In Conclusion

It's been several weeks since we finished the seminar on Theatricality and Reality in Modern French Drama, lead by Dr. Maryann Frese Witt of North Carolina State University. I have been asked often since my return how my trip was. As I prepare to respond, I feel my body energize, my eyes open wide, a huge smile forms on my lips and from the inside, I know I'm glowing.

I loved this seminar. It was beautiful, enriching, inspiring, soul cleansing...who knew theater could have such a profound effect on someone? Maybe Kate, Elaine...

My hope is to flavor our work in 8th grade French with some of the lessons learned by experiencing the many aspects of theater in Avignon. Most of all, I believe the work of a director and her or his actors is one that requires openness and empathy for the text and the characters. I found that in our scenes becoming a character is not that easy, but I used our work together to illuminate a piece of myself. It was a gratifying exercise.

I would like to thank (in order of appearance at our conference table), Chris, Brenda, Court, Suzanne, Mary, Martha, Dana, Tesa (Dominique, Bliss and Myna), Jennifer (Beau), Valerie, Ray, Symphorien, Michael, and of course Maryann and her magnificent assitants, Maguerite, Marjorie and Ron. You provided thoughtfulness, eagerness, camaraderie, support, friendship, great stories, and meals. We laughed often even as we marveled at the amount of work we completed all in FRENCH!

Any teachers interested in participating in a seminar in Avignon next year will be pleased to know that Dr. Ron Witt (yes, Maryann's husband) is leading an NEH Seminar on Petrarch in English in Avignon. Look for it in the fall listings on the NEH website.

I am grateful to ALL OF YOU who made this possible. I love you all.

Peace.

Pas de Quartier: Sensational!

Now this performance has been sold out every night. I'd bought my ticket last week, and unwittingly left it home. They were about to close the door for the show. When you buy tickets and you use your OFF membership, they write the name of the play on your card, which was the case for "Pas de quartier". I went to the ticket booth and explained, and the not so helpful teller said she couldn't let me in without a ticket, it was a matter of insurance.

A man came up behind me and asked what was the problem. Jennifer had explained to another gentleman at the door what had happened. He in turn was telling this man. I said, "I have to see this show!" I said, trying to contain my hysteria at the possibility of not getting in. "I'm American. I'm leaving tomorrow. Please!" And then, I began to cry! Really, I was that upset.

The man took a left over ticket from the desk and gave it to me. He told the ladies (who were sneering, "OMG, I think she's going to cry," because they could see the tears welling up in my eyes), "Well, now you have 3 tickets left" and gave me a ticket! I thanked him. Ran inside, found Jennifer, and from the moment the lights were out, I knew that I had been correct. This would be a great show.


Choreographer Abibo Kebe, Jennifer, Director Eric Checco, moi


Monsieur Kebe et Jennifer


Ray-J, the human beat box et moi


One fantastic dancer...man...

I'm at the moment gushing with excitement. This was a great performance. I know, those of you who know me are wondering when am I not gushing with excitement. I was fortunate. I loved and learned from ALL of the shows that I attended. This one was a wonderful way to end my Avignon experience.

"Pas de quartier" can mean two things-- #1. a step/stroll/walk around the block (neighborhood) or #2. not from the neighborhood.

un pas= step
pas = part of the expression for negation "ne...pas". Colloquially, the "ne" may be dropped.

After the show, I had the opportunity to speak to Eric Checco, the man whose vision produced "Pas de quartier".

SZ: How did this come about?
EC: In 2005, I was asked by the producers of Alvin Ailey's dance troupe to come up with a hip hop production. I didn't want this to be simply the stereotypical hip hop filmed on the streets with dancers wearing baseball caps backwards. I wanted it to mean something. At about that time, there was unrest in the suburbs. It was really sad. The youth, many of whom were second generation children of immigrants who were born in France, felt as if they weren't being heard by their nation. I wanted to begin the story from the perspective of the grandparents who came to France and fought in French wars for France. Their grandparents fought for a France that they wanted to love.
SZ: Your tale is chronological beginning during WW1, but it seems to be ruptured by the baroque piece in the center of it. What were you trying to do there?
EC: Baroque music was music that was marginalized in its period in relation to what we know as classical music. Hip Hop music today is also marginalized in France in relation to pop music. I wanted to relate these two styles.

