August 2021

It’s extremely difficult to spend more than a few minutes on TikTok without stumbling across a dance video, which is why it takes something special to top the rest. But a video shot in Malta did just that – literally – by having a group of people dance atop the tallest building on the island.

Uploaded by the dance troupe VFam Over the weekend, the video features energetic choreography to a remix of Sweet Caroline on the rooftop of Mercury Tower, the 33-story Maltese juggernaut in Paceville.

The Filipino dance group celebrated a year of content last week, with their routines appearing everywhere from the strongholds of Valletta to beaches and malls across the island.

But everything was sped up thanks to a comment on a recent video: “So when will you do your routine on Malta’s tallest building?” I’m waiting.”

And when it turned out the comment was from the director of the tower still under construction, it didn’t take long for the dream collaboration to come true.

It was so important to the group that they initially uploaded a behind-the-scenes video of them riding the Mercury Tower all the way to the 33rd floor, meeting “Ms. Maria the Manager “, and film the next TikTok.

And even before the final video was released, behind the scenes at TikTok quickly went viral, racking up over 35,000 views on day one.

A few hours later, the final video was indeed released… reaching 25,000 views in less than 24 hours.

Over 1,400 likes, over 120 comments and dozens of shares later, the video has managed to bring a lot of positive vibes to Malta’s TikTok feed.

And let’s face it; the local wedding favorite blaring in the background certainly helped!

This isn’t the first time the Mercury House Tower, which is still under construction, has appeared in a viral TikTok video.

Last summer, Renato Mizzi, one of the tower crane operators working on the gigantic construction effort, took to TikTok for a series of dizzying glimpses from the top.

And for a small island that has spent the last two decades seeing the 23-story Portomaso Business Tower claim the title of tallest building in the country, all of those viral videos clearly go a long way to show what Malta looks like from another perspective, perspective. much higher.

Identify someone who would love to take in the view from the top of the Mercury Tower!

A new partnership between the Vashon Center for the Arts and an acclaimed Seattle dance troupe will take off on September 9, 10 and 12, when Whim W’Him kicks off his 12th season on the Kay White Hall stage.

These performances – the first of three scheduled at the VCA in the coming months – will include the world premiere of new hybrid dance creations by choreographers Rena Butler and Mark Caserta, as well as a hybrid dance creation, “Nova”, by Alice. Clock and Florian Lochner.

The choreographers and teams included in the company’s fall programs came from a global pool of 150-200 applicants and were selected by dancers Whim W’Him and artistic director and founder of the troupe, Olivier Wevers.

“Professional interpreters rarely have the opportunity to organize programs,” Wevers said. “In recognition of this missed opportunity, we created this program in 2015 to give our dancers the power to choose the choreographers who would work them. We appreciate this unique and mission-focused program which is now a mainstay of our performance season. ”

Additional performances of the works will take place on September 18 at the Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, and the dance films will debut September 23 on Whim W’Him’s streaming platform, IN-With-WHIM.

For VCA Executive Director Allison Halstead Reid, the performances are the result of a relationship with Whim W’Him that was seeded earlier in 2021.

“Olivier and I met earlier this year on several occasions to collaborate to bring Whim W’him to Vashon as an additional venue for their seasonal productions,” she said. “In May, after playing with us at a limited capacity house, we made the deal to partner up for 2021-2022.”

The dance troupe is now signed on to bring every show in their seasonal repertoire to VCA, starting with the dance concert in September, then again in January and May – three shows in all.

Halstead Reid said the arts center is also working on the details and hopes to offer workshops and special classes for dance students with Whim W’Him.

“On each visit, they can be in residence at Vashon for a few days or a week,” she said. “They love to be part of our community!

For more information and tickets for Whim W’Him performances, visit whimwhim.org and vashoncenterforthearts.com.

A masterpiece made possible only by the power of the community spirit; the colorful cast of artists responded to a last-minute open call after the original filming ceased.

