THOUGHT PATTERNS

Loie Fuller - New Papercut in my Shop

“Before our very eyes she turned to many coloured, shining orchids, to a wavering, flowing sea flower, and at length to a spiral-like lily, all the magic of Merlin, the sorcery of light, colour, flowing form. What an extraordinary genius! No imitator of Loie Fuller has ever been able even to hint at her genius!...I went every night to see Loie Fuller, from a box, and I was more and more enthusiastic about her marvelous ephemeral art. That wonderful creature--she became fluid; she became light; she became every colour and flame, and finally she resolved into miraculous spirals of flames wafted toward the Infinite.”

So spoke Isadora Duncan of Loie Fuller, a pioneer of both modern dance and theatrical lighting techniques (January 15, 1862 – January 1, 1928).

Here is Loie Fuller...

...

And here is my papercut is of Loie Fuller....

 

"Loie Fuller", 11" x 14", Original Papercut Art

The papercut is available now in my shop.

...

"Born Marie Louise Fuller in the Chicago suburb of Fullersburg, now, Fuller began her theatrical career as a professional child actress and later choreographed and performed dances in burlesque (as a skirt dancer), vaudeville, and circus shows. An early free dance practitioner, Fuller developed her own natural movement and improvisation techniques. Fuller combined her choreography with silk costumes illuminated by multi-coloured lighting of her own design."

 

"A regular performer at the Folies Bergere with works such as Fire Dance, Fuller became the embodiment of the Art Nouveau movement. An 1896 film of the Serpentine Dance by the pioneering film-makers Auguste and Louis Lumiere gives a hint of what her performance was like. (The unknown dancer in the film is often mistakenly identified as Fuller herself.)"

"Fuller held many patents related to stage lighting including chemical compounds for creating color gel and the use of chemical salts for luminescent lighting and garments (stage costumes US Patent 518347). Fuller was also a member of the French Astronomical Society."

 Fuller is responsible for the European tours of the early modern dancers (she was the first American modern dancer to perform in Europe), introducing Isadora Duncan to Parisian audiences and developing the acceptance of modern dance as a serious art form. Her 'Chinese Dancers' were the subject of the second section of W.B. Yeats' poem 'Nineteen Hundred and Nineteen'.

Info from Wikipedia.

I am simply amazed by the skill and talent of Loie Fuller, mesmerized by the fluidity of motion and the magic she created with her dance. What a woman. An Artist, Inventor, Pioneer.

xoxoxo

{images from here and here}

The Seductive Black Swan

Odette - innocent Swan Queen heroine of Swan Lake; Odile - the temptress who impersonates Odette in order to deceive the Prince. In most productions the two contrasting roles are danced by the same ballerina. Odette/Odile, one of the most fascinating roles in ballet.

     

I am completely seduced by Odile...

          

 ... the dazzling black swan...  

            

... the mischievous seductive diva...

                  

... the one who creates desires and satisfies fantasies...

     

... a woman of experience, a voluptuous seductress.

xoxoxo

{from top photos by and via - Julie Kent, photo by Roy Round via Dance International, Andy Warhol via Keli Jo, John Rawlings via Live Journal, David Armstrong for Elle US March 2009 via Lace and Tea, John Rawlings via Conde Nast}

Dressing Rooms

I love the intimacy of performers' dressing rooms. The excitement, the rush, mixed with a strong sense of quiet and calm, preparation and meditation.

 

The creative and charming clutter, makeup and dresses everywhere. The smell of sweat and perfume. The knock on the door: "You have three minutes!". The nervous giggles, the sound of the orchestra warming up. The silence.

 

Did I ever mention how I always wanted to be a performer? A dancer, a singer, an actress, a vaudeville star? :)

 

 

~ Entertainer Josephine Baker reflected in dressing room mirror while having her four-ft. chignon wound up into a three-tiered bun by her French maid before a show at the Strand theater during her US tour. ~

 

 

~ Dancer Gypsy Rose Lee relaxing in her trailer dressing room, with typewriter on her lap to use for writing between acts. ~

 

 

~ French Cancan dancers in various states of deshabille, getting ready in the dressing room of the Moulin Rouge nightclub before their performance. ~

 

 

