#because my audience is mostly Keith enthusiasts

[waugh-bao]

Always love when Charlie, being a smol, finds himself being pushed around as his bandmates show him their love. In the gifs you posted and also the 'end of the zip code tour' video when Mick pulls Charlie forward to get attention and ends up sort of shoving him around. In these cases, Charlie is the puppy and the others are the kids that have to be reminded to play gently with their pet. "Keith, I know you love him, but remember you'll hurt him if you hug him too tight." They are just too cute.

Me too!

They definitely didn't mean any harm, and generally they tried to be gentle, but sometimes they got a bit overexcited and couldn't quite contain themselves.

It reminds me of that Keith quote from 1995:

"I drove up to the joint we were rehearsing in one afternoon, and I could hear these drums going. I thought ‘Ah, Charlie’s here’. So I killed the engine and sat in the car for about five minutes listening to him playing...Then I started to get my stuff together to go inside, and I happened to see myself in the driving mirror. I had this silly grin on my face. I didn’t even know I was smiling, but that’s what Charlie does for me.”

Charlie just existing, and being himself, made them happy.

Although it sounds funny to mention science here, there's also a concept in behavioral psychology which I suspect explains it a bit. Basically, a bunch of neuroscience researchers at UCal a few years ago proposed the idea of "cute aggression"; when adult humans see cute things (small things with big eyes like young animals and babies mostly) they tend to have an urge to squeeze, pinch, and push those things around. Which for evolutionary reasons is the brain's way of coping with being overwhelmed by adorableness. So I'd guess they were sometimes simply clumsy, and sometimes victims of brain chemistry, because Charlie was tiny with big blue eyes and what Keith called his “distinguished gray hair”, which was all very cute to them.

And yes, compared to everyone else, he was definitely the smol:

The funny thing is that, though Ronnie is personality wise the over-excited puppy of the group, Mick and Keith were actually the ones who were worse (in a loving way) at containing themselves when it came to Charlie. Like the Zip Code Tour video:

(Ronnie and Keith very valiantly come to Charlie's rescue there).

Or anytime Mick decided he was going to get Charlie to see how much the audience adored him:

Keith is equally guilty, though. Dragging him across the stage and showing him off to people like a little kid with his favorite stuffed animal:

Or whatever he was doing to Charlie here that Mick finally had to intervene by smacking him on the belly in a bid to save their drummer:

Ronnie, like I mentioned, was generally better behaved:

But there was a cute instance on the Bigger Bang Tour where he got over enthusiastic, startled Charlie into almost bumping into Keith, and then Keith checked in on Charlie for a minute before (jokingly) running across the stage after Ronnie:

I think, in the end, the biggest part of the reason they always treated Charlie with that almost childlike sort of delight is because they wanted him to be their drummer nearly from the time they started the band, but it took them something like a year to actually get him to join and they really believed they'd never get him. He was 2 years older, employed as a top graphic designer, had a lot of success with Alexis Korner’s band, they didn’t have enough money to afford to pay him a good salary, etc. Although he played with them on and off, it was a very real possibility for a while that he wouldn't join. And like Keith said, when they got Charlie is when things truly started happening. He was their missing heartbeat.

There was a sense of wonder and gratitude in him being theirs that never left them, which shows itself beautifully in how their excitement over him never faltered.

[mercuriallycooperative]

Doom flags at her heels, Katarina really has a lot going on

(slight arc one spoilers, slight arc later spoilers, lotta long rambling thoughts)

So I’ve been keeping up with the manga for quite awhile and then remembered the light novels exist and then discovered the anime is existing and then realized “oh this is popular enough people are writing fic for it!” and then read a good fic and then I realized that this was a chance to articulate a thought that’s always in the back of my mind whenever I reread the manga and now that I’m watching like four let’s-watch youtubers as the anime goes on but like-

It has always struck me that like- as much as Katarina has a lot of sparkling happy fluffy moments and people she cares for a lot in this life, people that certainly I think she does love perhaps more deeply than even she realizes, and the audience is reminded so often "ha ha she still thinks she's doomed, she doesn't realize literally everyone has fallen in love with her and she's become crucial in their lives and hearts"- there’s also the other side of that-

That is that all the preparing she's been doing since she woke up with her past life memories at 8 years old- she's spent all that time running from a looming shadow at her back.

She's spent 7 years with a lot of excellent friends, capturing hearts and being a bright light in the world, but she's also spent all that time living with the fear that some of her friends might kill her, someday, or that she'll be made to leave them, or be discarded, and have to start a new life in a strange place for a third time- this time, alone. And she's been running from that all this time. Even for a slightly one-track mind with a bit of a blind spot for things too close to her, how much fear and worry do you have to be carrying, to be still as Concerned as we see her when she's 15, to keep up preparing for such a doom for 7 years?

And there are moments like when she’s visiting Sophia and is reminded of Acchan, that we see she does still have some wistfulness for her life-that-was. Heck, even when she’s fighting her way out of her magical coma thing. Wistfulness for the world that was. And she doesn’t seem to have spoken to anyone about any of this past-life stuff. Even if this is her world now- she lost a lot, when she died the first time.

Even if she’s usually more focused on either things right in front of her, or her looming doom (hardly an enviable distraction), that has to be a lot to bear and never breathe a word of. A lot to miss, and people she will likely never see again.

And of course she's considered very simple and direct and incapable of guile or scheming by even her dear beloved friends- and often times she is- but there is also is the fact that in 7 years she hasn't let on about the secret of her memories, or what she's preparing for, or what she's afraid of. She hasn't ever let on those fears of getting killed or exiled by people close to her, or the fact that all this preparing is just in case she has to leave them all forever. Just in case they make her have to leave them all forever. She does a lot of off-the-wall things, but nobody has ever gotten a real hint of what they're for. The most anyone has really gotten is a refrain of “just in case!”

(I went back to check- she's mentioned "In case I'm exiled," in some material. She has not mentioned "In case you exile me." There's something of a difference.)

Also like. I know she’s really memetically, uh, got a bit of a blind spot about how people feel about her (I’m pretty sure she just doesn’t care about the whole rules of society thing except when they make immediate trouble for her, which she’s in a position to mostly ignore- that’s less her lack of sense, I think, and more her contemporary sensibilities and a certain amount of unselfconsciousness coming just as much from not caring for some of the more implicit rules as it does not noticing them) (not that she doesn’t also have the sense of a single turnip sometimes, but like. still.).

But like, in the first episode’s worth of events, she has like three different head injuries, two of which result in unconsciousness, one of which results in getting a load of past life memories dumped into her head. It’s not unlikely that this happens, not frequently, but more than just the times we’ve seen, over the years. That can’t be good for her- especially because if she’s visibly fine there wouldn’t necessarily be any reason to apply any handy-but-rare healing light magic that could mitigate any medical repercussions of head injuries. Certainly, I would not be surprised if this affects her attention span or ability to put together some things, just a little.

Take that, along with the fact that given what we see at least about her parents in this life, pretty sure some of the obliviousness is genetic- and also the whole ‘preparing for her doom for seven years’ thing... When we’re afraid of stuff, our limbic system, our fight-or-flight-etc, goes all “yeet” in our brains and it does actually affect our ability to think things through. Like. We had a seminar at work about it and stuff. And constant stress, even constant low-level-mostly-in-the-background stress, is known to cause issues with both memory formation and retrieval. Which can’t be helping anything else happening here.

What I’m saying is, Katarina has a lot of actual potential physical reasons to have some of the really increasing amounts of obliviousness that sorta seem to show later in the light novels.

(Also, in fairness, some people just aren’t great with the subtext of the goings on around them, even if they can read the pattern fine in words on a page. I’m like that myself. Uh, not nearly as much as Katarina, given, as far as I know. But that’s a way that one can be, too, and it’s not mutually exclusive with the rest of this or anything.)

Aside from those- from what we get about her reflection on her life in the last world, it doesn’t seem like all of this is totally new to her character; I definitely feel like she was Like This last lifetime too. (Actually, yeah, went back to check, and in the light novel, in Acchan's chapter, Katarina was indeed Like This last time too.) But I think it’s possible that aside from new circumstances in this life accentuating these characteristics, that they’re the sort of thing that produces more, uh, pronounced reactions to situations, the bigger the situation is. Last life, she was a normal schoolgirl who didn’t expect anything life-threatening. This life, she’s been living in the shadow of her doom for 7 years, and she’s in the upper strata of Very Important People, With Harem Hijinks.

I think some of Katarina’s determination just really has this flavor of- “Well it just can’t be helped! I just gotta do the thing!” A sort of.... taking all the weight of the things that really are chasing her, and also some of the subtext-laden everything in a lot of her close relationships, and a little willfully going “well this is kind of a lot. you know what was also kind of a lot? preparing for my doom for 7 years! you know how I dealt with that? just getting on with it as best i can, blithely moving past all the things i wasn’t really equipped for, with twice as much energy as life threw at me!” Not consciously, necessarily, but there’s certainly an energy of eliding past the whole mass of situations down to the brass tacks of an action plan. Gonna get murderlyzed? Learn to fight back against being murderlyzed, with a sword! Lonely brother set to fall in love because of healing loneliness? Guess he’s not gonna be lonely anymore! I stole some relationship flags from people? Well they’re great folks, I’m sure they’ll be fine!

There’s a certain resilience to this particular response to the whole state of affairs that keeps the story of Katarina’s life in this world from being dragged down into the implications of all the little bits and troubles that come with both her getting isekai’d into doom flags, and also all her friends’ troubles in their youths. It’s part of what makes her so interesting, I think, that she’s able to just go along being herself, doing her rather erratic best, genuine, honest, loud and enthusiastic and kind, and producing very direct responses to the happenings around her. And people respond to that genuineness and directness and kindness.

Whether we’re reading it on the page or the characters are seeing it in person, I think there’s something very charming about that. Taking ‘wow this is a lot. life is... a lot.’ and getting down to ‘but being nice is simple, and being enthused is simple, and scowling at mean people is simple, and now it’s not as a lot anymore!’

The origins of Katarina’s directness and charm aside, in this life she has very much been rewarded for Being Like This. Here, I’m speaking a little more in response to how I’ve seen people getting exasperated at the increasingly pronounced amount of Bakarina-ness that I’ve seen so far in at least the translation of the later light novels that I got a chance to read; she’s... still quite oblivious.

But her life and the narrative has always rewarded that. Her good-natured kindness to people with sorrows has made her happy friends; her determination to go the direct and simple path through things has always cut to the heart of matters (even if she’s sometimes missed how she’s now rather at the heart of a lot of people now); her blithe disregard for a number of proprieties has been protected by both her noble parents who love her, rather a lot of overprotective friends, and her royal betrothed. Worry has only ever gotten her to an action plan and a drive to proceed with it; after she’s got those to work with (e.g. her “train in swords and magic to not be murderlyzed, keep Keith from being lonely, make a field to train in magic, make a romance novel friend” plans), she’s always had to learn to take her actions and then live her life pushing that worry out of the way.

If she’d drowned in worry about her doom instead of letting it propel her to action and then disregarding it in favor of living in the moments produced by her choices, then I don’t think her life since waking up with her old memories would have been as happy as it was.

(Actually, I have this theory that the ‘original’/no-memory Katarina was running in a similar way as our Katarina, only she responded to the worry with sharp eyes and teeth, instead of brushing it aside with a determined smile. But that’s an analysis for another time, possibly after more of the Verge of Destruction spinoff is out and I’ve reread it a bit more.)

So, all that being the case- why should she be less blithe about things? Why would she be more cautious? Why would she start worrying any more about things beyond her newly-lifted worries about her doom? Her determination to charge facefirst through situations with a good nature, direct problem-solving, and some slightly-suspect assumptions that have always been close enough to the heart of things before- that’s always seen her through.

(Also, like. After everything, when she’s finally, finally able to stop worrying about her doom flags- enjoying all the people and things she loves without digging into the bits and troublesome bobs of it all, getting in a sense a second new lease on life- she can be forgiven for wanting things to be as simple as she’s always tried to make her one most looming problem in the past.)

(Also also, she did have to go through the stages between “you’re all adorable but you’re all 8 and I’m like 16 and I literally cannot be attracted to you, that’s weird” and “well I guess you’re all the same age as me-in-this-life but a large part of me is still 16, so it’s still weird” and “I haven’t changed much over the years because living through the same years twice isn’t really growing up so much as it is being 16 for an extra year or four and then being 12 again and then 13 again and then 14 again and then 15 again and only then finally getting a chance to grow older than 16- and in the meanwhile wait shit now you’re all the same age as me for real. now you’re not just breathtakingly cute or beautiful like a freaking artwork, now you’re making my heart skip a beat, uhhhhhh”.

It’s not particularly surprising that after years of thinking “yeah but I’m older than you, you’re like 8″ that it’s going to take being blindsided multiple times for Katarina to get into the swing of “wait, you’re my age or older and now, suddenly you’re able to be hot. wtf.”)

I don’t really have a conclusion to all this, exactly.

Just that- Katarina may have the sense of a single turnip sometimes, albeit a very good-natured turnip, but while some of it is absolutely just How She Is Even At Peace, some of it’s most likely a response to quite a few environmental factors over the years. And her life has rewarded her for the type of resiliency that she’s used to face her doom flags- the doom flags she’s been politely carrying and deflecting the stress of for seven years.

