I am exhausted after dancing for two hours straight at the Thomas Mapfumo concert at the Cedar.
We had been waiting with three other couples for tables at Fugaise. We were standing at the vestibule, waiting for the hostess to get our tables ready, and since you can’t see the dining room until you go in, I wondered if they had over-reserved. Especially, because the hostess took our name and then disappeared for more than five minutes. Fortunately the wait was not too long and I was also able to hear how some people live. In between talking with Linda, I overheard this man say to his wife(?) that he wanted to install a 6-burner stove and that updating the kitchen would be two-hundred grand. More talking to Linda, then something about how that was on top of ten thousand he had spent last month…
So after a while, the hostess came in and brought us to a small table in the main dining room (last time we were here, we had sat in a smaller room beyond the main dining room). The small dining room was completely full, and a few waiters moved this way and that serving people. Our server brought menus, lit the small votive candle on the table and told us all about the special five-course Valentine menu.
The small two page menu contained four appetizers and four entrees. We selected the Scallops in Salsify, Butter Lettuce, Sauce Choron, the Root Vegetable Tart with Sweet Onion Puree, Gruyere Fondue, Poached Egg, and for the entrees I got the Monkfish with Parsnip, Portobello Mushroom, Bacon, Red Wine (minus the bacon), and Linda got the Salmon with Roasted Mushroom Polenta, Zucchini, Tarragon Cream. To drink Linda had the Paul Zinck, Pinot Blanc (Alsace 2006), and I had Bouchard Pere & Fils, Bourgogne Rouge (Burgundy 2005). For dessert we had the Warm Chocolate Cake with Vanilla ice cream, Cinnamon Crème Anglaise, Prune, Macadamia Nuts.
So about the food. Soon after we sat down they brought a amuse-bouche; a potato-croquette with some sauce, I now forget. Since we told the server that we were sharing the scallops and the tart, he brought the scallops in two plates, one scallop for each of us (nice touch). The scallops were great. Very tender and well balanced. The root vegetable tart was also very good. The tart itself had caramelized onions, the root vegetables were just right, and the poached egg made for a nice contrast to the vegetables, particularly with the soft yolk. Of the fish, mine was better than Linda’s. All together, as we expected, the food was very good.
In the middle of dinner we order a second glass of wine, and the server told us it was on him (the restaurant), for our patience waiting to get a table. Another nice touch.
To end the meal, we decided to ask for dessert and skip the coffee (last time here we wanted espresso and either they didn’t have any or it was pretty bad, so I did not want to repeat that experience). The dessert, as last time, was just ok. I don’t know why I keep asking for warm chocolate cake. Most restaurants have pretty much the same thing, and it becomes too similar from place to place.
The first real snow of the season comes tonight, on December 14th. This morning the temperature was in the low thirties. By now it is 4 degrees. This is one of a short series of pictures taken from inside my apartment looking at the street. It is 11pm on Sunday.
The street is basically desserted when a lone figure passes by.
Tonight we went to see the Royal Winnipeg Ballet at Northrop. The program consisted of Concerto Barocco, Led, and after intermission, a fabulous presentation of Carmina Burana.
Concerto Barocco with choreography by George Blanchine, was set to Johann Sebastian Bach’s, Double Violin Concerto in D Minor. This piece was airy and fun to watch. It went well with the Bach’s mostly fast tempo music. The work showcased the corps the ballet, and in particular the principal dancers. The work uses more traditional forms of ballet than we are used to seeing. A lot of dancing on pointed toes, pirouettes and classical high jumps.
led with choreography by Shawn Hounsell and music by Arvo Pärt, Für Alina is modern work with onlt three dancers on stage. A female and two male dancers. I liked this number a lot, but I felt I was to far away to fully enjoy it. With only three dancers on stage I would have liked to see it in a more intimate venue.
Finally, the “Pièce de résistance” (as the director of the RWB called it). Carmina Burana was a fabulous performance. It is a work that takes over one hour to perform. It relies on Carl Orf’s Carmina Burana , a very popular cantata that is based on a libreto from a medieval manuscript. The curtains come up, and the dancers are sitting on stage. The men with bare torsos, the women with skin color tops. Low fog permates the stage. Then the slow tempo music begins and the dancers clap twice with arms extended, then they rise. Everyone wears a colorful satin-like skirt with lots of material. Most of the men wear blue ones and the women wear redish ones. As they dance, twirling around, the skirts and dancing reminds me at times of Dervish dancers. The choreaography by Mauricio Wainrot mixes in very physical moves, particularly by the men. At times it looks almost military or martial arts like. Digitaly lit siggns announce each segment; and so the work starts with (Oh Fortuna, here called) Fortuna I, and then moves through Primo Vere, In Taberna, Cours D’Amour, and finally In Fortuna II. After Fortuna, the dancers remove the skirts offstage and come out in mostly light color attire. The dancing picks up and slows down along with the rising choruses and the few solos in the cantata. The choreography and set design employ a number of props that work very well. At one point, the women climb towards the back of the stage, into rectangular metalic frames on rollers. Then they are rolled in unison by the men, pushing the frames from behind, which forms a wonderful image. The dancing comes to a conclusion with Fortuna II, where the dancers come back with the skirts on stage and sance the final number.
