Mao's Last Dancer was a beautiful movie that spoke about the art and tradition of ballet as well as the harsh reality of racism and the comparison between the culture of the then communist China and America.
The movie tells the true story of Li Cunxin. Li is born in a small town in China and is one of many underfed sons to two hard working parents, his life is changed drastically when visiting scouts from Beijing chose him to come and study ballet. Through a rebellious teacher he learns of Western Ballet and by the time Ben Stevenson, the Artistic Director of the Houston Ballet comes visiting he is a standout student. The biggest adventure of his life begins when following this visit Li is invited to America on a short-term scholarship; America is so different to communist China and although at first overwhelmed Li falls in love with this new, free country. Li marries a fellow American ballet dancer, Liz in an attempt to stay in the country; what follows is a war between the Chinese embassy trying to take Li back home as agreed and the American media and public.
Li's struggle to maintain contact with his family while also holding on to his new found freedom is quite heartbreaking but in the end also quite inspiring because it does all work out for him in the end. Because Mao's Last Dancer is largely a true story it is quite inspiring to watch, there is a lot of passion in the film and the dance scenes are really very beautiful, Chi Cao who plays the adult Li is a fantastic dancer but is somewhat awkward as an actor, a certain amount of this can be put down to Li's stunted English in the movie but it is still a little shaky at times.
Mao's last dancer is a real feel-good movie, it would suit more an older audience and probably more female than male. It was a well filmed movie that managed to combine love, patriotism and dance into an agreeable mix. It wasn't my usual type of movie and I enjoyed it for that, even having a small tear at the conclusion. I think the fact that the movie is adapted from a well selling autobiography it is good that it has lived up to the expectations of the audience. One I would recommend.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Review 2 - Auckland Cup Diamond Day
What you need for Race day: dress, friends, cash and something to wear on head.
13th of March 2010 was my first time attending the yearly festival that is the Auckland Cup, for me it was an exciting event with so a whole lot of excitement and preparation during the up lead-up to the actual day.
Arriving at the Race Course we entered through horse stalls turned pay counters which was half cramped but also very novel, once inside the race course there was a huge amount of colour, one of the big parts of going to the races as we expected was the fashion and I can honestly say that it is a big highlight of the day seeing just what people had on, a favourite of the day was a woman who appeared to be wearing a whole peacock on her head. There is such an air of dressing up to go to an event that we don't tend to get as much nowadays with our over casual New Zealand culture.
The biggest charm of the races turns out to be the atmosphere that is in the air, its about going out and enjoying the contrast of the things that are free and the things that are luxurious. Having a bet, screaming your lungs out and sharing a bottle of wine out of plastic glasses in the stands with a group of friends all made the day for me.
The atmosphere is the big seller at the races, there is a huge social aspect to the whole event, it is interesting that the racing for most actually takes a back seat. As we went on Diamond Day the biggest race of the day was the diamond stakes in which a number of the best dressed women on course where assigned a horse each, the winner would receive a diamond. This fashion element was evident even outside of the course elite. In the public stands there was a high standard of dress and people obviously having fun with a number of kookie outfits.
If you asked my team what their favourite part was I have a feeling that one too many would answer the "Stella Artois Tent," a carefully placed promotional tent had visitors having lessons on the steps of pouring the "perfect Stella," then drinking the perfect Stella.
For me this was an absolutely awesome day, I really had a great time and would recommend anyone who hasn't been before to give it a go. Being at an event with that level of enthusiasm and atmosphere it is almost impossible not to have a good time, unless of course you get carried away and leave without your money. I will be going back next year regardless.
Review 1 - Last Ride in a Hot Air Balloon
The art exhibition 'Last Ride in a Hot Air Balloon' is my first review attempt for this paper, happening at many galleries around Auckland, I took the afternoon off to visit Auckland Art Gallery and check the exhibit out. Having little experience at viewing art this is an experience that I quite enjoy being encouraged to have as it is not something I might have usually visited on my own accord.
The exhibit itself is quite large so I think I might instead speak briefly about the exhibit in general and then a few specific pieces. "The theme of the 4th Auckland Triennial looks at the impulse towards adventure and risk in art today," I didn't find anything in the gallery that I found in my opinion lived up to this statement, there were many good pieces but the word risk doesn't really seem too applicable. From the gallery I will write about 'The Room with a Bird' by Bundith Phunsombatlert and 'Singing Cloud' by Shilpa Gupta.