Direct and simple and kind and uncomplicated in nature she may be- and a bit slow on the subtext sometimes- but Katarina Claes should not be mistaken for lacking in willful resolve where it counts, nor mistaken for lacking fears, nor mistaken for lacking in ability to plan and analyze. I’m pretty sure she just... concludes that kindness is best, people are good, and that this life and the people in it are worth it.

She’s got more to her than just “oblivious harem protag is oblivious and really nice”. And honestly, I think if you look at her closely, she’s a lot more reasonable than people make her out to be.

[citizenscreen]

It was 85 years ago this week, in October 1934, that Mark Sandrich’s The Gay Divorcee was released in theaters across the country. That occasion would normally have been just another movie release except it marks a significant moment in movie history. The Gay Divorcee, you see, was the first starring picture for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. While cinema has given us many memorable romantic movie couples, only one was so memorably romantic in dance.

The Gay Divorcee is my favorite of the Astaire Rogers pictures thanks in large part to its hilarious supporting cast including Alice Brady, Edward Everett Horton, Erik Rhodes, and Eric Blore who supply laughs galore in a story we’d see over and over again later in the 1930s as the Astaire and Rogers film canon picked up speed. Here we see Mimi Glossop (Rogers) trying to get a divorce from her estranged husband. Her Aunt Hortense (Brady) suggests she consult with attorney Egbert Fitzgerald (Horton) with whom Hortense has a romantic history. The fumbling lawyer suggests a great way for Mimi to get a quick divorce is for her to spend the night with a professional co-respondent and get caught being unfaithful by the private detectives hired for the task. Except, Egbert forgets to hire the detectives. As the co-respondent Egbert hires Rodolfo Tonetti (Rhodes) who is supposed to introduce himself to Mimi by saying “Chance is a fool’s name for fate,” but the Italian can’t keep the line straight, which never fails to make this fan roar with laughter.

“Fate is the foolish thing. Take a chance.”

In the meantime, staying in the same hotel is dancer Guy Holden (Astaire) who falls for Mimi the moment they had an uncomfortable meeting on the ship from England. Guy is determined to make Mimi his while she mistakes him for the co-respondent. It’s quite the confusing premise that serves the talent of the cast and Astaire-Rogers pairings on the dance floor, which made the trip to the movies the magical experience these movies surely were.

Fred Astaire reprised his role from the stage play The Gay Divorce for The Gay Divorcee. Censors insisted that The Gay Divorce be changed to The Gay Divorcee, because a gay divorce was no laughing matter. Erik Rhodes and Eric Blore, who played the waiter in typical snooty fashion, also reprised their roles from the stage version. Cole Porter wrote the music for the stage production, but only one of his songs, “Night and Day” was retained for the movie.

The Gay Divorcee won one Academy Award, the first ever Best Original Song for “The Continental” with music and lyrics by Con Conrad and Herb Magidson respectively. The film was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Art Direction, Best Sound, Recording, and Best Music Score for Max Steiner, then head of the sound department at RKO. While award recognition is great, the place The Gay Divorcee holds in history is much more important. As mentioned, this was the first movie where Fred Astaire’s and Ginger Rogers’ names appear above the title. This film also sets the stage quite nicely for subsequent Astaire-Rogers movies, which often followed the same formula. First, Fred’s character usually falls for Ginger’s at first sight and he is often annoying to her. In The Gay Divorcee, for example, she has her dress caught in a trunk while he attempts to flirt. In Top Hat (1935) he wakes her up with his tap dancing in the room above hers. In Swing Time (1936) he asks her for change of a quarter only to ask for the quarter back a bit later.

Most Fred and Ginger movies also have mistaken identity central to the plot and some are set in lavish surroundings, extravagant art deco sets, “Big White Sets” as they are called, and include travel to exotic places. The world in these pictures is rich and cultured and never fail to offer an escape from reality.

More importantly, most of the Astaire-Rogers movies feature dances that further the characters’ story together, all are supremely executed, beautifully orchestrated, and emoted to a tee. Through dance Fred and Ginger express love, love lost, anger, giddiness, joy, despair, tragedy. The movies usually feature at least two main routines for the couple, one a fun, lighthearted affair and the other a serious, dramatic turn, depending on where in the story the dance takes place. These dance routines take precedence in the films above all other elements and are, ultimately, what create the Astaire-Rogers legend, each its own priceless gem. For this dance through history the focus is on the dance routines, which were born out of the RKO story.

RKO was born RKO Radio Pictures in October 1928 as the first motion picture studio created solely for the production of talking pictures by David Sarnoff and Joseph Kennedy as they met in a Manhattan oyster bar. Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) resulted from the merger of the Radio Corporation of America, the Film Booking Offices of America, and the Keith-Albee-Orpheum circuit of vaudeville houses.

In its first year, RKO did well by producing about a dozen pictures, mostly film versions of stage plays. The studio doubled that number the following year and was established as a major studio with the Academy Award-winning Cimarron (1931) directed by Wesley Ruggles. Unfortunately, that film’s success did not result in money for the studio. That year RKO lost more than $5 million, which resulted in the hiring of David O. Selznick to head production. Selznick immediately looked to stars to bring audiences into theaters. The first place he looked was the New York stage where he found and contracted Katharine Hepburn whom he placed in the hands of George Cukor for Bill of Divorcement (1932) opposite John Barrymore. Hepburn became a star and the movie was a hit, but RKO’s fortunes did not improve making 1932 another difficult year. Enter Merian C. Cooper and a giant ape. David O. Selznick had made Cooper his assistant at RKO.

The idea of King Kong had lived in Cooper’s imagination since he was a child, but he never thought it could come to fruition until his time at RKO. It was there that Cooper met Willis O’Brien, a special effects wizard who was experimenting with stop motion animation.

King Kong premiered in March 1933 to enthusiastic audiences and reviews. RKO’s financial troubles were such, however, that even the eighth wonder of the world could not save it. David O. Selznick left RKO for MGM and Merian Cooper took over as head of production tasked with saving the studio. Cooper tried releasing a picture a week and employing directors like Mark Sandrich and George Stevens. Of the two Sandrich made an important splash early with So This Is Harris! (1933), a musical comedy short that won the Academy Award for Best Short Subject. This short paved the way for RKO’s memorable musicals of the decade, the first of which introduced future megastars Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as a dancing duo.

“I’d like to try this thing just once” he says as he pulls her to the dance floor.

“We’ll show them a thing or three,” she responds.

And they did. For the movie studio permanently on the verge of bankruptcy Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers proved saving graces. Pandro S. Berman, who produced several of the Astaire-Rogers movies, said “we were very fortunate we came up with the Astaire-Rogers series when we did.”

Fred Astaire was born Frederick Austerlitz II on May 10, 1899 in Omaha, Nebraska. Fred began performing at about the age of four with his older sister Adele. Their mother took them to New York in 1903 where they began performing in vaudeville as a specialty act. Of the two it was Adele, by all accounts a charmer on stage and off, who got the better reviews and was seen as the natural talent.

By the time Fred was ten years old, he and his sister were making about $50 a week on the famed Orpheum Circuit. As they traveled the country, their reputation grew and by 14 Fred had taken over the responsibility of creating steps and routines for their act. He also hunted for new songs as he was able, which led to a chance meeting in 1916 with then song plugger George Gershwin. Although the two did not work together then, they’d have profound effects on each other’s careers in the future, including the Astaires headlining George and Ira Gershwin’s first full-length New York musical, Lady, Be Good! in 1924.

Unlike her driven brother, Adele did not even like to rehearse. For Fred’s constant badgering to rehearse she ascribed him the nickname “Moaning Minnie.” Fred later admitted the nickname fit because he worried about everything. Between Fred’s attention to detail and Adele’s charm for an audience, the Astaire’s reviews usually read like this, “Nothing like them since the flood!”

Fred and Adele made it to Broadway in 1917 with Over the Top, a musical revue in two acts, and never looked back. Their other hits in New York and London included the Gershwin smash, Funny Face (1927), where Adele got to introduce “‘S Wonderful” and the Schwartz-Dietz production of The Band Wagon (1931), Adele’s final show before retiring to marry Lord Charles Cavendish in 1932. At the time she and her brother Fred were the toast of Broadway.

The Astaires, Adele and Fred

After his sister retired, Fred starred in Cole Porter’s A Gay Divorce, his last Broadway show before heading west to Hollywood where he was signed by David O. Selznick at RKO. Legend goes that of Fred Astaire someone in Hollywood said after watching his screen tests, “Can’t act; slightly bald; can dance a little.” If true, those are words by someone who had a terrible eye for talent, but I doubt they are true because at the time Fred Astaire was a huge international star. The likelihood that someone in Hollywood didn’t know that is slim. David O. Selznick had seen Fred Astaire on Broadway and described him as “next to Leslie Howard, the most charming man on the American stage.” What was true is that Fred Astaire did not look like the typical movie star. He was 34 years old at the time, an age considered old for movie stardom. In fact, Astaire’s mother insisted he should just retire since he’d been in the business from such a young age. We can only be thankful he ignored her request.

Not sure what to do with him, or perhaps to see what he could do, Selznick lent Astaire to MGM where he made his first picture dancing with Joan Crawford in Robert Z. Leonard’s Dancing Lady (1933). Flying Down to Rio experienced some delays, but it was ready to go after Dancing Lady so Fred returned to RKO to do “The Carioca” with a contract player named Ginger Rogers.

By the time Fred Astaire made his first picture, Ginger Rogers had made about 20. She was under contract with RKO and excelled at sassy, down-to-Earth types. In 1933 Ginger had gotten lots of attention singing “We’re in the money” in Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933) and in 42nd Street. She did not have top billing in either of those, but the public noticed her.

Ginger Rogers was born Virginia Katherine McMath in Independence, Missouri on July 16, 1911. Her first few years of life were confusing ones. Her parents were divorced and Ginger was kidnapped by her father until her mother, Lelee (or Lela), took him to court. In need of a job, Ginger’s mother left her with her grandparents while looking for a job as a scriptwriter.

Lelee met and married John Rogers in 1920 and, for all intents and purposes, he became Ginger’s father. The family moved to Dallas where, at the age of 14, Ginger won a Charleston contest, going on to become Charleston champion dancer of Texas. The prize was a 4-week contract on the Vaudeville Interstate circuit. Lela took management of her daughter and put together an act called “Ginger and Her Redheads.” Ginger continued to perform on her own after the Redheads were disbanded eventually going to New York where she was seen by the owner of the Mocambo night club who recommended her to friends for the Broadway show Top Speed. 

Ginger was making two-reelers in New York when she was offered a Paramount contract making her feature appearance in Monta Bell’s Young Man of Manhattan (1930) starring Claudette Colbert. At about that time, she was cast as the lead in the Gershwin musical Girl Crazy, which – by happenstance one afternoon – offered her the opportunity to dance with Fred Astaire for the first time ever. Astaire had been brought in to the Girl Crazy production to see if he could offer suggestions for the routines. Ginger was asked to show him one of the main numbers to which he said, “Here Ginger, try it with me.”

After that Ginger and Lela headed to Hollywood and the picture business in earnest. Ginger made a few forgettable pictures for Pathé before being cast as Anytime Annie in 42nd Street and singing that number about money in Golddiggers of 1933. Both of those gave Ginger Rogers ample opportunity to show off her comedic skills. These types of parts, funny flappers, were definitely in the cards for Ginger Rogers until fate intervened when Dorothy Jordan, who was scheduled to dance “The Carioca” with Fred Astaire in Flying Down to Rio, married Merian C. Cooper instead. Ginger was by now under contract with RKO and was rushed onto the set of Flying Down to Rio three days after shooting had started.

“They get up and dance” in 1933

The stage direction in the original screenplay for Flying Down to Rio simply read, “they get up and dance.” Ginger Rogers was billed fourth and Fred Astaire fifth showing she was the bigger star at the time. In looking at Astaire and Rogers doing “The Carioca” in Flying Down to Rio one doesn’t get the impression that these are legends in the making. Ginger agreed as she wrote in her memoir that she never would have imagined what was to come from that dance. “The Carioca” is exuberant, youthful, and fun, but certainly lesser than most of the routines the couple would perform in subsequent films. I say that because we can now make a comparison. At the time audiences went crazy for “The Carioca” and the dancers who performed it, their only number together in the Flying Down to Rio and only role aside from the comic relief they provide. The picture was, after all, a Dolores Del Rio and Gene Raymond vehicle.

Doing the Carioca in Flying Down to Rio

Hermes Pan’s first assignment at RKO was to find Fred Astaire on stage 8 to see if he could offer assistance. Fred showed him a routine and explained he was stuck in a part for the tap solo in Flying Down to Rio. Hermes offered a suggestion and another legendary movie pairing was made. Pan worked on 17 Astaire musicals thus playing a key role is making Fred Astaire the most famous dancer in the world.

Pan explained that he went to early previews of Flying Down to Rio and was surprised to see the audience cheer and applaud after “The Carioca” number. The studio knew they had something big here and decided to capitalize on the Astaire-Rogers pairing.

When RKO approached Fred Astaire about making another picture paired with Ginger Rogers, Astaire refused. After years being part of a duo with Adele, the last thing he wanted was to be paired permanently with another dancer. If he was to do another picture he wanted an English dancer as his partner, they were more refined. Pandro Berman told him, “the audience likes Ginger” and that was that. Astaire was at some point given a percentage of the profits from these pictures and the worries about working with Ginger subsided. Ginger’s contribution to the pairing was not considered important enough to merit a percentage of the profits.

