Two Cousins

This clip is brilliant.

Video for ‘Two Cousins’ by Slow Club, featuring Ryan Francois and Remy Kouakou Kouame

I have so much to say about this, but I have to just start here, and perhaps get back to it later.

I think it’s great! I must have watched it a million billion times already. I LOVE that you can see what they’re doing clearly – there’s so little footage of Ryan around it’s really cool to finally get a good look at his action. And I’d never seen Remy before!

I like the editing and composition a LOT. I think it’s a bit jarring if you’re used to the usual dance footage, which is just one camera at one angle, filming a whole-body shot. Great for watching and rewatching and learning choreography. Rubbish for creating a complex, involving narrative. This video clip is constructed for a different reason: to sell a song. Video clips have a long history of telling mini stories and working with narrative in interesting ways. This simply isn’t a dance clip like the ones we use every day. It wants to be read in a different way. Having said that, I think this clip also echoes the things Mura Dehn did in Spirit Moves: a white background; dancers framed in a strange, unnatural environment; inappropriate music; etc etc.

I think the editing and composition are wonderful for showcasing the movements. I really like (for example) the way the scarecrow is in slo-mo – it really emphasises the _feel_ of a scarecrow, which uses that long, slow slide back into a SNAP! I also love the close up on their hands. And the slow change from the gaze to-camera to the itches. I love that bit. Itches can feel kind of cheesy, but that deep, slow gaze reminds me that itches are old, old movements, their roots in Africa, funny on one level, serious on another. These two men – ancestors from Africa, living in modern Europe, dressed in the sharpest, finest suits are modern artists and professionals. They immediately trip up any orientalist impulses. This isn’t a romantic recreation of black dance; it’s a deliberate engagement with the dance (and the camera) by savvy professionals.

I like the way the editing and framing cut the movements into pieces and emphasise the jerky staccato-ness of them, but then slow them doooown, making them smoother and more fluid with the slo-mo. I also like the way the dancers turn around, so we see their backs. All that unrelieved black fabric in a high-contrast black and white film. It’s a relief when they turn around and we see their faces and hands and white shirts and bits of white cuff. Throughout this clip we see so many little bits of their bodies (which emphasises those bits and makes us think about them), I just get so impatient to see their _whole_ bodies. So when we do see them, full-length, framed carefully and completely on the screen, it’s almost a relief. I have to keep watching and rewatching, hoping I’ll see just a bit more of them each time.

I think this is only shot from one side, so the dancers _can_ turn their backs on us. They can choose to look _away_. It’s not quite a fourth wall, because they return our gaze, so levelly and clearly, and breaking the illusion of an on-stage performance.

I don’t mind that the choreography is cut into pieces. Isn’t that how we experience archival film anyway – films are cut up into pieces, the dancing bits excised and put onto youtube? And when I think of the Al and Leon stuff on youtube, it all sort of blurs into a melange of pieces, just like this clip. Editing is about cutting up and gluing together footage to tell a story in a particular way. I think the editing in this allows the dancers to engage with the viewer in a way Al and Leon never could in those television performances.

In this video clip we finally get a chance to see just how _seriously_ these dancers take their work and their craft. Those moments when, in slo-mo, Remy and Ryan gaze into the camera… it’s exciting. It’s intense. It reminds me that the light hearted surface of those Al and Leon clips is really just the very first and most superficial part of what they were doing. All those performances are the product of so much work and practice and training, all of which require an intense, passionate commitment and determination. When they look into the camera their stillness and intensity contrasts with their energised bodies and remind me that the performance _is_ a performance. They are _more_ than just this routine. It also reminds me that this is a _recreation_ of iconic choreographies (and television performances), where two men are recreating or performing something which dancers like us all know, but which the average punter hasn’t a clue about. They are putting on a ‘costume’ when they do those routines (including their literal costumes), but they are – as people and dancers – more than this. I especially like the way their level gazes contrast with the grins (which could be fake!) later on. Returning the gaze is an act of agency and power. It also allows you to connect with the people who inhabit those bodies in a different way.

