Art, Dance and Theatre

Everything to do with artistic activity.

Tango in Granollers

~ Kate Wilson ~ 4 Comments

Tonight we went to try out the tango in Les Arcades in Granollers. Somehow the fact that there is a class and a milonga right here, not five minutes away in Carrer Girona, had slipped past my tango antennae. It has been going since January – five whole months in which I could have been walking down our road, turning left then right and then straight into a bar with a dance floor at the back and a group of people who dance tango.
Last year we tried to start a tango class here but I stopped after a term as the effort needed to teach in Spanish as well as advertise it seemed beyond my capabilities. Sometimes I feel that the energy I use  to learn two languages, get used to a new relationship, survive being a sort of step mother to a difficult adolescent, drive a car on the right side of the road, try to get health care, worry about my dogs in Cornwall and all the rest……means I just can’t do one more new thing.
Recently I have been feeling very like this.
I didn’t include writing this blog in that list as normally it is something that flows easily and I enjoy enormously. But recently, this too has felt hard. Too many questions like – What am I doing? Who is this for?  Does anyone read it (apart from those three people that I know about -thank you, you know who you are), What can I say and what is better to leave unsaid?
I try generally to write about what catches my attention and what I find interesting about Catalunya and the experience of changing my life. Sometimes it is cultural, sometimes it is personal, and sometimes it is a bit of both. But when I am feeling alien and alone here and struggling with the feeling of being an outsider without a strong support system of friends and family on hand, then the words get blocked. I can’t only write happy thoughts here but it is also a bit frightening to write down my doubts and fears and let them drop into this void.
What is this to do with tango, I hear you think.
Everything for me. This is what took me to tango in the first place and this is what I bring to tango when I dance.  Connection.  Longing for connection. Risking connection.
Tonight my dear man accompanied me to the class and the milonga, He isn’t really interested in tango but came to make me happy. We danced together.  I had a bit of a glitch when the female teacher started to tell me how to do the cross but I remembered my friend Tiffany’s advice and just smiled. The male teacher came and danced with me twice and then, just as I was taking off my shoes to leave, the man with the black and white shoes and fedora hat came up to ask me to dance. When he first arrived in the bar I thought he would be too flashy but actually he was just very good, very attentive, very connected.
It was a good evening. I came away feeling happy.

The people were friendly, the music was lovely, and we were dancing tango in Granollers.

Which made it feel more like home.

A Poem for Every Occasion

~ Kate Wilson ~ 5 Comments

Yesterday we walked in the hills near Montornès. I was still struggling to clear my head after the journey back from Cornwall – is it age that makes this transition so much harder?
It was incredibly muggy and then at last the sun came out and we were walking downhill and there was birdsong, butterflies and this amazing yellow flowering plant with a strong heady scent.

Pep started reciting this poem,
La Ginesta, by Joan Maragall

La ginesta altra vegada                                  The Ginesta again
la ginesta amb tanta olor,                               The Ginesta with such a scent,
És la meva enamorada                                    Is my lover
que ve al temps de la calor.                            Who comes when it is hot.
Per a fer-li una abraçada                                To embrace her I climbed up the hill
he pujat dalt del serrat:
de la primera besada                                      And from the first kiss
m’ha deixat tot perfumat.                               I was left totally perfumed
Feia un vent que enarborava,                         There was a wind shaking the trees
feia un sol molt resplendent:                          The sun was very bright
la ginesta es regirava                                      The Ginesta was turning furiously
furiosa al sol rient.                                          As the sun laughed
Jo la prenc per la cintura:                               I took her for my belt
l’estisora va en renou                                     The scissors yet again
desflorant tanta hermosura                             Deflowering such beauty
fins que el cor me n’ha dit prou.                    Until my heart told me it was enough
Amb un vímet que creixia                              With a Willow which grew
innocent a vora seu                                         Innocently alongside
he lligat la dolça aimia                                   I tied the sweet soul mate
ben estreta en un pom breu.                           Into a tight bunch
Quan l’he tinguda lligada                              And when I had finished tying her
m’he girat de cara al mar…                            I turned my face to the sea
M’he girat al mar de cara,                             I turned to the sea my face
que brillava com cristall;                              Which shone brilliantly like crystal
he aixecat el pom enlaire                              And raising the bunch high in the air
i he arrencat a córrer avall.                           I started to run down the hill.

Here are some students putting it to music – budding Manels?

