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09 December 2020

Sequestering Arts: The Yuletide Edition

 

 
"Winter Scene" | Jean Beaufort
(CC0 Public Domain | Source)


Very best wishes of the solstice season
and good health to you & yours!

Sequestering Arts | About this intermittent series

With the world in lockdown due to Covid-19 (<-- link to the CDC info site), many people are struggling, practically, emotionally, and creatively. As a long-time creative & librarian I thought I might be able to help by doing what I do best: finding/sharing information. My goal is to provide links to interesting, comforting, & creative online resources that you can explore & enjoy while home- or place-bound.

GOOD FOODSTUFFS

THEATER | THEATRE 
  • Sonnets in Solitude | Royal Shakespeare Company | Videos
    Playlist (62 videos to date):
    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSIxo_5qCKQjrXHGJvVQ7ppaBkH5D8P2b
    [From description] "RSC actors perform Shakespeare's sonnets. When Covid-19 closed our theatres and stopped all live performances, so we turned to Shakespeare's poetry."

  • Until the Flood | Milwaukee Repertory Theater | Written & Performed by Dael Orlandersmith | Directed by Neel Keller | Video | Runtime: 1:02:01
    https://www.milwaukeerep.com/shows-and-events/at-home/until-the-flood/
    [From About] " About the Flood: Pulitzer Prize finalist and celebrated performer Dael Orlandersmith (Forever) explores the social uprising in Ferguson, Missouri following the shooting of teenager Michael Brown. Pulling from her extensive interviews with Missouri residents, Orlandersmith crafts a stunning theatrical experience that must be seen. The Chicago Tribune called it “palpably compassionate” and raved that it “achieves a great beauty by bringing us together rather than driving us apart.”

  • A Christmas Carol | Milwaukee Repertory Theater | Free from Dec 1-24, 2020
    Mark Clements’ Classic Production of A Christmas Carol
    https://www.milwaukeerep.com/shows-and-events/two-carols/
    [From webpage] "Each year, nearly 40,000 people experience Milwaukee Rep Artistic Director Mark Clements’ epic adaptation at the beautiful historic Pabst Theater. We are opening our video vault to bring a never-before-seen recording of the 2016 production filmed and produced by HMS Media. This production will be available for FREE to view Dec 1 – 24 as our gift to theater lovers worldwide."

  • The Gauntlet | Sydney Opera House | Video | Runtime: 25:17
    https://youtu.be/JYAjl5Ru7-w
    [From description] "Performed as part of Antidote in 2018, The Gauntlet is a genre-bending performance work, which combines choirs and vocal ensembles, contemporary choreography and site-specific storytelling. In this newly commissioned film, composer Sxip Shirey and choreographer Coco Karol discuss what it takes to create an immersive piece of this nature."

    This is really an unusual piece and, for those of us missing human contact & interaction, emotionally satisfying.

DANCE | MOVEMENT

MUSIC
  • Rock the bagpipe! Scotland the Brave / We will rock you @ Switzerland | Video | Runtime: 4:39
    https://youtu.be/rIpNs3jrfc0
    Apologies to my father-in-law! But they really are kicking it here!

  • Live - As Quatro Estações e Valencianas: Alceu Valença e Orquestra Ouro Preto | Video | Runtime: 2:50:37
    Originally streamed on 12/6/2020 | https://youtu.be/D219aLq4e4A
    [Translation of the video description's first paragraph - via Google Translate] "The Ouro Preto Orchestra celebrates the 125th anniversary of SulAmérica with two lives in a row, Sunday, December 6, transmitted directly from the historic city of Minas Gerais. All under the baton of Maestro Rodrigo Toffolo, with the participation of Alceu Valença and the guitarist Carmelo de Los Santos."

  • 20 minutes of Celtic mandolin, cittern and mandola | Video | Runtime: 22:40
    https://youtu.be/fgkabydSIOI
    [Performers: Ian Stephenson &Tom Kimber]

  • Joe Utterback - Concert Fantasy on George Gershwin's Porgy & Bess; Sets for Piano solo Performed by pianist David Allen Wehr
    Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsneRuLOc8g1x_-vtiMR0T4Y8HyrAXF0v
    As many of you know I quite like this musician! This album is one of my favorites. If you are interested in acquiring his CDs, see the link provided in the description. FYI: Wehr is the Dean of the Mary Pappert School of Music at Duquesne University. They have a nice YouTube channel of performances too: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGvll7oZ4lQOXpQ7fxdAUiw

  • Alicia Keys: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert | June 2020 | Video | Runtime: 27:46
    https://youtu.be/uwUt1fVLb3E

  • Florence + the Machine: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert | October 2018 | Video | Runtime: 14:01
    https://youtu.be/EkPrXL-H5Qc