So far as the song itself goes: booooring. But then, that action is popular with the young people these days, and perhaps it’s a gateway drug. :D To badarse dancing and eventually music. I do think the song is useful, though, because its lighter, simpler structure only emphasises the complexity of the dancing. I guess I see this contrast mostly because I’m so very familiar with the original choreography and musical context for the dancing, and not everyone might see that (especially if they didn’t know anything about jazz dance). But to me it’s kind of thrilling to see such amazing dancing so clearly, and showcased in such an interesting way. For me, the song recedes and becomes a sort of bland background for some really impressive, wonderful dancing.

I’m also fascinated by the presentation and performance of race in this clip, how it compares with footage of black dancers in the 30s/40s/50s, the fact that the Slow Club are white British musicians, but I don’t really want to make this post any longer. Although I bet Stuart Hall would have some really interesting things to say…

NB I’d like to talk about how the long, full-length shot without cuts was used by feminist filmmakers in the 70s to alienate the viewer from the narrative, and also to emphasise the tedium of housework. This is relevant to a discussion of how dancers use footage of dance performances – long, unbroken scenes, full-length shots. The story is deliberately broken down by rewatching as well as framing, so that dancers can figure out dance steps.

NB2 Of course, when I see this post next to the last one, all sorts of other ideas leap into my brain.

Eddie Condon: Everywhere, All The Time

Direct link to 8tracks playlist.

Photo by William Gottlieb in 1946 from the Library of Congress William P. Gottlieb Collection.

Eddie Condon. Chicagoan guitarist who just went on and on and on. Telly, albums, night club. The jazz brand of win. Was also in some brilliant bands. I don’t actually have a lot of his stuff (considering just how much he recorded), and I’ve found that most of the best quality recordings I have are from the cheapy JSP box set of his stuff. Which I got from emusic, and so don’t have liner notes for. How frustrating! I did manage to sort most of the discographical details out using the Tom Lord Jazz Discography, but it’d just been easier to get a good Mosaic set.

Eddie Condon. Damn good stuff.

1. Bugle Call Rag The Rhythmakers (Billy Banks, Henry ‘Red’ Allen, Pee Wee Russell, Fats Waller, Eddie Condon, Jack Bland, Pops Foster, Zutty Singleton) Henry Red Allen ‘Swing Out’ 247 1932 2:45

2. A Shine On Your Shoes Jack Bland and his Rhythmakers (Henry ‘Red’ Allen, Tommy Dorsey, Pee Wee Russell, Eddie Condon, Pops Foster, Zutty Singleton) Eddie Condon: Classic Sessions 1927-49 (Volume 2) 241 1932 3:02

3. Sweet Thing Dick Porter and his Orchestra (Johnah Jones, Joe Marsala, Dick Porter, Eddie Condon, Ernest Myers, George Wettling) Eddie Condon: Classic Sessions 1927-49 (Volume 2) 104 1936 2:49

4. Keeps On A-Rainin’ Eddie Condon, Billie Holiday, Hot Lips Page, Horace Henderson, Jack Lesberg, George Wettling Eddie Condon: Classic Sessions 1927-49 (Volume 4) 70 1949 3:21

5. We Called It Music Eddie Condon, Louis Armstrong, Ben Webster Eddie Condon: Classic Sessions 1927-49 (Volume 4) 135 1949 5:12

6. Mahogany Hall Stomp Louis Armstrong and his Savoy Ballroom Five (JC Higgenbotham, Albert Nicholas, Charlie Holmes, Teddy Hill, Luis Russell, Eddie Condon, Lonnie Johnson, George ‘Pops’ Foster, Paul Barbarin) Hot Fives and Sevens – Volume 4 192 1929 3:16

