Why is it that in the course of years, you can suddenly appreciate something you haven’t before? Paris, for example. And Claude Debussy. His Piano Works were hidden away in my Itunes library. Somehow, they never shuffled by. Yet now, I find myself overwhelmed by the beauty of those pieces. Or is it the memory? Debussy […]
moreThe other day, I watched the Dalai Lama on Dutch television. He discussed aggression and how one aggressive act always leads to more acts of aggression. It is his conviction that the only way to settle differences (whether between individuals, religions or countries) is through dialogue. Talk to each other, he said. It sounds so […]
moreThe best and worst part of performing are the nerves. Apparently I’m finding something important enough to get nervous about. As we get older in life, we gain experience and events such as birthdays or exams won’t be keeping us awake the way they did when we were young.We’ve been there, done all that and […]
moreOne final note on flamenco. I’m in two groups: beginners and advanced. My level is somewhere in between. I had always taken the beginners class lightly and worked hard during the advanced class. The surprising result of all this being: I am actually doing all right at the choreography for the advanced group, but messing […]
moreI am convinced a person can age a year in one day. Loss of youth is a sad event, especially when it is snatched away from you in that way. Then again, this kind of ageing is often paired with insight. The sweeping, grand kind of insight that comes with a day of almost unbearable […]
moreLeila is 17 years old. Her best friend Elizabeth is dying. Elizabeth’s parents are refusing to see this. She is 35 kilos and for the very first time in three years, she has admitted to Leila that she may need her help. But Leila doesn’t know where to start, what to do. So Leila sits […]
moreLightning spilled out over the city. A storm always chooses night ensuring itself full dramatic effect. But there was something different about this one. Its thunder didn’t crackle or howl, instead it rumbled. However, it didn’t swell the way an earthquake rumble would. Its roar would quite suddenly announce itself, scream in one long monotonous […]
moreThere was this girl today, or should I say woman? She sat at the very tip of the boat she was on, straddled it. One leg on each side. Her posture demanded attention: back upright, pelvis tipping forward slightly. Her head was cocked to one side, her ashblonde hair in a messy ponytail. Both defiant […]
moreA beautiful morning. It is aggressively disrupted by the desperate shrieking of little birds on the street. A black crow has attacked and caught one of them. Its tiny wings flutter wildly in the crow's sharp beak, soft feathers spread out around them, and dust. The crow is four times her size. Her three friends […]
moreDuring my last flamenco class, my mind kept drifting to a scene I was working on. At one stage I realized, “no wonder I’m tripping over my feet, I’m simply not with it.” I decided to shift my focus of attention and started doing much better. This is a confronting realization as of course the […]
more