It is that time of the year again

And for once I had to remind myself it is December with the capital D and not december: a month like any other.

But the advent star is up, xmas music is on the ipod and christmas cards have been located and..

I am moving back home to Norway.

Cause the exam fobia won this round and I had to drop out of uni here in Zaragoza.

And I spent about a month and a half in bed with books rarely leaving my room; (showering and changing bedsheets weekly), eating not so much: depression but without the D. Because I could. It might have made more sense financially to go home and start working right away, but I look at it as a well deserved mental holiday from the world. So there.

Went to an exposition today:  Nacho Bolea's  "Mikado".

Bought xmas presents for my god children and for a friend.

I applied for a job on sunday, as an english and spanish teacher...

Have a good December!

Dance Tribute to the Art of Football

Choreography: Jo Strømgren (premiere in 1997)
Location: Scene 2, the Opera House, Oslo
Time: Saturday 28th, 19:00

If I had to describe it with one word I'd probably end up with Entertaining, something often lacking in football, (AND contemporary dance) especially in the spanish league where the players tend to stop the game every now and then to take a breather lying down in the grass? freshen up on the spray tan? Looking good on tv? I sort of liked the sport before, but many years of La Liga has killed that.

• 4 good dancers
• lots of football movements: both the useful ones and the silly ones
• lots of testosterone and ball scratching
• the quiet, the unhinged, the naive and the beautiful
• nuditiy AS PART OF THE STORY!!!! YES!! NOT primarily for the effect! A first, I belive, in a looong time. 
• manging to combine grace and brutality
• music in the habitual mix of classical and tecno
• the first few minutes I was not sure if the one female dancer was that or just a young boy/man. 
• lots of laughs
• was there a reference to "Pas de Quatre"? I think so. The ballett nerd in me finds that soo cool, and soo appropiate. The biggest Divas today are in football after all.
• The dance secuences are so fluid both in choreography and in execution.   

The piece does what it says and merges football and dance, for Your Entertainment! But some of the "cheaper" laughs could be exchanged for some more interesting football-moves-experimentation? I thought it lacked some depth.

We are never content, are we? 


This is possibly the least helpful description of a performance I have ever written, but in a sense fitting to the piece. Funny, well executed, but not memorable as far as the dancing goes. 

Put your red shoes on

These are possibly the least practical shoes I have ever bought, but they called out to me with their glittery Dorothy vibe and I could not resist. They are just so much FUN! I have not been able to use them out on the street yet, but the time will come.

I'm still here, only not

• May and June flew by and I have no idea where they went
• I like my e-reader
• It has been too darn hot, but right now it's ok
• Have looked up Epidemiologia private teachers on internet too get moral boost and butt kicks in august
• Bought crazy red Wizard of Oz shoes 
• Going to Barcelona for a couple of days
• Have new nice bikini
• Freya fell out a window. No injury. 
• Going home to norway soon. It is really hard to pack light. 

So finally I got my act together and did a course in Kyudo: japanese bow and arrow. It was really cool! It was so japanese, in the way every movement must be precise and perfect, the hand just so, the legs at a certain distance: movements calm and controlled, more focus on the preparation than hitting dead center...And at the same time my brain was going: "This is sooo cool! Just like Robin Hood!"

It was an intensive course, 5 hours, and we got to shoot twice, and our instructor informed us that normally you spend months perfecting ever one of the 8 movements before actually shooting off an arrow. My Robin-Hood-wannabe-part finds that annoying. But the perfectionist part of me understands that completely. It got a bit meditative, and it requires conciousness of every piece of the body. I LIKE!

Cara de Mimbre

Coreography and performing: Jordi Vilaseca in Teatro de la Estación The leaflet explains that it is supposed to be a personal journey through past experiences, showing how we all can become strong and resilient against the adversities we meet every day.

Modern dance makes me think, but on the downside, when I think, I get distracted in my own head and miss out on stuff that happens on the stage. So too this time. Is this supposed to happen? I have the idea that contemporary art is much about the viewer participating, thinking, reflecting, but part of me wants to be so caught up in what I see that the thinking happens later, when I get home. The next day..That it moves me, not only intelectually.

The piece is easy to like I think, and the 50 min? 45? passed quickly. One dancer on stage the whole time, he enters nude, with a big straw basket at his hip, carried in a very female way, like women would carry a laundery basket. The movements are slow and sinous; ever muscle seen in the back and neck.

 A second part with underpants on, movements are frantic, nervous, repetitive, hesitant followed by moments of calm.

Then with a old-lady night camisole on, tottering around like on high heals, like an past middelaged miniskirted lady at 6 in the morning walking home after too many drinks. There is something so very lonely about that image.

The dress is used as a screen for proyected words and recorded voices speak sentences and words about nervousness, valor..here I drifted off somewhere in my head. Again.

Then the dancer put on pants and a jersey and at some point start dancing with the basket, or maybe better described: the basket leads the movements, and the dancer hold on to it. Then comes the scene I liked the best where he fights with himself until putting the basket over his head. The expressions on his face were those of me going to an exam: fear, determination, the feverish wish of being anywhere else, doubt...

Then a series of calm poses a la Vouge, sitting on the floor. It was good to smile after the tense moment before.

Then he put on a jacket and lowered several baskets from the cieling, some with light, and played with them for a while, before lying down as the lights faded out, to the sound of a heartbeat.

The music was alternating between classical/quiet and electronic/hectic. The movements are familiar, both the dance moves that are traditional with a strong classical base, and the contemp stuff. The human-daily-life movements are fragile and spot on: this dancer even manages to move like Mr Bean at times.

Does the description match what I saw? I think so. But I also think the coreograper could have gone further, taken more risks, maybe experimenting more with some of the movements, feelings..It felt a bit safe at times, and the theatre is small: At a distance of 3 metres to the dancer I sort of expect to be blown away by the presence on the stage. Maybe my brain gets in the way.
    

sospiro

I wanted to go home sometimes this spring, but it looks next to imposible, as the cabal of cat-sitter+ exams+ being able to skip classes is turning out to be dificult/impossible. I am looking at the calender again and again, and surprise! No 4 day window appears by magic. Sight.

At the moment it looks like I won't go home until mid july after exams. there might be time last week of may, but only if I spend most of my time home studying, and there will probably be exam then as well but I will not know until possibly the beginning of may. I hate not knowing, not being able to plan ahead. Also the plane tickets gets a bit expensive when you by them so close to departure date.

What I am going to do is japanese archery: they do a newbe course on a saturday in may, and I am going to sign up on monday. I love the bow and arrow: robin hood was a childhood crush.