'The Room with a Bird' was my favourite exhibit in the gallery, set in a narrow hallway it was quite a standout from the other exhibits because of the use of space. The exhibit to look at is simply a hallway full of bird perches suspended from the ceiling, the real beauty of the piece is when you weave your way through the perches your motion is sensed by the installation and you begin to hear the 'bird.' The bird in the installation's title isn't anywhere to be found but as you move through the space you hear bird sounds moving from location to location overhead.
I like the untamable, unattainable nature of this installation, it has a very clean, minimalistic aesthetic to the whole thing but the sound of the unseen bird is very unrestrained and free. While moving through this exhibit you can't keep yourself from looking upwards to see if you can catch a glimpse of the bird that isn't there.
I think the thing I liked the most about this piece is I havn't experienced much like it before by way of art, I liked the simplicity of walking through and enjoying and thus indirectly confronting you with the work rather than having you view a static image on a white gallery wall that you may or may not feel like you get.
The piece that greets you when you first walk up the stairs is 'Singing Cloud,' this is a piece I had seen photographs of before coming to the gallery so it was interesting to see how the work compared in actuality. Firstly a brief criticism of traditional gallery space, with regard to the fact that a space like this is set up to be adapted with every new exhibition, I think gallery space is utterly dull and comes with a great many rules making it for me at least a moderately uncomfortable environment to be in.
When I first viewed 'Singing Cloud' I was confused as to whether the flap board was part of the same installation or not, having read the exhibition guide we discovered that the two were in fact parts of a whole but as you can see in the above photo there is so much space between the two that I lost any sense of continuity walking between one and the other for a closer look. I liked how Gupta has subverted the usual use of microphones from something to amplify your voice and get yourself heard, to a string of whispered words from unheard voices, the zany messages on the clapper board was also quite a nice touch. The whole thing was slightly reminiscent of an airport, with the board and so many anonymous voices and messages; constructed in the wake of the Bombay Bombings the unheard voices that whisper and the board that makes no sense in its original purpose become quite eerie.
The exhibit itself is quite large so I think I might instead speak briefly about the exhibit in general and then a few specific pieces. "The theme of the 4th Auckland Triennial looks at the impulse towards adventure and risk in art today," I didn't find anything in the gallery that I found in my opinion lived up to this statement, there were many good pieces but the word risk doesn't really seem too applicable. From the gallery I will write about 'The Room with a Bird' by Bundith Phunsombatlert and 'Singing Cloud' by Shilpa Gupta.
'The Room with a Bird' was my favourite exhibit in the gallery, set in a narrow hallway it was quite a standout from the other exhibits because of the use of space. The exhibit to look at is simply a hallway full of bird perches suspended from the ceiling, the real beauty of the piece is when you weave your way through the perches your motion is sensed by the installation and you begin to hear the 'bird.' The bird in the installation's title isn't anywhere to be found but as you move through the space you hear bird sounds moving from location to location overhead.
I like the untamable, unattainable nature of this installation, it has a very clean, minimalistic aesthetic to the whole thing but the sound of the unseen bird is very unrestrained and free. While moving through this exhibit you can't keep yourself from looking upwards to see if you can catch a glimpse of the bird that isn't there.
I think the thing I liked the most about this piece is I havn't experienced much like it before by way of art, I liked the simplicity of walking through and enjoying and thus indirectly confronting you with the work rather than having you view a static image on a white gallery wall that you may or may not feel like you get.
The piece that greets you when you first walk up the stairs is 'Singing Cloud,' this is a piece I had seen photographs of before coming to the gallery so it was interesting to see how the work compared in actuality. Firstly a brief criticism of traditional gallery space, with regard to the fact that a space like this is set up to be adapted with every new exhibition, I think gallery space is utterly dull and comes with a great many rules making it for me at least a moderately uncomfortable environment to be in.
When I first viewed 'Singing Cloud' I was confused as to whether the flap board was part of the same installation or not, having read the exhibition guide we discovered that the two were in fact parts of a whole but as you can see in the above photo there is so much space between the two that I lost any sense of continuity walking between one and the other for a closer look. I liked how Gupta has subverted the usual use of microphones from something to amplify your voice and get yourself heard, to a string of whispered words from unheard voices, the zany messages on the clapper board was also quite a nice touch. The whole thing was slightly reminiscent of an airport, with the board and so many anonymous voices and messages; constructed in the wake of the Bombay Bombings the unheard voices that whisper and the board that makes no sense in its original purpose become quite eerie.
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