The Gay Divorcee (1934)

The Gay Divorcee offers ample opportunity to fall in love with the Astaire-Rogers mystique. The first is a beautiful number shot against a green screen backdrop, Cole Porter’s “Night and Day.” Fred as Guy professes his love for Mimi (Ginger), mesmerizing her with dance until she is completely taken by the end. He, so satisfied, offers her a cigarette.

Later in the film the two, now reconciled after a huge mix-up, dance “The Continental.” The song is introduced by Ginger who is swept off her feet to join the crowd in the elaborate production number. Needless to say Fred and Ginger clear the floor with outstanding choreography. “The Continental” sequence lasts over 17 minutes, the longest ever in a musical holding that record until Gene Kelly’s 18-minute ballet in An American in Paris in 1951. “The Continental” was clearly intended to capture the excitement of “The Carioca” and exceeds that by eons with enthusiasm and gorgeous execution by these two people whose chemistry is palpable. No one could have known if either Fred or Ginger could carry a movie, but The Gay Divorcee proved they were stars of unique magnitude. For 85 years dance on film has never been bettered and that’s why I celebrate this anniversary with all the enthusiasm I could muster as my contribution to The Anniversary Blogathon sponsored by the Classic Movie Blog Association (CMBA), which is celebrating its tenth year of classic love.

Doing The Continental in The Gay Divorcee

Fred always gets a solo number in these pictures, by the way and, as you’d expect, they’re wonderful. Many times these take place in hotel rooms all of which – luckily – have fantastic floors for tap dancing. In addition, The Gay Divorcee has the added attraction of a routine with Edward Everett Horton and Betty Grable, who has a small part in the picture.

Fred Astaire and Hermes Pan would begin work on the routines up to six weeks before the principal photography was scheduled to start on the pictures. Pan played Ginger’s part and would teach her the routines once she arrived to start rehearsals. Her part was long and arduous and Fred Astaire always said he admired her work ethic as she gave everything she had to make those routines memorable and match him move for move. Fred was also impressed by Ginger being the only one of his female partners who never cried. As they say, she did everything he did “backwards and in heels,” which by the way, is a phrase born in the following Frank and Ernest cartoon.

The unfailing result of their work together is absolute beauty in human form. Ginger Rogers completely gave herself to Fred Astaire, was entirely pliable to his every whim in dance. This is why they became legend. Fred may have partnered with better dancers and I certainly cannot say whether that’s true or not, but what he had with Ginger Rogers was special. The Gay Divorcee was only the beginning.

As for working with Fred again, Ginger had no worries. She enjoyed the partnership and the dancing and was fulfilled by doing various other parts at the same time. While Fred and Hermes worked on the routines she was able to make small pictures for different studios appearing in seven in 1934 alone.

Roberta (1935)

Fred and Ginger’s next movie together is William Seiter’s Roberta where they share billing with one of RKO’s biggest stars and greatest talents, Irene Dunne. Here, Fred and Ginger have the secondary love affair as old friends who fall in love in the end. As they do in most of their movies, Fred and Ginger also provide much of the laughs. The primary romantic pairing in Roberta is between Dunne and Randolph Scott.

The film’s title, Roberta is the name of a fashionable Paris dress shop owned by John Kent’s (Scott) aunt and where Stephanie (Dunne) works as the owner’s secretary, assistant, and head designer. The two instantly fall for each other.

Huck Haines (Astaire) is a musician and John’s friend who runs into the hateful Countess Scharwenka at the dress shop. Except Scharwenka is really Huck’s childhood friend and old love, Lizzie Gatz (Rogers). Fred and Ginger are wonderful in this movie, which strays from the formula of most of their other movies except for the plot between Irene Dunne and Randolph Scott, which is actually similar to that of other Astaire-Rogers movies. Again, aside from the dancing Fred and Ginger offer the movie’s comic relief and do so in memorable style with Ginger the standout in that regard.

There are quite a few enjoyable musical numbers in Roberta. Huck’s band performs a couple and Irene Dunne sings several songs including the gorgeous “When Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” and a beautiful sequence on stairs during a fashion show to “Lovely to Look At,” which received the film’s only Academy Award nomination for Best Music, Original Song. That number transitions into a Fred and Ginger duet and dance to “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” followed closely by an exuberant finale number.

Fred and Ginger in Roberta

Early in Roberta, at the Cafe Russe, Ginger is delightful singing “I’ll be Hard to Handle” with the band. She and Fred follow with a supremely enjoyable duet with their feet, a routine where each answers the other with taps. I believe there were requests for them to re-record the taps after the live taping as you can hear Ginger laughing during the routine, but Fred insisted to leave it as is. The result is a relaxed, wonderfully entertaining sequence I hadn’t seen in years. The pantsuit Ginger wears during this number is fabulous.

I’ll Be Hard to Handle routine in Roberta

Later, Ginger and Fred sing a duet to “I Won’t Dance” with Fred following with an extraordinary solo routine. This may be my favorite of his solo sequences, which includes an unbelievably fast ending.

Astaire in Roberta

Fred Astaire was perfection on the dance floor and, as many have said, seemed to dance on air. None of it came without excruciating hard work, however. Astaire was known for rehearsing and losing sleep until he felt every movement in every sequence was perfect. He stated he would lose up to 15 pounds during the rehearsals for these films. Clearly, nothing had changed since his days preparing for the stage with his sister.

Fred Astaire fretted over routines constantly. He could not even stand looking at the rushes himself so he would send Hermes Pan to look and report back. Astaire admitted that even looking at these routines decades later caused him angst. Of course, his absolute dedication to perfection, pre-planning even the smallest detail of every dance number, resulted in much of the legend of Fred and Ginger. Fred’s demands on set also made the pictures epic among musicals. Astaire insisted, for instance, to shoot every single sequence in one shot, with no edits. He also insisted that their entire bodies be filmed for every dance number and that taps be recorded live. He was known to say that either the camera moved or he moved. One of the cameramen at RKO who worked on the Astaire-Rogers pictures said that keeping Fred and Ginger’s feet in the frame was the biggest challenge. All of these Fred Astaire stipulations ensured that the performances are still moving many decades after they were filmed and all of them are as much a statement in endurance as they are in artistry.

Top Hat 

Directed by Mark Sandrich, Top Hat is the first film written expressly for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers by Deight Taylor and Alan Scott and feels bigger from its catchy opening sequence on forward than the other movies in the series to this point. This is perhaps the most well regarded of the Astaire-Rogers movie pairings and it’s no wonder because it’s delightful even though it shares several similarities with The Gay Divorcee. Joining Fred and Ginger once again are Edward Everett Horton in the second of three Fred and Ginger pictures he made, Eric Blore in the third of five, and Erik Rhodes in his second. To my delight Rhodes dons that wonderful, hilarious Italian accent, which by the way, got him barred by Mussolini. Joining the group in this picture is Helen Broderick as Madge Hardwick, Horton’s wife.

The story in Top Hat begins when Fred as Jerry Travers meets Ginger as Dale Tremont when he wakes her up by tap dancing in the hotel room above hers. She is naturally annoyed, but warms up to him fairly quickly the next day as he seeks her favor with Irving Berlin’s “Isn’t This a Lovely Day?” when the two are in a gazebo during a rainstorm. The song ends in a wonderful dance sequence that starts off as a challenge, but warms to affection. I should add we see here what we see in many Astaire-Rogers routines that is so darn exciting – when they don’t touch. The gazebo number is not as emotionally charged as others the couple executes because it is the lighthearted one in the picture, the one during which he woos her with dance. By the end of this number she is sold on him and what prospects may lay ahead.

It’s a lovely day to be caught in the rain from Top Hat

Unfortunately, after the gazebo number some confusion ensues as Dale believes Jerry is married to one of her friends. This is the requisite mistaken identity. It is Horace Hardwick (Horton) who’s married, not Jerry. Some innocent games and trickery take place before Dale is hurt and Jerry has to win her over once again. Then heaven appears.

“Heaven, I’m in heaven And the cares that hung around me through the week Seem to vanish like a gambler’s lucky streak When we’re out together dancing cheek to cheek”

These songs are standards for a reason. It just does not get better than that.

To continue the story – at the insistence of Madge Hardwick, Dale and Jerry dance as he sings those lyrics to her. She is mesmerized, wanting to believe him wearing that famous feather dress. They move onto a terrace in each other’s arms as the music swells.

A gorgeous, sexy backbend during Cheek to Cheek in Top Hat

Once again, the song is over and her heart is stolen. She’s seduced. And so are we.

One of the few times Ginger seriously disagreed with Fred concerning a routine was her stance on the feather dress for the “Cheek to Cheek” sequence. Fred hated it. During the number feathers went everywhere, including in his face and on his tuxedo. Ginger designed the dress and insisted she wear it, despite the cost of $1,500 worth of ostrich feathers. She was right. While you can see feathers coming off the dress during the number, none are seen on Fred’s tuxedo, but it doesn’t matter because it moves beautifully and adds immeasurably to the routine.

The feather dress didn’t stay there. In fact, it stayed with Ginger for some time as thereafter, Astaire nicknamed her “Feathers.” After what Ginger described as a difficult few days following the feather dress uproar, she was in her dressing room when a plain white box was delivered. Inside was a note that read, “Dear Feathers. I love ya! Fred”

Fred Astaire has two solo routines in Top Hat, “No Strings” at the beginning of the movie, the tap dance that wakes Dale, and “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails,” a signature production number considered one of his best.

Following in the tradition of “The Carioca” and “The Continental,” Top Hat features “The Piccolino,” an extravagant production number with song introduced by Ginger who said that Fred was supposed to sing the tune and hated it so he told Sandrich to give it to Ginger. In any case, she and Fred join the festivities with only their feet visible heading toward the dance floor, reminiscent of the movie’s opening sequence. It’s quite the rush as you see their feet advancing toward the dance floor, I must say.

“The Piccolino” is lively and fun, a terrific routine with a fun ending as the two end the number by sitting back at their table with Ginger having to fix her dress, a beautiful dress that made it to the Smithsonian.

Fred and Ginger doing The Piccolino

Top Hat premiered at New York’s Radio City Music Hall to record crowds. Added security had to be sent to the venue to ensure order. The movie went on to gross $3 million on its initial release, and became RKO’s most profitable film of the 1930s. 

Follow the Fleet (1936)

Mark Sandrich was back to direct Follow the Fleet, which I have a huge affection for. The Irving Berlin score in this film is superb with songs that take me back to my childhood and the memory of watching them on Saturday nights on our local PBS station. Fred, Ginger, Sandrich and the crew of Follow the Fleet heard about the record numbers of moviegoers attending Top Hat as they gathered to begin shooting this movie. The excitement certainly inspired them to make Follow the Fleet the cheerful, energetic movie it is. Although, Ginger hoped that by this, their third movie together, Mark Sandrich would recognize her worth it was not to be. She discusses his dislike of her a lot in her book.

Like in Roberta, Fred and Ginger’s relationship in Follow the Fleet is that of the secondary romantic couple supplying the laughs in the film despite the fact that they get top billing. The primary romance here is the one between Harriet Hilliard (in her first feature film) and Randolph Scott. The story is simple, Bake Baker (Astaire) and Bilge (Scott) visit the Paradise Ballroom in San Francisco while on Navy leave. At the ballroom are Connie Martin (Hilliard), who is immediately taken with Bilge, and her sister Sherry (Rogers), the dance hostess at the ballroom who also happens to be the ex-girlfriend of Bake’s. Sherry and Bake reunite by joining a dance contest and winning (of course), but it costs Sherry her job.

In the meantime, Connie starts talking about marriage to Bilge who is instantly spooked sending him into the arms of a party girl. Bake tries to get Sherry a job in a show, which entails a mistaken identity amid more confusion until things clear up and the two are successful, heading toward the Broadway stage. The confusion here comes by way of some bicarbonate of soda, in case you’re wondering.

Follow the Fleet is a hoot with several aspects straying from the usual Fred-Ginger formula. To begin, Fred Astaire puts aside his debonair self and replaces him with a much more informal, smoking, gum-chewing average guy. It’s enjoyable seeing him try to be common. Fred opens the movie with Berlin’s wonderful “We Saw the Sea,” the words to which I remembered during the last viewing, quite the surprise since I had not seen Follow the Fleet in decades. Later in the movie he gets another solo tap routine on deck of his ship with fellow seamen as accompaniment. Both instances are supremely enjoyable as one would expect.

Fred during one of his solo routines in Follow the Fleet

Ginger does a great rendition of “Let Yourself Go” with Betty Grable as a back-up singer. A bit later there’s a reprise of the fabulous song during the contest, the dance reunion of Bake and Sherry. According to Ginger, a search through all of Hollywood took place in hopes of finding other couples who could compete with Fred and her. This may already be getting old, but here you have another energetic, enjoyable routine by these two masters. The whistles from the crowd at the Paradise Ballroom show the audience enjoy it as well.

The Let Yourself Go routine during the dance contest in Follow the Fleet

As part of an audition, Ginger gets to do a solo tap routine, a rarity in these movies and it’s particularly enjoyable to watch. Unfortunately, Sherry doesn’t get the job as a result of the audition even though she’s the best the producer has seen. Thinking that he’s getting rid of her competition (mistaken identity), Bake prepares a bicarbonate of soda drink, which renders the singer incapable of singing. Sherry drinks it and burps her way through the audition.