This presentation was different from all the shows I've seen. At the end of each segment, the audience would show their appreciation for the dancers' skill by clapping. There was cheering when the dancing or acrobatics were exceptional. One of the dancers was able to flip off of the wall by running on the wall and flipping over.

Dancers could "dance" not on two hands but on one!

The staging begins with twin brothers dancing together resembling hieroglyphic movements in their dance. It is during the time of recruitment in Africa to help fight in the Great War (WWI). The next scene which was my personal favorite and the reason I was attracted to this program-- the dance of the Senegalese sharpshooters. There is a lot I would like to learn about these men. They wear red fez (hats) and one carries a French flag. Their movement in formation reminds me of the sculpture of the soldiers at Iwo Jima complete with flag. It is magnificent, and sets the story which moves through the decades of musical influences from Jazz to Bebop to Disco and Hip Hop.

Banania, a cereal company used the image of a Senegalese soldier to sell their product. My friend, Marc, a retired pharmacist, a Frenchman, explained to me that these men were heroes. He felt that Banania was trying to promote their strength and courage. "I mean," he said, "They came from far away to fight far away from home, and for we French who were undersiege, they were celebrated." Senegal at the time was a French colony. I'd like to research more about them. Marc and I had this conversation because I wanted to understand why Banania moved from the old image to the new, a grotesque, cartoon character which does not speak to the bravery of which Marc spoke.


Here is the older, smiling image of the earlier can. Next to it is a box of spices from the caribbean.
Reminds me of the brand of rice and the pancake syrup we have in the states. Curious. If you do google images "Banania" you'll see the new, bright yellow boxes with the newer image. Interesting.

There is a regular Hip Hop theme which links all the segments. Another major segment with the dancers is the arrival of various immigrants to France, and the immigration officer who doesn't know what to do with the number of people arriving. There are smiles on the newcomers' faces and expressions of wonderment.

Although the story is told mainly through dance, we are offered poetic expressions through rap, soulful singing in both French and English, and a remarkable performance by Ray-J whose beat box is impeccable. The way he was able to get various sounds out of his throat was awe inspiring.

The message was basically, "Don't reject us France. Our soul is French, if not French of blood. France, the color of the rainbow."

This is a lovely vision, and inclusive one. The dancers were Black, White, and all hues in between. Attention! (That's French for be careful.) There are voices that aren't represented here. There are still angry voices, frustrated voices. "Pas de quartier" also speaks of "pardon", forgiveness --these children are prepared to forgive if their nation is prepared to see them and hear them.

For me, this was a vision that Genet might have hoped for in the end of the play, "Les Nègres". His play ends with an unanswered questions: "What needs to happen to end the horrible, violent ritual? When and how will the marginalized also be able to exercise power over themselves and their future. What will the new life look like, where the individual is mistress/master of her or his own fate? "

Once all (French) people are accepted regardless of the color of their skin or origin, what kind of world will they create?

The performance Jennifer and I saw was smaller than the usual. Normally, the baroque music is played by a live orchestra complete with a "contre tenor" and a "claveciniste", a piano like instrument that provides the characteristic sound in baroque music.

More on "Pas de quartier"? www.pasdequartier.com

Sartre and the Flies

Power over Zeus.


Dreaming of her future hero and encouraging Orestes to take up arms.


Zeus making his deal.


As time is flying by, I realized that I didn't reflect a bit on Sartre, but there was not a lot of time between jumping from the presentations and discussions to our next endeavor with Ionesco.

With our discussions of Sartre and existentialism, I began to think about who I want to be.
Sartre was imprisoned during World War II. It was here that he began to expand on his ideas regarding existentialism. I played Electra in his play, "Les Mouches" (staged by Tesa). Electra awaits for a hero to save her. Her brother Orestes returns and after much goading --I mean encouragement--from Electra, he kills his mother who remained queen when she accepted her husband's killer as consort. Anyway, as I've said before, I play Electra, and let me tell you, I developed an incredible dislike for her. She's all talk and no action. And when she is tormented by the horrible Flies (flies is the translation of "mouches"), she sells out her brother and returns to serve Zeus, after completely disrespecting this god in the first Act of the play. As a result, based on Sartre's vision of a hero, she is the anti-hero and therefore ceases to exist. By the end of our performance, my Electra is completely covered by her black shawl, and she sits unmoving on the stage.

