The Great Gatsby

So, The Great Gatsby. The loooooooong-awaited, super-hyped Great Gatsby. It actually proved to be everything I was (dreading) expecting.

First, it definitely is a Baz Luhrman movie, no doubt about that, with some of the things he does that I love. The extravaganza, of course. I love how he recreates these extravagant red-velvet-and-feather atmospheres. The directing style, too, is everything Baz Luhrman has been known for. The extensive use of in and out zooming, the shiny red-light, the fast-forward. And last but not least, the costumes from Miuccia Prada are obviously incredibly beautiful. And, well, everyone has been speaking about it.

But then, when costumes steal the show, it is never a good sign, is it? Because even though I had pleasure watching it, I can't deny I was a bit disappointed.

First, what with the voice over? True, the best thing about this novel is the text (definitely neither the story, nor the characters), but film is another medium. And it would have been great to see how Baz Luhrman takes the higher road and skips the narration. (And please, Baz. No more words fading in and out on screen...)

But mainly, I am still eagerly waiting for Baz luhrman to rock my world and take my breath away the way he did with Romeo + Juliet. Despite the enormous budget, talented team and glittery cast, the movie is not as groundbreaking as it could have been. The thing is, with the Great Gatsby one expects extravaganza and grandiose. And that makes Baz Luhrman's rendition, despite the collaboration with Jay Z, almost too literal.

I would have loved to see him recreate Gatsby in a different world, say Wall Street just before Lehman went bankrupt. That would have given bones and substance to quite a pale story.

Prints

I love fine art but have always considered it a museum item or a lavish luxury for billionaire collectors. So, I never thought I could find myself considering buying some. Until Sunday, when I visited the London Original Print Fair, where one of my friend was exhibiting. There, walking at awe throughout the smart prints, I realized that there was something in-between the home-printed pics in RIBBA frame and the stern minimalistic look of collector blogs.

Smart, exciting, sometimes old sometimes new, meaningful or pointless fun, it finally made me understand how buying art, selecting something that resembles us or that we want to say, can make us feel more accomplished. A new road to happiness. (Also, not as expensive as expected: though some skyrocketed up to £50,000, you could find cool stuff around £300 – an okay investment for something that will brighten up your days for the rest of your life)

Some galleries excited me more than others, and I’ll make sure I pay regular visits in the future. Here they are:

Rebecca Hossack: http://www.r-h-g.co.uk/

RA Editions: http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/raeditions/

Frederick Mulder: http://www.frederickmulder.com/

Space invaders...

Not long ago, I attended a choreography workshop with Suzanne Thomas, who made us work on the performance's space.

She stressed how movie clips and TV have shaped our view of dancing: the importance of staying on the camera's viewpoint and of not disturbing the audience's attention from the singer have led to more static and uniformed performances.

She wanted us to use the whole space, and see how placing dancers in different locations, facing different directions could make us tell different, textured stories. It was amazing how the same moves could have different meanings.

For example, just placing two dancers next to each other, and one a bit further apart makes you wonder about their relationships. Are the first two in love? Will the third one join in or not? Or having all dancers face the wall, back to the audience, then make one of them turn, can create a kind of surrealistic experience.

Definitely worth taking into account, next time I have a play or dancers to direct...

20 pounds

The brief was: a journey; Who, exactly got inspired by a journey around pubs? I am not sure, but it is a deeper story than what you could think... I was co-writer and editor on this one...

The story: A couple finds a 20 pounds note, and tries to find the right place to spend it... here it is

HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU - the Musical

Last week was the busiest and most emotional week of the year. With two performances of my musical, I was running everywhere, working with my tema Amy, Delia, Veneta, Marco and Nikolai on the latest changes. 

I was the writer, director, co-producer, and I was also a dancer - so quite stressful!

The show went so well. And the venue was full full full.

And the actors asked to be on my nest show, which is all that matters to me, really. 

Pictures and video soon - editing now - but in the meantime, here is a quick "documentary" we made about the show - click on this link

Dancing in the streets of Buenos Aires

Chance encounter in the streets of Buenos Aires last spring. We danced in the street of La Boca. Click here to see the video

5-minutes videos - a focus on storytelling

Last week, I attended the ideastap event about creating 5-minutes videos. Many thanks to Paul Mason for his time and precious avice!

He's a reporter, so, as a playwright and director I wasn't sure I would gain much, but I did! 

What I loved about the session what how Paul made it very simple and "organised" to create a 5 minutes video. He started by emphasizing the idea of structure, explaining that any video needs a set-up, development and crisis resolution. Then he divided plain paper into 10 rows.... one for every 30 seconds of video. In each one, we worked out what we'd show every 30 seconds, and what type of footage we'd use. The idea: tell a story, and keep the viewer entertained with different type of footage. 

Definitely handy for my last documentary project. Thanks Paul!