A little tap will do you

I made this video in November of 2012 and set it aside. After the tragic events that took place in Boston, MA this month I decided to post it so it could bring some cheer back into our lives.

Enjoy the moment,

Leo
~~~
Music: Oscar Woods – Don’t Sell It Don’t Give It Away – In the Public Domain
Video and Film Clips:
Gregory Hines – Let the man dance
Bill “Bojangles” Robinson – Cafe Metropole, Deleted Scenes
Savion Glover – Live Performance, at ABC show
Bill “Bojangles” Robinson – Stormy Weather

Audio MIx & Special Effects: Leo Bar
Digital Art – Photography: Leo Bar

Aromas de Tango

Created a superimposed atmosphere of imagery and locales to highlight a very stylized tango dance and the accompanying music. All photos and imagery are from Buenos Aires and Montevideo and many represent traditional tango bars.

The group Bajofondo represents a new modality of music called neotango or electrotango. Some of their music is outstanding.

Music: Perfume – Bajofondo :: Remixed by Leo Bar

Special thanks to Paul Holman for the use of portions of his video Milonga de Milongas. See more of his videos at youtube.com/user/paulrholman

Las Llamadas Parade- Desfile de las llamadas 2013

“The Llamadas Parade” is a festival that takes place every year in Montevideo in February, during the carnival season in Uruguay. It is part of the official competition of carnival groups of the Uruguayan capital. For two nights around 40 black and lubolos ensembles (known as “extras”) parade through the Southern (Barrio Sur) and (Barrio Palermo) Palermo neighborhood streets. It is one of the purest expressions of Afro-Uruguayan culture.
Carnival Week is considered the annual national festival of Uruguay. While Carnaval is celebrated throughout the country with parades and events in major cities of the interior, the main activities are featured in the capital of Montevideo.
~~
El desfile de llamadas es una fiesta popular que se realiza todos los años en Montevideo en el mes de febrero, durante la época de carnaval en Uruguay. Forma parte del concurso oficial de agrupaciones carnavalescas de la capital uruguaya. Durante dos noches desfilan unas 40 sociedades de negros y lubolos (conocidas como “comparsas”) por calles de los barrios Sur y Palermo. Constituye una de las más puras manifestaciones de la cultura afro-uruguaya.

 

Pianoforte

The art of piano making and art paintings  Music: Dexter Britain :: http://www.dexterbritain.co.uk

Tango Euro Klez

Music: Tango Bar & Kiev Swing by Garry B :: https://vimeo.com/garryb; listen to his music :: http://soundcloud.com/garry-b
~
– The migration of tango from Argentina and Uruguay to Western and Eastern Europe -
1900 – 1920 : Tangos were mainly sung and played by small instrumental bands (fundamentally trios and quartets), until “La Orquesta Tipica” arrives on the scene, with the incorporation of the bandoneo’n. In 1907, one of the very first genuine Argentine Tangueros to visit Paris (France) was composer Angel Villoldo, who wanted to do some recording. (At the time, Paris had the best recording facilities and techniques.) In 1918, writing lyrics for the tango became all the rage with singers such as the tragic Carlos Gardel and celebrated salon orchestras like Francisco Canaro‘s giving the music a new legitimacy and acceptance. Carlos Gardel is still revered today, many decades after his death.
~~
By 1912, dancers and musicians from Buenos Aires, traveled to Europe and the first European tango craze took place in Paris, soon followed by London, Berlin, and other capitals. Towards the end of 1913 it hit New York in the USA, and Finland.
~
One of the most popular ballroom dances in Europe during the 1920′s and 30′s was unquestionably the tango. This explains why this music appeared later in ghettos and concentration camps. Following a boom in Western Europe, the tango reached the east by the late 1910′s. However, as opposed to countries like France and Germany, frequently visited by Argentine Orquestas Típicas, most Eastern European countries became acquainted with the tango only through records, the radio and journals. This indirect connection may explain the character that this music developed in such regions. With increasing popularity and a new stream of local tangos, the style’s re-embodiment gradually drifted away from the South American model. Poland, which had regained its independence after the Warsaw treaty of 1919, quickly became one of the capitals of European tango at a time when most of its musicians, both in the classical and the popular scenes, were Jewish.
~
Enjoy the show,
Leo

Snowy Moods

Shot from early morning to midday on December 26, 2012

After a major snowstorm over December’s holidays, I got up early on Dec 26, and armed with everything I thought was needed, decided to go do some video shooting around the Blue Hills area. The Sun hadn’t come out yet, and the sky was still laden with storm clouds.  It was cold! My plan called for shooting macro and closeups framing the striking looks when snow embraces plants and trees. And so, I did for a while.

As the morning progressed, the sky cleared up and the sun made its shy appearance. The crystals formed on branches and bushes began glistening and sparkling and all trees appeared to be colored with golden hues. The scenery changed totally and my plan changed accordingly. I switched from closeups to long shots, and began panning to capture the beauty of the colors. Whatever eventually showed up in film, wasn’t quite the spectacle that my eyes saw (and my brain remembers). So, here’s my humble rendition of a glorious, cold, beautiful morning after the storm.