I’ll Get By finds the popular four-piece scattering more of their trademark seeds, a smile-scale optimism, and celebrating the invigorating harvest that only true friendship can bring. The fact that kindhearted people from the north of England showed up just when The Lathums needed to star when all seemed lost, hinted at an unforeseen but fitting final.

From the debut album, How Beautiful Life Can Be, released on Friday, September 24, 2021. For pre-orders on all formats, bundles and tickets www.thelathums.com A troupe of ballroom dancers were among the volunteers who came together to help the angels of poetic indie, The Lathums finished the video for their latest single, I would spend after their ambitious shoot was hit by a storm of Covid complications. The seemingly doomed promo, restarted with the help of members of the public, was revealed by the group.

Directed by filmmaker James Slater, the video set follows the group to their native northwest on a vintage station wagon, traveling between Wigan and Blackpool in pursuit of the colorful characters who call them home. Yet in the end, it was the North West and his eccentric troupe that had to finally come to The Lathums. They heard the band’s cry for help after the first attempt failed, leaving a second shoot short of performers.

Slater explains, “I wanted the video to be a celebration of the different passions and personalities of the region the band is from. A journey through a magical north. ballroom dancers answered our distress call and traveled all over the northwest to replace them and do the Cha Cha Cha! some alpacas. “

Leaving listeners one step closer to their upcoming debut album How Beautiful Life Can Be, released on Island Records on Friday, September 24, 2021, I’ll Get By follows the ska-driven earworm, I see your ghost, the moving pop jangle of Oh my love and recent and enthusiastic call for post-containment release, How beautiful life can be as singles from the long-player Lyricist and frontman, Alex Moore’s songs of big and meaningful impact are the happy outcome of tougher times, the young musician turning life’s deep lows into unpredictable highs. A catchy song of sparkling guitars and summery vocal harmonies, I’ll Get By is another festival-ready song that says nothing obvious about the sadness and bustle that accompanied the singer’s adolescence. Instead, the songs say it all about the peace, conciliation, and wisdom that arise when clouds give way to the sun. and the mellow single – at just two minutes and 30 seconds – can further deepen comparisons with lyrically dexterous independent poets such as Arctic Monkeys and The Smiths, while tremolo guitars and train-beat percussion more strongly evoke influences from Moore from the 1950s, including Elvis Presley and Patsy Cline.

The group’s debut album comes just as their delayed tour in support of their friends, Blossoms, comes to an end and their own rescheduled and improved tour begins.

If you live in the north, look outside, there are skeklers.

Skeklers?

How to tell if you’re skekled is if a group of characters jump in front of you, covered in straw, and entertain you with swirling dance and music.

These “Straw Boys” (and Girls) will appear in unexpected locations in Caithness, Aberdeenshire, Orkney and Shetland for the rest of this month, accompanied by Balkan-inspired beats.

The troupe is led by dance artist Rob Heaslip and ‘The Straw Boys’ is the second in his trilogy exploring the rituals of death, life and birth among the Gaels of Scotland and Ireland.

It takes up the ancient tradition of mummers, burdie boys in the Borders, blankets and skeklers, where groups dressed in ornate straw costumes roamed town and country to entertain spectators.

Rob grew up in Kerry, where the tradition of “cave boys” never died out completely.

Their day was Boxing Day, or St Stephen’s Day and refers to the legend of the wren betraying Stephen, the first Christian martyr.

Rob said, “This is all about pageantry and joy on one of the darkest days of the year.

“Being very poor, they couldn’t afford to buy fabric to make costumes, so they used barley straw to make high hats, with rags to decorate.

“For the music, they would take something like an old cookie tin, tie it around their neck, and pull a stick out of the way to beat it.”

The Straw Boys will appear in Caithness over the next week before moving to Aberdeenshire.

Locations can be found in Rob’s social networks.

