Sunday 30 December 2012

As long as the world exists, there will be a party...


Reading yesterday's magazine S Moda,  supplement that comes with the newspaper El Pais, I found this article that I think it is fascinating. It talks about parties, and the relationship between them and literature and cinema. Every great film has a great party, from Breakfast at Tiffanys to The Great Gatsby and La Dolce Vita. It seems like in times of depression and crisis (like the ones we are living now, at least Spain), is when parties are most needed to lift people's spirits and encourage them to leave their problems outside the door. 

With New Year's approaching, I though it would be a fitting subject. I am not the biggest fan of parties, I must admit. Sometimes, I have to drag myself out the door when I'd rather be curled up in the sofa, in my piyamas, watching a rom-com (or any other kind of movie). But New Years Eve feels like a different night, like it should be special, magical somehow. I've never found that night any of the adjectives mentioned before. It is as dirty, sweaty and, by the end, un-glamorous as any other Saturday night. People always get too drunk, there are fights, vomit, booze everywhere, ripped tights, lost shoes and shoeless girls walking the streets at dawn. It's like a scene from a horror movie.... 

Anyway, of course I am exaggerating and this is only my point of view; I'm sure the rest of the world looove tomorrow's night and can't wait to put on the high heels. As for me, I think to myself every year that it will be different and something amaaazing will happen. At the end, the only amazing thing is that my friends manage to remember what they were wearing the night before. But I love them for that, and if it weren't for them, I wouldn't go out at all. At the end, New Year's Eve is about being with family and friends, not the alcohol or the fashion.

Here is the article, in Spanish, but I've put google translation at the bottom.It won't be great but it is something!.

LISTOS, VESTIDOS… ACCIÓN
Por Boris Izaguirre

El cine y la literatura mantienen una excelente relación con las fiestas. Unas viajan de una disciplina a otra, como sucede en Desayuno con diamantes, la legendaria novela de Truman Capote. Tanto en las páginas como en el celuloide, Holly Golightly consigue maravillarnos con la exuberante fiesta que celebra en su diminuto apartamento neoyorquino. Mezcla rufianes y prostitutas de lujo con artistas emergentes y varones sin rumbo, como el playboy brasileño, interpretado por José Luis de Vilallonga en la película, que consigue salir del minúsculo baño al todavía más minúsculo balcón sin perder de vista su güisqui. En una entrevista, Vilallonga confesó que el famoso gato de Holly, que salta aterrorizado entre los invitados, eran en realidad tres y que la filmación de la secuencia duro casi una semana. El resultado forma parte de nuestros anhelos: sucumbir a una parranda sin fin en poquísimos metros cuadrados.


Hay fiestas divinas, aunque en realidad sean escenas, como la de Marilyn Monroe tocando el ukelele a bordo de un tren en ‘Con faldas y a lo loco’. Humor, erotismo y fiesta, como sucede también en Risky Business, con un Tom Cruise que aprovecha unas vacaciones de sus padres para convertir su casa en un riesgoso burdel. Son películas clave para sus actores y sus generaciones. Y su escenificación de las fiestas podrían tener parte de su «origen» en El gran Gatsby. En la novela de Scott Fitzgerald sobre los alocados años 20 y la posterior Gran Depresión de los 30, Gatsby es un ser misterioso, proclive a escenificar fiestas en las que no se presenta. Daisy Buchanan, clase alta en cada poro, es su enamorada y la margarita borracha del conflicto amoroso. Robert Redford consiguió la inmortalidad de su talento y belleza con la adaptación cinematográfica, pese a la mala calidad de su piel durante el rodaje, pero es Farrow quien consigue captivarnos con su vocecita rota, la «chica fiesta», reliquia de un tiempo condenado a lo efímero. A Fitzgerald y a Capote hay que sumarles Margaret Mitchell, la insigne autora de Lo que el viento se llevó, magistrales narradores de una fiesta: Scarlett O’Hara conoce a los dos hombres de su vida en un extenso baile de sociedad allá en Atlanta. Tan largo que toman una siesta antes de que la película llegue al intermedio. 


