I really like this image that I took late last night in Balham.
To me it asks questions of you – what are you assuming? There’s just enough detail to set a scene that you then need to interpret for yourself.
All posts by nigel
Tango in the Dark
There is something about Tango that just goes with dark bars.. this time in the Latest Bar in Brighton.
An open door
Sometimes a door opens.
It looks interesting.
Walk through it.
Dark emotions in the night
I am not trying to trivialise a dreadful subject, but if you wander through the forbidden gates at a late night station – like I did this evening – you can feel how it happens. You only need to be down, going through any kind of an emotional crisis. You have lost your perspective.
So don’t do it.
Stay away from the edge.
Just walk away.
In fact – don’t be an idiot – like me – just don’t go there in the first place.
Darkness and light
So many of my pictures from last week in Seville seemed to be about light in dark places.
Sometimes the light was an effect : like these two shots in a cocktail bar : where small spotlights and long exposures helped to create some interesting images :
As always high resolution images are on Flickr here
Flamenco in the Dark
Sometimes you just get stuck in the wrong place with the wrong camera, but if you take enough shots and enjoy the experience you can still capture images that connect emotionally with what you are feeling.
So here’s my effort from a couple of evenings ago. On the White Night Festival in Seville, I went to a great Flamenco performance – and only had a pocket camera – but actually I quite like the results.
They are of Carmen Iniesta Iniesta – an amazing performance – and all completely free. It took place in the Palacio Marqueses de la Algaba – a 15th century site with the most gorgeous inner courtyard, high arches and a haunting echo to the wonderful singing and guitar that accompanied Carmen.
As someone who knows nothing about Flamenco it was interesting to sense the conversations between the dancer and the musicians, it seemed to me to have a sense of improvisation and dialogue which was very open and fascinating.
All in all a great experience, and made a wonderful diversion from my continued Tango lessons with Joao Alves.
High Resolution Images are located on Flickr here.
Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet
Just a huge shout out to Cedar Lake as a fantastic company of amazingly talented dancers.
Yet again a wonderful selection of pieces this evening, some superb images and just outstanding ability from the company.
Thank you so much for taking your work outside of the States.
Also appreciated the chance to ask the company questions after the show.
It is such a recharging experience to watch such talent at work, it makes me refocus on my own small creative ventures, and to get out there and dance.
Urban Tango
Every so often you see something and just think – ‘ that is so me‘
Werkvideo 1: Tango … Donaukanal from werk-2 on Vimeo.
The idea of enjoying working on Tango in such an urban setting just really interests me.
Thank you so much Alessandra for allowing me to share this. I haven’t been to Vienna for so many years, based on this I maybe need to go back..
Tango and Writing a novel – two Big Projects..
As well as in my working life, where the challenges of building an IT business have always been clear and considerable – I have been getting involved with some major projects in my personal life – a couple of really big mountains to climb.
- Firstly I am now about 30,000 words into my first novel. As a newbie 30,000 seems to me to be a great many words – even though its only a third of the way there. Once you get to that kind of size, if you stop for a couple of weeks you have to re-read pretty much the whole thing just to remember what on earth is going on.
- Secondly I am learning Tango. Anyone who hasn’t tried would probably just think ‘So what – it’s a dance – just learn the steps.. ‘ or something similar. But in reality learning Tango as a beginner – especially for the guys, or “leaders” as we are somewhat ironically described as – is mind bogglingly difficult.
These kind of big project undertakings need different skills – a different level of dedication. Persistence. The ability to keep going when it gets tough, when you lose your confidence. The enthusiasm to keep finding the time, to keep practicing even when you don’t feel like it.
They also teach you about yourself – if you are writing or dancing Tango you are exploring your own character and thoughts – a humbling and fascinating process of self discovery. A process that is facilitated by the music, your partner, or by the creativity of the act itself.
Coincidentally I started them both at the same time – February – and so I am now celebrating 6 months of trying. 6 months of not giving up, of having faith, of trying to keep positive and enjoy all the learning experiences that these kinds of undertakings always confront you with.
The challenge now is to start the process of doing them at a higher level than simply awful – so with some basic level of skill. My problem is that I genuinely want to be good at such enormously difficult things, and rightly or wrongly a part of me absolutely believes that I can be. Yes it may be a fantasy – but what fun to really, truly make the effort, to discover more about myself and my limitations.
Whatever the outcome I am so glad that 6 months ago I started both of these ventures – they have given me so much – and even more thrilled that I am still hanging in there. The weirdest thing is that I have even more energy for them both than I did when I started – that seems to be a characteristic of these kind of complex subjects – they are open ended and you get out of them as much as you put into them, you can never master them and for that reason they remain always fascinating and motivational.
They inspire you in a way that simpler, more achievable interests never can.
Great contrasting tango last weekend
From darkness to the light – two totally contrasting events –
From a late night bar in Brighton on Friday to the beautiful sunshine of Regents Park on Sunday – a wonderful four hours of open air milonga with a fun performance from Nick Jones and Diana Cruz
What a fun weekend of Tango – A big shout out to TangoBootCamp and Dance al Fresco for organising such great events..