Revitalization of the Arts

[august]

Gynocratic societies naturally go the opposite way. A stronger demand to be tolerant, docile, to suppress intense negtive feelings, a focus on agreeability and cultural osmosis. Direct, immediate and threatening reactions replaced by lukewarm community acceptance and simulated equality. The difficulty art movements have when organizing through a clueless organic method is the estrogen they are swimming and breathing in deforms their artistic corpus that of a hermaphroditic frog.

Just a few weeks after the quote-unquote Russian invasion of Ukraine, a certain Ms. Laura Freeman felt compelled to share her thoughts on the situation by recalling an interview that she did with ballerina Svetlana Zakharova. Why?







Alright... again, why? It turns out that nowhere in this article does Ms. Freeman even include anything that Zakharova said to her during that interview that, as Ms. Freeman assures us, she has "thought often about". Actually, the more important part for Ms. Freeman's purposes here is that Zakharova apparently said nothing at all. This is because the point that she is trying to make is that famous ballerinas in Russia aren't allowed to say anything... sort of. She does qualify this by mentioning that "Natalia Osipova, a Russian principal with the Royal Ballet in London, has issued a statement beginning 'nothing can justify war'. She is careful not to mention either Ukraine or Russia. Wouldn’t you be?" 

Yeah, if you were a Russian ballerina, wouldn't you be careful not to take sides in an extremely complicated geopolitical conflict that you obviously understand in enough depth to make confident public statements about? Wouldn't you be scared that Putin is going to KILL YOU?? As it turns out, Osipova has danced in both American and British ballet companies, unlike Zakharova. Maybe Osipova felt more comfortable making her profound "statement" from her flat in London, who knows. 

Ms. Freeman goes on to assure us that she's not a Russian apologist, she's merely stressing that we, the civilised peoples more westward, can't even comprehend "the consequences of denouncing Putin" and his "propaganda machine". For good measure, she grants a quick paragraph to make the old trusty and totally accurate Putin-Hitler comparison. It turns out that Ms. Freeman actually disagreed with most of The West's decision to boycott performances of Russian works, though she says: "I understand why it is necessary". Well that's good, Ms. Freeman. As long as you understand... 

Who is this Laura Freeman anyway? 



Oh. She's the "Chief Art Critic" for The Times. And also a former anorexic! Phew, thank God she recovered from that -- now she can stuff her face with all the panettone that her little big perfect post-anorexic heart desires, and that's a good thing! This is what I look for in my Chief Art Critics. But when it comes to my ballerinas... they need to keep that chic ED physique. You can always be thinner, look better. 

Do you want to know why Black Swan (2010) was a good film? It was because Natalie Portman's character also had an eating disorder. Nay, not just an eating disorder, but a total and complete psychotic intoxication caused by her all-consuming obsession with becoming perfect. Self-sacrifice, the will to go beyond. You didn't know that it was secretly a Nietzschean propaganda film, did you? Not many did. 



"I felt it. Perfect. It was perfect." Dying at the height of her beauty and after achieving a state of perfection. A happy death, I'd say. Uh oh, it seems like the British and American ballerina communities didn't share my approval of the film:



What are these ladies on about? Too "extreme"? @Muskox, correctly in my opinion, echoed BAP in saying that "Great artists forge new paths." They are extreme. A "great artist" has two options: be perfect, or be extreme. See Rachmaninoff and Scriabin, respectively. 

Just another word on the Russian ballerinas. Natalia Osipova, as I mentioned, left Russia and worked with American and British companies. I believe Svetlana Zakharova has primarily only ever danced with Ukrainian and Russian schools/companies. The same might be true for Ulyana Lopatkina. The latter two are both alumnae of the historical imperial Vaganova Academy. 





