street theatre

Travel theme: Dance

Posted on by northumbrianlight

Travel theme: Dance:  These photographs were taken thirty years ago in Battery Park, New York.  The first is a little fussy with too much going on but with the passage of time perhaps it gains interest.  As I remember, the lone pom pom dancer had no connection with the street musician sat on the bench who was taking a rest between playing the accordion and the trumpet – a uniquely challenging feat for a one man band; the passers-by in their 1980s fashions seem too wrapped up in their own worlds.  Watching over them all is the Norman Millet Thomas Coast Guard Memorial established in honour of those from the US Coast Guard who served their country during World War II; nothing heals their wounds, nothing brings them back, nothing is learned – the world dances on.

Battery Park DancerBattery Park Dancer

On a lighter note, I was born with two left feet so I don’t generally take much interest in dance; consequently I found this theme choice quite difficult.  I have once again mined the Tallinn TREFF archive for these two images of clowns dancing:

Tallinn street theatre - danceTallinn street theatre - dance

(click on images to enlarge)

Weekly Photo Challenge: Unique

Posted on by northumbrianlight

I have a soft spot for these two ‘mad bad’ girls performing on Las Ramblas in Barcelona – I have used a similar image on this blog before.  They appeared to be attired in a single dress, intimating that they were Siamese twins, whilst swatting flies and ‘gurning‘ – I doubt they would recognise the term.  As a piece of street theatre it was quite unique and oddly fascinating.

Las Ramblas(click on the image to enlarge)

Tallinn : brief impressions

Posted on by northumbrianlight

It is eight years since we were here last.  Then snow tyres rattled along the roads, the streets were snowy and empty and we walked along the shore of the frozen Baltic.  Things have changed; certainly it is warmer and I am told the shops have improved whilst the streets, far from being empty, were swarming – there were four cruise ships in the purpose built harbour.

Tallinn is a mini Prague, more compact and less wearing; everything is accessible and a short up and down hill hike.  The old town is in stark contrast to the suburbs which are haunted with crumbling Soviet housing schemes and overly wide road systems designed to give easy access to tanks entering the city from the East.  Outside the old town in the shadows, pressed between architecture of the old regime and the new regime, are the remnants of an entirely different history.

The churches, castle and museums are unchanged and predictable.  It is the unexpected which sticks in the memory – on this occasion the Tallinn TREFF Festival – Different Cultures, one language! www.nuku.ee.