But Orestes is the true Sartrean hero. As far as I understand existentialism, we ARE not until we BECOME. We do not EXIST until we have ACTED. In this definitive action, we become free. This notion of becoming is tied with the idea of liberty. I say idea because one might achieve a sense of freedom, even while trapped, enslaved or imprisoned. This is what I understood after a colleague's presentation of Sartre, France and the Resistance. In the theatrical sense, the action tends to be definitive, glaring and repulsive to society. I'm not prepared to say that the ACTION must always be dramatic. However, I am in Avignon studying theater soooo...bear with me!

Orestes is a handsome young man from Corinth, who, in search of his family, returns to Argos. There he finds Electra and the past from which he had been protected. The king, his father, had been killed, and the people of Argos accepted the killer as their new king. Now, I am not familiar with the Greek stories which include Electra's dad, and I have no idea if he was a good leader or a poor one, but it's understandable that his children feel that justice was not served. The people of Argos are unkind, frightened and in constant remorse. They provide Zeus with libations, and accept their fate as it is. The people of Argos are kept in check by Zeus' flies. And so, after reviewing all this, Orestes agrees with Electra, and he kills the current king and queen (Orestes' mother). It is Orestes who acts. And when Zeus confronts him, he demands remorse from Orestes. Orestes explains quite calmly that he does not believe what he did was wrong, regardless of the consequences (an eternity of torment by the flies). From the youthful, insouciant young man of Corinth that he was, he BECOMES a man who takes full responsibility for his belief and his actions.

What will the people of Argos do now? Well, Orestes will not become king, despite being guaranteed the throne by Zeus in return for remorse. Instead, Orestes leaves, taking the flies with him (his punishment and sacrifice), and he asks nothing but that the people of Argos take this opportunity to choose their own path to liberty. Can you see the real-life connections we may have made here in our seminar discussions?

My last French class with Isabel Roche at Bennington College was a year discussion on the relationship between the individual and society and the way it was portrayed in French drama. It just floors me how much the same themes over centuries are constantly addressed.

Who is the individual? What are their needs, skills, likes, dislikes, desires? In what ways do these needs, skills, likes, dislikes, desires affect society?
What is the role of society? In what ways does society affect the individual?

What is liberty?
Clearly, each person defines this for themselves. For Sartre, he saw it through his existential lens. But ultimately, what I take from Sartre is that each of us must walk our own path, live our lives the way we must for ourselves. To me, the role of society is to protect the rights of the individual, not to demand that the individual live their life a specific way. The individual's mandate is to not infringe on the right of another individual to live their life. Well, that's always how I read the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. And if an individual CHOOSES to live in a society, then they have signed up to follow the fair and just laws of that society.

Attention! Careful! Sartre believes to truly become, the individual must be engaged, the individual must act and not let oneself be acted upon. This means that I must choose, know why I make the choices I make (and not follow blindly), then accept my decisions. Leave remorse to the flies.

Oedipe a la ferme: Funny

Chickens ruling Thebes?
Ducks ruling Corinth?
Leeks for soldiers?
An onion as a servant in tears?
An egg as king?
Well, that's this play. The sublime absurdity of it all made this a must see.

The actors were creative, energetic and hilarious. There were lots of play on words, some I got, some I didn't, but laughed when the French people laughed.

From the origins of Greek culture to the retelling of this classic tale, the two actors on stage kept us chuckling all the way. The concept of the Oedipal complex achieves new heights. When Oedipus, played by an egg and a man, lay on a couch discussing his life (this is where Oedipus realizes what happened), I wondered, 'How do men overcome this?' One way might be through lots of humor, singing and dancing perhaps. At the end of the performance when the anguished Oedipus blinds himself, all the lights are turned off--the audience is blinded with him.

I could not watch this play without thinking of a video I saw on YouTube entitled Oedipus (with Vegetables). Here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NydKPClhYgM
It is approximately 9 minutes long.

Mes amis francophones en France: retrouve BAMBI a Paris...

J'ai vu cette pièce ce soir au Festival d'Avignon (du 6 au 28 juillet). Elle était drôle et magnifique. Pour mes amis francophones, je vous conseille vivement d'aller voir cette pièce. Elle jouera encore à Paris du 7 au 25 août 2007 au TARMAC de la Villiette.