7. Who Stole The Lock (On The Henhouse Door) Jack Bland and his Rhythmakers (Henry ‘Red’ Allen, Tommy Dorsey, Pee Wee Russell, Eddie Condon, Pops Foster, Zutty Singleton) I Was Born To Swing 243 1932 2:40

8. That’s A Serious Thing Eddie’s Hot Shots (Leonard Davis, Jack Teagarden, Mezz Mezzrow, Happy Caldwell, Joe Sullivan, Eddie Condon, George Stafford) Jack Teagarden: It’s a Serious Thing 107 1929 3:30

9. Ridin’ But Walkin’ Fats Waller and his Buddies (Henry ‘Red’ Allen, Jack Teagarden, Albert Nicholas, Larry Binyon, Eddie Condon, Al Morgan, Gene Krupa, Leonard Davis, JC Higgenbotham, Charlie

10. Holmes, Will Johnson, Kaiser Marshall) Jack Teagarden: It’s a Serious Thing 123 1929 2:34

11. There’ll Be Some Changes Made Chicago Rhythm Kings (Muggsy Spanier, Frank Teschmacher, Mezz Mezzrow, Joe Sullivan, Eddie Condon, Jim Lannigan, Gene Krupa, Red McKenzie) Mezz Mezzrow: Complete Jazz Series 1928 – 1936 205 1928 2:55

12. Yellow Dog Blues The Rhythmakers (Billy Banks, Henry ‘Red’ Allen, Pee Wee Russell, Fats Waller, Eddie Condon, Jack Bland, Pops Foster, Zutty Singleton) The Panic Is On 180 1932 3:20

1. Bugle Call Rag. A dancers’ favourite. I like this pared back version. The cool thing about these earlier recordings is that many of these bands with different names actually featured the same musicians.

2. Same year as Bugle Call Rag, Shine On Your Shoes has much the same personnel, and the catchiest melody ever.

3. This version of Sweet Thing is interesting, as the vocals are an obvious imitation of Fats Waller’s style, and many of these Chicago boys actually recorded or played with Fats Waller. Fats Waller’s version of this song is much subtler and more beautiful. The mugging on this track is a bit much, but it’s an interesting example of Waller’s influence.

4. Billie Holiday on Condon’s show. I think it’s a radio show – it was one of those I had to try to figure out using the discography, and I could have made a mistake. But it’s an interesting example of Condon’s ability to pull stars.

5. We Called It Music. There are a heap of versions of this roll-call type ‘stunt’ song, featuring the biggest names in jazz at the time. This is really just a showcase for various big names, and isn’t the best song on earth, but it’s an interesting example of this type of performance.

6. Mahogany Hall Stomp by Louis Armstrong’s Savoy Ballroom Five, of which Condon was a part. This interracial element is super interesting, as is the Savoy connection. This is a brilliant little song.

7. Who Stole The Lock was made famous by Naomi and Todd’s brilliant 2005 performance, and I remember it really kicked Melbourne lindy hoppers’ musical interests into a new realm. It’s excellent when big name lindy hoppers do performances to music you’re into, as it means that music gets a bit of PR that then smoothes the way for your DJing it. I remember it still took a while for Melbourne to get into this song and this style. Sigh.

8. Jack Teagarden. My second husband.

9. Ridin’ But Walkin’. This is an example of Fats Waller playing with these white Chicago boys. This is really quite a lovely song, and has a more ‘sophisticated’ sound than a lot of the stuff these various musicians did in smaller, rowdier groups.

10. I love the vocals to There’ll Be Some Changes Made. This is fun stuff.

11. More of Fats Waller with the white Chicago boys. This shit is hot.

No Meat Week4: Tuesday

Tonight I am feeling much better, so we are having the cauliflower, onion and ginger dinner with spinachy rice from an earlier week. This is a delicious dinner, and I hope it will revitalise my taste buds, and more importantly, the antibacterial qualities of all that ginger, garlic and onion will kick the last bits of goober in my sinuses to the curb.