Sherry during the rehearsal, a solo tap for Ginger in Follow the Fleet

Now rehearsing for a show, Bake and Sherry sing “I’m Putting All My Eggs in One Basket” followed by a wonderfully amusing routine where Ginger gets caught up in steps leaving Fred to constantly try to get her to move along. During the number the music also changes constantly and they have fun trying to stay in step be in a waltz or jazz or any number of music moods. This routine is a rare one for Fred and Ginger whose dance sequences are usually step perfect. It looks like they have a blast with this including a few falls and a fight instigated by Ginger.

“Eggs in One Basket” routine from Follow the Fleet

Fred and Ginger follow the comical exchange in “I’m Putting All My Eggs in One Basket,” with one of their greatest sequences, another rarity in that this one happens out of character for both in the movie. The wonderful “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” and the routine to it make as iconic an Astaire-Rogers sequence as has ever put on film. The song and the performance tell a mini story outside of the confines of the plot. This is a grim tale executed with extraordinary beauty as we see two suicidal people happen upon each other and are saved from despair through dance. Again, kudos to Berlin’s genius because the lyrics of this song are sublime.

“There may be trouble ahead But while there’s moonlight and music And love and romance Let’s face the music and dance”

Ginger is a vision as Fred guides her across the dance floor. The dance starts off with a sway, they are not touching, he’s leading her, but she’s despondent at first, unable to react to his urging that there is something to live for. As that beautiful music advances she responds and in the process conquers demons. The routine ends as the music dictates in dramatic fashion with a lunge, they are both now victorious and strong. Magnificent. The movie concludes minutes later because…what more is there to say?

“Let’s Face the Music and Dance” Fred and Ginger

Ginger in beaded dress for “Let’s Face the Music and Dance”

Ginger is wearing another legendary dress in the “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” routine. Created by one of her favorite designers, Bernard Newman, the dress weighed somewhere between 25 and 35 pounds. The entire thing was beaded and moved beautifully along with Ginger. Fred Astaire told the story of how one of the heavy sleeves hit him in the face hard during the first spin in the dance. They did the routine about 12 times and Sandrich decided on the first. If you look closely you can see Fred flinch a bit as Ginger twirls with heavy sleeves near his face at the beginning of the dance, which is affecting, beautifully acted by both, but particularly Ginger in the arms of Fred Astaire.

Lucille Ball plays a small role in Follow the Fleet and can be seen throughout the film and a couple of times during the “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” sequence. Also, Betty Grable makes an appearance in a supporting role. Harriet Hilliard sings two songs in Follow the Fleet as well, but to little fanfare.

By Follow the Fleet Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were top box office draws as a team. America was in love with Fred and Ginger. And they still hadn’t reached the apex of dance.

Swing Time (1936)

Swing Time was directed by George Stevens, his first musical, made when he was the top director at RKO Pictures. As I watched these films in succession I noticed something I never had before, Fred and Ginger’s dancing in Swing Time is more mature than in previous films. The emotionally-charged “Never Gonna Dance” sequence has always been my favorite, but I had never considered that it is because Astaire and Rogers are at their peak. This, they’re fifth starring outing as a pair, is their best.

The plot of Swing Time is similar to that of Top Hat to include the ever-present mistaken identity theme, but this movie is wittier and more inventive and clever surrounding memorable songs by Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern. The story here begins as dancer and gambler, Lucky Garnett (Astaire) arrives late for his own wedding to Margaret Watson (Betty Furness). Angry at the young man’s audacity, the father of the bride tells Lucky that the only way he can marry his daughter is to go to New York and become a success. Lucky heads East with his lucky quarter and constant companion Pop Cardetti (Victor Moore).

Once in New York the stage is set for a chance meeting between Lucky and Penny Carroll (Rogers). The encounter leads to the first routine in the movie to the glorious “Pick Yourself Up” at the dance academy where Penny works as an instructor. The exchange leading up to the dance sequence is quite enjoyable as Lucky makes believe he can’t dance as Penny tries in vain to teach him. His fumbling on his feet causes her to be fired by the furious head of the dance studio, Mr. Gordon (Eric Blore). To make it up to Penny, Lucky pulls her to the dance floor to show Gordon how much she has taught him and she delights in seeing his amazing dancing ability. The routine that ensues is energetic, fun, and the movie’s acquaintance dance after which Penny is completely taken with Lucky.

During the “Pick Yourself Up” routine in Swing Time

Watching Ginger transition from angry to incredulous to gloriously surprised to such confidence that the dance floor can’t even contain them is simply wonderful. As the dance progresses her joy grows naturally illustrated by such details as throwing her head back or giggling as Fred, who’s the wiser, wows her. And she, in turn, gives Gordon a few hard looks as he sits there making memorable Eric Blore faces. At the end of the dance their relationship is different and Gordon is so impressed he gets them an audition at the Silver Sandal Nightclub where they enchant the patrons and are hired. Incidentally, since Fred’s mood, shall we say, is what initiates and dictates these routines he has little emotional change through these mini stories. The journey is mostly all hers.

Before they do the nightclub act, Lucky sings “The Way You Look Tonight” to Penny while her hair is full of shampoo. The song won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song. Penny and Lucky are now in love. That night at the nightclub, Penny tells Lucky that bandleader Ricardo Romero (Georges Metaxa) has asked her to marry him many times so it’s no surprise when Romero squashes their chance to perform. That is until Lucky wins Romero’s contract gambling and sets the stage for the “Waltz in Swing Time”

“The Waltz in Swing Time” seems to me to be one of the most complex of the Astaire-Rogers dance sequences. Performed at the gorgeous art deco club, this routine is as airy as it is masterful. Fred and Ginger lovingly looking at each other throughout as twists and turns and light taps happen around them. Gosh, they are awe-inspiring.

The Waltz in Swing Time

The next day Lucky does all he can to avoid a love-making scene with Penny. He’s in love with her, but remembers he’s engaged to another woman and hasn’t told her. Meanwhile Pop spills the beans to Mabel (Helen Broderick, the fourth wheel in this ensemble.) A kissless Penny and a frustrated Lucky sing “A Fine Romance” out in the country and Ginger once again gives a lesson in acting. I’ve noted in other posts about how acting in song is never taken too seriously by people and this is another example. Ginger Roger’s reviews in these films were often mediocre with the praise usually going entirely Astaire’s way. Admittedly, Astaire-Rogers films are not dramatic landscapes that allow for much range, but the fact that Ginger manages believable turns in the routines and in all of the sung performances should be noted. She had an air of not taking the films and roles too seriously, but still managed a wide range of emotion, particularly when the time came to emote in dance. That only made her all the better and often the best thing in the movies aside from the dancing.

Fred Astaire has a wonderful production number, “The Bojangles of Harlem,” in Swing Time even though he performs in blackface. The number is intended to honor dancers like Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson who were influential to Fred Astaire. Aside from Fred’s indelible dancing in the sequence, the number is memorable for introducing special effects into Fred Astaire dance routines as he dances with huge shadows of himself. The effect was achieved by shooting the routine twice under different lighting. “Bojangles of Harlem” earned Hermes Pan an Academy Award nomination for Best Dance Direction.

As our story continues – Penny and Lucky are definitely into each other and Ricardo is still wooing Penny when Margaret shows up to spoil the festivities. Actually, she comes to tell Lucky she’s in love with someone else, but doesn’t have a chance to say it before Penny is heartbroken.

And so here we are…we see Penny and Ricardo talking. Given the situation with Lucky – his impending marriage and his losing their contract while gambling – she feels she has no choice but to marry Ricardo. Lucky walks in. Two heartbroken people stand at the foot of majestic stairs as he begins to tell her he’ll never dance again. Imagine that tragedy. The music shifts to “The Way You Look Tonight” and “The Waltz in Swing Time” throughout. Ginger, who had gone up the stairs, descends and the two walk dejectedly across the floor holding hands. The walks gathers a quiet rhythm until they are in each other’s arms dancing. Still, she resists, attempts to walk away, but he refuses to let her go until she succumbs, joining him in energetic rhythm, two people in perfect sync as the music shifts to past moments in their lives together – shifts between loud and quiet, fast and slow, together and apart – mimicking the turmoil of the characters in that time and place.

Ginger’s dress here is elegantly simple as if not to detract from the emotion of the piece, which is intense. Everything about this routine is absolutely gorgeous.

Fred and Ginger split toward the end of the number, each going up an opposite staircase on the elaborate set. They reach the top where the music reaches its crescendo. The two dance, a flurry of turbulent spins. Until she runs off leaving him shattered. And me.

To my knowledge, the “Never Gonna Dance” sequence in the only one where a cut had to happen during the dance in order to get the cameras to the top of the stairs. This is the famous routine that made Ginger’s feet bleed. One of the crew noticed her shoes were pink and it turned out to be that they were blood-soaked. Also notable is that the number was shot over 60 times according to Ginger and several other people there. At one point George Stevens told them all to go home for the night, but Fred and Ginger insisted on giving it one more try. That was the take that’s in the movie. Once done the crew responded enthusiastically.

In the end of Swing Time, as is supposed to happen, Lucky manages to interrupt Penny’s marriage to Ricardo and makes her all his own.

Ginger looks stunning in Swing Time. For details on her Bernard Newman designs in the film I suggest you visit the Glam Amor’s Style Essentials entry on this film.

Despite the many wonderful things about Swing Time, the movie marked the beginning of audience response to Fred and Ginger movies declining. The movie was still a hit, but receipts came in slower than expected. The Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers partnership never quite gained the same momentum as it did up to this point in their careers together. Although the pair was still an asset for RKO and they had many more memorable on-screen moments to share.

Shall We Dance (1937)

In 1937 Astaire and Rogers made Shall We Dance with Mark Sandrich at the helm once again. Edward Everett Horton and Eric Blore are also on hand for the film that featured the first Hollywood film score by George and Ira Gershwin.

The plot of Shall We Dance is a bit convoluted, but still enjoyable. Fred plays Peter P. Peters a famous ballet dancer billed as “Petrov” who yearns to do modern dance. One day he sees a picture of famous tap dancer Linda Keene (Ginger) and sees a great opportunity to blend their styles. Similar to their other movies, Fred falls in love with Ginger at first sight. It takes her longer to recognize his graces, but eventually falls hard for him too. That is, after many shenanigans and much confusion when she gets angry and hurt and then he has to win her over again.

Fred has a terrific solo routine here with “Slap That Base,” which takes place in an engine room using the varied engine and steam sounds to tap to. Ginger later does an enjoyable rendition of the Gershwin classic, “They All Laughed (at Christopher Columbus),” which leads to a fun tap routine for the duo. For this Ginger is wearing that memorable flowered dress by Irene who dressed her for this movie. This “They All Laughed” sequence is where he woos her and where she cannot help falling for him.

Soon after “They All Laughed” Fred and Ginger call the whole thing off in the classic sequence that takes place in New York’s Central Park on roller skates. At this point in the story the tabloids have reported the two are married and, having fallen for each other, they don’t know what to do. “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” was written by the Gershwins in New York prior to the making of Swing Time. The brothers brought the song with them to Hollywood and it works perfectly in the comedic scene with both Astaire and Rogers taking turns with verses of the catchy tune before starting the roller skating tap routine.

Unable to stop the rumors that they are married, Pete and Linda decide to actually marry in order to later divorce. The problem is that they’re both crazy about each other, which he demonstrates with one of the most romantic songs ever written, “They Can’t Take that Away From Me.” This song was a personal favorite of both Fred and Ginger. So much so, in fact, that the song was used again in their final film together, their 1949 reunion movie, The Barkleys of Broadway. “They Can’t Take That Away From Me” remains the only occasion on film when Fred Astaire permitted the repeat of a song previously performed in another movie.

George Gershwin died two months after Shall We Dance was released in May 1937. He was posthumously nominated for an Academy Award, along with his brother Ira, for Best Original Song for “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.”

The finale of Shall We Dance is an odd production number. Fred dances in front of dozens of women donning Ginger Rogers masks. Pete Peters decided if he can’t dance with Linda Keene then he’ll dance with many of the next best thing. The real Linda joins him for the final act, touched by his attempt to clone her. The end.

Carefree (1938)

Carefree is probably the Astaire-Rogers movie I’ve seen least and it was refreshing to take a new and improved look at it for this tribute. Mark Sandrich directs Fred and Ginger for the last time in this romantic comedy, the shortest of their films, which attempts a new story flavor for our stars with Irving Berlin tunes.

Stephen Arden (Ralph Bellamy) asks his Psychiatrist friend Dr. Tony Flagg (Astaire) to meet with his fiancée  Amanda Cooper (Rogers). Immediately we know Arden’s in trouble because Ralph Bellamy never gets the girl, but anyway… Amanda is having trouble committing to marrying Stephen and agrees to see Tony who immediately decides she needs to dream in order for him to decipher her unconscious. After having all sorts of odd foods for dinner Amanda dreams, but of Dr. Tony Flagg, not Stephen. Embarrassed by her dream, Amanda makes up a weird tale, which leads Tony to think she has serious psychological issues that only hypnosis can fix. In slapstick style, Stephen comes by Tony’s office to pick up Amanda and without realizing she’s hypnotized lets her run free on the streets causing all sorts of havoc.

Fed Astaire does a terrific routine early in Carefree where he hits golf balls to music. I know nothing about golf, but recognize this is quite astounding. In a 1970s interview, Fred commented on the scene with some affection saying it was not easy and couldn’t believe he was asked to do another take when the balls were ending off camera.