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El Cant De Barça

~ Kate Wilson ~ 4 Comments

So here I am in Cornwall waiting to watch Barça play Manchester United in the final of the Champions.
Guess who I am supporting?  Well, I am Scottish so it was never a hard choice!
To get ready I am listening to the Barça anthem – here it is.
I will watch with a friend who is a Chelsea fan so he too is supporting Barça.
The fire is lit
The curry is arriving
Here we go – BARÇA!!!  Good luck.

In Catalan
Tot el camp
és un clam
som la gent blaugrana
Tant se val d’on venim
si del sud o del nord
ara estem d’acord, ara estem d’acord,
una bandera ens agermana.
Blaugrana al vent
un crit valent
tenim un nom el sap tothom:
Barça, Barça, Baaarça!
Jugadors, seguidors,
tots units fem força.
Son molt anys plens d’afanys,
son molts gols que hem cridat
i s’ha demostrat, i s’ha demostrat,
que mai ningu no ens podrà torcer.
Blaugrana al vent
un crit valent
tenim un nom el sap tothom:
Barça, Barça, Baaarça!
In English
The whole stadium
loudly cheers
We’re the blue and claret supporters
It matters not where we hail from
Whether it’s the south or the north
Now we all agree, we all agree,
One flag unites us in brotherhood.
Blue and claret blowing in the wind
One valiant cry
We’ve got a name that everyone knows:
Barça, Barça, Baaarça!
Players, Supporters
United we are strong.
We’ve achieved much over the years,
We’ve shouted many goals
And we have shown, we have shown,
That no one can ever break us.
Blue and claret blowing in the wind
One valiant cry
We’ve got a name that everyone knows:
Barça, Barça, Baaarça!

Virtual Vermut

~ Kate Wilson ~ 9 Comments
 It’s not the day for sitting out on a terrace watching the world go by. It’s a bit cold actually!
So let’s drink our Vermut inside while I tell you what’s going on for me. I hope to hear your news too – in your own virtual vermut post or here in the comments.
Let’s start with the weather – it is what I call a Cornish day. Grey sky, rain threatening but never getting on with it. Perfect for our run this morning although the chilly wind made the outbound trip hard going.  When I started running I had to overcome my belief that running is for tall lanky people. But just a little each day and suddenly I can do 20 minutes without falling in a panting heap at the end. There is something very satisfying about the sound of your feet as they hit the ground and the way your body finds its own rhythm.
Fear of more kidney stones means I always carry water which is a nuisance as it sloshes around in the bottle. Also any part of my body which can wobble – does, and that feels uncomfortable at first. But like many things which are hard to start – after you get going, the going gets better. There were some lovely flowers down by the river as well as the swallows swooping low over the little allotments.
Then I had a short introductory session of Trapeze. Again, not something you expect of me but this getting older thing is beginning to worry me so I am trying to do more new things.   I did a headstand and then some swinging by my arms on a trapeze. Finally kicking my legs up and hooking them around the bar and, before I could think too much about it, I let go with my hands and ended up head down to the floor. All the recent abdominal exercises must be helping as you need those to get yourself back up again!
Of course I was helped and held by Pep so it wasn’t so hard. Sorry no photos as I couldn’t spare him to take one at the vital moments so you will have to believe me.
My Vermut is finished now – perhaps another little one?
The reason the weather is concerning me is that tomorrow is Sant Jordi and the streets will be full of stalls selling books and roses. It could easily be a disaster if it rains all day. It is a sort of Catalan St Valentine and so much nicer.  Roses and books – perfect presents of love.
Which reminds me – I have almost finished reading The Cathedral by the Sea in Catalan and I am now actively enjoying it. It feels like a huge achievement to have got through it and I can see how much more I know now than I did at the beginning. Also as the action happens in the streets in Barcelona Old Town it is interesting to imagine the events – the building of the church, the merchants working in Canvis Nous, the Jewish quarter in the Call where terrible things happened, the big houses in Montcada where the rich people lived.

But what else can I tell you?

After the run we came home to the usual loud music in the living room which sometimes drives me to find quiet corners of retreat. Common tunes are Love is a Gamble, I am a Bitch, I Want You to Take Over Control and Tonight I will Fuck You. When I am in better humour I just relax and dance to the beat! I think of my mother and how she kept up interest in our music. But wasn’t it easier with Del Shannon, The Beach Boys and David Bowie?
After lunch a troupe of young men arrived to play music out in the back. I was looking forward to seeing them sidle spottily though the lounge looking embarrassed and reminding me of Kevin in the TV series. But the Resident Adolescent scuppered that plan by greeting them at the front door and sending them round to the back entrance.  You have to be tactically very skilled to win a battle in this war!

Well, time has flown by and I must start my Catalan homework.
Hope to see you next week if we both can make it!