A Dance to the End of Summer
08.30.2012
While it was an Italian invention, the French took to ballet like canards to l'eau. Catherine de Medici, the Italian who married French king Henry II, and who was responsible for much of the French Renaissance in art, and culture, and architecture, was ballet's first major patron in France; but Louis XIV, a passionate dancer whose nickname "Sun King" came from a 12-hour ballet in which he danced five different roles, cemented its place in French history and culture.
But this post is not about ballet.
It's about choreography, the kind of subtle choreography we're learning to see in Paris, where it seems that not only individuals dance to their own internal drummers, but even groups are often arranged by some master choreographer like Balanchine, or the Sun God, Apollo.
Richard and I will be standing on a Metro platform and there, across the tracks, a sudden rearrangement of waiting Parisians becomes a dance of its own. If he's quick, he can capture these moments in the Metro, in the streets, at cafés. If not, at least we saw the moment, and, like rainbows, we know they'll reappear when the angle and the light are right.
Here then, some of the choreography we've noticed, from soloists, duos, or ensemble players. Call it Paris Play's dance to the end of summer. May you keep an eye out for your town's tangos, tarantellas, or full-out ballets, and enjoy them as much as we do.
A Chorus Line
Channeling his inner Gene Kelly
A mosh pit
Sometimes, your hair can dance for you
A dog who thinks he's a cat
Dances with not-quite wolves
Street art by Miss-Tic
Reader Comments (18)
Fabulous photos! It is all in the eye of the beholder. Naif that I am, is the photo with the chassidic jews and the merry-go-round pastiched together or is just the color played with? So many great images -- the one that will remain with me, though, is the group waiting for the metro. A dance of life.
Hi Varya,
Richard thanks you. That photo was taken next to the St. Paul Metro station in the Marais, and Richard simply desaturated the chassidim in an otherwise color photo to put the emphasis on them. Aren't they wonderful? And I agree with you about the Metro photo, the light and shadows in that one.
Love to you and Charles,
Kaaren & Richard
These are fabulous photographs. I have the same feeling when I'm in Paris, that I am watching a continuous and dazzling dance, with great choreography.
Magnifique! Even the placement of each photo between the one before and the one after makes a kind of ballet!
I am dancing over to Betty's to share these with her! Thanks for a vicarious view of Parisians dancing within a Blue Moon month!
xo Suki
Thank you, Suki.
Yes, the photographs suggested that they had a narrative thread, too. A larger symphony that knit together the smaller movements. The dancing universe is so clever; perhaps Shiva, who also does a dance of bliss, was working with Apollo, too.
We hope Betty enjoys the post; thank you for being her Hermetic messenger.
Love,
--K and R
I feel as if I just went to a great gallery show and I didn't have to drive. Thank-you. You have made me happy with your images.
love,
Tristine
Dearest Tristine:
Thank you. Not driving is part of our creed here.
Much love back,
--R & K
Dearest Susan,
Merci beaucoup. We know that you know dance! Come back soon and dance around Paris with us again.
Bisous,
Kaaren (& Richard)
Gorgeous! I loved them.
I loved the idea of finding dance About.
I send it to my daughter, Amanda.
Good for you both. You give me such treats.
Love ya,
Bruce
Thank you, Bruce, we aim to treat!
--R and K
Wonderful photos. Some of my favorites are the athlete kicking the ball.... very sharp, crisp; the gentleman taking a picture of his family in the park under that beautiful magenta magnolia.... I want that tree!; the child walking alone with his/her hands in his/her pockets, philosophizing, contemplating, foreseeing; and the outside bistro with the little boy twirling around a pole... it could almost be a Rockwell scene. And the boy could almost be a very young Richard Beban!
Thanks, guys, for the great stories and photos. Please keep them coming.
Thank you, Wendy.
Yes, Paris made Richard young again, so he spins around on lampposts and does "Singing in the Rain."
The magenta magnolia is one of dozens of cherry trees that bloom annually in Park Sceaux in suburban Paris. We have our own cherry blossom festival here during that magic week when they all explode into color at once.
Many hugs, and we hope to see you here soon.
Kaaren (and Richard)
Right before reading this post, I was doing yoga in my living room when suddenly, I found myself dancing. My own dance til the end of summer. I am loving the photos, every one a story unto itself, begging me to notice the dance of life around me.
Thank you, dear Kaaren and Richard
Dear Jane,
Dance yoga! What could be better? We love the image of you dancing around your living room. You must be feeling GOOD!
Thank you for joining the dance here.
Much love,
Kaaren & Richard
Wonderful! All types of dances... all varieties of dancers! What marvelous captured moments. I especially love the sepia tone photo of the man and woman in, I think, a diner?
And the other early photo of the line of girls... the expressions on their faces as they look at the photographer looking at them.
Is the woman with the pigeons in the Place St Sulpice?
Happy Summer's End... and wishing you both a beautiful Autumn!
Love,
dawna
Merci, Dawna:
A poet we both adore, Jack Gilbert, wrote:
Maybe, he thinks, it is like the Noh: whenever
the script says dances, whatever the actor does
next is a dance. It he stands still, he is dancing.
from To See if Something Comes Next—Jack Gilbert
It's impossible to walk around Paris and not see the Noh play Jack sees: Whatever you people do next, is dancing.
The man and woman were in a Champs-Élysées coffeehouse, and they were not together. Richard loved the man's face and expression, and was sneaking some shots of that, when the woman arrived behind him and started taking off her coat; voila! the synchronized elbow dance.
The girls were at the Canal St. Martin, both scandalized and delighted that a street photographer was paying attention.
And yes, that woman who feeds the pigeons is at Place St. Sulpice, good eye! She conducts the pigeons with some regularity.
We are keeping your Paris people-watching seat warm.
Much love,
Kaaren (and Richard)
Richard,
You sure capture the moment and crystalize it for our seeing.
It's wonderful to experience the streets of Paris through your eyes.
<;-)
Joanne
Joanne:
Richard blushes and says, thank you.
Richard (and Kaaren)