Yesterday Moa and i went out to Drottningholm, the royal palace with it’s vast gardens. -a place i love and will be writing a lot more about in the futue... I was delighted to discover the lakes and ponds in the english park frozen and turned into huge ice skating-rinks – a shame i can’t skate. Hardly any snow yet though, wich would have made things all the more beautiful.
We walked around on the ice, out on small islets normally inaccessible, everything was just as it should be in winter except for the shortage of snow, i had almost forgotten what it was like as last winter was horrible and just rained away - wich felt like a bad sign as i have been worrying and obsessing over all the talk of climate change of recent years…but we’ve had mild winters before so maybe it’s not all that bad...i remember some ten years ago when two friends of mine, both born in late december, foolishly they decided to celebrate their fifteenth birthday with a picnic at Drottningholm, and it was rainy and muddy; the ground was like walking on a soaking wet sponge.
Speaking of Drottningholm i found these clips that some sweetheart has had the kindness of posting on youtube that are part of a lovely documentary on ”dance’s past” from 1979, instigated, written and narrated by Dame Margot Fonteyn.
Here she gives a little tour of the well-preserved court theatre at Drottningholm, and it’s absolutely charming! The whole documentary is really worth watching, unfortunately they've disabled embedding of the clips so you have to follow these links:1 (13) and
2 (14)
-the part with Drottningholm starts in clip 1 (13) with a lovely little animation at about 3:23 and continues in clip 2 (14).
5 comments:
I was screaming with happiness about this post and these video clips. What a beautiful little theatre you have there. Today has been a day of amazing coincidences.
Yesterday I had tea with a very good friend of mine who is the director of the New York Baroque Dance Company. You must visit the web site as there are some clips there for you to watch and I know that you will love them. I performed with them once in Les Arts Florissants - a character part. But it was 18th and 19th century classical Spanish dance - Escuela Bolera - that was my specialty - exactly as in the clip you showed -and I went to Madrid to study. Just before I broke my arm I was getting ready to get back in dancer's shape and put some of my pieces on film. I still hope to do so if my arm will ever be able to do what it is supposed to do! My castenet playing will not be affected but it's the raising of the arm that worries me. Thanks for posting the videos...and I do miss Margot Fonteyn. About Quentin Crisp - when I lived in NYC he was living there and his phone number was actually listed in the phone book. I never called him but know people who did. He was very nice, they said. And Diana Vreeland - Do you have the video from the Metropolitan Museum, 'The Eighteenth Century Woman'? Try to find it if you don't. She is interviewed for the exhibit on 18th century fashion. Very Entertaining. Thanks for such a wonderful post. I wish you lots of snow.
Catherine
I'm so pleased to hear that! It is indeed an extremely beautiful little theatre, i was so excited when i came across those clips myself.
the New York Baroque Dance Company looks fabulous, strange i haven't heard of them before, the clips were great! When i was 14 I and my best friend enrolled on a course on historical dance, wich i later dropped out of for some reason, my friend stayed and they later formed a dance group called Contre Temps wich lasted for quite a fiew years, they danced at various events and festivals and so on, they had amazing frocks made, 1720s style...so i wish i had stayed!
I'd love to see you doing the bolero, i hope your arm gets better soon.
I recently heard a radio programme about Crisp where they talked about this designer, Adrover who lived next door to Crisp, and when he found out that he'd died and then found all his belongings that had been carried out on the street, took the striped mattress-ticking and made a coat, wich he later bequeathed to the met museum...where all those who handled it got terrible itching, the ghost of Crisp and his aecsema
I remember those lovely clips with Vreeland, i used to keep coming back to them, but last time i checked they were gone.
You're welcome, it's my pleasure. And thank you!
"Tutta"
Tutta! What a gorgeous post! I have to put this on my list of places to go, it looks like a dream! You have such a wonderful blog! Thank you so much for the info on that DVD, I am going to look for it, I am so intrigued! It has all of my favorite components. Thank you Thank you!
Much Love!
Judith~
T -
I believe the designer's name is Miguel Adrover. Don't know why I remember that - saw it in Vogue I think. Funny about the mattress!! I'm sure you've seen the documentary of Q.C. I don't recall the title.
Wearing those period costumes is so much fun. The panniers and the corset. When I put on the white wig for the first time I thought that it would make me look really old -well, I wasn't old to begin with - but it didn't at all. Very transforming though. I begin my serious physical therapy tomorrow. I joked with my dancer friend - I will have to go back to Baroque dance if I can no longer raise my arm...the restriction of the corsets,you know.
Catherine
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