estebanana -> RE: Beethoven listeners (Mar. 23 2014 21:31:18)
|
Ken Clark? Well he was chatting on Greek art, that and Egyptian art are remote to the meaning of and intent of classical music of Beethoven's era. But I can relate them to flamenco. During Beethoven's life the only real sculptors were guys like Canova, and shortly before Berninini, right? Or there was Franz Xaver Messerschmidt - I don't bother to wiki art references in casual conversation, I remember them from my studies, but you should wiki Messerschmidt and tell me if he is "classical" or not. Messerschmidt had a few quirks, but he seems closer to Beethoven's intensity than Canova. There are connections between classical sculture and flameoc, as long as it's ok to remain in the art analogy. The Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti used to comment about (in the interviews with James Lord. ) how an Egyptian sculpture or Etruscan figure can be perfectly still. - The intent is to set the persona of an earthly yet divine pharaoh into a sculptural form that creates a sense of timelessness or infinity by rendering it with a foot forward; but locked into that step for eternity so that figure of the god-man will always be stepping into the afterlife. (my explanation) - The stillness Giacometti spoke of, ironically in his vision of the form, activates it. The more still the Egyptian sculpture seems to be, the more it actually seems to move, or it telegraphs the instant before a movement which fascinates the viewer. Giacometti was fascinated by this stillness; I think it is like a flamenco dancer in a section of solea where he or she comes to a complete stop. Mainly I like this in a woman's baile, because these days when men come to a full stop in solea they often do it in profile to the audience with a leg extended to show the beef cake of his own ass. This gives the women in the crowd a chance to turn the tables and enjoy a moment of stillness that telegraphs the male sexuality of the lines of Kenny Clarks cited discobowler. A few male dancers come to mind who give 'em a thrill, and this does fit into todays flamenco in a way I mentioned that sometimes feeling is manufactured. When you have a moment in flamenco where a female dancer, just my male bias because I don't enjoy todays "serious" male dancers as much as I enjoy women masters, takes a still pose it can be the best thing of the whole night on stage. At least for this aficionado. The other part of a good solea baile is when the singer comes in with the second letra, and the dancer is marking and the anticipation is built that the second letra must be even better stuff than the first, which if she was good at her job totally brought you into the dance space she occupies. Usually what happens next is that she works and works to convince you and bring you more and more into her space and concentration. She builds the second letra gradually and then does a series of cortes', ( breaks) and then even though you know it is coming, hits you with a full frontal stop in the center of the stage and it takes the breath away from the entire house. Instead of moving right away, out of the stop and full presentation of her as a human being, she lets the moment work for everyone because she and everyone else she danced for earned that few seconds of stillness that she gives up. Like the Greek or Egyptian statue with the leg advanced forward, or arms raised above her head dripping mantone, or flat open hand pulled dynamically to one side of her body she is for a couple seconds inviolable, you can't push her off that pedestal, you can't break her sculptural line. The Singer knows that and he or she freezes with the dancer and empathetically perhaps points an outstretched arm with a open palmed gesture at the dancer from the other side of the stage. They hold the tension of stillness a bit longer than you think is possible. The guitarist waits, the other dancers doing palmas lean forward and stop, straining into her pose empathetically as of they are doing it themselves. If they hold the stillness too long or move out of it the wrong way it ruins it. The dancer makes her exit from the enormous space she created with stillness and carefully marks into, or launches into the next section. Maybe to contrast the stillness some footwork. If anyone had broken the stillness of the moment she worked to make, it would have been like Ken Clark saying the lines of the discus thrower were violated. Flamenco is classical in that sense, it shares the quality of spareness of line and the delicate natures of the difference between dynamic, aggressive, expressionistic movement and planned stillness that captures and holds space. Classical sculptures being an inert non living material go on keeping the still moment for as long as they exist in space. An excellent masterful flamenco dancer creates the same space with her body and presence, but then after she stops time for two or three or 7 breath taking seconds she is able to start the clock back up again, and that is the human magic of stillness in flamenco. So the line in classical sculpture, stillness, timelessness- It's all abundant in flamenco, and you can throw in the slow moves and the way time stops when a matador holds a cape still, foot planted, back poised. He waits...and waits...and waits...waits longer....he hangs out there alone waiting. That is put into flamenco too. The stillness in bullfighting, it's much the same stillness in flamenco. You might even venture to say it's classic.
|
|
|
|