We love spinach, and this is exactly how it looks when we buy it here in Ashfield. It’s stupid cheap, and very good for you. It’s also very versatile, and can be used in all sorts of cuisines. Win.

In other news, we are supposed to be going to Tasmania for an exchange on Thursday, but the volcano has grounded all flights out of Sydney for at least 48 hours. So we might not be getting to Tasmania.

No Meat Week4: Monday


Four weeks already! There was that big bit of exchange in the middle, where I did cook meat, but still. It’s been four weeks since we decided to give this a go. And we’re not sick of it yet. I guess the next goal is to not eat meat for lunch.

We are still crook. I have no tastebuds, so I can’t smell anything and food is very unappealingly flavourless.

Tonight we’ll have either nachos or burritos. Both use the same ingredients, except one involves corn chips and one burritos. This isn’t at all ‘authentic’ Mexican food. It’s basic, easy cooking for when we’re totally buggered.

1. Red slop.
Ah, red slop. Central to all the meals I make. This one is slightly different.

– saute a brown onion til it’s see-through and beginning to change colour. I am going with the Indian approach to onions, where you cook it longer (but don’t let it burn) so it has a stronger flavour.
– add some crushed/chopped garlic. Get the garlic to change colour or whatever.
– add 1tsp ground coriander, 1tsp ground cumin, 1tsp sweet paprika, chilli powder to taste (which I can’t, so whatever). Give this lot 30 seconds or a minute til the flavour rises. …well, I just guessed that bit. Who knows what it smells like.
– add a can of tomatoes and a can of borlotti beans (kidney beans would be the obvious choice, but I don’t like them).

Let all this simmer quietly til you’re ready for it.

As you can see, this is a very simple, very unauthentic red slop. It’s better if it has a rich, red flavour, so you can contrast with fresher salsas.

Now, you’re going to need a salsa. I make a very simple one using:
– chopped tomatoes. Don’t bother with anything other than cherries at the moment, as they’re not in season. Or ditch tomatoes completely.
– some finely chopped onion (green onion, white onion, red onion, whatever).
– some finely chopped garlic.
– some finely chopped capsicum.
– some finely chopped coriander.
– a squeeze of lime juice.

Basically, this is a fresh, bitey ‘salad’ to balance the rich red slop and everything else. To my mind, this is the most important – the essential! – part of the dinner. There are a million different recipes for salsas, using everything from mangoes to olives. Choose one that suits what you have to hand. I think the fresh herbs are an essential part of this – coriander, mint, parsley are all good things.

Make a guacamole. I used to get really fancy with guacamole, but I’ve recently decided that simpler is better.
– mash up an avocado.
– add a bit of very finely chopped (if not grated) onion.
– add a squeeze of lime or lemon juice.
– add some freshly ground salt and pepper.

You’re done. I’d even ditch the onion, or replace it with garlic or just not use it at all. The point is that the avocado is just ripe and perfect. I prefer lime to lemon juice. You could add a smear of very good olive oil if you like, but it’s not really necessary. Make the guac fresh, or not at all. And don’t waste your time with pre-made guacamole. It’s just as cheap to buy an avocado and it will taste a million times better. A pre-made guac doesn’t save you time. Mashing an avocado is as quick as peeling open those annoying plastic containers.

If you’re making burritos, put onto the table a bowl of each of the salsa, the guacamole, the red slop, some baby spinach or other salad greens, some plain yoghurt (I don’t like sour cream as I prefer sharper flavours, but you could use that instead), some cheese (that’s where things get really inauthentic), some finely sliced chillis, anything you think would be nice wrapped into a burrito. I quite like those gherkiny pickle things that you can get from Mexican joints, and I also like those pickled giant yellow chillis.

Now: everyone make their own!

