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 Macho

Why do men dance with each other? What made men dance since early times?
Many theories exist; ritual, religion, celebration, brotherhood, spiritual expression, war preparation, hunting practice or recreation and possibly sheer joie de vivre.

But why tango dancing between men? The first reason is related to where tango was initially danced. Remember that tango, was the dance of the poor, the underprivileged – the ‘lower class’. This group of people had less access to venues where to dance, and furthermore had less cultural taboos or boundaries. As a result of these influences there evolved a culture in which it was acceptable for tango to be danced in the streets. Hence even before tango was danced between men, we can imagine a culture where it was quite common for couples to dance out in the open. In fact a very specific style called Tango Orillero, evolved from outdoor suburban tango dancing.

Another of the reasons for men dancing tango with men is that tango was considered immoral by the Argentinian upper class and authorities. So much so that there was a formal initiative to close all cafes and ban tango music from being played on the streets. In 1916 a law was passed in Buenos Aires that banned dancing between men in dance establishments. An attempt was made to slowly eradicate it from Argentina, and there’s an account in 1919 by Joaquin Belda, who during his 6 months visit to Buenos Aires, wrote that most of the cafes were either closed or empty. This of course resulted in further reduced access to couples dancing tango, so to dance tango, men ended dancing with each other.

Another key reason is probably the lack of females and catholic morality in the early 1900′s. Most men in the lower classes were immigrants who came to Argentina from mainly impoverished areas in Italy and Spain.
~
Featured are the world-renowned tango dancers "Los Hermanos Macana" The twenty-some Argentine brothers Enrique and Guillermo De Fazio have become the famous dance couple: “Los Hermanos Macana.” They are known worldwide for their breathtaking and witty tango interpretations. With their two-man shows they thrill audiences from the Americas, Europe and Australia.

Special thanks: Josep Antoni Lahoz for dance video. See more at :: http://www.youtube.com/user/pepetantonet
Music: Reliquias Porteñas – Francisco Canaro

Enjoy the show,
Leo

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

Plasma nightmare

Let the images tell the tale… This piece is left to your imagination = interpretation.

Music: Metamorphosis 4 – Composer Philip Glass – Played by Branka Parlic

Photography: Bob Merco ::
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobmerco/
; Leo Bar ::
http://www.flickr.com/photos/leobar-pixinmotion/

A very different and difficult piece to produce. It contains at times 6-7 video tracks plus 2 audio tracks. Time consuming and took forever to render once all the clips were in place. I tried to give it a grainy, dreamy look, used a lot of diffusion, coloring with blue and orange when appropriate. This piece contains segments using blue screen (chroma key) and superimposition of composites.

Hope you enjoy (?) this nightmare and if not, at least enjoy the beautiful piano composition and playing.
Leo

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

Tango Predator

When I first listened to this music, it touched me in such a way that compelled me to produce this piece. The rhythmic nature, constant variation and counterpoint of violin versus bandoneon, makes this creation by Astor (The Master) Piazzolla a great example of tango and classical fusion.

To represent the sensuality, heat and desire projected by the music, I chose to use a large amount of paintings, blended with Astor’s orchestra and real tango dancers. At times they are superimposed and counterpointing, as the music does with the instruments.

I hope you enjoy this creation, whether or not you’re a tango fan, since it’s more of a classical composition.
Leo

~Music: Escualo (Shark) by Astor Piazzolla

~Paintings: R Young; Juarez Machado; Pol Ledent; Virgil Stevens

Sedona – Arizona

The scenes from this video were filmed over a period of 4 days while rambling through the Arizona desert. Sedona is one of the most beautiful settings in Arizona, if not the whole USA. I tried to capture the scenery, its art (known to be the home to many artists, sculptors and painters) and the breathtaking views of the famous red cliffs. As I watch the end product, I didn’t even come close to reflect the full beauty of this place – due to some unfortunate event… In the process of trying to edit a clip, I had one of my memory cards with 4 Gigabytes of video footage go totally bad on me. I tried for hours using software and different card readers (including toward the end a hammer) to recover its contents to no avail. Just bad luck!

The temperatures while shooting were in the high 90′s and many times exceeded 100 F. Not too much fun, despite having gotten out early and staying late in the day to avoid dehydration and sunstroke. Just too darn hot, especially when we were coming from Massachusetts where the temps were in the 40′s (ah!).

Scenery and art from National Parks and the region around Sedona, Arizona. Filmed and photographed in early May 2012. Sedona is known for its majestic red cliffs and mountains. Spectacular scenery surrounds an urban number of towns in the midst of nature, canyons and National Parks.
~

Music: Capriccio Arabo – Composer: Francisco de Asís Tárrega y Eixea (21 November 1852 – 15 December 1909) – Played by Maurizio Oddone – http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/797697/francisco-tarrega-capriccio-arabo – Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

Enjoy the trip,
Leo

Rapid eye movement

In this video I attempted to resurrect memories from last Summer. The story goes that more than a memory it represents fragments of a dream as remembered once I was fully awake. As with all dreams, some parts are clearer than others, and some segments are practically forgotten, while other are recurring.
Say what you want, but this was my dream, and I intend to keep it that way

This video is using a transparent texture to represent the fuzzy and flawed dream/memory sequence.
All other credits are:

Music: Where sky meets sea – Kendra Springer :: jamendo.com/en/track/674460/where-sky-meets-sea :: Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Texture used for mask :: flickr.com/photos/skeletalmess/ :: flickr.com/photos/skeletalmess/6687475371/in/set-72157625757841742 :: Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Enjoy the journey – Z z z z z z

Leo

Crystal glow

Glass blowing and the pieces and colors coming out of this craft (art) always amazed me. Many times in the past I considered learning this skill for the sheer pleasure of working with materials that one can mold, change and form in almost any shape desired. Most of my professional life has been spent in “knowledge work” and in executive/business settings using mental rather than physical skills. It’s a real joy when one can see a professional going at it and how physical and demanding glass sculpting can be.

In a previous effort

I had tried to show the mystery and beauty of working with molten glass. In Crystal glow the emphasis was put into showing emotions, techniques, steps in the process, dynamis and the outcome of what is an arduous labor of love. The intensity, heat, careful rotation and treatments that are required to control the shape of the product, reminded me of the steps in ballet.

While the tools used are simple and in most cases haven’t changed much since early human manipulation of glass, the real skill and imagination of the artisan is what differentiates the exquisite from the average piece produced. Hopefully, in this short essay I have tried to highlight two very talented artists: Pearl Dick and Caleb Nichols.

Enjoy the show,

Leo

Art Illusions

This brief work was inspired by news of the world and global developments. I thought of using classic art paintings and superimposing themes, to depict the modern issues assailing us today.
Rather than to explain each of the images and themes, I would like to hint at one and let your brain do the rest. As an example, in the first sequence – Vermeer – Lady standing by a virginal – the idea was to express the great impact of technology when introduced into agrarian societies. Causing a sudden acceleration of change, by skipping through the intermediate evolutionary steps. The virginal is replaced and the woman appears to key into a keyboard, while in the background we can a see a fishing village. If it looks a bit stretched, it was intended to be so

Masking, 3D, animation, multiple tracks and layers are used to stress the combined new superimposition. I ask forgiveness for mucking with some precious old material, but at least I show the works intact, before any modifications.

Hope to hear more from you about your ideas and opinions,
Leo