Italo Calvino's
Invisible Cities is so called because it asserts that what makes up a city is not so much its physical structure but the impression it imparts upon its visitors, the way its inhabitants move within, something unseen that hums between the cracks. This, however, has in no way dissuaded people from attempting to give form to his
works. One such example is the
Hotel Tressants, a building in Menorca, Spain containing 8 rooms named after and
inspired by various cities from the novel. Meanwhile, artists offer illustrations
1,2,3, installations
1,2,3,4,5, music
1,2,3,4,5,6 and
dance, hypertexts
1,2, computer
programs and
animations, even View-Master
slides, while intellectuals offer readings and commentary
1,2, lectures
1,2, and critical texts
1,2,3 sparked by the man and his writings. It has been dubbed "The
Calvino Effect". Do you know of any more?
posted by Lush
on May 20, 2005 -
37 comments
Single shuffle, double shuffle, cut and cross-cut; snapping his fingers, rolling his eyes, turning in his knees, presenting the backs of his legs in front, spinning about on his toes and heels like nothing but the man’s fingers on the tambourine. Dancing with two left legs, two right legs, two wooded legs, two wire legs, two spring legs–all sorts of legs and no legs–what is this to him? And in what walk of life, or dance of life does man ever get such stimulating applause as thunders about him, when, having danced his partner off her feet, and himself too, he finishes by leaping gloriously on the bar-counter, and calling for something to drink, with the chuckle of a million of counterfeit Jim Crows, in one inimitable sound!Dancing Across The Color Line. In 1842, Charles Dickens came to New York City, where initally, he was wined, dined and theatrically entertained by the upper crust. Afterwards, he then went slumming and soon saw
William Henry Lane, aka
Master Juba, a man of whose dancing a number of historians say is where
tap dance began, step lively in a cellar in the neighborhood called Five Points--the very same neighborhood creatively misrepresented recently by one Martin Scorcese in
Gangs of New York. The dance he did was known as Pattin' Juba and the first time it's rhythm--which we think of as the
Bo Diddley beat--was used on a sound recording was in 1952, when Red Saunders and his Orchestra, with Dolores Hawkins and and the Hambone Kids recorded
Hambone.
Continued within
posted by y2karl
on Apr 4, 2005 -
3 comments
Learn Disco! They say it drives the chicks wild... maybe you'll finally get a date!
(The end of the video is the grooviest part. Courtesy NewToday.)
posted by miss lynnster
on Jan 17, 2005 -
40 comments
The Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, with Margeaux Mundeyn, Pavel Törd, Ida Nevasayneva, Vladimir Legupski, Sveltlana Lofatkina, Olga Supphozova, Lariska Dumbchenko, Fifi Barkova is reviewed by Joan Acocella, "they pass through the joke and come out the other side, where the subject, having been laughed at, is once again embraced, enthroned."
pic 1, and 2 .
posted by semmi
on Jan 8, 2005 -
5 comments
Theyyam , a corrupt form of daivum (god), is a popular ritual dance of North Kerala, India. As a living cult with centuries old traditions,
ritual and custom, it embraces almost all castes and classes of the Hindu religion in this region. A
performance (mpg) of a particular deity continues for 12 to 24 hours with intervals. The costumes differ based on the
character (mpg) of the theyyam.
posted by dhruva
on Dec 23, 2004 -
13 comments
Elimination Dance A quicktime movie based on Michael
Ondaatje's
poem. "The rules of the dance are simple: if the caller announces a circumstance that has occurred in the lifetime of you or your partner, you must leave the dance floor at once."
posted by dhruva
on Dec 15, 2004 -
29 comments
Dance, Voldo, Dance (embedded quicktime .mov) Two people controlling two Voldos (the #1 freak from Soul Caliber). Quite possibly the most amazing synchronized video game dancing you'll ever see.
posted by malphigian
on Jul 18, 2004 -
30 comments
Hasta Mudra: a research project in movement and myth. "The content within this website is derived of excerpts from an ongoing research project on hasta mudra as they are utilized in Bharata Natyam classical dance of India. The literal translation of the Sanskrit hasta mudra is hand (hasta) symbol (mudra), though hasta mudra can be interpreted in English as hand gestures or sign language." [Flash.]
posted by homunculus
on Jan 29, 2004 -
1 comment
AIBO Disco Scroll down to the bottom and check out videos of what some creative folks have programmed their AIBOs to do. The AIBO Disco dances are particularly cool. :)
posted by y
on Apr 18, 2003 -
6 comments
In retrospect I have seen a glimpse of it before, in
Baraka (scroll down
to images, in the middle of the second row). I had forgotten this. I had
read about it before too and smugly thought I knew about it then. When
I saw it live for the first time I realized I didn't know anything at
all about it. And now that I've seen it, now that it feels like I know
it, it still feels like I don't know anything about it.