He said: “After 18 long and miserable months, I want to bring joy directly to people, they don’t have to go to buildings and places, it will come to them in fields, beaches, ports and make them smile. “

Skekling

Having once thrived in Scotland and Ireland, the tradition is now enjoying a resurgence of interest, particularly in Ireland and Shetland.

Skekling is strictly speaking the term Shetland for its traditional form of guising or mummification.

During the long winter months, the skeklers dressed in finely chiseled straw headdresses, completely concealing their faces, and went from house to house entertaining themselves with skits and musical numbers in exchange for food, drink and drink. money.

The ski season was the first Sunday after October 14, the onset of winter in the islands.

It continued until January 24, a date now marked by the Up Helly Aa fire festival in Lerwick.

Roots in Nordic culture

The tradition has its roots in Nordic culture and shares common themes in Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Norway.

To go further, the word “skekling” was used in the islands of Yell and Fetlar, but in the island of Unst they were called “Grøleks” or “geng en Grøleks”, which is widely considered to be derived from the Icelandic Christmas Troll “Grýla” and “Grýlur” from the Faroe Islands.

You have refused entry to the Skeklers at your peril, misfortune may come your way.

Some viewed their visit as a visit from the Norse god Odin himself, so to hijack a skekler would be to hijack the god.

Allowing them to enter would be rewarded with the good fortune of the land or sea from which the islanders drew their livelihood.

To conceal their identity, the skeklers spoke while breathing.

Now a Shetland artist known as Skekkler, by adding the extra k to differentiate, is causing a revival of the ancient tradition.

Skekkler works anonymously, so he is referred to here as “they”.

They said: “Much of Shetland history was spoken knowledge, and very few skekling recordings exist to my knowledge, although there is an account by Arthur Edmonston in 1809 in his book ‘A View of the Ancient and Present State of the Zetland Islands.’

“My understanding is that skekling was just an activity undertaken as a way of life, no one thought about its cultural or historical significance at the time.”

Nothing to do with the costume

Skekkler went on to describe the routine of the skeklers, stating firmly that it had nothing to do with the Scottish tradition of guising.

“They wore oat straw costumes with ornate hats decorated with ribbons and wore a cloth to cover their faces in order to conceal their identity.

“The Shetlanders lived off the land and had few resources, so I imagine these costumes would belong to families and eventually passed down – although I don’t have any evidence to back it up, it is only ‘a commentary from a Shetlander on their Shetland history. “

If you’re one of those people who close the curtains and turn off the lights to avoid disguises, there was no escaping the skekels in Shetland.

“They were led by a senior ‘skekler’ known as ‘skudler’ who led a group of skeklers through the local neighborhood, visiting each and every house, a term known as ‘hoosamylla’.

“They would gather around the fire, usually in the middle of the house, and perform skits, featuring supernatural beings, banging their wooden sticks on the ground – part of the custom was never to reveal your identity.

Supernatural presence

“When speaking, the skeklers always spoke while breathing – all of these non-human characteristics heightened their supernatural presence.

“Some skeklers had musical instruments with them and would entertain the house with their tunes and their craziness.

“A visit from the skeklers was considered auspicious; a blessing – and they would be welcomed into the house and kindly received, performing skits and musical numbers in exchange for: “a meal, a penny of silver or a piece of flesh” (oats, money or meat) that would be deposited in the ‘buggi’ sheepskin bag goes around the room.

“It is believed that children between the ages of 8 and 15 would most likely participate in the tradition.

“It was also common practice for skeklers to make an appearance at a local wedding – but it may have been an adaptation of the original practice.”

Skekkler discovered a skekler account in Gossabrough on Yell:

“Before the war they used straw for the whole costume, but of course during and after the war we needed straw for food. straw hats. We would go from house to house and one of us would sneak up and go to the village hall, turn on the kettle, then the whole village would get together with the skeklers and make it a night.

The anonymous Skekkler created their practice during confinement, aware of the place of skekling in creating a strong community bond.

They said: “It was a way to provide a spark of curiosity, joy and insolence to the community.