Do you notice any differences between the interpretations here? How about their bodies? Look at Osipova from 6:25 to 6:45 and compare with Lopatkina and Zakharova. Do you think that looks good? I'm sure the girls over at The Royal Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre probably do. To reiterate system's words: "Gynocratic societies naturally go the opposite way." It seems that our critics are more concerned with famous ballerinas using their platforms to "take a stand" on this week's news and whether or not the ballet world is portrayed as "extreme".

[Pylon]

Just another word on the Russian ballerinas. Natalia Osipova, as I mentioned, left Russia and worked with American and British companies. I believe Svetlana Zakharova has primarily only ever danced with Ukrainian and Russian schools/companies. The same might be true for Ulyana Lopatkina. The latter two are both alumnae of the historical imperial Vaganova Academy. 





Do you notice any differences between the interpretations here? How about their bodies? Look at Osipova from 6:25 to 6:45 and compare with Lopatkina and Zakharova. Do you think that looks good?

I can see that Osiprova has no fucking idea what it is to be a bird.

Of the three, Lopatkina's was the best: her charming stern expression, the controlled fluidity of her motion, her apparent mastery over every fiber in her body. She knows what it is to be a graceful swan, to turn her supple form into an instrument of the art that embodies an ideal.

Graceful Swan:



Osiprova, on the other hand, lacks any such grace. As the heaviest of the three girls, she seemed more interested in "feeling" the part (look at her face; the grimaces that cycle through her strained expression) and wringing her body around. There's something alcoholic about her motion. Weight, alcohol, and a hysterical expression -- three pervasive traits of the western female character.

You stupid bitch:



Céline springs to mind. "Ils étaient lourds. Alors ils étaient lourds, jaloux d'une certaine légèrté..."

[FlyWithYou]

The only "reaction" that anti-art is owed is the creation of works of art. If an anti-agriculture pro-famine movement/fad became dominant, the proper response to it would simply be the practice of agriculture, for the sake of having food. There'd be little point in making arguments against the anti-food movement in defense of food's value.

[FlyWithYou]

I don't dislike the Pervert but he can be seriously neurotic sometimes.

But the music would feel inappropriate as a program even to the greatest opulence of today. “It doesn’t fit.” It’s like trying to wear powdered wig; I know such things are titillating for many men now who call themselves reactionaries. They have other motivations. But at its worst the “reactionary mind” is just this vulgar pretense, in the middle of our total desolation, that you can just carry on going through the motions and that merely aping the past and its forms is going to revive it. At its worst and most vulgar, the “reactionary” relationship to classical music is a symphony hall, itself a contrivance now, serving as a meeting place for families of Orthodox Jews to take their daughters for “cultural enrichment experience.” It has driven me to a rage to think that this is what a great musical heritage has been reduced to, and I walked out of music hall cursing it and feeling worse than if I had gone to porn jackoff booth. Beethoven and Couperin didn’t write for this...for a museum experience and to be “cultural enrichment.”

My friend, get this incidental stuff off your mind and judge the music as itself. Stop thinking about "reactionaries" and Orthodox Jews. If your lunch at a restaurant is brought to you by a rude waiter, do you write an article in which you proclaim that the Death of the Grilled Cheese Sandwich has come about? He overthinks this whole thing. Seize upon whatever's good and laugh everything else off.

[anthony]

I don't dislike the Pervert but he can be seriously neurotic sometimes.

But the music would feel inappropriate as a program even to the greatest opulence of today. “It doesn’t fit.” It’s like trying to wear powdered wig; I know such things are titillating for many men now who call themselves reactionaries. They have other motivations. But at its worst the “reactionary mind” is just this vulgar pretense, in the middle of our total desolation, that you can just carry on going through the motions and that merely aping the past and its forms is going to revive it. At its worst and most vulgar, the “reactionary” relationship to classical music is a symphony hall, itself a contrivance now, serving as a meeting place for families of Orthodox Jews to take their daughters for “cultural enrichment experience.” It has driven me to a rage to think that this is what a great musical heritage has been reduced to, and I walked out of music hall cursing it and feeling worse than if I had gone to porn jackoff booth. Beethoven and Couperin didn’t write for this...for a museum experience and to be “cultural enrichment.”