Saltemos a El guateque. Peter Sellers se cuela en la fiesta de su productor en una exquisita y futurista casa en Los Ángeles. Todo, Mr. Bean, Martes y Trece, Tricicle, está en esa película: una party que va adentrándose en el absurdo, bañada por agua, cloro, espuma, champán y un elefante psicodélico que nos hace sentir niños de precoz vida social. Recordemos la fiesta en La dolce vita de Fellini, que precede a la famosa escena de Anita Ekberg deambulando medio desnuda dentro de la Fontana de Trevi. Empieza con un coreógrafo pelirrojo bailando un rock and roll italiano, esa mezcla de energía y decadencia que solo Fellini insufla a sus películas. Es una fiesta, pero también un poco de infierno. Los ingredientes justos para que jamás la olvides. Hay fiestas con Raquel Welch, martinis con James Bond, bacanales con Calígula, pero la fiesta-fiesta es la de El gatopardo, la obra maestra de Luchino Visconti. Dura más de 30 minutos, revisa y detalla todo: la llegada de los invitados, el decorado y los vestuarios, la cháchara de las señoras, el desinhibido deseo de los jóvenes, letrinas de porcelana en activo. Es la madre de todas las fiestas cinematográficas, hasta Stanley Kubrick le rinde homenaje en la orgía enmascarada de Eyes wide shut, con Tom Cruise de nuevo con capa y a lo loco. 


Un día, hay una fiesta de película en la realidad. La organizó Elena Benarroch en homenaje a Jean Paul Gaultier y Bruce Weber y por ella desfiló la historia moderna de España, en plan «nomelopuedocreer». Felipe González y la nieta de Franco, Almodóvar y Preysler, supervivientes de cualquier crisis.

XOXO


P.D Tomorrow is New Year's Eve! I hope everyone has an amazing and special night and nobody comes back home before morning :P


Tuesday 25 December 2012

Snapshot. Merry Xmas!


"Hear those silver bells? It's Christmas time in the city. Some families actually do make it to the Yuletide gay, managing to leave their troubles far away. Other families have a merry little Christmas even when their troubles aren't so far away. Some presents might end up getting returned. Some gifts are for keeps. Other presents come when you least expect them. And everyone knows the biggest present comes in the smallest box. Then there are those boxes you wish you had never opened. Have a holly, jolly Christmas!"

XOXO


Gossip Girl, Roman Holiday.

Monday 24 December 2012

Christmas Eve...


How did this happen? How is it Christmas Eve already!? How has it been ONE week at home and it only felt like a day. I guess I lost track of time in between unpacking, making house calls, going out with friends (and not exactly out for a walk, unless you come back from a stroll at 4 in the morning...) and having walks on the beach, as seen above. 
The beach of San Lorenzo is one of the most beautiful city beaches I know, long, calm and there is always surfers. Olaya and I always visit a beach every time we come home; it may be this one or Salinas but we will always manage to go down to the sand, as close to the water as we can. I think it's because it reminds us of home, of long summers, of our childhood and teenage years. Where we both study there is no sea nearby (well, Olaya is now in Norway but that doesn't count as sea, that is hell frozen over) so that is why it's so special for us.
And I also think that the weather was pretty benevolent with us. It was completely sunny, 20ºC, no wind, it could've well been a day in the middle of May (we have definitely had worse in May). It was almost like it knew we were coming home...



XOXO


Me
Jumper: Zara.  Shirt: Hugo Boss.  Shoes: Zara. Necklace and watch: Vintage
Olaya
Jumper: Vintage.   Shoes: Vans. Jacket: Bershka
Mint Green Bag: Zara.   Leather Backpack: market in Venice 

Friday 21 December 2012

Christmas in London...

London during Christmas is pure magic.
 My mum and I think so, at least. We rediscovered the city in 4 intense days of non stop walking, Xmas decorations shopping, market browsing, mid afternoon (or morning) tea/coffee with croissants, dining out at Italian restaurants with handsome waiters, ect

The photos are a mix of places around town that we visited: Borough Market, Somerset House, Kew Gardens, Liberty, Sloane Square, Covent Garden, Southbank, Fortnum & Mason...


