Art, Dance and Theatre

Everything to do with artistic activity.

Pina

~ Kate Wilson ~ 4 Comments

‘dance dance, otherwise we are lost’   Pina Bausch

Last night we went to see the Wim Wenders film about Pina Bausch.
It was shown by the Granollers cine club and we were lucky to get there as I had written it in my diary for Friday!
It was one of the best films I have ever seen in my life.
If you get the chance to see it – go!  If not then hire, borrow or buy the DVD.

I can hardly find words to describe the effect it had on me.
The performances were raw, beautiful, profound, moving, inspiring.  Sometimes funny.
You are watching people’s movements and gestures and expressions. Phrases are repeated again and again and again, each time slightly different. At the beginning I felt I had been cracked open wide and somewhere in the middle of the film I started crying almost uncontrollably.
It was as if someone was digging around in my guts.  Painful, erotic, intimate.
Sometimes I wanted it to end as I couldn’t bear such naked humanness any more, and then I would long for it go on for ever.

Reminded me of Tango when it’s good.
And of reading Proust.

Click HERE for more information. There is a trailer for the film too.

El Clåssic

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

Today was quite intense.
The streets are full of Catalan flags and stalls selling books and roses for Sant Jordi.
Actually it isn’t really Sant Jordi (Saint George) until Monday but as it falls on a Monday they have decided to spread the celebrations over three days

This gives us more time to chose our book which this year will be another one in Catalan, this time by a woman, and if possible not about the Civil War or Medieval Barcelona.
We will read it together, mostly out loud, as we have been doing for the past two years.
It really helps with learning the language.
Duna came to help  and almost came to blows in the bookshop with another dog who was also doing his book shopping

Then there was also the football match between Barça and Madrid. At 8pm the streets were almost empty even though the shops were still open. We went to the Toy Bar which was full of people but were still able to get a small table although the extremely large man in front of us kept standing up in his excitement and blocking all view of the game

Little bits of news from my part of Catalunya

~ Kate Wilson ~ 1 Comment

Only one photo and sorry no drawings (although I am planning on doing some of those very soon)
Just snippets of news
  • On Friday I led a workshop for people wanting to sing songs in English.  I had the idea a few months ago and since then have been choosing songs and thinking about how singing can help language learning.  My friend Marta was excited by the idea and she helped organise sessions in Barcelona so we had the first one there, thanks also to Isa and Pati Llimona in the Barri Gòtic.  Of course it was much more scary and complicated than I had imagined – how to decide what songs are interesting and not to hard for non English speakers who won’t know the tunes? But I think in the end it was ok and we are doing it again next week.
  • Tonight we went to Sant Celoni to see Anna Roig singing live. I love her songs and especially this one. It’s about a woman who went to Paris with her lover and they didn’t have a good time. So she decides to paint a red moustache on his photo to take away some of the sting and sadness.
  • The cafe at the station was still open after the concert so we had a beer and something quick to eat. I love that place – it always makes me think of Brief Encounter.
  • You can imagine things happening there. Love affairs starting……….……..or ending
  • I drove to Orrius this week in the car – ALL BY MYSELF!  I wrote here about my reluctance to drive in Catalunya and so this was a huge step forward.  Bonnie and I went to meet up with Oreneta, a friend I met through our blogs,  and Chuck her gorgeous dog,  to have a little walk in the hills with them – part of their four hour trek!
  • Talking of facing my fears – the singing group and the driving were part of my current personal challenge to extend my comfort zone rather than hide away inside it. I am inspired by this man whose blog is full of wonderful suggestions and life observations.
  • Lastly – tomorrow we are having a family picnic to celebrate two birthdays and one saints day. At last I think I have cracked the sponge cake problem and right now two halves are cooling in the kitchen and awaiting chocolate filling. Also thanks to my friend Francesca I am looking forward to wowing the Catalans with chocolate cornflake biscuits.  I managed to make a mess of that recipe as well on first trying it but second time round I am now on a par with the five year olds who specialise in making these treats.

Well that’s all for now – there is always so much to say and yet recently it has been hard to string together a sentence. Sometimes it’s hard to know what to write – and what to leave unwritten.
Let’s see what next week will bring!

A week in my life

~ Kate Wilson ~ 3 Comments

It’s been a good week with lots of movement – various aspects of life evolving and changing although, on the surface, everything is more or less the same.

You know the sort of week – time goes by, things happen, some days are better than others?
First – I finally went and had my hair cut in Granollers

 I had been putting it off.   Fear. Timidity.  But I am pleased with it and feel so much better, bouncier, lighter.   I managed perfectly well to explain what I wanted – in Catalan – and when the woman was washing my hair I did my usual MMMMMMmmmmm to show that I like having my head massaged (some people don’t!) and she continued to spend about 10 minutes massaging my whole scalp. I fell asleep – it was incredible.

The weather has been cold – today -4. But the sun still shines and it’s lovely during the day to be out and feel the warmth on your cheeks – it’s not hot but strengthening every day

We went for a walk up on the hills behind Mataro

Blue managed to walk all the way up to the top where we found an abandoned masia and dreamed of buying it and making it our home

It is so wonderful to be out in the countryside, to walk without traffic or people, to hear birds and see the sea in the distance

This week I have been practising Castellano as I realised it is getting harder and harder to speak it now that Catalan is dominant in the foreign language department of my brain. I have switched back to Spanish National Radio 3 to practise listening. On Saturday they played this song which I think would be lovely to dance tango to. But on the Catalan side of things I am feeling happy that we have almost finished the book we bought last year, Les Veus del Pamano. It feels like a big achievement and I understood almost every word.
On Saturday there was a class of Contact improvisation here in Llancadora.  It helped me relax after these two weeks of pain and at last I felt myself coming back into my body after the double shock of hurting both hands so badly.
On Sunday we had the tango class here again but for the last time as the teacher can’t afford to pay rent for the space!  It was 15 euros but he didn’t have enough people.  It’s been great to do some leading again as there were more women than men and all of them happy to practise with me. I am beginning to miss teaching tango so perhaps sometime I’ll start it up again and perhaps combine with English practice!

Today was my drawing class and tonight is the first meditation group at Tiffanys house.
New beginnings.

I feel that Spring is just around the corner – as if the seeds that are buried deep in the dark frozen ground are beginning to come to life. Something inside is shifting and wakening. We’ll see. For the moment – here is the cake that I brought home for tea, to celebrate the first day of my hands feeling better!

Antoni Tapies in Barcelona

~ Kate Wilson ~ 2 Comments

I went up to Barcelona, got off at Passeig de Gracia as usual and five minutes later was in the Fundacio Antoni Tapies. There was a steady stream of people arriving but no queues and it wasn’t so full that you felt squashed in. The spaces are large and airy and the pictures arranged with plenty of room to stand and stare. There was an atmosphere of quiet contemplation, respect and sadness – or at least I felt sad. There is something powerful about visiting the gallery of a great artist only a day after he has died. A feeling of both presence and absence.

I stood for a few moments waiting to sign the book of condolence – not sure what made me want to do this but I wanted to make some mark

I find Tapies art inspiring – like so much abstract art it helps me contact something that is both human and other worldly. Like cave art – messages from the unconscious