My friend, get this incidental stuff off your mind and judge the music as itself. Stop thinking about "reactionaries" and Orthodox Jews. If your lunch at a restaurant is brought to you by a rude waiter, do you write an article in which you proclaim that the Death of the Grilled Cheese Sandwich has come about? He overthinks this whole thing. Seize upon whatever's good and laugh everything else off.

I get where he's coming from. Music is a culture. Mozart had never seen an ipod. The idea of an autodidactic and isolated experience of music was alien to most of the history of music. And this picture of the symphony hall is a rather upsetting one. As he says, it's a museum. Display and preservation of something dead.

[august]

My friend, get this incidental stuff off your mind and judge the music as itself.

He does "judge the music as itself." That's exactly why he says "this vulgar pretense ... that you can just carry on going through the motions and that merely aping the past and its forms is going to revive it."

It died. Whether that death was the result of natural causes or being killed isn't as important as the fact that it's more about dressing up the corpse and superficially parading it around. Why do Chinese mothers have their children playing piano at 3 or 4 years old? I don't think that it's because they have any profound sense of admiration for the European musical tradition. Maybe you have a better answer though.

He overthinks this whole thing. Seize upon whatever's good and laugh everything else off.

No. He's correct about classical music. It's probably rather that you haven't thought about "this whole thing" enough.

[Muskox]

Went to an organ concert yesterday with a program of Bach. Terrible. Organist seemed to think he was giving a lecture. Took time between each piece to talk about historical tuning and his hallucinations about programmatic content. Playing was mediocre. It's over...

[FlyWithYou]

I don't dislike the Pervert but he can be seriously neurotic sometimes.

But the music would feel inappropriate as a program even to the greatest opulence of today. “It doesn’t fit.” It’s like trying to wear powdered wig; I know such things are titillating for many men now who call themselves reactionaries. They have other motivations. But at its worst the “reactionary mind” is just this vulgar pretense, in the middle of our total desolation, that you can just carry on going through the motions and that merely aping the past and its forms is going to revive it. At its worst and most vulgar, the “reactionary” relationship to classical music is a symphony hall, itself a contrivance now, serving as a meeting place for families of Orthodox Jews to take their daughters for “cultural enrichment experience.” It has driven me to a rage to think that this is what a great musical heritage has been reduced to, and I walked out of music hall cursing it and feeling worse than if I had gone to porn jackoff booth. Beethoven and Couperin didn’t write for this...for a museum experience and to be “cultural enrichment.”

My friend, get this incidental stuff off your mind and judge the music as itself. Stop thinking about "reactionaries" and Orthodox Jews. If your lunch at a restaurant is brought to you by a rude waiter, do you write an article in which you proclaim that the Death of the Grilled Cheese Sandwich has come about? He overthinks this whole thing. Seize upon whatever's good and laugh everything else off.

I get where he's coming from. Music is a culture. Mozart had never seen an ipod. The idea of an autodidactic and isolated experience of music was alien to most of the history of music. And this picture of the symphony hall is a rather upsetting one. As he says, it's a museum. Display and preservation of something dead.

Good point. I should refine my statement, anyway: although much of the classical music world today is dead and pretending to be alive, there are still plenty of good performers making good recordings of good pieces. You can listen to these recordings. Certainly things have been lost, but what's still around is still around.



The Pervert claims that this kind of music can't fit into the present world, and he uses this piece as an example. The real point he's making is that some people see classical music as a ceremonial thing and don't really enjoy it, which is true. Regardless, these pieces haven't lost any of their intrinsic power over the years. The pitch and rhythm intervals haven't gone off in the centuries since Rameau's death. Music can't be touched by ponderous words and social theories, or in any other way than by seeing it as music, as itself. Either it's good or not. It stands or falls according to its own rules. This piece still carries a strong charge I think. Great recording by Trevor Pinnock.