Carmina Burana was a total hit with the audience, which applauded for several minutes, mostly on their feet.
After the performance we stayed for wine and a reception with the new Director at Northrop. We also got to see some of the dancers milling around with the public.
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Concerto Barocco Choreography | George Blanchine Music | Johann Sebastian Bach, Double Violin Concerto in D Minor Staged By | Joysanne Sidimus Original Lighting Design | Ronald Bates Vanessa Lawson Grace Hanley Gael Lambiotte Jennifer Welsman Chelsey Lindsay Maureya Lebowitz Yayoi Ezawa Carrie Broda Tao Kerr Amanda Green Serena Sandford
led Choreography | Shawn Hounsell Music | Arvo Pärt, Für Alina (ECM New Series, Alexander Malter on piano) Contume Design | Shawn Hounsell Tara Birtwhistle Dmitri Dovgoselets
Carmina Burana Choreography | Mauricio Wainrot Music | Carl Orff, Carmina Burana* Originally Staged By | Gideon Louw Set & Costume Design | Carlos Gallardo Lighting Design | David Morrison Fortuna I Emily Grizzell Jennifer Welsman Chelsey Lindsay Carrie Broda Amanda Green Maureya Lebowitz Jo-Ann Sundermeier Tao Kerr Yayoi Ezawa Serena Sandford Grace Hanley Jacelyn Lobay Gael Lambiotte Alexander Gamayunov Dmitri Dovgoselets Robert Pleschke Amar Dhaliwal Yosuke Mino Zhen Guo Chen Brett Taylor Eric Nipp Thiago Dos Santos Liam Caines Tristan Dobrowney Primo Vere (Spring) Chelsey Lindsay Carrie Broda Amanda Green Dmitri Dovgoselets Robert Pleschke Amar Dhaliwal Maureya Lebowitz Jo-Ann Sundermeier Tao Kerr Yayoi Ezawa Serena Sandford Grace Hanley Jacelyn Lobay Yosuke Mino Zhen Guo Chen Brett Taylor Eric Nipp Thiago Dos Santos Liam Caines Tristan Dobrowney In Taberna Eric Nipp Thiago Dos Santos Liam Caines Tristan Dobrowney In Taberna Emily Grizzell Gael Lambiotte Brett Taylor Thiago Dos Santos Zhen Guo Chen Maureya Lebowitz Jo-Ann Sundermeier Tao Kerr Yayoi Ezawa Serena Sandford Grace Hanley Jacelyn Lobay Yosuke Mino Zhen Guo Chen Brett Taylor Eric Nipp Thiago Dos Santos Liam Caines Tristan Dobrowney Chelsey Lindsay Amanda Green Robert Pleschke Amar Dhaliwal Cour D’amours Jennifer Welsman Alexander Gamayunov Chelsey Lindsay Amar Dhaliwal Robert Pleschke Maureya Lebowitz Jo-Ann Sundermeier Tao Kerr Yayoi Ezawa Serena Sandford Grace Hanley Jacelyn Lobay Yosuke Mino Zhen Guo Chen Brett Taylor Eric Nipp Thiago Dos Santos Liam Caines Tristan Dobrowney Cour D’amours Jennifer Welsman Alexander Gamayunov Chelsey Lindsay Amar Dhaliwal Robert Pleschke Maureya Lebowitz Jo-Ann Sundermeier Tao Kerr Yayoi Ezawa Serena Sandford Grace Hanley Jacelyn Lobay Yosuke Mino Zhen Guo Chen Brett Taylor Eric Nipp Thiago Dos Santos Liam Caines Tristan Dobrowney Fortuna II The Company
Royal Winnipeg Ballet
Concerto Barocco
Choreography | George Blanchine
Music | Johann Sebastian Bach, Double Violin Concerto in D Minor
Staged By | Joysanne Sidimus
Original Lighting Design | Ronald Bate
Cherry and Spoon. Claus Oldenberg iconic sculpture at the Walker Art Center’s Sculpture Garden in Minneapolis Minnesota.