Amanda’s dream allows for a beautiful, fantasy-like routine to Irving Berlin’s “I Used to Be Color Blind” made famous because Fred and Ginger share the longest kiss here than in any other one of their movies. It happens at the end of the sequence done in slow motion, which definitely causes swooning. About the kiss Fred Astaire said, “Yes, they kept complaining about me not kissing her. So we kissed to make up for all the kisses I had not given Ginger for all those years.” Fred was not a fan of mushy love scenes and preferred to let his kissing with Ginger in movies be alluded to or simple pecks, but he gave in partly to quell the rumors that circulated about he and Ginger not getting along. As Ginger told the story, Fred squirmed and hid as the two reviewed the dance and she delighted in his torture. She explained that neither of them expected the long kiss as it was actually a peck elongated by the slow motion. That day she stopped being the “kissless leading lady.”

The longest kiss Fred and Ginger ever shared on-screen from Carefree

By the way, Ginger is wonderful in the sequence when she’s hypnotized. She gets an opportunity to showcase her comedic skills in similar fashion than she does in Howard Hawks’ Monkey Business (1952) opposite Cary Grant.

At the club one evening Ginger kicks off “The Yam” festivities. According to Ginger this is another instance where Fred didn’t like the song so he pawned it off on her. Who could blame him? Silly at best, “The Yam” is a dance craze that never actually catches fire as it doesn’t have the panache of “The Continental.” These people give it all they have, however, and the evening looks like an enjoyable one. Or, at least I would have loved to be there. Of course Tony joins Amanda in doing “The Yam” before the crowd joins in. As an aside, Life Magazine thought Fred and Ginger doing “The Yam” was worthy of a cover on August 22, 1938.

After yamming it up, Amanda is determined to tell Stephen she’s in love with Tony, but he misunderstands and thinks she professes her love for him. Suddenly Stephen announces their engagement. It’s a total mess that Tony tries to fix through hypnosis, which backfires supremely. Thank goodness everything straightens itself out in the end.

Before getting to the final, exceptional routine in Carefree the supporting cast deserves a mention. Louella Gear joins the fun in Carefree as Aunt Cora, in the same vein as Alice Brady and Helen Broderick in Fred and Ginger movies before her. Hattie McDaniel makes a brief appearance albeit as a maid, but it’s better to see her than not and Jack Carson has a few enjoyable scenes as a brute who works at the psychiatrist’s office.

After Amanda tells Tony she’s in love with him, he hypnotizes her to hate him because he doesn’t want to betray Stephen. When Tony realizes he loves Amanda it’s too late, she’s left his office to be happy with Stephen, avoiding Tony at all costs. But at the club one evening, Tony manages to find a few moments alone with her outside and what results is a sexy number during which she’s completely under his spell. In fact, this may be Fred and Ginger’s sexiest routine. “Change Partners and Dance With Me,” which begins inside as she dances with Stephen, is another beautiful song from Irving Berlin, which received one of the three Academy Award nominations for Carefree for Best Music, Original Song. The other two Oscar nods were for Best Art Direction and Best Music, Scoring.

Howard Greer designed Ginger’s gowns for Carefree and the one she wears in the impassioned “Change Partners and Dance With Me” dance is absolutely stunning.

Ginger is under Fred’s Spell in Carefree

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle directed by H. C. Potter is the ninth of ten dancing partnership films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, the last of their musicals in the 1930s and for RKO, and the only one of their films based on a true story and real people.

Vernon and Irene Castle were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers and dance teachers who appeared on Broadway and in silent films in the early 20th century. Hugely popular, the Castles were credited with popularizing ballroom dance with a special brand of elegance and style. Their most popular dance was the Castle Walk, which Fred and Ginger do in the movie. In fact, they replicate most of the Castle’s dances as closely to the original as possible. As you’d expect from Fred Astaire.

Irene Castle served as a Technical Advisor on The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle and the story goes that she eventually disowned the film because of the film’s lack of authenticity. In defense of some of the changes though, 1934 censorship restrictions were quite different than those in the 1910s. The differences affected costuming and casting at every level of the film. That said, Variety gave The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle a glowing review and the public received it warmly.

Ginger and Fred as Irene and Vernon Castle

It must be mentioned that The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle features two of the greatest character actors who ever lived. Edna May Oliver plays the Castle’s manager Maggie Sutton and Walter Brennan plays Walter, Irene’s majordomo, for lack of a better word, since she was a child. Both of these characters were changed dramatically for the film due to production code restrictions. The real Maggie Sutton (real name Elizabeth Marbury) was openly a lesbian and the real-life Walter was a black man. Neither of those suited the production code mind for broad appeal across the country.

Fred and Ginger do a fine job in this movie. The dances are pretty if not as elaborate as those Astaire and Rogers performed in their other movies. It is exciting to see them do a Tango, a dance I am particularly fond of. However, there is one other dance sequence in particular that moves me immensely, “The Missouri Waltz” at the Paris Cafe when Vernon returns from the war. The acting in the sequence is superb as you can feel the emotion jumping off of her as he picks her up in a gorgeous move during which she wraps herself around him. It’s stunning.

Ginger wrote in her book about the day they shot “The Missouri Waltz,” the last filmed in the movie and, to everyone’s mind, likely the last number she and Fred would ever do together. RKO was abuzz with rumors and people came from far and wide to watch them shoot it. They came from all around RKO, from Paramount and from Columbia to see this last dance. “This was a very dignified way to end our musical marriage at RKO.”

In 1939, after completing The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, Astaire and Rogers split as you know. Astaire’s salary demands proved too much for RKO pictures. Fred Astaire went on to make movie musical magic in all manner of ways, both alone and with other outstanding talents, leaving a rich legacy of treasures. Ginger Rogers went on to prove herself a true quadruple threat. We knew by 1939 that she could sing, dance and be funny but now, determined to go into straight drama she reaches the pinnacle with an Academy Award-winning performance in Sam Wood’s, Kitty Foyle in 1940. I recognize Ginger’s dramatic talent in the time I spent watching the many dance routines she did with Fred Astaire, but in a time when movies were seen just once it’s difficult to think of other actors who make the transition from film genre to film genre so seamlessly as she did. Hers was a rare talent.

Since I already dedicated an entire entry to Fred and Ginger as The Barkleys of Broadway, Josh and Dinah Barkley, I will forego a full summary here. For now let’s relive the reunion.

Ten years after she made her last appearance on-screen with Astaire, Ginger Rogers walked onto the set of The Barkleys of Broadway. The cast and crew had tears in their eyes. This was special. She said her “hellos”, kissed Fred Astaire and they got to work.  At first Ginger explained that Fred seemed disappointed. Judy Garland was scheduled to make the picture with him, but was replaced by Ginger. All of that doesn’t matter though because as a fan, I cannot fathom what it must have been like for audiences in 1949. If people are out of their minds excited about the release of a superhero film today, if audiences drool over a new and rehashed installment of Spiderman, imagine seeing legends together again after a ten-year sabbatical. I would have had to take a Valium. I get chills just thinking about it, and admit a bit of that happens when I watch The Barkleys of Broadway in my own living room. From the moment I see the opening credits, which are shown while the couple is dancing, quite happily – she in a gold gown and he in a tux, I mean, seriously, I’m verklempt right now. We are all happy to be together again.

Despite their great individual careers the magic of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers together cannot be replicated. And it wasn’t necessarily the dancing, or not the dancing alone, that made them a perfect pair. It was the glances, the touch, and the feel that made them magic. The spell of romance, real for the length of a composition, entranced. We all know Katharine Hepburn’s famous quote, “she gave him sex and he gave her class.” Well, Kate was not wrong. Fred Astaire was never as romantic as when he danced with Ginger. And Ginger, a down-to-Earth beauty, was never as sophisticated as when she danced with Fred.

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers brought prestige to RKO when it was in desperate need of it and joy to a nation hungry for respite from tough times. In a six-year span they established themselves as the best known, best loved dancing partners in the history of movies and have remained there for 85 years. I’ll end with these words by Roger Ebert, “of all of the places the movies have created, one of the most magical and enduring is the universe of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.”

Sources:

The RKO Story

Ginger: My Story by Ginger Rogers

The Astaires: Fred & Adele by Kathleen Riley

As many Fred Astaire interviews as I could find.

Be sure to visit the Classic Movie Blog Association (CMBA) and The Anniversary Blogathon. There are many fantastic film anniversaries honored for this prestigious event.

85 Years of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers It was 85 years ago this week, in October 1934, that Mark Sandrich’s The Gay Divorcee…

[ebiizaleth]

so season 8 was a shitstorm

DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS. HUGE RANT AHEAD.

First, we need to talk about Allurance. So few were rooting for it, and so few were actually expecting it, which made it even more disappointing than it was in the pure essence of the show. It was poorly developed and made practically no sense at all. Lance was after Allura since season 1 and every time he made any romantic advance on her, she shut him down, damaging his self esteem and fueling his insecurities.

The first time she ever showed any kind of romantic interest in him (s7 ‘blush’ scene) was out of the blue, had no development, and most of all, made no sense whatsoever. So, now Allura’s agreeing to go on a date with him as the first notable event in the season, which, again, made no sense and seemingly came out of some kind of Senseless Abyss. Originally, she didn’t even seem enthusiastic about going with him until Romelle encouraged her. And then the dinner, which felt forced and gave no extra insight to the characters except that Lance felt uncomfortable with his childhood stories being revealed to Allura (again, she fuels his insecurity). Even worse, Lance dropping the big “I love you” on their first date was from nowhere and completely abandoned any sense of his character the season hadn’t already stripped from him.

Worse, Allura wasn’t what Lance needed. The show is made for children, if I’m not mistaken, meaning it should give at least some lessons to kids about how life is. In that, you don’t always get the girl, and definitely not by pining after her for years. Allura didn’t do anything for (much less ‘develop’) Lance’s character. Lance needed someone who could empower him, aid him in overcoming his insecurities and helping him to develop as a person and bring out his positive qualities. Instead, she stripped him down to a tiny part of his character and made him solely for the purpose of being a love interest. If Allurance had actually been developed and made Allura a character who checked the boxes in that she is what Lance needs, I’d be far less infuriated and more just disappointed that it wasn’t a ship I prefer. Honestly, I could go on more about how annoyed I am by the Allurance clusterfuck but I’m going to show some mercy.

Second point. The characters. I mean, the characters are what make Voltron what it is, right? The characters are what the audience fell in love with at the start. But season 8 completely ruined any idea of that. Threw it all out the window. All logic seemed to depart the writers when actually writing the characters. Keith’s character and style was just... not. He was a lot softer than he was in previous seasons, which was nice to see, but there was pretty much nothing that led to him acting that way. A random change of heart isn’t exactly Keith’s (or anyone’s???) style.

Pidge was decent this season but had no development yet did get some good ‘look-at-me-I’m-smart’ moments (which, let’s be honest, we have seen too much of before). Hunk, again, was reduced to a fat joke and ‘likes cooking’. Shiro was practically nonexistent this season, which was one of the things I was really afraid of in the build-up to the season. Shiro’s irrelevance was so obvious that it made him relevant. And just for the brownie points, they throw in a wedding scene with some random background character and a good old mlm kiss to spice things up. Then there’s Allura. Who, to be honest, hasn’t changed much as a person through the course of the show. The only real change we saw in Allura was that she suddenly started to have feelings for Lance.

The person everybody’s talking about (and who am I to break a trend?), however, is Lance. This season, in my eyes, didn’t even include Lance.  The ‘boy from Cuba’ on the screen was not any Lance I’ve ever seen. By halfway through the first episode, there was practically none of Lance left, and no clear reason for his abandonment of character other than Allura. His inner insecurity vanishes, any cockiness or arrogance disappeared, and he had little to no ‘funny’ and/or ‘dumb one’ lines. He was kind, calm, emotional and mostly collected throughout. Which is definitely a part of Lance’s character, but only a small segment.  

And the plot? Didn’t understand about nine-tenths of it. In fairness, it may have been because I was pretty much bored out of my mind and stopped focusing, but either way, it was boring as fuck. It was frustrating, confusing and made almost no sense. From the random fight scenes to the overabundance of mechas and robots, I was done from around the fourth episode. I was confused for the entire thing.

We all already knew that Altean Lance was quite a popular concept, but not like this. Never like this. First of all, for about the billionth time I’ve said in this post, it makes zero sense. Is Lance part Altean now? Does he have any special powers or just the markings, an imprint on Allura’s unfortunate permanence on his character? So he can be sad about her for the rest of his life, and never move on? And for him to go on to be a fucking farmer and his whole life to revolve around Allura? That is not the Lance that we knew for seven seasons. I call bullshit. I’m genuinely really pissed off about this because Lance was such a fan favourite and they did him so dirty, just like they did us all dirty.  

Finally, the whole thing felt so odd and disjointed. It didn’t feel like a season of Voltron, it felt like one huge mess. The characters’ interactions, of the few that actually mattered outside of Allurance were weird and felt forced. Even the Klance-y moments felt slightly wrong in that Lance went to seek out the one person on the team he’s always struggled to get along with to have a heart-to-heart. The episodes all seemed to blur into one mix of bullshit and there were a shit ton of loose ends/unexplained bits of plot from both this season and previous ones that leave us all clueless as to what became of certain characters, why some events went the way they did, etc. The rest of Voltron, for the most part, managed to lead on well and keep the characters’ personalities consistent (even if they weren’t being developed). This was a shitshow.

