The Black Presence in Tudor England- Met Museum Click here to watch In celebration of Black History Month, I found this Met Museum film of a lecture about the life and experiences of John Blanke who was a trumpeter who performed at the funeral of Henry VII and at the coronation of Henry VIII as well as other documented free Black residents of Tudor England, including a silk weaver, a salvage diver, a needleworker, and others. Learn more in this lecture on the Black Presence in Tudor England, which was presented in conjunction with The Met exhibition The Tudors: Art and Majesty in Renaissance England. The lecturers are Dr. Miranda Kaufmann, author of Black Tudors: The Untold Story and Michael I. Ohajuru FRSA, Senior Fellow, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London. As always, it’s inspiring to experience the knowledge and enthusiasm of experts who really know their subject. El cruce sobre el Niágara – Acosta Danza Click here for tickets I find this work mesmerising. This ballet choreographed by Marianela Boán was made for Danza Contemporánea de Cuba and premiered by them in 1987. Inspired by the play of same name by the Peruvian playwright Alonso Alegría, The Crossing of Niagara Falls (El cruce sobre el Niágara) is considered one of the most important choreographies of modern Cuban dance. In 2015, Carlos Acosta recovered the piece for the repertoire of his company Acosta Danza. This Duet focuses on a tightrope walk across Niagara Falls showing the sheer strength and focus of the dancers as they move faultlessly across the stage. The dancers are Mario Sergio Elías and Raúl Reinoso. The music is by Olivier Messiaen. Jewish Book Week – Feb 25-Mar 5 Click here to browse This is a spectacular annual event in London celebrating books by and about Jews and featuring, mostly but not exclusively, Jewish authors. The cream of British intellectual life is on view here in talks, performaces, conversations, interviews, seminars, lectures and all manner of access to many of your favourite writers. This is a live event but many of the 80-plus sessions are online for those of us who can’t get to King’s Place. Browse the website and you’re bound to find someone whose books you like. Some online events are free to watch, some are ticketed, the price is in the top righthand corner of the specific event box. www.Jewishbookweek.com The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs – Atlanta Opera Click here for tickets Apple Computer founder Steve Jobs, one of the most influential people of the modern age, is transformed into a dramatic character in this compelling 2017 opera by DJ and composer Mason Bates and librettist Mark Campbell. As the character Jobs looks back on a life dappled by dizzying heights and crushing disappointments, this charismatic, hard-driving visionary confronts the complexities of life and death. Cast in an appealing electro-acoustic soundscape generated by Mac laptop (of course) and live musicians, The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs cycles through key moments in his lifelong–and futile–pursuit of perfection and control over everything that matters to him. The conductor is Michael Christie, the director is Tomer Zvulun and the cast includes John Moore, Sarah Larsen, Bille Bruley, Elizabeth Sutphen, Adam Lau, Daniel Armstrong and Gretchen Krupp. From the Greatest Dances Ever Filmed file. Rich Man’s Frug – Sweet Charity Click here to watch The Frug was an obscure and briefly popular social dance which was all the rage for about 5 minutes in the 60s. It evolved from another dance of the era, the Chicken which featured lateral body movements, and was used primarily as a change of pace step while doing the Twist. What makes it worth our time is what the great choreographer Bob Fosse did with it for the movie of Sweet Charity (1969). This is The Rich Man's Frug, a wildly energetic dance number comprising three "movements" ("The Aloof", "The Heavyweight" and "The Big Finish") that showcases director Bob Fosse's distinctive choreographic style, particularly his creative use of unusual poses, gestures, and arm movements. Dance scholars, when they examine the evolution of Fosse’s choreographic style, believe this version of the Frug signifies Fosse's maturing theatricality, departing regimentation towards visual dissonance, where every dancer could perform their own moves. Except, of course, that The Rich Man’s Frug is about as regimented as a dance gets. Pocket Review The Oyster Problem – Jermyn Street Theatre A few weeks ago I told you about a play at a prominent London fringe theatre, written and directed by (I’m not naming him again to spare his blushes bcause he’s had enough brickbats thrown at him) one of this country’s top directors. After that, all of theatrical London was discussing how it was possible that this rightly famous and admired director could possibly have written or directed this dog’s dinner of a play. The Oyster Problem at Jermyn Street, the debut play from historian Orlando Figes, is not nearly that bad. Indeed, it has appealing characters who were real people, Emile Zola, Gustave Flaubert, Ivan Turgenev and Madame George Sand. These successful and famous writers were all friends, and the play has an intriguing premise, nothing less than the nature and value of art itself. In The Oyster Problem – the title refers to the luxury food they eat at their get togethers – they are trying to help Flaubert who, despite the huge success of Madame Bovary, has fallen on hard times and cannot any longer afford oysters, to find a suitable job with an income to sustain him while he finishes his latest book. But. You knew there was a ‘but’ coming, didn’t you? I kept wondering, as I watched five excellent actors giving fine performances as the writers and Flaubert’s beloved niece, whether Orlando Figes had ever actually seen a play, so flabby and shapeless is the one he and his director, Philip Wilson, have put in front of us. Figes has written ten amazing books about Russian and European history so we know he knows the territory backwards and forewards. Sadly, what he doesn’t know is theatre and how to hold an audience’s attention through five, count them, five acts. I hope that this fine writer and brilliant historian will in future concentrate on what he knows best, write many more wonderful books, and simply chalk up The Oyster Problem to experience.
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AuthorRuth Leon is a writer and critic specialising in music and theatre. Archives
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