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If you happen to live in the DC area I urge you to hie yourself down to the National Gallery of Art and see the exhibit on Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. It’s an amazing exhibit on scenery and costume design for the Ballets Russes, it’s brilliant! There are scenes and costumes by Picasso, Chanel, Matisse. I loved it! I was in heaven since it was the perfect combination of my two favorite things, art and ballet!
One of the things I found particularly striking about the exhibit is that the designers made it feel like your waiting in the wings of a theater. It really brought back a lot of memories for me, I could stand just behind a “wing” and enjoy the videos that were playing as part of the exhibit, just as when I was dancing we used to stand and watch the scene/performance before ours. It was wonderful!
Summer concerts are the best! Summer concerts at sunset are even better! The first sunset came from a She and Him (I’ve posted this video before, this is a good excuse to post it again) concert at Wolf Trap. And the second from the Annapolis Irish Festival. The second sunset is just moments before we are all completely drenched by the most refreshing downpour ever (it was so hot and humid).
On Sunday I helped celebrate the birthday of my friend Caroline at Founding Farmers in downtown Washington, DC. Founding Farmers is a neat venue because it is owned by farmers, they are invested in the food that is served there right from the very start! It was was a really, yummy experience!
I started my meal off with a hibiscus soda, freshly made right there. The drink list was so long and tempting I decided to settle for a simple soda because I couldn’t make up my mind!
The group split and order of bacon wrapped dates (yummy!) and fresh bread with prosciutto, mascarpone cheese, and something else I can’t remember right now (sadly not pictured, it was eaten too quickly).
I had fried chicken and waffles (which I have decided I want as brunch someday) as my entree, with sides of pickled potato salad and sea-salted watermelon with mint. It was so good!
Today Dorothy L. Sayers would have been 120.
If you don’t know who Dorothy L. Sayers is I want you to drop everything your doing right now and 1) pick up any one of her mystery novels (my favorite is Gaudy Night, but please don’t start with that one, it would be unjust, start with Whoose Body or The Nine Tailors. Guady Night needs to be surrounded by a sense of anticipation in my opinion.), 2) get both volumes of her letters and start reading. And when you’ve read those pick up Creed or Chaos.
This woman was phenomenally brilliant. To say she was just a good mystery writer would be unfair. She wrote everything! Plays, prose, poetry, novels, philosophy. You name it. She even completed a translation of the Divine Comedy.
Okay, now that I have typed the phrase busy bee, all I can think of is that scene in Gladiator where Commodus has reached a-place-that-is-beyond-creepy and he calls Lucillia a busy bee. I always want to scream at Lucillia to just grab her kid and leave the palace.
But I wanted to pop in for a minute to once again apologize for not posting and to assure you that I am still alive and well! I’ve been in over my head in events, planning and projects. The picture above shows the sewing project I’ve been working on – 20+ Shakespearean shirts for a middle school production of Taming of the Shrew. Ooo, ooo, that Shakespearean rag. . .
And to add to the randomness of this post, here is a poem for you:
MORNING AT THE WINDOW
by: T.S. Eliot (1888-1965)
THEY are rattling breakfast plates in basement kitchens,
And along the trampled edges of the street
I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids
Sprouting despondently at area gates.
The brown waves of fog toss up to me
Twisted faces from the bottom of the street,
And tear from a passer-by with muddy skirts
An aimless smile that hovers in the air
And vanishes along the level of the roofs.
Maria Tallchief passed away yesterday, she was an amazing ballet dancer, one of the first to put America on the map for Ballet. She was best known for her part as the Firebird. I found a movie with her commenting a little on the role. I am just amazed at her grace!
Easter Friday! One of the few Fridays of the year that is completely free from any penitential acts, and, in fact, should be treated like a Sunday! Feast! Eat meat! Have dessert after every meal! The Lord has truly risen!
(And your probably wondering, “great, what is with the half-eaten croissant?” Well, I forgot to take a picture before I ate it, and the crumbs look so flaky, you get a better idea of how wonderful it was.)
So this is what I’ve been up to . . .
Okay, so all the Irish-y stuff happened before I went MIA, but I never had a chance to show you!
Sunday I took a trip to the National Gallery of Art to see Michelangelo’s David-Apollo , It’s called the David–Apollo because they aren’t sure who it is exactly. I think it is a David, he doesn’t seem Apollo-esque enough to me.
This statue was on loan from the Bargello in Florence. I have seen the statue in Florence before, but I figured I’d go see it again. It’s like when a good friend comes to town you make sure you stop by and say hello during their visit.
To top the visit off, there was an amazing piano trio playing later that evening for which I was able to stay! (FYI: a piano trio means that there is a piano and two other instruments, usually a cello and violin, all playing together. It doesn’t mean a trio of pianos.)
Update: Just found this article by Simcha Fisher on children and and their take on art. Loved it!
Sacred Monkeys of the Vatican 