By the end, with all the shit it had thrown at us, like going in Honerva’s mind, the fucking Altean markings, everyone being a shitty character and Allura dying having no lasting repercussions except turning Lance into some ridiculous stagnant idiot, I pretty much lost all sense of caring. To be honest, they could’ve ended it at the end of season 7 (minus the “It’s an Altean!!11!!” thing) and everyone would’ve been happier.

While I hated a lot about the season, there were a few things I did enjoy:

- Pidge with bunchies and she looked great this season

- Keith being soft (irritatingly without reason)

- Bae Bae

- Getting to know the MFEs (and Kinkade’s vlog/passion being shown)

- Colleen Holt (and her liking ‘Plance’)

- Veronica/Axca interactions

- Matt Holt

- The animation improved a bit??

- Ponytail Keith

- Shiro did get a happy ending, no matter how shittily done

[balarouge]

Why aren’t anglos more curious about local franco music? | Montreal Gazette

The surprise happened to me at Jean Leloup's inspiring program at Metropolis in the loss of 2015. It stays one of the best, very most thrilling shows I've observed previously many years, as Johnny the Wolf ripped through monitors coming from his bestselling return cd Paradis Cité and also tunes from his whole career.As I walked

around the nightclub, enjoying the program coming from different viewpoint, what definitely blew me was how almost everyone in the 2,000-strong group understood every one of the phrases to each of the songs, from very early hits like Isabelle and 1990 to the brand name brand-new tunes off of his most up-to-date album.It created me

recognize that Leloup is actually Quebec's substitute of Bruce Springsteen or even Bob Dylan. Not stylistically, however in the sense of his value to his reader. He is one of the most legendary figures of his generation.But listed below's the unusual feature of that night at City. There were actually no anglophones there. OK, perhaps there were actually a couple of branché chaps concealed in dark corners of the location, yet there weren't a lot of. And it possessed me asking yourself however again why it is actually that English Montrealers reveal thus little curiosity concerning popular music brought in en français ici. Anglo rock followers will like Leloup, but the majority of all of them have not heard his idiosyncratic stone. Canadian singer-songwriter Louis-Jean Cormier executes on stage with his boy as manies thousand

of militants flood the roads of Montreal during the course of the worldwide climate strike." If you're into indie rock, then Louis-Jean Cormier is your individual on the French edge, "CHOM music director Pierre Landry claims. MARTIN OUELLET-DIOTTE/ AFP/Getty Images documents image Exactly how is actually that my pals who adore alt-rockers like Wilco as well as Radiohead have certainly never provided a listen to Hubert Lenoir or even Louis-Jean Cormier or even, mention, Les Louanges,

the most recommended musician at this year's ADISQ Party. Les Louanges is actually Vincent Roberge and he makes dazzling late-night funky, jazzy spacey popular music that I trust my substitute anglo chums would certainly love. Les Louanges is up for nine Félix prizes at the yearly Quebec songs honors event, including for alternative album, doubter's option cd, singer-songwriter, finding of the year as well as song of the year.The same goes with the primary hip-hop nominees at the ADISQ Party-- Koriass, Loud as well as Alaclair Ensemble. If you relish hip hop then you will totally enjoy these 3 totally original artists. The ADISQ Party takes place Oct. 27. Thus exactly how to clarify this massive anglo inattention to franco music made chez nous?As excellent a beginning aspect as any type of is actually the fact that Canada stays extremely a lot residence to pair of cultural solitudes( and lots of other privacies, however that is actually another account ). If you relish hip-hop, you'll adore Koriass

, Brendan Kelly points out. Marie-France Coallier/ Montreal Gazette file photo "There are really two Canadas," said Nicolas Boulerice, who sings and also performs piano in the trad Québécois band Le Vent du Nord, which is actually up for pair of Félix prizes this year.The band is actually contending with on its own in the

group of absolute best traditional album, for their album Territoires and also for the album Notre cd solo , a task coupling Le Vent du Nord withthe band De Temps Antan." There

's very little bit of animosity today in between anglophones and also francophones therefore there is actually a little more openness," stated Boulerice. "Nationalist francophones don't experience they reside in a battle with anglophones anymore. The 2 edges are talking more than before ... however maybe it's difficult for anglophones to approve their unawareness of francophone lifestyle. It takes a ton of humility to claim, 'OK I possess to begin with Ground Absolutely no listed here.' It might intimidate individuals off, to must make an effort to recognize music from an additional lifestyle." There is actually that hesitation for anglos also though the majority of our team do not listen to the lyrics the only thing that carefully the majority of the opportunity. What is necessary originally is the groove, the riff, the tune and afterwards perhaps a little later, you may observe what the performer is actually performing about. Exactly how is actually that people that enjoy alt-rockers like Wilco as well as Radiohead have certainly never offered a listen closely to Hubert Lenoir? Montreal Gazette documents photo" I paid attention to a ton of modern

stone when I was maturing, "Boulerice pointed out." I am actually a huge enthusiast of King Crimson, Origin as well as Yes. Also today I have no tip what they are actually vocalizing around. " The hilarious aspect of Le Vent du Nord is actually that though they are actually incredibly political as well as extremely nationalist, they allure to non-franco target markets in the remainder of Canada

and worldwide given that there is actually an international passion in conventional songs as well as those sorts of audiences don't care what foreign language the tracks are in.Matt Lang-- whose real title is Mathieu Langevin

-- performs new-country-style in the language of Keith Urban and also his self-titled debut cd is actually chosen at the ADISQ Gala in the category of greatest anglophone album, along with Marie Davidson's Working Class Female, Alex

Henry Foster's Window overhead, Jesse MacCormack's Currently as well as The Brooks' Freewheelin 'Walking.Lang claims it is actually certainly not that surprising that anglos listen closely mostly to music in the foreign language they knew initially. "The No. 1 worldwide foreign language is actually English plus all the music happening from the rest of Canada and the USA is in English, thus there's lots and also

great deals of choice in English-language popular music," Lang said." If anglos have the choice of listening to Ed Sheeran or one thing in French, for sure they're going to decide for Ed Sheeran. In Quebec, the francophone terminals participate in francophone and also anglophone music, whereas the anglophone terminals just play British popular music. It feels like, I don't pay attention to Spanish songs since I do not know just about anything about it.

" Dairy +Bone tissue's reader is mainly francophone, though they perform in English. They are actually with a record label

that is actually typically anchored in the franco community. ALICE CHICHE/ AFP/Getty Images data photo Pierre Landry, music director at CHOM, states it is actually a shame anglos do not show a bit even more inquisitiveness concerning what is actually participating in on the franco side of the fencing. "Most of anglophones are going to pay attention to English music," said Landry." However it happens down to culture. Since they relate to a specific factor, they'll eat that product. The reality is our company have actually got the francophone matching of what is actually on the market. If you enjoy indie stone, then Louis-Jean Cormier is your individual on the French side

. If you enjoy one thing like Ariane Grande or even something a little bit more stand out, then you've obtained Marie-Mai ... yet given that there's thus much English society on the market, it is actually easy to forget what is actually occurring on the French edge. You are actually presently over-served with British songs. I think it is actually due to the fact that

they don't understand the culture." Solange Drouin, director general of ADISQ( Organization québécoise de l'industrie du disque, du display et de Los Angeles vidéo), took note that francophone musicians have actually had little effectiveness boosting their market portion below in Quebec lately as well as said obviously these artists would really love to attract anglophone listeners.Camille Poliquin, one fifty percent of the Montreal electro-pop duo Dairy +Bone, said their target market is actually mostly francophone, though they vocalize in English. Milk+ Bone is actually chosen at the ADISQ Gala for greatest anglophone program for their Deception Bay trip. She stated their reader is primarily francophone because they are on a record tag, Bonsound, that is much more anchored in the franco neighborhood." Both sides of the songs industry in Montreal are actually super polarized," said Poliquin." Our experts don't observe the English tags ever before and I presume we would expand and also know a great deal (if the sector was less polarized )." The performances are actually still primarily separate, as are actually the readers. Pair of solitudes, you mention?

This content was originally published here.

[thebluepaladinlance]

Title: Space Hospital Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Voltron Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron), Lance/Sven (Voltron), Keith/Lance/Sven (Voltron) Characters: Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron), Sven (Voltron), Hunk (Voltron), Pidge (Voltron), Allura (Voltron) Summary: "I'll be fine. Just take me to Space Hospital." -An Actual Thing Said in Season 3

I finished season 3 and really wanted to write something with Sven in the actual Space Hospital lol.  I ship him and Lance really hard (and Keith too)???  Also I haven’t written in a very long time so I’m very sorry if it’s bad.

Read on AO3 or below!

It had nearly been a full day since the paladins had found Slav and Sven on that lone Altean ship, and luckily Pidge had manged to find an actual Space Hospital floating nearby. After several hours and some blood loss later, Sven was finally admitted and was comfortably resting in a hospital bed. Miraculously he was in stable condition, and no vital organs had been damaged.

The paladins had left Slav and Sven for a bit so they could grab some lunch and some goodies to cheer Sven up. When everyone walked back into the hospital room, they were all happy to see that he was awake and seemed to be in high spirits.

"There's my favorite alternate universe guy!" Lance exclaimed, almost tripping on some electrical cords trying to make his way over to the bed.

Keith rolled his eyes.

"Let's not wake up the entire hospital, Lance," Allura stated as she placed a hand on Sven's shoulder.

"I just can't help it," the blue paladin said enthusiastically, "he, like, saved my life out there!" He grinned from ear to ear.

Sven smiled warmly. "I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for you all. Thank you for that."

"We're happy to help," Pidge shrugged, glancing around the room. "That's kind of our thing, I guess. You know, defenders of the universe and all."

"Anyways," Hunk started, "We all chipped in and got something for you to kinda brighten up your hospital room." He gently placed a large, rather ornate flower arrangement on the nightstand next to the hospital bed. "We hope you like it!"

Keith, who was leaning against the corner, finally spoke. "It was mostly Lance's idea," he said with the slightest bit of a smirk as he looked right at the blue paladin.

Lance felt his face heat up, and he really hoped no one could see it.

"I mean, it wasn't TOTALLY my idea," Lance said with less bravado and more embarrassment. "It was kinda like a group thing, you know? I-it's not really important whos idea it really was." Lance cleared his throat nervously as he looked anywhere but Sven's face.

"Yeah, but you definitely picked most of the flowers out, right?" Keith said slowly, gesturing to the arrangement.

Thankfully, Allura joined in, stating she too helped pick the flowers out since she was more versed in flower language than anyone else. Lance breathed a sigh of relief. He was totally going to get back at Keith somehow.

"That's very kind of you all," Sven said softly, glancing around at the group before finally letting his eyes fall on Lance. "They really are beautiful."

Thankfully he was in a hospital already, because Lance was totally going to die right then and there.

After some time passed, the paladins were ready to leave. One by one, they left the room, wishing Sven the best. Lance fell back, making no real attempt to move.

"Hey, uh, I'm gonna stay here for a few more minutes, okay?" he stated, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Pidge nodded. "Sure, we'll wait in the lobby for you."

Finally, it was just Lance and Sven, alone in the hospital room. Lance rubbed the back of his head nervously, trying to shake off the butterflies. How could he not be nervous when he was standing right next to his (hot) alternate universe hero?

"Hey man, I, uh, just wanted say...thanks again for saving my life. You really risked it out there for me." Why? Lance wanted to ask. Why would someone he barely even knew take a bullet for him?

"I couldn't let you get hurt," Sven started, a wistful smile on his face. "You remind me of someone I used to know. That's why."

Lance swallowed. His throat suddenly felt like a desert.

"Will we ever see each other again?" Lance's voice cracked mid-sentence. He winced inwardly. "I mean, we're constantly on the move, right?"

Sven chuckled, and it was the most beautiful sound Lance had heard all day. "You found me, right?" He gestured to his IV. "Just as soon as I can get out of here. We'll meet again someday, I know it."

Damn. He really wished he had a cell phone.

"Can you do me a favor though?" Sven asked, gesturing to the pillows he was leaning on. "It still hurts to move, can you maybe adjust them a bit for me?"

"Yeah," Lance mumbled, fluffing the pillows so Sven would be more comfortable. "Is that any better?"

Sven nodded. "One more thing. Can you come a bit closer?"

Lance couldn't breathe. He sat on the bed, awkwardly, and was about to say something when Sven cupped his cheek and gently pressed his lips against the blue paladin's.

That was it, he was literally going to die right then and there, he knew it.

"Something for you to remember me by," Sven mumbled before lacing his fingers with Lance's.

In a burst of confidence, Lance leaned in and kissed him again, deeper this time, memorizing exactly how the moment felt so he could mentally replay it later.

Holy shit.

"Your friends are waiting for you," Sven muttered against his lips, kissing him one last time.

Lance nodded and squeezed Sven's hand. "Yeah," he said breathlessly, "I guess they are." He reluctantly drew back before getting off of the bed.

"Don't get into too much trouble, alright?" Lance said with a smile and a wink.

Sven grinned. "I won't if you won't."

With a wave, Lance walked out of the hospital room, nearly beaming. He also nearly ran right into Keith, who had been waiting outside in the hallway.

"You ready to go, finally?" Keith said, raising his eyebrows.