~ Actress Betty Grable showing off black mesh stocking she is wearing for a scene that will feature her legs, in her dressing room at 20th Century Fox studios. ~

 

~ Debutante-actress Tina L. Meyer putting on false eyelashes in dressing room. (later known as Tina Louise, aka Ginger on TV show Gilligan's Island) ~

 

 

~ Actress Lucille Ball wearing tomato red lounging robe while lying on chaise longue in front of mirror in her dressing room. ~

 

 

~ Actor Charlie Chaplin at dressing room mirror giving himself a wide grin as a clown on set of his film "Limelight." ~

 

 

~ Natalia Ryzhenko, in dressing room of Bolshoi Theater, before performing "Swan Lake". ~

 

xoxoxo

 

{photos LIFE archive}

They're Here!

My pointe shoes arrived today from Bologna, Italy! (For readers that are tuning in today for the first time {here} is my original post about the ballet shoes).

 

I was soooo hoping they would fit me, I was so hoping I would be able to put them on and dance miraculously around our apartment, onto the porch, out to the street, back, with bloody toes, into the house, and hopefully without a broken ankle. But, alas, the slippers are size 6 (I am size 9, but don't tell anybody) so I will be able to admire them only. :)

 

Here are the beauties...

 

   

I have yet to figure out where to hang them. Will show you the pictures once I do. I know I probably sound like a loony, but I'm really excited about having them. They are so delicate and beautiful. But so strong. And they make me feel 7 years old again, dreaming of becoming a ballerina. And the whole experience of receiveing a kind gift from a stranger was something that truly made me very happy.

 

Ippoleta sent me a little handwriten note, which was really sweet...

 

 

I love handwritten notes, I wish there was more in my mail box, every day.

 

Thank you so much Ippoleta for sending these. Your kindness and thoughtfulness made me feel very much aware how we should all be more connected as human beings. And how we should strive to do things for each other. Small things, and big things:).

 

And thanks everybody for taking time to read my blog and for your comments. It means a lot to me.

 

xoxoxo

Ballerina, at last

I got an email from an Italian woman, who saw my blog post about ballet shoes {see post here}. She took pity on me and my unfulfilled dreams of being a ballerina and having pointe shoes proudly displayed on the wall of my bedroom, and said she would send me her old pointe shoes.

 

The only question was if I wanted the destroyed, ragged ones or a pair that is still pink and beautiful (even though also worn). After quite a long dose of thinking I decided on the still pink ones. Beauty before suffering, always. Very skin deep, moi.

 

Anyway, a couple of days ago, Ippolita (love her name!) sent me an email that after a long search through her closets (apparently her closets and her life are quite messy), she found a pair of nice pointe shoes so she mailed them to me.

 

Real, worn, pointe shoes that felt pain, felt frustration, were touched by divinity, were carried by passion and experienced the joy of dance. 

 

Thank you, Ippolita! I can hardly wait for them to arrive. :)

 

 

 

xoxoxo

 

{photo Rachel Papo}

Would you please pass me my ballet shoes?

I have a little (little) obsession with dance. Ballet in particular. "There is no such thing as a little obsession", I'm sure you would say. Well, I like to believe in moderation, so I keep my obsessions on a tight leash. Otherwise, I might still be trying at age 34 to get into a ballet school, I might still be attempting to clean the bath while practicing my extended arabesque, I might actually and seriously still be considering buying a pair of well worn ballet shoes for the purpose of displaying them on the wall of my bedroom. "Nice conversation piece!" I'm sure you would say. But, since my obsession is only little, I will instead post some breathtaking photos of ballet shoes here. Gentle, poetic, tough, wounded... strong, gracious, well worn...

 

Please send me your last pair of shoes, worn out with dancing as you mentioned in your letter, so that I might have something to press against my heart.  ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

 

Dance is the only art of which we ourselves are the stuff of which it is made.  ~Ted Shawn, Time, 25 July 1955

 

 

Dance first.  Think later.  It's the natural order.  ~Samuel Beckett

 

 

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.  ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

 

 

 

Dance till the stars come down from the rafters
Dance, Dance, Dance till you drop.
~W.H. Auden

 

(in order from top - photo credits and via John D. Comito, Ascending Star Dance, Easy Art, Guardian, Silvana Del Bene) 

 

xoxoxo