And London shops in Christmas Eve
Are strung with silver bells and flowers
As hurrying clerks the City leave
To pidgeon-haunted classic towers,
And marbled clouds go scudding by
The many-steepled London sky.

John Betjeman


XOXO

Tuesday 18 December 2012

The Nutcracker...


Today is the 120th anniversary of the beautiful and ultimately Christmassy ballet "The Nutcracker", which was first performed in 1892 at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg with music by P.Y.Tchaikovsky.
Last Friday I went to a matinee performance of the English National Ballet's version of the tale at the  London Colliseum. One of the first memories I have of the Nutcracker is going to watch it in the small and decadent but opulent theatre at my hometown, performed by small Russian companies. I don't recall much about the performance itself but the whole ritual of dressing up and going to the theatre with my mum and my friends. It was the thrill of running around the dimmly lit corridors with epoque furniture and wallpaper, going into our box and drawing the think and heavy red velvet curtains.The surprise when the last bell rang and the lights went out. There is just something about the ballet that makes me feel like a child again.


The last time I went to see this ballet was a Royal Ballet's version, which was incredible and truly magical. They definitely take care of every single detail in the costume, set and also coreography. It is almost like eating a magnificent, sweet, rich, filling, flavoured Christmas pudding. There are just now enough superlatives to describe it; everything is just more. That massive tree going up in the air will stay in my memory forever.

However, the ENB version didn't thrill me as much. I don't know if it was because it was a matinee (and we all know it isn't the same as an evening) or the fact that it was a child-friendly performance (honest mistake when booking.... NEVER happening again) The set in the first act was beautiful, the inside and outside of a Victorian house and it was perfect for the ball dancing and storytelling scenes. However, the growing of the tree was a bit of a dissappointment since the tree was 2D and from then on it was just a plain backdrop. The journey around the world that Clara and the Nutcracker were supposed to do was just the difference dances coming on stage, performing and leaving. There was no change of scenery, no transition, no interaction with the main characters (in fact, they weren't even there). The only scene I particulary enjoyed was the Snowflakes; the choreography and execution were flawless and, who doesn't love a bit of snow falling down?
I am not sure if scenes and design details were erased from this particular performance because it was child friendly but it wouldn't make any sense; children also appreciate beautiful design and there were also adults watching the performace.


The costumes of the production were acceptable, nothing out of the ordinary. My favourites were the Victorian ballgowns of the first act so that says enough about the rest of the designs... I just felt like something was missing in every single one, there was no attention to detail. The Snowflakes' tutus could've been so much more rich and beaded, conveying a bit more the brilliance and whiteness of snow, and the mice could've also been more embellished.
Despite all this, my Christmas spirits were still up and as I said before, going to the Ballet during Christmas is not much about the performance but the act of walking around the city, watching the lights and spending time with friends, and being transported to another world for a few hours, no matter how loud the kids are...


XOXO


P.D The Royal Ballet's Nutcracker is on from 23rd December to 19th January. 

Saturday 15 December 2012

The Red Shoes


Finally, here are the production/performance pictures of "The Red Shoes", an installation we've been working on since October. It takes inspiration from the Andersen fairytale of Karen, the girl who danced with the Red Shoes till death and also the 1948 movie who is based on the fairytale and narrates the story of Vicky, a dancer who can't choose between love or dance.
In our version, we had Karen as a ballerina/doll standing on a music box, turning. Throughout the performances, she started deteriorating, to signify her journey and ultimate death in consequence of dancing non stop because of her red pointe shoes. 
I have to say that after all those endless hours we spend sewing on every single bead and pearl, it was hard as hell to break the dress apart, but it created a beautiful aesthetic of decadence and death. Plus, having blood dripping all over me was fun.... (irony?)



Blood packs tryouts in the shower...


 "Time rushes by, love rushes by, life rushes by, but the Red Shoes go on"


         - "Why do you want to dance?"
     + "Why do you want to live?"
                              - "Well I don't know exactly why, but I must"
+ "That is my answer too"

XOXO