De la petite annonce que j'ai reçu:
"On ne s'appelle pas Bambi lorsque l'on naît au Sénégal! Pourtant, c'est derrière cette identité d'illusion et d'infortune que la comédienne sénégalaise a décidé de nous conter les mille et une chausse-trappes qui ont meurtri son existence et sa venue en France.

"Morceaux de vie, tranches de vécu, risibles, minuscules s'ils n'étaient frappés au coin de la blessure, de l'exclusion et de la bêtise majuscules. L'incompréhension des parents, le mépris du maître, le viol du voisin, les mensonges du marabout, les paillettes de l'ailleurs, le mariage et la belle-famille européenne au racisme tranquille, les désillusions de l'exil sur le chemin du père, la rupture, ... autant de grimaces de la vie qui trouvent un peu de répit sous le mascara du rire et de l'humour, autant d'errances apaisées avec la rencontre et l'amour."

Voilà ce que dit Maïmouna Gueye: "J'étais celle qui dit non, la dévergondée qui veut faire du théâtre. Je rêvais de paroles, je voulais vomir le trop-plein de choses qui bouillonnaient en moi."

Text et interpretation: Maïmouna Gueye
Mise en scène: Jacques Allaire

Bambi...Elle est noire mais elle est belle: Powerful

Text et interpretation: Maïmouna Gueye
Mise en scène: Jacques Allaire
au Théâtre le Petit Louvre, 19h50.

Tonight, upon my return from Paris, I went to see the play, Bambi: Elle est noire mais elle est belle.
I knew from the moment I saw the poster with that title, I would go see it. Which did you notice first? Did you notice the name of the character Bambi? Or did you think about the phrase that follows the title.

"Elle est noire mais elle est belle," means she is black but she is beautiful. It may not be hard to figure out why I chose this one woman show. Maïmouna Gueye, born and raised in Sénégal, recounts the story of a Senegalese woman, whose parents indeed named her Bambi. There are tales within her tale. The articles discussing the play indicate that the strory we hear are vignettes from her own life, and this play is her way to "exorcise" her pain through humor and laughter.

Her tale begins, "One upon a time..." and makes allusions to Disney, Sartre and Shakespeare. At the start of the peforamance, there is a disclaimer stating that any resemblance to a character or characters in any Disney film is simply coincidental. Then, "L'enfer c'est les autres" -- Hell is other people, when describing her experience with insouciant racism at the hands of her in-laws. And finally, there is her Sartrian twist on "être ou ne pas être" (to be or not to be). "Sois est tu seras"-- Be and you will be...

Bambi's narrative is well constructed. Using the notion of integration as her "fil conducteur" or central theme, she evolves from her attempt at the ridiculous concept of integration into French society by erasing her identity to integration with her true love in which she doesn't lose herself, but to whom she gives of herself. Yes, Bambi's story, with its humor and tragedies, ends well. She finds herself and true love in the arms of her soul mate--um --Pan Pan (That's Thumper in French).

.

Cool Soul in Paris

I visited my American friends, Rick, Kim and the lovely Greta in Paris this weekend. We also got to hang out with Yann and Caro. As always, a great experience.

Best meal was at L'Os à moelle (3, rue Vasco de Gama, 15e). They have a "menu fixe" meaning you get a six course meal at one price (38 euros).

It was great! But I've yet to have a bad experience anywhere--how can you when there is so much to learn! I've got a tale to tell with my series of pictures of a tiny little 15 month old on her journey to the zoo, but for now, here's my weekend in review.

View the album here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/szzamor/ParisInJuly?authkey=uf6Zvzp1d4Y

Just remember, I'm a French teacher, and the purpose of my pictures is to use thematic vocabulary and to encourage my students to find words to describe some of the scenes. I mean, why else would I take a self-portrait in front of an ATM machine!




I discovered le Musée du Quai Branly whose focus is aboriginal arts from all over the world.

And I got to experience Paris Plage on a saturday afternoon stroll "en famille". Basically, the mayor of Paris has closed off part of the road along the Seine to provide a summer-like, relaxing and convivial atmosphere just along the banks of the Seine. Everyone does not get away from Paris in the summer as they used to. It is a simple and gracious alternative. It's not just sand and sunbathers either! I bet in the Bois de Boulogne there are more topless sunbathers. They set up ropes for climbing like at Camp Weona, there's sand for the kids to make sand castles, a sprinkler / fan system to cool people down. My kids would love that! They have concerts in the evening, sponsored by FNAC Music. Paris Plage begins at the quai near the Pont de Sully and ends at the Louvre. It began on July 19 and will end on August 19 this year. A feast for the eyes--I saw a tai chi demonstration and a cpr training course on the "plage"--and of course, there was a boulodrôme for the pétanque afficionados! Yes!

