Here come the roaring twenties. Prepare for pincurls, flappers, charleston, sparkling jewels and crazy parties. The first trailer and photos of the remake of The Great Gatsby are out. And I am no disappointed (so far) The movie looks good, very good. It ought to be, it's directed by god/director Baz Luhrmann. He is the mastermind behind classics such as Romeo + Juliet or Moulin Rouge. Who can't remember Leo Dicaprio reciting Shakespeare at Claire Dane's deathbed or Nicole Kidman singing the closing number before dying in the arms of a sobbing Ewan McGregor? He has a very individual view, especially when it comes to design. All his movies have strong design elements that make his films pieces of art; sets, locations, costumes, everything is looked at the minimal detail.
Let's hope the movie lives up to the expectations. The Great Gatsby is F.Scott Fitzgerald's most famous novel and probably one of the most influential books in the 20th century (and one of my personal favourites, I have about three copies lying around). The book has been turned into a movie several times although the only one worth mentioning is the 1974 version with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow. The scene when they throw shirts everywhere still gives me chills.
Anyway, we will still have to wait until December, Boxing Day to be more precise, to watch Carey Mulligan and Leo Dicaprio revive one of the greatest love affairs of history. Can't wait.
Finally, FINALLY, the sun has come out in London. One whole day without a cloud. I am not going to say much about it, I am scared I will wake up tomorrow and it will be pouring with rain...
Perfect day to walk around the town. Everything and everyone seemed brighter and happier... god, I get so corny when summer comes, but I just love it and I've been yearning for it since December! Covent Garden looked lovely under the sunlight (except for the sea of turists and school trip kids that were EVERYWHERE). It was all decorated for the Jubilee Weekend. There were still shy people with their black tights and boots but you could start to see the summery dresses, a couple of shorts, long skirts...
In the evening we had supper at Battersea Pie Station in Covent Garden, a free meal that was given to us when we booked tickets for the musical Sweeney Todd. I had never eating pie before (Bruce and Will actually went OMG when I told them...) Anyway, this was like my proper induction to British culinary culture. And it was tasty tasty, I reccomend the restaurant and the meal + theatre ticket is pretty good; it is 25 pounds and the seats are good, high up but good.
Sweeny Todd was incredible. I had seen the Tim Burton version and loved it so I was a bit scared that the musical wouldn´t live up to my expectations. But it definitely did. It was one of those performances that are not visually overwhelming or incredibly "jazzy". It was simply great. No big dancing numbers. Just very good performers. Imelda Staunton left me speechless.
Ohh, I also discovered the shoes of my dreams.... Carvela, they had to be Carvela.
Not Pre-Fall, it's Métiers d'Art. Not Resort, it's Cruise. This is the world of Chanel (as seen by Karl Lagerfeld) and here it is the latest Cruise Collection of the maison. Taking place in the Chateau de Versailles and (slightly) inspired by the eccentric queen Marie Antoinette, the collection is filled with brocade, frills, voluminous skirts (sometimes almost reminiscing 1950s) and tweer (it wouldn't be a Chanel show without it).
However, we have colourful bobs instead of intricate buns, Chanel tattoos intead of cheeky moles and the uncomfortable creepers (platforms) instead of court shoes. Once more, Lagerfeld has taken a concept and moulded it to his particular vision; Marie Antoinettes transformed into Lolitas.
In this disorder of things, of distorted eighteen century elements flecked a la Lagerfeld, we could imagine what would King Louis le Dernier and his wife, if they lifted their guillotinned heads...
A while ago I read this article on the web of S Moda, the fashion suplement of El Pais, a spanish newspaper. It talks about the importance of pointe shoes for ballet dancers and the process of choosing and personalizing pointe shoes. It felt very personal for me; I have been dancing, on and off, since I was 6 years old, with the same teacher.I only stopped when I came to London (call it lazyness, call it having to travel at least half an hour to get anywhere). It is unbelievable how much you get attatched to dancing, to your teacher, to your fellow dancers. It is almost like an addiction and when you have to give it up, it hurts.
I remember the first time I got my first pair of pointe shoes, I was beyond excited, couldn't wait to saw the laces and try them on straight away. Of course, I had no idea how to do that so I went to class the next day and my teacher burst out laughing when she saw the mess I had done. However, they are hard hard work, there is a lot of sweat, tears, blood and ripped skin involved in dancing on pointe, especially the first months. But somehow, all that is bearable just for a few minutes on stage, with your tutu, high bun and pointe shoes, dancing to Tchaikovsky.
I have done my best to translate the article as faithfully as possible and I hope you enjoy it
Life on Tiptoes
New York Ballet spends half a million dollars per year in shoes. A mini documentary explains why.
Brenda Otero / 02 May 2012 / 8:30 H.
They look like vestiges from a fairytale, fancies of dreamy girls. Those pink satin shoes in which ballerinas turn. But more than a beautiful object, they are precision tools. The success of any ballet depends on them. Glory and pain attainers. So fundamental to the ballerinas like wheels to cyclists.
In Pointe Shoes, a mini documentary by Galen Summer explores the tight relationship of the ballerinas with their pointe shoes. The protagonist, Megan Fairchild from New York City Ballet, shows the voyage a ballerina goes through before finding the perfect shoe.
She wore her first pair when she was eleven: "a big occasion for a girl", she tells on the video. Since then, every time a new pair comes to her hands she follows the same procedure: a ritual that precedes the performance and consists in bending the shoes, sewing the laces, grazing the sole, apply resin and bandaging the toes with plaster. To a beginner this might take an hour; the more experienced resolve it in five minutes.
English National Ballet dancer sews her shoes before going on stage
As a principal dancer Fairchild assures the uses a new pair per day. She can be balancing in them up to eight hours every day and needs the maximum support of new pointes. During the season she uses a pair per rehearsal and another one per performance.
Every pair costs to the New York Ballet 67,50 dollars, which by the end of the season entails half a million dollars in shoes. Not even Anna Dello Russo and her 4.000 pairs of heels.
The pointe shoes are custom made by artisans by the specifications of each ballerina. In Freed London, each expert has a symbol: a crown, a key, a club... Tamara Rojo, dancer and new creative director of the English National Ballet, says that they can never personally meet the shoe maker behind the badge.
The pointe shoes have surpassed the confines of the dance world, capturing interest from the fashion industry. Few can resist their charms. The way they enhance the arch of the foot and the combination of simplicity, ingenuousness and coquetry. The nude ballerinas are a classic that still triumphs on the streets everywhere; Repetto, Brigitte Bardot's favourite shoe house, is a super sales brand with prestige beyond the dance world, Courtney Love makes pointe shoes a decorative element and Amy Winehouse used the Freed London originals. They also work hard on stage.
Today is a special day. It is Audrey Hepburn's birthday. She would be 83. It is good to know that although time passes by, there are people that are still with us. We will always carry on reminiscing her cinematic moments: runaway royalty in Roman Holiday, two man's desire in Sabrina, librarian turned model in Funny Face, doubtful sister in The Nun's story, and of course, as the carefree Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's. She had class, beauty, humility, poise, strenght. She was (and is) and icon, but more than that, she was a woman, and one of the good ones. She didn't have to exploit her sexual appeal or appear half naked on screen to be recognized. She wasn't ostentatious, boastful; in fact, quite the contrary. All she needed was a clean cut Givenchy black dress, sunglasses and her beautiful smile to shine.
Like her character Ann in Roman Holiday, she was and will always be to me a real life princess.
