How to Be an Art Critic

"All the world's a stage,
and all the men and women merely players:
they have their exits and their entrances;
and one man in his time plays many parts ..."

—As You Like It, William Shakespeare

***

“Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic.”

― Jean Sibelius (1865 –1957), was a Finnish composer and violinist of the late Romantic and early-modern periods.

Anyone can be an art critic, all that you need is your opinion. Everyone is already an art critic, at least privately. You are an art critic when you listen to a song on YouTube and you decide that you either like it, or you don’t like it. When you read a book, or watch a series on Netflix, you have an opinion. That is a type (kind, variety, form) of criticism.

Today we are going to be ballet (pronounced ba-ley) critics. We are going to examine one scene from the ballet Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953). Prokofiev was born in Ukraine which was once (used to be) part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). He was one of the most important composers of the 20^th century.

Romeo and Juliet was probably the most famous play written by William Shakespeare (1564-1616). The ballet was composed by Prokofiev in September 1935. This scene from the ballet is called “The Dance of the Knights.”

Romeo Montague and his friends secretly enter a party of the powerful Capulet family. Romeo meets Juliet Capulet. He falls in love with her instantly. They are shocked to discover they are enemies because their families are at war.

The music from this scene reflects the tension between the two families at war. It is lugubrious, almost sad, yet very powerful and scary. A party is supposed to be a happy place, but the music tells people that this is not a normal party. This is a time of war and tragedy.

What do you think of the production design in general?

Do you like the costumes?

What is your opinion of the scenery/sets?

Which choreography did you enjoy the most?

Which version is traditional and which one is modern?

Vocabulary

Play – obra de teatro

Stage (performance area) – scenario

Scenery (theatre) - decorados

Costume – disfraz

Ball (dance) – baile

 Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris
Compañía Nacional de Danza
The Royal Ballet, London

Small Talk About Valencia

Small Talk
You are going to meet a lot of people from other places in your life. Often when you meet new people, you have “small talk” (we also say "to make small talk"). In English “small talk” means polite conversation about unimportant or uncontroversial matters, especially when you are in a social situation like a party. If you plan to go to a lot of parties in your life and you have to speak English, you need to practice your small talk.

“Where are you from?” will be one of the first questions that your new friends will ask you.

“Do you want the short version, or the long version?” you ask them.

“Let’s begin with the long version, please,” they answer (respond, reply).

I think that a good place to start, of course, is by telling them that you are from Valencia. Next, remind them that Valencia is on the coast of the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. This probably sounds like a normal, perhaps boring detail to you, but for almost everyone else on the planet Earth, the Mediterranean Sea is like Disneyland for adults. It is a truly magical place. A land of history and dreams where most of Western civilization began. Many people dream of visiting the Mediterranean at least once in their lives. They save money and come for a visit. Maybe they only visit for a week or two, but they will remember their time here for the rest of their lives.

You live here and can go to the beach any time you choose. Something that you can do every day is a “once in a lifetime” opportunity for most people. Never forget that! You are so lucky!

Valencia is the third biggest city in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona. Valencia is big, but it isn’t too big. There are about 800,000 (eight hundred thousand) people in Valencia. The population of Valencia is about 800,000. There are many things to do and to see in Valencia, but I can be outside of the city on my bike in only ten minutes from where I live near the city center.

Turia Park

“What is your favorite thing about Valencia?” your new foreign friends ask.

Turia Park is my favorite thing about this city. Many years ago, the Turia River ran through the city, but in 1957, there was a terrible flood. Valencia changed the course of the river and now it flows to the south of the city. Now the Turia River can't flood Valencia.

In the old river bed, a park was created which goes from one side of Valencia to the other. The park is about ten kilometers long. However, if you are riding a bike or walking, you can follow a trail that goes for another 30 kilometers West along the River Turia to the village of Vilamarxant.

The park is a great place for sports. There are football, baseball, and rugby fields. There are lots of (a lot of, many) places to do exercises (to exercise). There are bike paths (bike trails) in the park as well as a running path. Running is a very popular activity in Valencia. The Valencia Marathon is one of the most popular marathons in the world and attracts more than 20,000 runners. This year, the marathon will take place on December 6^th. In the summer there is even an outdoor cinema near the Palau de la Música, the concert hall.

The City of Arts and Sciences 
One of the coolest places in Valencia is called The City of Arts and Sciences. This is in Turia Park which has many futuristic buildings and constructions. Most of these were designed by the local architect, Santiago Calatrava (born July 28, 1951). This area of Valencia has been used in movies about the future. Most recently, the popular television series, Westworld, filmed scenes here. 

Beaches 
The main beach in Valencia is called La Malva-rosa, or Malvarrosa. The name Malvarrosa comes from the hollyhock flower and a neighborhood was named after this flower because it was used to make perfume. The beach is very long and very wide. The beach is very popular and can be very crowded in the summer. There are a lot of cafés and restaurants along the beach where you can go to have something to eat and drink. Not far from the beach is the neighborhood of Cabañal.

 

Cabañal used to be a fishing village and was not part of the city of Valencia. As Valencia grew, this old neighborhood became part of the bigger city. Not many years ago, Cabañal was poor and in mostly in bad repair and run-down (broken-down, shabby, seedy {cutre}). In recent years, there has been a lot of renovation of old building (restoration, remodeling) in this neighborhood and today it has become a very trendy place to live.

Food

Are you hungry? If you are hungry, I probably shouldn’t talk about the food we have in Valencia because it will make you hungrier. Have you ever heard of paella? It is one of the most famous dishes in the world. Paella originated in Valencia and it is our most important food. What is paella? Paella is much more than something you cook, it is an entire experience, at least it is for the people of Valencia.

To make paella, you will first need a special cooking pan that we also call a paella. This is like a very big, shallow frying pan. Next, you will need the ingredients.

·       Rice

·       Chicken

·       Rabbit

·       Green beans (judías verdes)

·       Butter beans (garrofón)

·       Tomato

·       Pimentón (sometimes called paprika in English, but paprika is not quite the same thing as pimentón)

·       Saffron

·       Salt

·       Water

Those are the ingredients. There are certain variations, like adding snails or artichokes, but a true paella, a paella valenciana, is made with only these ingredients.