If you’re making nachos, you’re going to need some good corn chips. Nachos is a bit of a lazy/special occasion/holiday alternative for us. I like to get the organic plain corn chips from the deli. Whatever you get, don’t get a flavoured brand, and avoid big brands like Doritos. They are yucky. You want a really corny flavoured corn chip, and it’s best if they use a bit of sea salt and a decent oil. The corn chips are a base for other flavours, not the main event. This will be the most expensive part of the meal if you’re using fresh ingredients.

Spread the chips on a plate, spread some red slop on top, then some cheese. Again, this is inauthentic town. Put the plate under the grill til it goes melty or brown or to your preference.
You have to serve this with salsa, and I like to add gaucamole, yoghurt, spinach, etc. I’m also very conservative with yoghurt. The salsa is the main event.

I never make either of these dishes with meat any more, as I prefer the tasty, thicker flavour of the beans. You could use a pulled pork or grilled fish or chicken instead. But the most important parts are the salsas. You can make more than one. The point is that the rich red stuff or pulled pork or grilled fish or whatever is a base for the exotic, interesting flavours of the salsas. It’s also important to use fresh ingredients. Don’t bother with premade guacamole. If you can’t get a good avocado, ditch it altogether and have yoghurt or sour cream alone. The point is that the flavours are tasty and fresh.

If you make a heap of red slop, you can freeze it for next time, and it makes an easy, quick dinner at a moment’s notice.

I like it when things go wrong

link

To extrapolate from this, in a very dodgy way…

If you don’t communicate what you’re really feeling in a dance performance, the audience won’t feel what you’re really feeling. If you plaster a fake smile onto your face, your audience won’t feel the joy you’re trying to fake.
So I guess the challenge, then is to actually be emotionally invested in your performance. Or to at least be really good at faking a real emotion (or set of emotions). That means more than a fake smile. Elite dancers are very good at isolating parts of their bodies – different muscle groups, etc – and then engaging them for very specific responses. So good dancers are also really good at faking emotion. Thing is, though, most dancers in performances aren’t elite dancers, and they aren’t terribly good at faking emotions convincingly.

This really leads us to people like Stanislavski, I guess, who had his actors (who are people who make a living from convincing audiences they feel something) train as dancers and singers and so on. Good dancers, then, are good actors.

When I watch a dance performance, I want to see real things happening. I think this is why I like performances most when something goes wrong. I don’t like to see people hurt or humiliated, but I do like to see something unexpected happen. Best of all, I like seeing how people respond to that unexpected thing. Probably because that unexpected moment allows us to really see what that dancer is really like.

No Meat Week3: Saturday. Red veggie curry



red veggie curry, originally uploaded by dogpossum.

A very simple, ordinary recipe:

– Fry a brown onion with 1-2 tbsp red (Thai) curry paste (use a good one, not a rubbish Masterchef version or something), in some oil until the onion is ready (ie transparent or a bit further done. Don’t burn it!)

– Add a can of coconut milk. Mix thoroughly. Use a good brand (not shit like Masterchef), and don’t waste your time with ‘light’ coconut milk. Coconut milk should be rich, creamy and full of delicious fats. If you’re worried about ‘getting fat’, just don’t eat too much of it (good luck with that) or don’t make the dish too often. But the fats are important for carrying the flavour of the complex spices.

– Let this simmer for a little while – you kind of bring it to the boil. This is where the flavour gets big, so be careful with this stage.

– Add a series of veggies, allowing the appropriate amount of time to cook (ie add the long-cookers first). We used: baby corn, red capsicum, snake beans, cauliflower, sweet potato. Snake beans are handy because they can stand a lot of cooking. Unlike green beans or ‘French beans’ which really aren’t at their best after a heap of cooking. But undercooked snake beans are a bit rough. You can use all sorts of veggies, whatever’s in season. Plain potato is delicious, you could go the broccoli, eggplant, add some gai larn, whatever you fancy. Just be careful with cooking times – you don’t want stuff turning to slop; you want textures. It’s also a good idea to add some tofu. We forgot. I like to use a firm tofu (ie not the ‘silken firm’ tofu you get in Chinese grocers, but the ‘very firm’ or ‘traditional firm’ tofu from Chinese grocers, or the ‘firm’ tofu you get in skip supermarkets). A pre-fried tofu is even better, and is easily found in Chinese grocers. Let it cook a while in the sauce, as tofu is a delicious little sponge.

