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.
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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.

 

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
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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

Tango Sureño

This dance is a Milonga danced to milonga music – a cousin of the Tango. Enjoy the sow!
“In a book published in 1883 Ventura Lynch, a noted contemporary student of the dances and folklore of Buenos Aires Province, noted the influence the Afro-Argentine dancers had on the “compadritos”, who apparently frequented the Afro-Argentine dance venues, “the milonga is danced only by the compadritos of the city, who have created it as a mockery of the dances the blacks hold in their own places”.
Milonga uses the same basic elements as Tango and requires a greater relaxation of legs and body. Movement is normally faster, and pauses are not made. It is rather a kind of rhythmic walking without complicated figures, with a much more “rustic” style than Tango”. {Source: Wikipedia}
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Photography:
CB1985IFY – Palermo; Omar Guebel – Photos of La Boca :: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohgg/collections/72157600270319242

Leo Bar :: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leobar-pixinmotion/ 
Music: Reliquias porteñas – Francisco Canaro – - (November 26, 1888 – December 14, 1964) Uruguayan violinist and tango orchestra leader.

 

 

Tango Poetico

This work is dedicated to all great Argentinian and Uruguayan writers and poets.

Music: Confianzas by Gotan Project Edited and remixed by Leo Bar
Subtitles and Translation: Leo Bar
Contains 2012 newsreel clips of protests in Buenos Aires
Photography: A Cabrera Esteve – http://www.flickr.com/photos/cabrera-esteve/; Fotografovolante – http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruggeroarena/; http://www.flickr.com/photos/simba_tango/; Leo Bar
Mario Benedetti Oil Sketch: Andre’ Cortellini
Digital Art and Paintings Leo Bar
Dancers: Sebastian Achaval and Roxana Suarez

Nine is Fine

This one was done for pure fun. Enjoy,

Leo

To overcome the boredom caused by the U.S. political party conventions, I decided to build this work.

Inspired by a video ::  https://vimeo.com/48765246 by Mike Kobal using numbers as graphics.  Some of the websites I researched to build this little piece below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gematria

http://www.numerology.com/

Music: Starbud by 4our5ive6ix :: http://www.myspace.com/4our5ive6ix/music/songs/starbud-5958662

Enjoy the show, math, stay awake and don’t blink.

Soccer – Football – Futbol Mambo

Soccer – Football – Futbol – the most popular sport in the world.
My tribute to the game, players and fans.
Music: Four beat mambo – Tito Puente
Special thanks to FIFA and UEFA

Had a lot of fun and help from across the ocean to complete this production.
Enjoy the games,

Leo

Regendans

A video poem inspired by rain. We've had intermittent rains and thunderstorms over the last two weeks, so I got out (wet) and shot around the neighborhood. Some shots (dry and lazy) were taken from inside the house.
The title means Raindance in Dutch and is dedicated to my virtual friend Ben for his Dutch tutoring. Thanks Ben!
Enjoy the raindrops,
Leo
Music: Floating – Divinity Project, Matti Paalanen: Composer :: http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/18231/floating – Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0) (remix by Leo Bar)
Paintings Oil: Leonid Afremov
Paintings digital-animation: Leo Bar

Blooming desert

After reviewing the more than 500 stills taken and crying over the unreadable memory card with more than 4 Gigs of video lost, here’s the second piece on the Arizona desert. I concentrated on showing the brief time during which the desert explodes in color. Every plant, cactus, tree and shrub blooms for a period varying from 7 to 15 days. And then goes into the process of creating its fruits and seeds to allow them to procreate and spread their species. Birds, rodents, bees, insects and wind aid the desert plants to spread their seed and pollen, while attempting to exist, live and grow in an extreme climate.

In this piece I paid special attention to show the contrast of color and nature of some very unusual flowers emanating from huge saguaro cacti and other times from puny shrubs. Every plant flaunts its own version of excitement and compete to attract the organism or element that will disseminate their species.

Split screens, animations, and paintings were included to create a multimedia sensory effect. All other credits can be found at the end of the video

When the desert blooms in May-June it's a spectacle like no other. Every plant and tree that appeared to be sleeping and shriveled, explodes in a multicolored palette as if in competition with each other. Stills and video were recorded in May-June, 2012 in the State of Arizona – Here are some of the locales: Sedona, Oak Creek Canyon, Scottsdale, Phoenix, Papago Park, Desert Botanical Gardens and Cave Creek.
Enjoy the flora (and fauna),

Leo