Destinations Other Than Spain
Our writers writing about destinations outside of Spain have been to those places and know them like the palm of their hands. They are you savvy Travel guide!
Turning Ashes into Activism: SoHo Reclaims its Artistic Tradition »
With museums, galleries and all other forms of live entertainment unavailable, the remarkable SoHo Social Impact and Art to Heart were an act of creativity that brought a breath of (masked) fresh air. SoHo once again belonged to the artists, who transformed raw plywood boards into an astonishing open-air art gallery, healing the psyche of the shattered neighborhood and lifted the human spirit.
Messages of BLM and Hope Smashed by Opportunists and Greed »
The two SoHo plywood mural art projects, SoHo Social Impact and Art to Heart, were a creative response to the vandalism and loss of property that occurred in that NYC downtown neighborhood in early June. However, those murals, with messages of hope, healing, beauty and Black Lives Matter, have themselves been looted. Transcendent and transient. . .
THE PICAREQUE SPANISH & THE PANDEMIC FACE MASK »
The Spanish is nothing if not picaresque. It’s there in the underpinnings of his national icons. However, the latest survey by the Sociological Research Center shows that not only do most Spaniards believe the measures adopted by the government to contain the corona pandemic were necessary; now that the lockdown has been lifted, they want the authorities to impose stricter controls, including a re-imposition of confinement, where needed. A near-perfect
unanimity of deeds and sentiments, and quite a departure from what one would normally expect from the highly individualistic picaros.
Lost Martha Graham Work in Paeon to the Spanish Civil War »
The collaboration by the New York-based Martha Graham Dance Company, the Los Angeles-based Wild Up chamber music collective and The Soraya Nazarin Center for the Performing Arts has produced a digital dance inspired by archival remnants of Martha Graham’s Immediate Tragedy, a solo she created in 1937 in response to the Spanish Civil War. Drawing on the common experience of today’s global pandemic, the 22 artists creating the project are collaborating from locations across the U.S. and Europe using a variety of technologies to coordinate movement, music and digital design. The new digital Immediate Tragedy premiered online Friday, June 19 on The Soraya Facebook page, and Saturday, June 20 at the Martha Matinee on the Graham Company’s YouTube Channel.
BASTILLE DAY FROM THE AMERICAN VIEW POINT: IT’S ALL IN THE MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE’S KEY »
Bastille Day, July 14, marks the day at the start of the French Revolution in 1789. Soon after, the French people gave the Marquis de Lafayette, who had helped the United States gain independence from Great Britain, the key to the Bastille as a gesture of good faith, entrusting him to protect France’s newly won liberties. Lafayette, a good friend of George Washington, sent Washington the key in 1790 on behalf of the French people, to solidify the two countries’ friendship.
A Second Opinion: A Trip to Remember »
If we had heeded the admonition to Stay Home and Save Lives we wouldn’t have had such a lovely picnic at the coast. A little bit of freedom goes a long way.
Noche Flamenca’s “Antigona” in the Time of Corona: At Home with Soledad Barrio and Martín Santangelo »
Bessie Award-winning bailaora/choreographer Soledad Barrio is an intuitive and internal performer who possesses a preternatural connection to her character. She identifies with Antigona, “one of [whose] character traits is to love more than herself. She’s very passionate, and her objective is to take care of her family. It’s related to my life to be connected with family. One part of flamenco is love, passion and concern about the family unit. I connect with that a lot, too.” Noche Flamenca’s production of “Antigona” at La MaMa in Manhattan, scheduled for March 19-April 5, was cancelled due to the corona virus travel restrictions from Europe in March. Then all of New York went into lockdown. Shut in with husband choreographer/producer Martín Santangelo, Barios says “I’m diving into the abyss so I can resuscitate when this is over.”
THE CORONA CRISIS: MY TRANSOCEANIC ODYSSEY »
‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’ is the theme song of my life. It was the few days before lockdown began in Spain that Monday in mid March. I knew I would enjoy the time for solitude that the lockdown would provide. I would have plenty of time to read, write and meditate upon what I want to do with my life as a 23-year-old recent college grad. But my parents preferred me to come home. Dear Spain, muchas gracias for the short time we had together. We’ll see each other soon, once the gods permit.
A Stateside Story: Daffodils delineating Spring! »
Life goes on in spite of the “lockdown” and joggers jog and walkers walk and cyclists cycle and the motorcycle rider takes to the less-trafficked roads with glee. Can summer and relief be far behind? In a strange Spring like this one, we have to be grateful for small blessings and be strong.
GRANDFATHER »
Idyllic and true: At dawn me and my grandfather would go out into the cold to milk the restive cows. Later, I would go through the pastures, pick some flowers and share them with the cows. I would go into the barn, swing from a perch and drop down on the soft hay. One day my brother joined me in the game, only to warn me that there could be rats and snaked in the hay.