"Uhhh yeah, of course!" Lance stuttered, running a hand through his hair, trying to play it cool. "I'm ready to go when everyone else is!"

Keith hmmmed and stroked his chin thoughtfully. "It's okay if you're hot for alternate universe Shiro, you don't have to hide it from me."

Lance couldn't even deny it. He rubbed his temple.

"In any case, I thought he was cute too," the red Paladin said, shrugging. "Maybe we can hang out when he gets out of the hospital, right?"

Lance nodded.

"Just no taking a bullet for each other, okay?" Keith patted Lance on the back. "I can't lose you."

With a smile, Lance followed him out into the hospital lobby.

[nofomoartworld]

Art F City: Why Mid-Tier Galleries Leave New York

Monya Rowe in St. Augustine Florida

As an artist who moved out of New York City, I’m not alone in finding new energy, inspiration and freedom. My move was from Brooklyn to Asheville, North Carolina. But when I noticed multiple long-established New York galleries also making such moves, it surprised me. Don’t galleries have to stay close to collectors?

According to four dealers I spoke to who had moved out of the city, the cost of operating a gallery in New York City was a major factor for everyone, though lifestyle was also a factor. Says Monya Rowe, of Monya Rowe Gallery “Sadly, NYC is killing itself with all the rent hikes.” Rowe ran a gallery in Williamsburg, Chelsea and the Lower East Side for 12 years before she relocated to St. Augustine Florida in 2015.

If there’s a meta-message here, it’s that the cost of rent for galleries and artists alike is at a crisis level. According to Kristen Dodge, who ran Dodge Gallery in the Lower East Side from 2010 to 2014, and now runs September, in Hudson, New York, this trend may be shifting the kinds of work that can be made in New York, “I don’t know how anyone affords to live in the city. I’m seeing a lot of artists struggling to have studio space – those who are staying in the city are prioritizing networking over art. With the economics of art, and the city where you need to be to network, I’m curious whether art is getting more digital, less materially-based.”

You might expect a New York-griping to follow. But not one gallerist moved because of a dislike of New York. Mostly, they commented on the economic trends of the art world.

Dodge said, “I have no interest in bashing the city [or the people choosing to keep their galleries there] – I respect the people who are making it work. But there is this trend, that as soon as a small gallery becomes successful, they get a bigger space, hire an architect, in order to satisfy the artists whose careers they’ve helped build. I tell you, though, those artists leave anyway. And clients? I don’t know if it changes their collector base. But I’ve seen it [these expansions] at least three times in the last few years, these galleries close.  It sucks.”

Jimi Dams, who has run Envoy Enterprises in the Lower East Side since 2005, is one gallerist who has chosen to close his gallery instead of moving. His feelings on the economic trends in the art world are more dire. “I was director of Feature in ‘97, and we barely broke even. But that wasn’t the goal. Hudson [the deceased owner] wanted to show what he wanted to show, and if it didn’t sell, so be it. It was supposed to do what art should do – broaden people’s perspectives. The others now are showing what everyone else is showing in every museum in the whole world – you go to Paris, Ai Wei Wei, you go to London, Ai Wei Wei. There’s no interest in looking at something else. During the art crash of the 90s, people went and bought a bunch of art for really cheap.” And this, says Dams, was great support for the artists in a hard time, but also great for the collectors – because those artworks appreciated in value and accrued prestige to those collections.

“But in 2008, the collectors all went for the highest – the things that are supposedly ‘certain.’ They are doing what brokers say not to do — buying things at their highest value. They’re not interested in buying things at $300. Now, they just want what everyone else wants, only bigger. It’s the ugliest side of capitalism. It destroys everything creative on every level.”

Tracy Morgan Gallery, An Hoang: Forest for Trees

Tracey Morgan—who worked for Yancey Richardson Gallery, and as an independent art advisor and is now opening a gallery in Asheville—made her move in part to fulfill a dream of opening a traditional brick and mortar space. “I would never even have attempted to open a gallery in NYC. We wouldn’t have had the security, without putting our entire financial future at risk. I’m having to figure out new ways to get an audience. Maybe this is what other galleries in New York are doing. The gallery model isn’t working anymore. Others are doing other stuff – Sasha Wolfe, Andrea Rosen. They’re doing pop ups and art fairs. They still promote their artists, but using a different model. But here I am, with a standard gallery model.”

“I think galleries are adapting to the obstacles that real estate presents,” says Monya Rowe. “I don’t think galleries care as much about being on the ground floor anymore, or having huge spaces, and I don’t think artists are as concerned with this anymore either. People—both dealers and artists—want to collaborate with someone whom they can trust, who puts on good shows and has a good following.”

Clearly, having a good following is key to the success of these galleries. Most of them feel that keeping, growing and expanding their audience is their primary challenge.

For Jeff Bailey, who ran a gallery in Chelsea for 11 years and is now located in Hudson, and Kristen Dodge, the proximity of Hudson to New York City means they can maintain most of their existing ties. And for Monya Rowe and Tracey Morgan, their New York ties are still important.

“I don’t think I would have opened the gallery in Hudson if I hadn’t had the gallery in New York City,” says Jeff Bailey. “Foot traffic alone here is not enough. Building up the audience, expanding on that audience—that is really important.”

All of the dealers moved in part for their own lifestyle, and all chose places with an existing creative community. Says Bailey, “One thing about Hudson, the restaurants make it an interesting place, there’s a music scene here, a lifestyle choice. There’s a creative economy creating opportunities. People come to a place, do the work they do, then more people like them come, allowing galleries with a big city bent to come and have an audience.”

Asheville has an outsized cultural influence for its size – with a music scene, a craft brewery scene, a culinary scene and a longstanding Appalachian maker/DIY/craft culture, which attracted the cutting-edge Black Mountain College in the early 20th century.

And St. Augustine has always been seen as an artsy place in Florida. Says Rowe, “ St. Augustine really embraces its’ “oldest town in the U.S.” charm and many people pass through on vacation or have second homes here. There are a lot of New Yorkers that come into town too.”

Being in a smaller city means, in part, speaking to the location itself – whether by showing local artists, or engaging in local causes. Says Kristen Dodge, “It’s much more community-oriented. Right now I’m co-organizing a Planned Parenthood benefit show with Dawn Breeze of Instar Lodge, and I had a post-election show to benefit Planned Parenthood and the Stanley Keith Social Justice Center. I’m also doing yoga classes.”

This emphasis on sense of place was, ironically, something that gallerist Photios Giovanis hoped to move away from. Giovanis – whose Callicoon Gallery is named for the town in upstate New York where it began in 2009 – chose to move his gallery into New York City in order to step out of a dialog about place. “Ultimately, I couldn’t be part of the whole dynamic conversation happening in New York City. I wanted to be more directly linked to the international world of art, which I ended up participating in. In New York, you’re not expected to talk about the locality. I mean, you can. It’s definitely a place. But there’s a way where major art centers get away with it not having to be about the location.”

For all of the gallerists who relocated, the move is fostering new thinking, new opportunities, new flexibility and the ability to take more risks. “A new location has made me be more open with my gallery choices. Change usually facilitates new thinking, for better or worse,” says Monya Rowe.

Says Bailey, “I think it’s exciting for artists, dealers, art enthusiasts, these days because there can be a really interesting gallery in a different town. There is real community up here. Everything doesn’t happen in NYC, even though it’s where a lot happens.” Bio: Hannah Cole is an artist and Enrolled Agent. She is the founder of Sunlight Tax.

from Art F City http://ift.tt/2sXgXT3 via IFTTT

[1dhomeroom]

Harry Styles didn’t just become a rock star – he always was one

Let’s stop pretending that boy bands and rock bands are direct opposites.

Harry Styles has undergone a radical transformation. Say goodbye to the manufactured, sweet-cheeked pop baby of yore, and say hello to the authentic rock star of tomorrow. This is the narrative the vast majority of coverage of his debut, self-titled album (released today) will offer you.

The New York Post led with how “Harry Styles went from teeny-bop to classic rock”, after “years of being cooped up in the cage of One Direction”, leading to a shift in “the teen-girl hysteria” that followed 1D “like a screeching shadow.” The Daily Mail quipped that he has moved “in a very different direction”, while Metro agreed the album is “a definite departure from his One Direction days.”

“One Direction’s fans have grown up” NME wrote, and “Harry’s music has too.” Buzzfeed announced that “Harry Styles Isn’t Following The Pop Star Playbook”, while Stereogum headlined their review “Harry Styles, Prince Of Pop, Takes A Stab At Rock Stardom”, opening with “Here’s a sign of the times for you: The most famous member of the world’s leading boy band is trying to become a rock star”. The Telegraph’s review found the departure so stark that it offered the following intensely patronising speculation: “It is so old-fashioned it may actually come across as something new to its target audience. After all, most One Direction fans wouldn’t even have been twinkles in their parents’ eyes when this kind of ragged confection was all the rage.” Because, tragically, society has still not discovered a way to make music from the past available to modern ears.

Of course, there is some truth in the observation that this is not a One Direction album. More relaxed, dishevelled and playful than any One Direction product, Styles experiments with a diverse range of influences on this debut, and lyrically, you can absolutely tell that these are the most sincere words of a 23-year-old, not an experienced adult songwriter trying to get inside the brain of a teenager.

But fans of the band will see this album as a natural next step for Styles after One Direction’s increasingly classic rock-influenced songs. After their first two albums, Up All Night and Take Me Home, the band began to become more guitar-heavy and nostalgic: established publications were outraged that Midnight Memories’ lead single “Best Song Ever” dared to reference The Who, while the bands final two albums – Four and Made in the AM, are packed with varied rock references, particularly songs on which Styles has a writing credit, even if more traditional music press insisted the albums remained “bubble-gum”.

Harry even chose to play one of these One Direction tracks on his Today appearance this week, Four’s “Stockholm Syndrome”, which takes the experience of being taken hostage as its central (potentially problematic) conceit. It’s a favourite amongst fans who never thought they’d devote themselves so sincerely to a boy band – “Baby, look what you’ve done to me.” It sounded complimentary to the songs he played from the new album “Carolina”, “Sign of the Times” and “Ever Since New York”. For me, “Sweet Creature”, the second single from Styles’s debut, is a natural extension of One Direction’s “I Want To Write You a Song” and tracks co-written by Styles, “If I Could Fly” and “Walking in the Wind”.

In terms of music, then, Harry hasn’t made as radical a departure as many suggest – so why is the predominant narrative still one of an aspiring rock artist desperately hoping to shake off his pop past? Certainly, he’s long looked like a rock star – always the most androgynous and bohemian of his bandmates, experimenting with floral suits, women’s jeans and heeled boots. Pictures of the four boys together sometimes seemed as though they were taken in an alternative universe where Marc Bolan had accidentally stumbled accross Take That on the red carpet. He single-handedly brought back the pussy-bow, for God’s sake. He’s always had the charisma of a rock star, the mystery, the mischievousness, and the style of a rock star.

Styles is, in fact, very much the traditional rock star – his very appeal may be due to the fact that he is the most traditional one we’ve had in years. Like McCartney, John Lennon, David Bowie, Jagger, Marc Bolan, or Kurt Cobain, Styles is creative, interested in fashion, androgynous, boyish and followed around the world by a stream of enthusiastic fans, who are mostly young women. Like boy bands past and present, the rock canon is littered with pretty boys with ambiguous sexualities engaging in over the top homosocial bonding on stage – Harry could not tick these boxes more enthusiastically. Harry Styles didn’t just become a rock star overnight – he always was one.

The boy band is still often seen as the antithesis of the rock band, despite their many cultural similarities in terms of audience and marketing. In fact, bands like The 1975 and Blossoms are exploiting those overlaps by positioning themselves somewhere between boy band and rock group. But the boy band remains dismissed and derided while rock groups are mythologised and worshipped as art.

One person who seems less interested in this particular narrative is Styles himself. In his Rolling Stone interview, Styles said of One Direction, “I love the band, and would never rule out anything in the future. The band changed my life, gave me everything.” He went on to celebrate the young women who have supported his career. “Who’s to say that young girls who like pop music – short for popular, right? – have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy? That’s not up to you to say. Young girls like the Beatles. You gonna tell me they’re not serious? How can you say young girls don’t get it?”

In a small cinema in Notting Hill last night, Styles hosted an intimate screening of a new documentary, Harry Styles: Behind The Album, for a group of fans from One Direction’s golden age. After introducing it, he stayed to watch from the side-lines. The hour-long film is a striking look at the last year or so of Styles’s life, including clips of him drinking and swimming in Jamaica, lounging around in Hawaiian shirts snoozing in the ocean on a surfboard; shots of his much-discussed haircut of 2016; an impressive Bob Dylan impression; and several minutes devoted to Styles’s bromance with his guitarist Mitch Rowland, with clips of them flirting and exchanging guitars and declarations of love. (The album’s executive producer, Jeff Bhasker, told the New York Post of Rowland, “He’s kind of like the Keith Richards to Harry’s Mick Jagger. That type of dynamic between the lead guitar player and the singer needs to exist for the type of music Harry wants to do.”)

About 15 minutes in to the documentary, we cut to black and white clips of One Direction playing their biggest stadium shows, while Harry reflects on the strangeness of the narrative being imposed upon him. “When you leave a band – a boy band – you feel like you have to go in a completely different direction, and say, ‘Don’t worry everyone, I hated it, it wasn’t me.’”

He pauses and smiles.