Teruel: Magnifique

Teruel is the capital city of a region in Aragón, Spain. It is known for its corridas (bullfights). It is also the name of this magnificent multimedia performance which was inspired by Pierre Imhasly's "Rhône Saga". Here is the site regarding the performance. There are lots of images, but I wanted you to see the image that caught my attention on the home page. Remember, there are posters and handouts all over the city! How does one make their poster unique?

http://www.teruel.ch/

Tonight, Tesa and I headed off to the Théâtre Gilgamesh which was were I saw Paroles d'Étoiles (See previous post for more on that play). It's conveniently located near our lodgings, but really, it's easy to walk around this entire city. The performance began at 22h30, and we were captivated from the first moment. The light and shadow play would have made Artaud weep, it was great! I think he would have loved the multimedia (dance, drama, music, and video) aspect of this show, and the way each performer seemed to feel what they were doing. It is a love story/it is a bullfight, but who is the bull? who is the matador? I felt that the roles changed often between the man and the women...two women...the same woman? two different women? two different aspects of the same woman? The dancing was incredible. The performers had such bodily control--it was a moving painting...it was beautiful.

Tesa loves to congratulate the performers at the end of the performance she attends. We met the composer of the original music for Teruel and the performers. They are Swiss, and they seemed to enjoy sharing with us their collaboration in the creative process. Great lessons there. They live it, breathe it...Of course, I asked if they had read any Artaud...during the performance I said to myself-- 'Come on! Does everyone read Artaud? Geesh. I must stop seeing Artaud in everything.' André Pignat, the composer said, "No, but I've heard of him."

So, is this the collective unconsciousness at work? Teruel was beautiful.

La Compagnie des Femmes frenetiques

un extrait de "Les Mouches" de Jean-Paul Sartre
mise en scène: Martha
avec la participation de:
Brenda (Premier Erinnye)
Suzanne (Deuxième Erinnye)
Sheila (Troisième Erinnye)
Dominique (photographe)
Synphorien (video)

au théâtre du FEP
10, Pont Trouca
11h30

Waiting For Godot, Waiting for Oreste...

des éxtraits de "Les Mouches" de Jean-Paul Sartre
mise en scène: Terese
avec la participation de:
Sheila (Electre)
Symphorien (Oreste)
Chris (Jupiter)
Dominique (photographe)
Michael (video)

au théâtre du FEP
10, Pont Trouca
11h00

Insideout: Sublime

Autoportrait: Sheila, Tom and Michael waiting for our tickets at the kiosk Châteaublanc.


This performance was part of the official festival of Avignon aka IN.
Directed/choreographed by Sasha Waltz and Guests...

Today, Tesa gave her review of this play. She had planned to talk about something else, but after seeing Insideout, there was nothing she could do. She had to urge us to go. The problem was, the tickets are all sold out for this theatrical presentation.
But there was a waiting list. She assured us we could go... she and her husband went with their daughters (6 and 2), and they had been able to get in. Tesa was adamant. There were only two days left, we had to go see it.

Tom, Michael and I took up the gauntlet and met to catch the bus just within the ramparts in front of the Avignon Post Office.
The performance was at 19h00, so we caught the bus at 17h50.

Upon arrival, Tom swiftly got off the bus and put our names on the waiting list. His was the 3rd name on a list that was quickly filled, and most people were getting two or more tickets.

At 16h40, they called Tom's name. False start. There was someone before him on the list, and she had been paying attention.
We took lots of deep breaths. We trusted we'd get in because we naively waited for the tickets from the kiosk even as people were selling their extra tickets next to us.