Enjoy,

Leo

Murgas and Carnaval – Curtidores de Hongos 100 years

The murga “Curtidores de Hongos” made its first appearance in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1912. In 2012 they celebrated their 100th anniversary. In this video you can hear their “Retirada”.
Enjoy the show! – For more info and background see my blog ::
~
A traditional murga group is composed of a chorus and three percussionists and this is the type of murga performed on stages at Carnival. The singers perform in polyphony using up to five vocal parts. Vocal production tends to be nasal and loud with little variation in volume. The percussion instruments, derived from the European military band, are bombo (a shallow bass drum worn at the waist and played horizontally), redoblante (snare drum) and platillos (clash cymbals). The two most important pieces of the performance are the opening song (saludo) and the exit song (retirada or despedida). Murguistas dress in elaborate, colourful, jester-like costumes. Staging is sparse with minimal use of props. The singers tend to be foregrounded with the percussionists at the back or off to the side of the stage.

Murga is a form of popular musical theatre performed mostly in Uruguay and some in Argentina during the Carnival season. Murga groups operate in Montevideo and at the Buenos Aires Carnival, though to a lesser extent than in Montevideo. Uruguayan murga has a counterpart in Cadiz, Spain from which it is derived, the chirigota, but over time the two have diverged into distinct forms.
The Murga is performed by a group of a maximum of 17-20 people, usually men. In the months prior to Carnival, which takes place from late January to early March in Uruguay, each group will prepare a musical play consisting of a suite of songs and recitative (heightened speech) lasting around 45 minutes. This suite will be performed on popular stages in the various neighborhoods  known as tablados, throughout the Carnival period. Groups also vie against one another in a prestigious official competition.
Lyrical content is based on a particular theme, chosen by the group, which serves to provide commentary on events in Uruguay or elsewhere over the preceding year. Consequently, murga lends itself well to being used as a form of popular resistance. For example, during the dictatorship in Uruguay in the 1970s, groups like Araca La Cana became known for their left-wing tendencies, subversive commentary and positional stance.

Background and Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murga; http://www.curtidoresdehongos.com.uy/letras/2012-documental-medio-bicentenario.php; http://www.lasmurgas.com/html_07/principal_general_07.php

Tango a la Celeste

The connection between Tango – Football (soccer)- and the Uruguayan National Team. Twice World Cup Winners, and 15 times Americas Cup winner.
This piece is dedicated to my Vimeofriends:
Ben :: vimeo.com/benvideos - For his generosity and love of the sport of football (soccer in U.S.)
Michael M :: vimeo.com/michaelmoller - For his tenacity in learning the art of video making, and his extreme patience with editing.
~
Started to make this video in November of 2011, and finished it January of 2013. It went through 9 versions in its chaotic initial life. This has been the most difficult project to date. It involved film clips from 1930′s, 1950′s, 2010 and other sundry dates. All these formats, codecs, frame rates and scales were totally different and a real challenge to assemble them into a cohesive work. What you see is mostly untouched and in its original color/grain.
Music: Astor Piazzolla – Michelangelo 70

The connection between Tango – Football – and the Uruguayan National Team. Twice World Cup Winners, and 15 times Americas Cup winner.
This piece is dedicated to my Vimeofriends:
Ben :: vimeo.com/benvideos – For his generosity and love of the sport of football (soccer in U.S.)
Michael M :: vimeo.com/michaelmoller – For his tenacity in learning the art of video making, and his extreme patience with editing.
~
Started to make this video in November of 2011, and finished it January of 2013. It went through 9 versions in its chaotic initial life. This has been one of my most difficult projects to date. It involved film clips from 1930, 1950, 2010 and other sundry dates. All these formats and scales were totally different and a real challenge to make them into a cohesive work. What you see is mostly untouched and in its original color/grain.
Music: Astor Piazzolla – Michelangelo 70
Enjoy the show,
Leo

the OneNess

This is my wish and message for 2013! Have a joyous and peaceful year.

Leo

(Contains excerpts of the Dalai Lama’s speech in India)

Autumn golden mist

When the struggle for supremacy between Winter and Autumn – night and day begins to unfold, we can witness amazing events, light, darkness, cold, fog, mist and colors. These are observations beginning with early twilight prior to sunrise and continuing as the day progresses, offering us the richness and beauty of the season.
I hope you’re having a peaceful Autumn, and are getting ready for the Winter.

My thanksgiving wishes to all, for a beautiful season,

Leo
~
Music: Troppo lontano da te – Andrea Rossi ::  
http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/752163/troppo-lontano
-da-te
Remix by Leo Bar
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Photographed during October, 2012 in the states of Massachusetts and New Hampshire