Lang Lang

[Quijote]

Another Guardian article, this time on Lang Lang. What do you think?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musi...t-chopin-video

[Peter]

Well it's ridiculous but harmless enough - what do you think?

[Quijote]

Mixed feelings, to be honest. I know nothing about dance (classical or otherwise), but would like to appreciate the connection between music and physical movement, as they are clearly related (minuets, gigues, sarabandes, etc.).
I have two dancer friends who are classically trained but who have branched out into contemporary styles (one of which is a Merce Cunningham style, I suppose I could say). Anyway, we had a discussion one day about this point, and I asked them if the piece is dramatic (let's say B's Appassionata), should the dancer "mimic" the musical gestures. Absolutely not, they replied, as that would amount to just "repeating" what the music says. Instead, the dancer has to try to offer a "comment" on the music, a "counterpoint" to the music.
From that point of view then, the rap dancer accompanying Lang Lang's Chopin piece is doing precisely that. Still, it didn't really "speak to me", if you see what I mean.
What did you think of Lang Lang's performance, Herr Blue Baron?

[Peter]

Mixed feelings, to be honest. I know nothing about dance (classical or otherwise), but would like to appreciate the connection between music and physical movement, as they are clearly related (minuets, gigues, sarabandes, etc.).
I have two dancer friends who are classically trained but who have branched out into contemporary styles (one of which is a Merce Cunningham style, I suppose I could say). Anyway, we had a discussion one day about this point, and I asked them if the piece is dramatic (let's say B's Appassionata), should the dancer "mimic" the musical gestures. Absolutely not, they replied, as that would amount to just "repeating" what the music says. Instead, the dancer has to try to offer a "comment" on the music, a "counterpoint" to the music.
From that point of view then, the rap dancer accompanying Lang Lang's Chopin piece is doing precisely that. Still, it didn't really "speak to me", if you see what I mean.
What did you think of Lang Lang's performance, Herr Blue Baron?

Lang Lang is a brilliant technician and showman - full stop. Yes I agree physical movement, rhythm and music are of course related, but the purpose of Chopin's piece is a technical study for a pianist - having someone jive around to it serves no purpose other than to try to draw a new audience (for the wrong reasons) which it may succeed in doing in the short term.

[Quijote]

[...] the purpose of Chopin's piece is a technical study for a pianist - having someone jive around to it serves no purpose other than to try to draw a new audience (for the wrong reasons) which it may succeed in doing in the short term.

I'll get my agent to contact this rap dancer fellow then, for a new contract : Lang Lang and the Czerny études. That'll be fun.

[Quijote]

More seriously though, on further reflection, there seems to be little physical "vocabulary" expressed by the rap dancer in this Lang Lang / Chopin piece. It (rap) is perhaps not yet a fully developed art form, if ever it will be. Unlike Flamenco. I have seen productions melding classical music with flamenco, and I find that quite exciting. I remember once being a privileged guest at a live flamenco event in some dingy bar in Murcia, and there was more "poetry" in the fingers, feet and body of an aged gitana than I have seen in this rap dancer's "technique".

[Quijote]

If ever you get a chance to experience "cante jondo", go for it. You won't get it in Benidorm or Torremolinos or Ibiza, but it's out there. Manuel De Falla and Garcia Lorca appreciated its qualities.

[Peter]

If ever you get a chance to experience "cante jondo", go for it. You won't get it in Benidorm or Torremolinos or Ibiza, but it's out there. Manuel De Falla and Garcia Lorca appreciated its qualities.

Yes I know about their involvement with that, but I don't think I'll find it in West Sussex either!

[PDG]

The West Sussex night life is buzzin' man! Get out there. Get funky, get down and get with it!! Arundel especially is a hot bed of funkin' action!!