“It’s a light pleasure to skekle and be skekled.”

Skekkler has now created a linocut series to celebrate tradition.

Their plan is to collect so much information about the tradition and preserve it through their own practice.

A Bridgend dance school represents Wales at the Dance World Cup after more than a year of online practice.

The Revolutionize Dance Company 5-14 year old team will dance for Wales in the final to be held in Telford, Shropshire from Saturday 14 August.

The 17-person team has come a long way to be ready for this competition, having spent over a year training online.

Read more: Live GCSE analysis, updates and reaction as Wales teens officially receive their results

Rebecca Pritchard, whose daughter Ava, 6, is part of the Wales squad, said the group were desperate to perform live after 18 long months.

“Before the first lockdown, they were at Disney to play,” she explained, “but Disney was actually shut down while they were all there, and they were sent home.”

After that, like most other things in the world, the classes were transferred to the dance group in isolation from their own home.

Rebecca praised the kids for sticking to it: “I think their commitment is something that absolutely needs to be highlighted.

“Obviously, all through the lockdown and stuff, it could have been really easy to lose their training and interest.

“Then they brought him back and qualified for the World Cup and I think that’s a huge achievement for all of them.”

Principal Holly Molino also praised the children’s efforts. She said: “The kids are so excited they’ve worked so hard in such a short time after being on Zoom for so long.”

After qualifying and getting the nod in such a short period of time after the lockdown, the team had a lot of obstacles to overcome.

Rebecca explained, “The option came up about six or seven weeks ago for them to send in auditions to compete in the 2021 World Cup of Dance.

“It’s basically intense workout since then. The routines obviously all got repeated throughout the Zoom lock, but it was mostly progression done on Zoom and workout tips and stuff ready to use in. the new routine. “

The quick delay between qualifying and the final meant that the team had to quickly update their outfits as most of the kids had grown too big for their dance gear.

“It’s such a short period of time and recognition has to be given to Holly, the manager, she has done a lot to organize everything.”

The dance school also has dancers entering the solo and duo categories, in hopes of bringing more success back to Wales.

“Everyone is so excited now to go, they just can’t wait.”

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The team initially qualified for the 2020 event, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the competition has been postponed to 2021.

The finals will now take place from August 9 to 19.

Debbie Hunter Mills, principal of the dance school, told The Post, “We are a relatively new school and 2020 was the first time we auditioned for the Dance World Cup.

“This is the biggest competition we will ever participate in, with over 120,000 competitors from 62 countries competing.

“It doesn’t get much bigger than representing your country and this competition is really the Olympic Games of the dance world, that’s what everyone aspires to.

“The finals are usually held in a different country each year – 2020 was supposed to be Rome and 2021 was supposed to be Spain, but we are instead in Telford this year, which is understandable given the current situation with Covid-19 .

“We qualified for a total of 79 dances, including solos, duets, trios and groups, and were honored to receive two special audition awards for top-rated routines from across the country.”

Debbie said the team have worked tirelessly to prepare for the competition and have remained strong in the face of adversity.

She added: “We were working really hard for the 2020 final when the lockdown hit and everything came to a halt.

“The girls were absolutely amazing and continued to work fully on Zoom and the online sessions to keep them training and staying fit.

“I cannot congratulate them enough. They remodeled entire houses and got rid of the furniture just to give them space to practice.

“For us as teachers it was really difficult and I can only imagine how difficult it was for the children as well.

“It’s so nice to see them regain that sense of camaraderie and teamwork that they have been missing for so long.

“As a teacher, you can’t ask for anything more.

“The youngest people in the school really admire the team that will compete in the Dance World Cup and it’s nice to see them have something to aspire to.

Hunter School of Dance would like to thank its sponsors for helping them participate in the competition.

ARCOS Dance Company getting ready to flip the switch to On and present his latest project, In the ether, both to the Austin public online and intimate, in person in early August.