16h45, they called Tom's name again. This time he got 1 ticket. He and Michael agreed that I would get it. "What? I'm not going in without you guys..." --Okay, that was a lie. I would have sadly gone in without them. I just remember taking deep breaths and staring at the two men and the lady in the ticket booth. They were exhibitng a quality I have come to love in the French people I've met. They are absolutely stoic--I simply mean they don't smile. When they are in a service position, they tend not to look at you until they are good and ready. You can stare at them until you turn purple, they won't try to be your friend, they'll talk to each other, slowly calmly. There may be a little drama with someone asking something impossible of them on the phone, while you wait patiently. This attitude is best portrayed by the desk clerk at the George V hotel in Nora Ephron's "French Kiss". Oh, they are going to give you what you want eventually--well, maybe, but it's like a test of patience. My reaction to this is laughter. No, not nervous laughter. I think the test of wills is hilarious. It is an absolute power struggle, and guess what? They've got the power because they have what you want. Now, in America, that's ridiculous! In America, the consumer has the power of course. Not in France. The more I learn about French history in the 20th Century...the more I get it. Gosh, I appreciate the honesty of this practice. Here, I'm not misled. However, American business practices are slowly seeping in. I've been to shops where people are nice and smiling, and help you get what you need. There could be a compromise in business practices. Sincerely helpful?


(Ummm...does he look like...NAW...Man in ticket kiosk holding our fate in his hand.)

16h55 Tom's name is called again! Yes! We're in. Off we go.

First, try to imagine the theater-- a large warehouse that looks like a circus Big Top.


We walk into a large darkened space. There's so much to see and do!
My favorite items were the swings.
I caught up with Michael. I pushed him first, and then it was my turn. I almost knocked another spectator down. We laughed hysterically! WE WERE PART OF THE SHOW!

Imagine a museum like approach to a theatrical performance.
Cubes, rectangles, squares, spheres...
These were performance spaces. Upon entering, we knew we would split up, and made plans to rendez-vous at the end in the lobby area.

Sasha Waltz is a dancer and choreographer by training. This performance, this creation, developped from her interviews with her dancers. She asked them questions: Where do you come from? How do you see yourself? What kind of human are you?
Each person answered the question in the presence of the other dancers. Some answered verbally, others spoke and moved, and still others simply danced. Family stories emerged, and pieces of the stories were used to develop new stories. They played with movement, voice, storytelling, costumes...some very outlandish costumes and masks...one of them pretty scary. There were even cardboard cut-outs of actors from a scene that had been previously played.

There were dancers, actors, musicians (strings, brass, percussion all well represented). We could watch what was happening in one area on a video screen projected on the wall of another staging area.

A buffet of theatrical experiences as we could move in any way we wanted within the space. Insideout...everything was theatrical--voyeuristic...we could watch as the actors changed from scene to scene...there was no backstage. Everything was visible...like looking inside the human body...This could appeal to any learning style, if you were comfortable selecting what you would look at based on your style, or perhaps you could decide to strengthen another learning style?

We could play with so many ideas...wombs, coffins, boxes, a t.v. as box, a radio as box...performances, performances every where. Spectators--actors, unclear where the boundaries were. Life is theater! From the concrete to the abstract--from performance, to rite, to catharsis...

Telescopes with balloons tied to them, beckoning you to pick them up and look through them. Twice I couldn't figure out how to make mine work. I wondered if they worked at all. I stepped away to watch other people as they worked. I talked to strangers...they must have thought I was crazy, some responded, some looked frightened. I couldn't get the telescope to work.


I was giddy, have I mentioned that yet? Two hours in, I was tired of circulating...there was so much to see, and I didn't know what to see. So, I picked a spot and stayed there until the end. But I could see a screen that showed a lot of the performances, including Tom's cameo. I was a bit dehydrated.

Tom, Michael and I definitely had unique experiences, each differing from the other. Of course, we took what we wanted. We became what we wanted. I was a child again, trying to choose from a wide selection of choices...and I grew up, still smiling...
The end was simple, everything was symbolically destroyed by flames which grew larger and louder--then all went black...the end of a memory...death, sleep...wakefulness?

When I think about being here during the Festival and all the work we have done thus far, I believe that Insideout was soul defining--it had that soul lifting, mind twisting effect that I love about theater here. We got home, stopped for a glass of white wine in Rue des Teinturiers, a street which I had never visited. It was absolutely beautiful! It reminded me of a scene from Franco Zeferreli's "Brother Sun and Sister Moon".



Back at the house, I had a case of the munchies and ate lettuce wrapped up in ham. It was sooooo good!

Interesting Faces In The Vilar Courtyard

Maryse Condé

Maison Jean Vilar courtyard
What a wonderful talk.

