(Fais Do-Do, 29 March 2013)
Civilisation---aided by art---structures immediate temptations to further long-term gratification, and---aided by science and luck---structures immediate incentives to further long-term goals. Civilisation replaces the degrading compromise by the quest for an ideal.
30 March 2013
23 March 2013
"Balanchine GOLD" by Los Angeles Ballet
(Royce Hall, 23 March 2013)
Balanchine's is a peculiar language, that of social isolation, decreed aspiration to excellence, and the fear of slowing down for fear of disappointing the machine. His language constructs aesthetics, but neglects meaning. Balanchine is the Manhattan people commute to.
Bach is the Manhattan people reverse commute from. Engineered to dance to, Bach's music tricks thought into wakefulness. In "Concerto Barocco," Bach's music attributes the ballet's kinetic detachment to the congruence of individual goals, not to the sacrifice of self-denial.
Balanchine's is a peculiar language, that of social isolation, decreed aspiration to excellence, and the fear of slowing down for fear of disappointing the machine. His language constructs aesthetics, but neglects meaning. Balanchine is the Manhattan people commute to.
Bach is the Manhattan people reverse commute from. Engineered to dance to, Bach's music tricks thought into wakefulness. In "Concerto Barocco," Bach's music attributes the ballet's kinetic detachment to the congruence of individual goals, not to the sacrifice of self-denial.
17 March 2013
End of the Rainbow
(Ahmanson Theatre, 16 March 2013)
It is unclear what Judy Garland is, and hence how to portray her. One could sing a little better than she did, dance a little better than she did, and pass for a star.
Judy Garland is anything but Judy Garland. Yet the play focuses on Judy Garland---not on the studio system that had shaped her, not on the husbands who clung to her, not on the public who adored her---not on who Judy Garland was.
In the play, Judy Garland is too subordinated to addictions to be free, her prospective husband Micky is too dull to be free, so it is left to her accompanist, Anthony, to deliver one-liners that the audience can take home for guidance and reassurance.
The world collapses once one asserts one's singularity, instead of waiting for the world to impose it upon one.
It is unclear what Judy Garland is, and hence how to portray her. One could sing a little better than she did, dance a little better than she did, and pass for a star.
Judy Garland is anything but Judy Garland. Yet the play focuses on Judy Garland---not on the studio system that had shaped her, not on the husbands who clung to her, not on the public who adored her---not on who Judy Garland was.
In the play, Judy Garland is too subordinated to addictions to be free, her prospective husband Micky is too dull to be free, so it is left to her accompanist, Anthony, to deliver one-liners that the audience can take home for guidance and reassurance.
The world collapses once one asserts one's singularity, instead of waiting for the world to impose it upon one.
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