You’ll be able to reserve a seat at one of the multiple locations in this city – at least one in each of Austin’s 10 districts, is the plan – to see talented artists engaged in “lasting movement practices”. (You know: what most people would call, at least tentatively, dancing.) And you will be seen, yourself, via the live streaming cameras of the physical sites. Meanwhile, audiences online will navigate an interactive, browser-based multimedia experience, with access to view live streams from all venues simultaneously, as performers invite viewers into a “third” virtual space called the l ‘Ether.

Note: This is by no means a temporary maneuver.

ARCOS, which started in Santa Fe and moved to Austin in 2014, is not working this hybrid form in reaction to the restrictions required by Our Pandemic Situation; the company has worked on the preliminary fields between the real and the virtual, the embodied and the abstract, since their beginnings. Exploring this crossroads – and what is there and, potentially, beyond – is what fuels the beating heart within the ARCOS collective body.

“It seems there are extremes in all areas of society right now,” notes Eliot Gray Fisher, co-director of the Adventurous Troupe, “and there are also extreme reactions to the technology, with many people dismissing it. downright technology. Even a lot of people in the performance community fall under the rejection category. Like, ‘This what we do: we do things with body, and his live, and we must have people physically here. ‘“A smile emerges around the sympathy within his thin beard. need to be led. “

ARCOS co-director Erica Gionfriddo develops the idea: “Last year with the pandemic it was surreal,” they say, “and certainly not the circumstances we would like everyone to live for. the first time. But it was exciting in some ways too, because a lot of people had to give up binary thinking around the relevance and value of technology – because it had become our only option. So we offered a lot of technological and emotional support to people, because we had been there before. Not just: “How do you use Zoom? What are the tips and tricks? ‘ – There are thousands of these – but offering more than one framework, an understanding of how to approach technology, of knowing that it is something that we can to be a hybrid with and can actually find fun and get things done with it. Rather than just, you know, say, “This is awful! and hang your head and not think about it. As Eliot said, it’s a losing battle to try to keep him at bay. “

Since 2016, the Ether series examines how emerging technologies such as smartphones and social media are shaping our understanding of ourselves and our bodies, and how people relate to other bodies encountered online and offline.

ARCOS started Ether over five years ago, shortly after the live video feature was made available on major social media platforms. As the company’s program notes reveal: “On July 6, 2016, Assassination of Philando Castille by the police officer Jeronimo Yanez broadcast live on Facebook, as Castile’s girlfriend Diamond Reynolds streamed from her phone while her 4-year-old daughter watched from the backseat. Immediate online access to this horrific act exposed urgent ethical territory. “

Since then the Ether series examined how emerging technologies like smartphones and social media are shaping our understanding of ourselves and our bodies, and how people relate to other bodies encountered online and offline. “Our work is based on elements of cyborg, queer and incarnation theories,” Gionfriddo explains. “We focus on everyday devices and technological habits by reusing them – by ‘hacking’ them – for a use other than what they are intended for. “

Yet using technology like her was intentional is part of what makes being an audience in (or in) an ARCOS production a remarkable experience: in addition to peering into rooms in local neighborhoods where the performers will be broadcast live, the show browser-based also offers viewers a chance to search the company’s archives of previous dances (recorded in rehearsal and in performance since 2016) and to organize multiple synchronized views of an ensemble sequence that was filmed at Austin’s. Ground floor theater earlier in the summer.

So, In the ether. Is this wrong? Is it real? Does ARCOS Dance Company itself, ah, false real? Fisher and Gionfriddo and their team, while not lacking in the kind of playfulness that informs a lot of creative intelligence, suggest a bigger question: “What is our responsibility to each other as our everyday technologies transform our ways. relationships? “

Now, whether you walk through a door in a meaty space or more easily tap a keyboard to access virtual cameras, you can hit enter and participate in some of the provocative kinetic responses yourself.

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Consult our arts listings for times, dates and locations of performances. More info on: arcosdance.com

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