matching travel kit – fire extinguisher, gas can, cooler. I love me some matchy-matchy and this girl was done from top to tail.  What a beauty!

I didn’t take a lot of photos because we sort-of powerwalked the whole show in search of the Beerster.

The what?

The Beerster!  She is a custom, hand-built, open wheel roadster.  Mr. Man’s friend PeeWee built and owns her and PeeWee loves to take her out and show her off.

The Beerster always draws a crowd

A few fun facts about the Beerster:

She has a 1930’s era Buick straight 8 (fireball) engine that was salvaged from a school bus.

The Beerster was designed to resemble a P51 Mustang, the single-seat fighter that was used during WWII.

She got her name from the fact that the guys were drinking beers and designing/building a roadster at the same time.

PeeWee and Mr. Man took her on the Great Race (a timed, rally race) in 2015. Over the course of a week, they rallied from St. Louis, Missouri to the Santa Monica Pier on Route 66.

And NO!  Do NOT wear a scarf when you are driving or riding in the Beerster or any open wheel roadster.  Don’t you know what happened to Isadora Duncan?

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A Night at the Theatre

My dear friends invited me to join them for a theatrical performance of Sense and Sensibility. You know I said yes!

I mean, who doesn’t like Jane Austen?  Ok, not everyone likes Jane Austen but she sure beats Charles Dickens, come on. And who doesn’t like the movie of Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet?  You know you watch that on a rainy Sunday every so often.

I was super impressed when we arrived at the theatre by all of the Jane Austen fan club folks in attendance.  I mean, there were outfits and hats and impromptu dancing. It was really very cute.

The production itself maybe didn’t live up to its full potential.

It was three hours long, ok. That is a long time.  And you felt every minute of it.

The actress playing Marianne was clearly a very accomplished theatrical actor and her performance sparkled.  She projected and delivered her lines confidently.  Other members of the cast seemed challenged by the British accent which impacted their delivery.

The “colorblind” casting was an…interesting choice.  I probably could have gone along with it, you know suspension of disbelief and all, but what I can only call “age-blind” casting made it difficult.  When Margaret appears to be the same age as Marianne and Elinor  (whether or not the Dashwood sisters are of three different ethnicities) and Colonel Brandon seems to be the same age as Edward Farris, it gets confusing and for me the plot sort-of fell apart.

Also, many of the actors played multiple roles, which again is the sort of thing that I would try to go along with (suspension of disbelief) except that I really couldn’t tell the difference between John Dashwood, Mr. Jennings, and the Doctor. I still don’t know who the not Colonel Brandon guy in the ball scene was.

At any rate, whatever the production was lacking was made up for by the conversation during the car ride home.  I’ve already mentioned that this is one of my favorite things during ballet season.  Having that time together to be critical and appreciative and constructive and silly made my evening.

We dissected the acting, the direction, the set, and the costumes.  Why make this choice and then not take the logical next step?  If you wanted to play it straight, then why not go super traditional with the sets and the costumes? How interesting would it be if the story was set in another time/place?  When/where would you put it?  For some reason, the mid-twentieth century Southern U.S. comes to my mind. Would you change the script? Cut scenes?  Wouldn’t a re-write of the story be interesting? Like getting West Side Story out of Romeo and Juliet.