  • Library of Congress Concerts | LOC website, YouTube, & Facebook
    NB: Not all videos will be available on all platforms, and some will be available only for a limited time; check each page for options as the event nears.
    https://loc.gov/concerts/
    [From webpage] "Our 2020-2021 season will be presented entirely virtually, through a freshly-conceived portal to our concerts, conversations, lectures and much more, available free of charge to everyone. In our 96th season, encountering unprecedented times and unpredictable challenges, we embark on an exciting venture: to share our concerts, and the Library’s magnificent music collections, with the greatest possible audience worldwide. New music and new media come together in a year that sees a mini-fest of Latinx composers and the world premieres of three new Library of Congress commissions. Two virtual residencies feature the JACK Quartet and violinist Jennifer Koh, visionary artists fired by a passion to reflect the rich diversity in our society and our music. '(Re)Hearing Beethoven' is a festive 250th birthday celebration you absolutely can’t miss: performances of revelatory transcriptions of the composer’s nine symphonies introduced by artists and scholars in programs."

  • Jazz at Lincoln Center | John Coltrane
    https://www.jazz.org/blog/for-the-love-of-trane-hear-our-john-coltrane-playlist-on-apple-music/
    I must confess Coltrane's work does a serious whack on my synesthesia (and not in a good way) but if you are into his stuff, here's a great playlist.

MAKING OF VARIOUS KINDS
  • How to fold a 3D Paper Star
    https://youtu.be/iszp_VfzBwU
    [From description] "This is an origami tutorial on how to fold a fancy 3D paper star. Nice ornament for Christmas as well as party decoration for all seasons. I also recommend it as a paper aroma diffuser to purify the room air. You can make it from a sheet of A-sized copy paper. Folding pattern is simple so that you can make both 8-pointed and 6-pointed stars."

  • Origami with Jo Nakashima | Tutorials | Videos
    Playlists: https://www.youtube.com/c/JoNakashimaBR/playlists

  • TheJasonOfAllTrades | Videos
    https://www.youtube.com/user/thejasonofalltrades/videos
    [From About] "I'm an itinerant DIY'er and liver of life. By "liver," I don't mean the organ. Maybe I need a better word for this."

    As some of you know, I come from a family of artist/makers/creatives. I learned to sew on my grandmother's treadle machine! Pretty sure all of my siblings sew. I recall one of my brothers sewing a camping tent because at the time they didn't sell 'em for us tall folks. This gent would fit right to my family, especially for his sheer joyful interest in the machinery of the makery.

FUN-CURIOUS
  • Fable the Raven | Did you know Ravens can talk?! | Video | Runtime: 6:25
    https://youtu.be/2d3dOam9Hg4
    I have a small "unkindness" of ravens featured in my mystery novel (in process) so I like to track this sort of thing.

  • Around the world in 1896! footage from 1800's with added sound | Britannia Panopticon | Video | Runtime: 42:03
    https://youtu.be/dj95Q-7qIyk

  • STRANDBEEST EVOLUTION 2017 | Theo Jansen | Video | Runtime: 4:19
    https://youtu.be/LewVEF2B_pM
    [From Wikipedia] "Theodorus Gerardus Jozef "Theo" Jansen is a Dutch artist. In 1990, he began building large mechanisms out of PVC that are able to move on their own and, collectively, are entitled, Strandbeest. The kinetic sculptures appear to walk. His animated works are intended to be a fusion of art and engineering."

  • The Last Knit | Directed by Laura Neuvonen | Video | Runtime: 6:44
    https://youtu.be/M6ZjMWLqJvM
    A wonderfully quirky animated film from Finland.

  • London Kensington Side Streets & Mews - 4K Walk | Video | Runtime: 37:23
    https://youtu.be/njvyD9C6sdY

QUIETING | RELAXATION | MEDITATION

I've found it especially helpful to have these longer videos playing on an older laptop which I have set to the side of my writing desk.
  • Ambience/ASMR: Writer's Library from the 1930s, 4 Hours | Ambience of Yesteryear | Video | Runtime: 4:00:07
    https://youtu.be/183IwSzCgV4
    [From description: "List of Sounds: - wild songbirds - wood crackling as it burns in the fireplace - footsteps; doors opening & closing - clothing & upholstery softly rustling with movement - handling & flipping through antique hardback books; stroking the covers & spines - perusing & sorting papers - turning pages - jotting notes with a pencil - sketching in charcoal; drawing with pastels - writing cursive by hand with a fountain pen - pouring & stirring tea in fine bone china - the gentle clinking of teaware"]

    Their entire playlist is rather nice. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx70KF3RlS36RnGOtN8VKfQ

  • Fireplace 10 hours full HD | Video | Runtime: 10:01:25
    https://youtu.be/L_LUpnjgPso

  • Afternoon JAZZ - Relaxing Cafe Jazz Music - Lounge Music For Study, Work, Relax | Relax Music | Video | Runtime: 10:11:15
    https://youtu.be/YTAm9nbm_fQ

  • Pottery Throwing ASMR (no voice or music) | Kai Ceramics | Video | Runtime: 11:35
    https://youtu.be/iquCfbCS9Iw

 

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