Bjork's Moon, Sylvia Plath's shoes and Kate Bush's snow

"So rememeber, if you wander the desert, and its near sundown, and you are perhaps a little bit lost, and certainly tired, that you are lucky, for La Loba may take a liking to you and show you something - something of the soul." (Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women Who Run With The Wolves, p.24)

Bjork, Moon, from the new album Biophilia


Bell Jar, drawing by Sylvia Plath, part of the exhibition of unseen drawings by the poetess now being exhibited at the Mayor Gallery in London until December 17th 2011.


Kate Bush on a rare interview for BBC Radio 4's Front Row, 2011 (please click on the link that is this post's title for the full interview with Kate).

Worshipping at the Altar of Dance

"Dance, dance...otherwise we are lost."



Whether you love dance as a practice in itself, or possess a latent desire to express yourself, I could not reccomend this film enough.

But is it a film, is it a documentary? I can tell you what PINA is not: It is not a chronological nor literally biographical depiction of Pina Bausch's life and carrer.

PINA is in fact a fitting, moving and inspirational tribute to one of the major figures in (contemporary) dance in the world. A woman who has broken the boundaries and influenced the worlds of dance and theatre - and will continue to do so on the years to come.

This film was originally intended to be a joint effort between film maker Wim Wenders and Pina Bausch herself. Her unsuspected passing charges the documentary, especially through the genuine grief on many of her dancers' commentaries. And yet, even under the palpable longing for Pina' strength and presence, the film succeeds at being alternatively light hearted and passionate in equal measure.

It's said no one was really aware of Pina's health condition until the time of her death. It can be said then that whatever is visible from Pina inner world it is so through her art alone.

Her dancers enable the external manifestation of her inner landscape; a snapshot from a distant but colourful land perhaps. A land paved at times with water, sand or lunar surfaces; populated with chairs, arms outstretched, embraces, whispers and fall from grace. Tight dresses, suits, torsos, legs, arms, blood. Nakedness, expansion and restraint. For me persnally, these are enough reasons to encourage the witnessing of Pina Bausch's fortitude.

And if after watching it you don't feel like dancing, you might at least feel like you should be living your life more fully.


PINA by Wim Wenders is out now on DVD. For more information, interviews and clips, visit the movie's official website by clicking on this post's title.