Grassy Dancer

In my last post I mentioned I had been at the mall to see a movie. It so happens that the mall was also having special artisans and guests as part of the Christmas program. Every weekend there will be a different theme and different artisans.  It seems to be a great idea as I had never seen the mall so busy in all my years of going to it

Even Santa made an appearance.

I loved looking at all the brightly lit Christmas trees from my vantage point on the 2nd floor. Unfortunately my cell phone camera doesn't do justice to the sight.

I promised in my last post to share a short video of a young boy I saw giving a dance performance in the mall. As I watched him I was very impressed and felt proud of him as  he danced in the tradition of the Plains Indians.

I was too far away to get a good shot but this will give you an idea of the regalia of the young boy who is wearing white and turquoise.  You can see it much better in the video below.  The female dancers are wearing jingle dresses. I didn't get a chance to watch them dance as I had an appointment to get make.

I'm not fully sure but I'm fairly sure *wink, that the young boy is dressed as a Grass Dancer and he is dancing in the spirit of the Grass Dance. I am not an expert on the dances so I've taken this short description from a website.

The Grass Dance style is a very old dance rich in history that has become very popular. In the old days, it was the job of the grass dancers to flatten the grass in the arena before a pow wow. The name "grass" does not come from the stomping of grass, but it comes from the old habit of tying braids of sweet grass to the dancer's belts, producing a swaying effect. Today, Grass Dancers resemble a multicolored swaying mass of yarn or fringe on the dance floor. The Grass Dance is a very fluid and bendable style, with the dancers trying to move their fringe in as many places as possible at once. The Grass Dance style was born in the North, but its popularity has spread South, and now this beautiful style is available for everyone (Source: http://www.thinkquest.org/pls/html/think.library)

 For information about the Grass Dancing regalia please click here.

I have embedded a short video of the young boy dancing.  It will give you a better idea of the regalia he is wearing and his footwork.  Pardon the shakiness right at the beginning of the video.  It gets better as it goes on.  I thought I had a second video to upload.  Somehow I seem to have lost it. If you find any problems with this video, please let me know. I may have to upload it again.

This is my submission to Our World Tuesday today.

I hope you enjoyed this short introduction to the Grass Dance and the young boy's performance as much as I did.

Anna Karenina

From time to time I like to participate in memes; my favourite ones being Skywatch Fridays and Our World Tuesday.  I used to participate in Scenic Sunday too except that it doesn't seem to be so active.  The last week on line was from October. Oh well, I will present anyway *wink.

I was at a local mall yesterday to see the new version of the movie "Anna Karenina". It is a movie I have seen before when Greta Garbo played the role of Anna.  I saw it as a child and the tragedy of Anna's story made such an impact on me that I never forgot the film.

Many years later, I read the book while on a journey to Kenya. I enjoyed the book very much though I felt it was overly long.  Of course this classic, by Leo Tolstoy, was translated from Russian into English and that likely had a bearing on the length of the book too.

If you take the time to view both the original trailer for the film and the trailer for the latest remake, you will see  just how differently the films were marketed to the public.


The actors Jude Law, as Aleksei Karenin the, husband to Anna, as played by Keira Knightley, are superb.  Aaron Taylor-Johnson, plays Count Vronsky, Anna's love interest, but I don't think he fully succeeded in bringing his character to life.  He looked great in his military uniform and carried himself well as a Count and as a cavalry officer.  But I did not feel a depth to the character that Count Vronsky needed to portray so we can understand why Anna would throw away her life for him.  In the book you get a better sense of why Anna finds him irresistibly attractive.

The other thing I did not like about the film is that it is set in a theatre.  This means you are constantly watching set changes glide in and out of the screen while you are trying to follow the story line, The sets are absolutely beautiful, but I personally did not like this approach.  I found it all quite distracting and unsatisfying.  When Count Vronsky falls off his stead at the racetrack, I would have far rather watched him ride his horse on a real track rather than on the theatre stage.  The theatrical approach worked for some of the film but overall I don't think it really worked for most of the story.  Finally, some of the actors, like the one who played Ann's brother, Steva, had a "campy" approach to his character and I don't think it was the right approach for the tone of the story which is rather serious.

The way this film is shot in a theatre and with some over the top, actors reminded me a lot of the film "Moulin Rouge".  However,  "Moulin Rouge" was a musical and I loved it.  "Anna Karenina" is not a musical and I didn't love it.  By the time two hours had passed, I was tired and eager to get out of the theatre but there was still more film to see.

I wouldn't discourage you from seeing this film.  Unlike me, you might actually enjoy the theatre setting.  You will definitely find the costumes and sets both sumptuous and beautiful. In addition, the tragic story of the consequences of illicit love does come through strongly as a result of  the marvellous acting of Jude Law and Keira Knightley.

While at the mall I was also fortunate to have seen a surprise dance performance.  I managed to capture it on video and will be sharing it in a few days.  Please come back and check it out as it is rather unique and will be a treat for you.