– Add 5 fresh kaffir lime leaves (these can keep in your freezer if they’re hard to find). If you have green peppercorns (they’re fresh, not dried, come on a stem like a little stick of bananas, and they’re hard to find in Ashfield), add them. Green peppercorns add a really delicious layer of flavour.

– Cook it for 20mins or so, or until the veggies are done. Don’t use the 20mins time arbitrarily, test your veggies for done-ness regularly instead. The trick is to keep the range of textures in the veggies as well as the richness of the coconut/spice sauce.

– Add 1tbsp lime juice, 2 tbsp fish sauce, 2tsp palm sugar, stir it in. Again, use fresh lime juice (these seem expensive when they’re out of season, but they taste so much better than bottled lime juice, and you can use the zest for all sorts of delicious things). Palm sugar is also a good thing to use (you can find this easily in Asian grocers), but if you don’t have it, use brown sugar. It’s not a big deal to substitute, but palm sugar has a slightly different flavour. Taste it. If it’s too ‘chilli hot’ for your palate, add some more sugar, carefully. The coconut milk also cuts the chilli heat. Sprinkle some bruised Thai basil over the top and sort of fold it under. If you don’t have Thai basil, just use sweet basil, it’s ok.

This is a really delicious meal, and is actually very simple to make. It can also be a very cheap dinner. Just use a heap of in season, fresh vegetables and herbs. Herbs and greens (gai larn, spinach, choy, etc) are stupid cheap in Asian grocers – $1 each at the most, and make sure you have a jar of curry paste, fish sauce, palm sugar and a can of coconut milk in the cupboard. Fish sauce and palm sugar are a staple in Thai cooking – you’ll use them again with stir fries. Same goes for basil and lime juice. Even the curry paste can be used for other things, like pumpkin soup. Green peppercorns are really hard to find in Ashfield, but that’s because this is a very Shanghainese Chinese area. You would do better in a Vietnamese/Thai/’pan-Asian’ grocer. You can do without them, though. If you buy these things in an Asian grocer, they’ll be heaps cheaper than a mainstream supermarket. And better quality.

No Meat Week3: puttanesca


I stole this image from the internet.

Well, No Meat Week 3 has included some meat. I ate ham and eggs on bread for lunch and then BBQed potato scallops on Monday (exchange faire. Don’t ask). Tuesday we had take away Thai that included duck, as I got home late from the airport, and bloody exhausted. Wednesday we had leftover spinach and ricotta canneloni. Last night we had roasted veggies with poached egg.

Tonight we had puttanesca with fettucini. Now, puttanesca actually involves meat – anchovies – but we are both a bit crook and grumpy with it. We had intended a curry, but that was too hard. We should have had vegetables with it, but we didn’t. We’ll probably get scurvy and die.

Puttanesca:

2 or 3 cloves of garlic, chopped up finely
generous tbsp of chopped flat leaf parsley
tsp chilli flakes

-> saute all that in some olive oil.

Then add these things:
tbsp of capers, chopped
handful of black kalamata olives, choopped
3 or so anchovy fillets, chopped
1 can tomatoes

Let it all simmer for a while, til it thickens. Do the salt and pepper thing if you like. Serve it on pasta, but don’t drown the pasta. The source should be kind of rubbed over the pasta. Use a long pasta like spaghetti.

I like this served with steamed broccoli, but we couldn’t be arsed as we are both crook. We’ll never get better at this rate.

This dinner is really easy to make, and can be quickly made from stuff in the cupboard. If you keep anchovies, olives and capers in the fridge in large jars from the Italian supermarket, it’s quite a cheap dinner too.