Unfortunately there's only so much that can be said about anything. You
have to experience it, and even then it has to touch you or resonate
with you in some way before it really means anything to you. All I can
say is that I saw something last weekend that touched me and resonated
very strongly with me. And
anything
that I or
anyone else
could
tell
you
about
Butoh
couldn't
tell
you what that was,
much less
give you what was given to me.
posted by wobh
on Apr 4, 2003 -
10 comments
Wheaton College (IL) Lifts Dance Ban. The small evangelical Christian liberal arts college in the suburbs of Chicago,
lifted its 143-year-old ban that prohibited students from participating in "most forms of social dancing." In its place, the college has established a
community covenant that permits dancing by students, but still prohibits the use of tobacco, the consumption of alcohol, and pre-marital sex by students. It does allow faculty and staff to drink and smoke (which had previously been prohibited) but never in front of students. Wheaton grads include Rev. Billy Graham, Wes Craven, Rep. Dennis Hastert, Todd Beamer, and Bush speechwriter Mike Gerson.
posted by marcusb
on Feb 21, 2003 -
23 comments
Tickling the ivories - uh-oh, bad girl post! This mpg video clip is just too darn fun not to share, but it is definitely nsfw, which is why I am posting it pre-Friday. But hear me, you will get fired if you open this at work! I mean it!
just doing my bit to dispel the boyzone myth
posted by madamjujujive
on Jan 23, 2003 -
65 comments
Girls forced by principal to show underwear at school dance What in the blazes is going on in schools these days that allows idiots like this to be administrators? First strip searching primary school kids, now forcing young ladies to lift their skirts and pull down their blouses to prove that they are wearing "appropriate underwear"? If only we were still allowed to
keelhaul people.
posted by dejah420
on May 1, 2002 -
41 comments
Teach dance in prison! "The Federal Bureau of Prisons...intends to issue solicitation RFQ 50507-012-2 for the provision to provide Dance Instructor Services with a variety of beginning and advanced dance classes to the inmate population."
posted by kirkaracha
on Apr 25, 2002 -
10 comments
Not Flying Down To Rio For The Carnival? Never mind! Beat the crowds but catch the beat by listening to this year's terrific
sambas before the rest of the world can. This is the
real shanty-town stuff, not the watered-down touristy rubbish[
WindowsMedia required]that passes for Samba. This year my favourite for first prize is
Mangueira. What's yours? The
Brazilian Carnival[
learn all about it here] starts Saturday and goes on straight through to Tuesday. For the latest inside information - including the Bin Laden Mask controversy -
O Globo's special web site[
In Portuguese]is unbeatable.
Enjoy!
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Feb 6, 2002 -
13 comments
De La Guarda (Flash-only, navigate through to 'Shows' section) This Argentinian collective mixes dance, music, climbing and circus skills in their show 'Villa Villa', which has played in London, Las Vegas and (currently) in New York. They've managed to sum up the whole tribal, visceral experience (think rave rather than Cirque de Soleil) via this site's interactive elements.
posted by skylar
on Sep 30, 2001 -
7 comments
The Chicken Dance inspires lunacy like no other piece of music. I found myself in a giggling fit over the silliness of the pictures on this page. Beware-it has the obligatory embedded MIDI file.
posted by plinth
on Jun 12, 2001 -
10 comments
UK-Dance This is a long-running community website, starting life as a mailing list way back in 1992. Since becoming a member in 1997, I've found it the liveliest, strongest and sometimes most seditious web site community I know. The main tenets are dance music (from jazz, through dub, reggae but most emphatically house, techno, drum'n'bass and whatever the scene throws up), hedonism, politics and networking. You have to subscribe to take part, but if you're a DJ, producer, music fan, clubber, raver, psychonaut or revolutionary, you'll be made to feel welcome. Check it out, but beware if you're a big fan of trance music.
posted by hmgovt
on May 11, 2001 -
2 comments