Reclining against a Richard Serra Sculpture. Walker Art Center Minneapolis
Wow. This was just a great concert. Lura is a Portugese born singer of Cape Verde ancestry. She had charisma, looks, and a great voice. She sang in Portugese and in Cape Verdean Creole. She also had great rapport with the audience. We sat at a table to the left of the stage and quite close, so we had a perfect view.
Lura sang in a number of styles including Morna, Funaná and Batuque Songs she sang included Basulina (a song for which she told a funny story about how basulina was this great American hair product that they use in Cape Verde. As she described the story and kept repeating the word “basulina” it dawn on the audience that she was referring to Vaseline). She also sang Na Ri Na (where she had the audience join in)
Caesar Salad (share)
house red
Shrimp Risotto (lb)
Shrimp Spaghetti (edq)
Chocolate mascapone torte (share)
Sat outside since the air was going at full blast inside. Our server turned out to be Stephanie, a neighbor from 214 Oak Grove.
Stella (edq)
Sigha (lb)
Esban salad mock duck
Green Curry Shrimp (lb)
Bangkok Sea Breeze (edq)
Trisha Brown Dance Company
Friday April 35, 2008
Trisha Brown Dance Company performed three long works (about 30 minutes each). FORAY FORET and PRESENT TENSE before intermission, then I love my robots. FORAY FORET begins with dancing in total silence. It feels as if there should be music, but soon you concentrate on the movement and the shapes form by the dancers. This is a small moving piece with lots of graceful movements. Then we hear music outside the auditorium. It sounds like the UofM marching band is practicing outside the space. The music is very faint, but loud enough to hear it, then it gets a bit louder and the it moves around. Almost as if the marching band was moving through the hallway all around the concert hall. This couldn’t be a mistake. Could it? It has to be part of the piece. Linda and I notice people squirming. So yes, the work was done in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Alumni band (so much for reading the program before the concert). So was it effective? The work was very nice, I am not sure about the music. It was somewhat distracting. Not quite part of the dance. This work had costume and set design by Robert Rauschenberg. After a short pause we saw Present Tense set to music by John Cage and set and costumes by Elizabeth Murray. This was probably the work I liked the least. The set used a large back drop with a colorful pop motif. The costumes were also pretyy colorful. Nothing wrong, but it didn’t necessarily hit the spot.
During intermission we renewed the season subscription for next year (lots of great things to come. Especially exited about Merce Cunningham’s Once performing at a Quarry in St Cloud)
The second half included I love my robots, a quirky piece choreographed by Trisha Brown set to great music by Laurie Anderson. This was a much more modern work (it was created in 2007). The dance includes two long motorized poles (the robots) that move around the stage with the dancers
Marc Baumuthi Joseph - The Breaks, at the Walker , starts with Soulati (Tommy Shepherd) walking up and down the stairs in the very full McGuire Theater asking questions from the audience. We are sitting on the second row. We have just walked down and taken our seats.. We hear the questions and answers from the audience. He asks the same four or five questions again and again. “What would you ask Jay-Z?”. “Give me a demographic” “Is Thomas Jefferson relevant to today’s political race?” and something like “If Jazz was the broom that swept African Americans into the nation. What is Hip Hop?” . This interaction with the audience went on for a while. It basically caused you to think about what you would say if he came around to ask you, and then if someone used the answer you had prepared, you had to quickly think of something else.. This introductory segment to Marc Baumuthi’s performance turned out to become part of the story, as all of these questions were used in the performance.
Marc Baumuthi’s The Breaks was personal (autobiographical?) timely, exhilarating, thoughtful, passionate, angry..He touched on race and hip hop. He told many personal stories that took place in different countries. He intermixed the story telling with great dance moves, and all along in the background DJ Excess and Tommy Shepherd aka Soulati produced a continous track of music, visuals and sounds. The performance included video and graphics. One of my favorite stories is when Marc Baumuthi recounts how he went to some African country. Maybe it was the Senegal. In any case, he stayed with a White woman from Texas, a social worker who had spent a number of years in Africa. Someone who spoke a number of dialects and knew the people well. One day he accompanied her on a trip to visit a number of small villages where she would talk to women and to the elders about female circumcision. At one point he strikes a conversation with a Senegalese who tells him that the Texan woman is an African American, whereas Marc Baumunthi is a Black American….
The show ended with tremendous applause from the audience. Afterwards we stopped at 20-21 for a couple of drinks and the Calamari Salad. By far, the best calamari salad in town.