Hey, I just did a quick read on her.
It's in French, and for those of you who are willing, you'll be able to navigate through some of this. www.wordreference.com can also be helpful.

The information below is taken directly from:
Lepasteur, Gladys. Maryse Condé. Reseau France Outremer (2005). 17 Jul 2007. http://guadeloupe.rfo.fr/article9.html http://guadeloupe.rfo.fr/article9.html

L’expérience africaine

Lorsqu’elle décide de « comprendre sa négritude », elle se lance dans la quête de ses origines, dans les traces de Marcus Garvey qui prône le retour à la terre des ancêtres.

Le temps des désillusions
Une fois sur place, pour elle, le choc est grand : étrangère sur le continent noir, elle réalise qu’Antillais et Africains ne forment pas un même peuple qui serait seulement divisé par l’esclavage.

Pour elle, la race n’est pas le facteur essentiel et seule la Culture devient primordiale.

**************
Arriving with Mary (my floor mate) in the courtyard, we found our spot in the shade.
Maryse Condé was born on February 11, 1937 in Guadeloupe. She went to Paris at age 16 to work on her degree in literature at La Sorbonne. She is a prolific writer. I've read Ségou (an épic), and Crossing the Mangrove (which is my favorite thus far). Her play, "Comme deux frères" is being performed here during the festival. I won't get to see it because it coincides with our NEH session. Plays show as early at 9am here. This one is at 11 am and my sessions run from 9:30 to 12:00 noon.
She's lived in Guadeloupe, France, Africa and the USA. She has taught at Columbia and numerous other universities and colleges in North America.

Here are some of Mme. Condé's comments:

When asked how she came to write for theater she replied:
"Being a militant and a Marxist--I'm not afraid to say I was Marxist. I know many people are denying that they were or not admiting to it, but I was--Being a Marxist, the only acceptable form a literature was writing theater. All other forms were considered bourgeois or inaccessible to the working class. Theater could speak to the working class, speak to their lives and their experience.

"When I had more confidence in myself, I began to write novels. I found greater (self) expression in the novel. I stopped writing theater because I felt that I could not express myself in the language of the people in Guadeloupe. I expressed myself in French, and the people I was trying to reach spoke Creole."

Today she writes to give sound to words. "Les mots on un sens, mais ils ont un son aussi. Je veux entendre les sons de mes mots."

Condé spoke of her transformation as a writer. When the interview kept quoting her works or words from the 1980s, she said, "I have evolved. I don't think the same way I thought 20 years ago. Then, I used to write to teach something. Now I write for myself, to express my feelings, and my experience." Ultimately, Mme Condé felt that the writer thinks of themselves first. "I think about what hurts. I write from my pain. Je pense à mes deboires. "--Her disappointments fuel her writing.

Many years ago, in her days as a Marxist, she thought that Guadeloupe would achieve political independence. They've now been absorbed by Europe and receive European funds. She didn't sound pleased with this. She finds the independence, the liberty she seeks through her writing--at least that's what she tells herself in consolation.

I would have like to have been there from beginning to end, but I had a pressing engagement at Chateaublanc outside the city to see one of the final presentations of Insideout by Sasha Waltz. It was one of the IN shows of the festival, and I had to catch a bus to get there. But those 30 minutes in the courtyard of La Maison Jean Vilar were scintillating!

Merci Mme Condé.

The Lady in Purple

Firmine Richard!
Awesome! I went to see Maryse Condé today in the courtyard of la Maison Jean Vilar. More on Madame Condé in another post. I saw this woman in purple, and snapped these photos of her. If my sister is reading this post, she'll know why. When Mommy was going through chemo therapy, her hair had fallen out, but as it grew back, it was this wonderful, wooly, soft, steel grey. Although Mme Richard's hair is blond, Mommy looked just like this woman. I loved Mme Richard's performance in the movie by Colline Serreau, "Mama There's A Man in Your Bed" (American Title), "Romuald et Juliette" is the French title. Colline Serreau also directed "3 Hommes et un couffin", co-wrote the American version "3 Men and a Baby" (directed by Leanord Nimoy, and produced by Disney). Mme Richard also stars in the movie, "8 Women".

I said to Mommy, "Add large hoop earrings, and you'll look awesome!" In my head, like a diva. She really did look great. Her response? "I doubt your father would like me with short hair," she said flatly, and placed her ridiculous wig on her head.