“I loved it.”

Cheers erupted from the fans in the row in front of me.

“And I don’t feel like I have to apologise for that. I never felt like I was faking it.”

Perhaps the main thing that separates Styles from some of his rock counterparts is his enormous respect for pop music, young women, and the extraordinary dynamic that can emerge between an artist and their fans. Whether this is a calculated fan-servicing move or not – it’s one that critics should aspire to.

“The thing with the band,” Harry continues in the documentary, “was that it went so well, from the start, that it almost felt like everything had to get a little bigger each time. I think at some point it’s quite stressful. There’s only so high you can go, at some point you’re not going to make that expectation. Going out on a high and now feeling like I’m starting afresh, I came to terms with the fact that that was so great, and if I never get to do that on that level again, that’s okay.”

Styles has confronted the fact that the sweaty combination of youth, beauty, hype, and sheer devotion that propelled him and his bandmates to ridiculous levels of fame is unsustainable. To keep moving forward, he knows they had to change. But changing, for Styles, isn’t a simply clean break. And it doesn’t involve discarding, rebranding or disowning the people who helped him get where he is.

Harry Styles is out now. Harry Styles: Behind The Album is out on Monday on Apple Music.

http://www.newstatesman.com/culture/music-theatre/2017/05/harry-styles-solo-one-direction-rock-pop-boyband

"I loved it." ... past tense

[justaplacetothrowanything]

phelim mcdermott on mime

40 Years of the Mime festival This is a transcript of a speech I gave at the opening party of the 40th London International Mime Festival

Phelim Enters stage.. Before he gets to  the mike he opens a mimed door and goes inside the room which the microphone is within.

Phelim: Before I began speaking I wanted you to see something. I wanted you to see the thing that I have done more than anything else onstage. In all the years since I started performing I have entered more imaginary doors than anything else. This is mostly because I have been doing improvised scenes since the mid 80’s. And throughout that time the one thing I have continued to do is enter rooms without knowing what is on the other side.

The beauty of mime of course is that it is as simple as that. Someone walks onstage and with nothing else creates images in the audience’s mind. This ability as many of you here know is mime’s blessing and its curse. There is a reason that Dustin Hoffman pushes over a mime artist in the film Tootsie. What could be more annoying than a mime artist?

The comedian John Dowie tells a story he posted on facebook recently: He is attending an early gig of the newly formed group Tyrannosaurus Rex fronted by the singer Mark Bolan. Before the main act appears a young performer comes onstage to open for them. He then proceeds to perform the most toe-curlingly embarrassing Mime act that has ever been seen….He later learns the name of the performer is David Bowie.

It is 1985 and I am attending an early workshop with the teacher Philipe Gaulier. You can tell it is an early workshop as Philippe is still smoking … He looks like he has one of those joke shop pipes where the moustache is glued to the stem of the pipe.. He sits there fuming…  literally.  In Gaulier’s broken English he Challenges the performers..  He is the embodiment of the ring master archetype..

Next

One by one the performers leap up.

Next

You are not funny..

Urgh.. not funny…

Are we supposed to be laughing..

This is a crime to theatre..

A young  Brazilian performer leaps up excitedly.. He is very keen… And very enthusiastic  He uses his body… This is “Physical theatre”.. Then the unthinkable…

What are you doing here?

You are A MIME!   Aargh.. what are you doing ere.. you are Mime artist. I hate MIME! We don’t want to see this… Please keep this at home… Only In your bedroom.. Get off the stage..

Each time the performer jumps up.. Always the same…

Off!

Off! you are Mime!  We don’t want to see this..,  It is disgusting…

All this is at once very painful and very funny.. On the last day there is what is known in the tradition of the workshop as the Clowns’ rebellion..  Just as every other day.. Our keen Brazilian performer leaps up and is challenged to get off the stage..

OFF!

But wait.. He Summons all the courage in his heart and refuses to budge..

Off the stage…

He does not move

Off!

No.. He is not only sticking his ground.. he is advancing on the ring master and moving towards Gaullier.. And yes he is doing it… he is actually miming a glass wall. Then proceeds one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Gaulier begins to turn red.. He is smoking.. .Fuming…From his pipe…From his ears… He is ra ging… He is also desperately trying not to laugh.. As he is slowly, methodically and beautifully imprisoned within a perfect and very small, glass mime box. I swear to you that box slowly filled up with the smoke from his pipe.

I  make theatre, direct, improvise, devise, it’s visual, physical and live. It often involves putting things together that haven’t been combined together before. That could be the kinds of people involved for example  The Tiger Lilies and puppeteers in Shockheaded Peter. Or It could be the form: Opera with juggling in the Philip Glass Opera Akhnaten. I first came across the Mime festival through hearing about the kind of shows that were in it. First from John Wright at Middlesex Poly and then from talking to like minded performers who were on the kind of training workshop I did with people like Gaulier, Keith Johnstone.  Just now a quick glance through the list of shows from every year amazed me.

40 years! The only year I could find where there wasn’t somebody who I hadn’t perfomed or collaborated with at some point over the years was in 2014. People who make visual theatre are a community that knows how to find each other. The number of people who are influences or inspirations from visual theatre is endless. The seminal gig I did with the Mime festival was the Edward Gory: Vinegar Works trilogy with my then company “dereck,dereck Productions”. We were commissioned to create it by the Mime festival at the Almeida in 1989. We rehearsed the show in Richard Jones’s flat. And created a melodramatic Theatrical Family called “The Frastley’s” who were performing their show as therapy for having their child abducted by “The Insect God”

The final piece in the trilogy:” The West Wing" consisted of strange noises, scene changes as theatre and wallpaper peeling itself off the wall. The costumes were made entirely from hand sown paper and only just outlived the four performances we did. The show was the first to use the melodrama techniques I had learned with Gaullier. If the Vinegar Works hadn’t happened I would never have made “Shock Headed Peter”.

In 2006 at the equivalent of this same evening tonight I was introduced by Joe and Helen to the woman who was performing the aerial show Line Point Plane in the festival.. She is now my wife. I have lots of things to thank the mime festival for..

Of course the Mime festival would not exist without the amazing spirit of Jo Seelig and Helen Lanagan. Every year they never falter when asked the same old question: "Why isn’t the mime festival just about mime?”  Of course  when you think of mime you think of someone opening that invisible door I walked through. However the reason I have done that gesture more than anything else onstage (and this is especially as an improviser) is that of course we know it’s a door.. But on the other side is the unknown.. The as yet unimagined.. To limit what the Mime festival does then just think of that door. To really do it justice remember the infinite world that exists in the imaginative space beyond that frame. The Mime festival is a dream door to the limitless imagination of what theatre can be and all the theatre  that have not yet been imagined. As long as there is a need for that imagination..  (Never more than now… ) and as you know all problems, all conflicts are a failure of the imagination. Then there will always be a need for the Mime festival. It is a beacon for mainstream theatre to aim for and to be inspired by. It’s a home for the visionaries of theatre.As the dreams of the world are ever more threatened the Mime festivals role becomes more vital. We need this place of possibility… It’s cross cultural, multi faith and welcomes the outliers. It brings us together in a place where people’s dreams are made real. I love the mime festival. I love the fact it is still called the mime festival. A true home for the theatre that is beyond language. Ladies and gentleman please raise your glasses and if you don’t have one you know what you have to do…

Mimes raising a glass

Ladies and gentlemen.. The 40th London International Mime Festival.

[clusterform]

40 Years of the Mime festival

This is a transcript of a speech I gave at the opening party of the 40th London International Mime Festival

 Phelim Enters stage.. Before he gets to  the mike he opens a mimed door and goes inside the room which the microphone is within.

Phelim: Before I began speaking I wanted you to see something. I wanted you to see the thing that I have done more than anything else onstage. In all the years since I started performing I have entered more imaginary doors than anything else. This is mostly because I have been doing improvised scenes since the mid 80’s. And throughout that time the one thing I have continued to do is enter rooms without knowing what is on the other side.

The beauty of mime of course is that it is as simple as that. Someone walks onstage and with nothing else creates images in the audience’s mind. This ability as many of you here know is mime’s blessing and its curse. There is a reason that Dustin Hoffman pushes over a mime artist in the film Tootsie. What could be more annoying than a mime artist? 

The comedian John Dowie tells a story he posted on facebook recently: He is attending an early gig of the newly formed group Tyrannosaurus Rex fronted by the singer Mark Bolan. Before the main act appears a young performer comes onstage to open for them. He then proceeds to perform the most toe-curlingly embarrassing Mime act that has ever been seen….He later learns the name of the performer is David Bowie. 

It is 1985 and I am attending an early workshop with the teacher Philipe Gaulier. You can tell it is an early workshop as Philippe is still smoking … He looks like he has one of those joke shop pipes where the moustache is glued to the stem of the pipe.. He sits there fuming…  literally.  In Gaulier’s broken English he Challenges the performers..  He is the embodiment of the ring master archetype..

Next

One by one the performers leap up. 

Next

You are not funny..

Urgh.. not funny…

Are we supposed to be laughing..

This is a crime to theatre..

A young  Brazilian performer leaps up excitedly.. He is very keen… And very enthusiastic  He uses his body… This is “Physical theatre”.. Then the unthinkable…

What are you doing here? 

 You are A MIME!   Aargh.. what are you doing ere.. you are Mime artist. I hate MIME! We don’t want to see this… Please keep this at home… Only In your bedroom.. Get off the stage..

Each time the performer jumps up.. Always the same…

Off!

Off! you are Mime!  We don’t want to see this..,  It is disgusting…

All this is at once very painful and very funny.. On the last day there is what is known in the tradition of the workshop as the Clowns’ rebellion..  Just as every other day.. Our keen Brazilian performer leaps up and is challenged to get off the stage..

OFF!

But wait.. He Summons all the courage in his heart and refuses to budge..

Off the stage…

He does not move

Off!

No.. He is not only sticking his ground.. he is advancing on the ring master and moving towards Gaullier.. And yes he is doing it… he is actually miming a glass wall. Then proceeds one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Gaulier begins to turn red.. He is smoking.. .Fuming…From his pipe…From his ears… He is ra ging… He is also desperately trying not to laugh.. As he is slowly, methodically and beautifully imprisoned within a perfect and very small, glass mime box. I swear to you that box slowly filled up with the smoke from his pipe.

I  make theatre, direct, improvise, devise, it’s visual, physical and live. It often involves putting things together that haven’t been combined together before. That could be the kinds of people involved for example  The Tiger Lilies and puppeteers in Shockheaded Peter. Or It could be the form: Opera with juggling in the Philip Glass Opera Akhnaten. I first came across the Mime festival through hearing about the kind of shows that were in it. First from John Wright at Middlesex Poly and then from talking to like minded performers who were on the kind of training workshop I did with people like Gaulier, Keith Johnstone.  Just now a quick glance through the list of shows from every year amazed me.

40 years! The only year I could find where there wasn’t somebody who I hadn’t perfomed or collaborated with at some point over the years was in 2014. People who make visual theatre are a community that knows how to find each other. The number of people who are influences or inspirations from visual theatre is endless. The seminal gig I did with the Mime festival was the Edward Gory: Vinegar Works trilogy with my then company “dereck,dereck Productions”. We were commissioned to create it by the Mime festival at the Almeida in 1989. We rehearsed the show in Richard Jones’s flat. And created a melodramatic Theatrical Family called “The Frastley’s” who were performing their show as therapy for having their child abducted by “The Insect God”

 The final piece in the trilogy:” The West Wing" consisted of strange noises, scene changes as theatre and wallpaper peeling itself off the wall. The costumes were made entirely from hand sown paper and only just outlived the four performances we did. The show was the first to use the melodrama techniques I had learned with Gaullier. If the Vinegar Works hadn’t happened I would never have made “Shock Headed Peter”. 

In 2006 at the equivalent of this same evening tonight I was introduced by Joe and Helen to the woman who was performing the aerial show Line Point Plane in the festival.. Matilda Leyser is now my wife. I have lots of things to thank the mime festival for.. 

Of course the Mime festival would not exist without the amazing spirit of Jo Seelig and Helen Lanagan. Every year they never falter when asked the same old question: "Why isn’t the mime festival just about mime?”  Of course  when you think of mime you think of someone opening that invisible door I walked through. However the reason I have done that gesture more than anything else onstage (and this is especially as an improviser) is that of course we know it’s a door.. But on the other side is the unknown.. The as yet unimagined.. To limit what the Mime festival does then just think of that door. To really do it justice remember the infinite world that exists in the imaginative space beyond that frame. The Mime festival is a dream door to the limitless imagination of what theatre can be and all the theatre  that have not yet been imagined. As long as there is a need for that imagination..  (Never more than now… ) and as you know all problems, all conflicts are a failure of the imagination. Then there will always be a need for the Mime festival. It is a beacon for mainstream theatre to aim for and to be inspired by. It’s a home for the visionaries of theatre.As the dreams of the world are ever more threatened the Mime festivals role becomes more vital. We need this place of possibility… It’s cross cultural, multi faith and welcomes the outliers. It brings us together in a place where people’s dreams are made real. I love the mime festival. I love the fact it is still called the mime festival. A true home for the theatre that is beyond language. Ladies and gentleman please raise your glasses and if you don’t have one you know what you have to do…

Mimes raising a glass

Ladies and gentlemen.. The 40th London International Mime Festival.

[vldsideblog]

Okay, I’m curious