West End Centre

West End Centre a cultural oasis in the cultural wasteland of Aldershot

upright piano in the bar

West End Centre is a cultural oasis in the cultural wasteland that is Aldershot, located in what was a former school, a few minutes walk from the dead and dying town centre.

They host music and comedy, occasional drama.

During the day, art, languages and other activities.

Tucked in one corner of the bar, a battered old piano, but on hitting a few keys, it does appear to be in tune and thus playable.

Their use of social media is at times dire, especially twitter, which is rather sad as it gives a total misleading impression of the venue, as you find it you pay a visit.

A rare exception, and a very clever idea, was retweet and we will put you in a draw for a free CD. An excellent idea and ought to be a condition for all acts when booked. Provide us with a few free albums, or a download code if on bandcamp (and if not, why not?) and we will offer to the punters. A win-win all round. Whoever is on gets publicised, their music gets spread around, the West End Centre gets free publicity.

Congratulations to @keithpp, @sarahmowat and @daveface86 – winners of a @DukeSpecial CD! Let us know how you want to receive your prize—
west end centre (@teamwesty) April 12, 2013

We have 5 copies of Duke Special album Oh Pioneer to give away to a good home before his gig here on Wed 17 Apr. Retweet to enter the draw!—
west end centre (@teamwesty) April 02, 2013

Amazing gig from @DukeSpecial at @teamwesty tonight, fabulous solo set complete with audience singalongs plus an encore on the bar piano!—
Matt Legge (@the_villain) April 17, 2013

@teamwesty @DukeSpecial Just got home, what a fantastic night! Especially the encore on the old Joanna in the foyer!—
Carl Pickles (@carl_pix) April 17, 2013

This could backfire if people did not like the music. But if not, hand back or pass on. But if people do like, more likely to tell their friends.

West End Centre is marking Word Book Night. This would be a good time to launch Westend Centre as a BookCrossing zone. Ask people to bring along books which can be left lying around for others to collect and release into the wild.

As a small venue, it would be of value to others if they contributed 360 words to The 360 Deal on what they look for when booking.

• Julia K at the West End Centre
• Mike Dawes and Amy Turk at the West End Centre

Imágenes de la Compañía MuvenDanz

MuvenDanz – Imágenes

MuvenDanz – Imágenes

Modern dance in three movements from the modern dance company MuvenDanz at Teatro Sala Timanfaya.

• Núcleo
• Ellas y Ellos
• Así Somas

A box office with a little wooden shuttered window, then directed to another door that led into the theatre, dark and gloomy, fusty, impossible to read the programme in the dull light. At the back an original cine projector.

The lights went out, pitch black. Some shuffling on stage, something barely visible on stage, a ghostly outline, then on came a few spotlights.

The first movement more like meditation, then girls and guys, then tango, including Astor Piazzolla. The music for the first movement was very much akin to the Era trilogy by Eric Levi, in the second Clannad.

Very clever, as the music fades, the light fades, the dancers move to the back of the stage and appear to approach infinity, then vanish.

An incredible perfomance.

I talked with the lead dancer and director of the group Ana María after the performance. I suggested they came to England, maybe the Wimbledon Music Festival (although they appear already to have their programme for November 2013) or Electric Theatre in Guildford.

• Petrushka
• Il Siglo d’Oro

Throughout excellent music, none of which I recognised apart from the Astor Piazzolla, though maybe I should have recognised the Emerson, Lake and Palmer (though could have been a piece I did not know).

Breathtaking dancing, most of it bare foot.

Teatro Sala Timanfaya, just off Plaza Charco en Puerto de la Cruz, used to be a cinema, now a theatre.

Battersea Park Adventure Playground facing closure

Battersea Park Playground occupied

Battersea Park Playground no to cuts

Today, just 1 in 5 children regularly play outside in their neighbourhood. The rest are denied the chance to get out of the house and have the everyday adventures that – to people of my generation – are what childhood is all about. — David Cameron

Battersea Park Adventure Playground what a wonderful place for kids to play, a safe place for kids to play, you can see the joy on their faces.

It beggars belief that mean-spirited Wandsworth Council wishes to shut it down. I dare say if there was a playground run for profit by McDonald’s, Wandsworth would support it, the planners would push it through.

We are facing an epidemic of childhood obesity. Anything that encourages children to be active should be welcome. Were these kids not in the adventure playground, they would either be cooped up in high-rise flats or on the street with street gangs, robbing and doing drugs.

They are being fed decent food at the adventure playground. A pleasant change from McDonald’s, where too many parents abuse their kids.

Shame on Wandsworth for trying to shut down Battersea Park Adventure Playground.

Monday of this week Wandsworth were due to send in the bulldozers. The Adventure Playground has now been occupied by local parents and kids to prevent its destruction. Wandsworth Council is threatening the occupiers with legal action for occupying their own park.

It makes a mockery of Localism where local people are supposed to decide what happens in their locality.

Argyll and Bute Council picked a fight with Martha Payne for daring to write a food blog NeverSeconds about their disgusting school dinners, Wandsworh Council picks a fight with local kids by shutting down their adventure playground.

The occupation has the backing of tennis star Greg Rusedski, celebrity chef Levi Roots and Lord Dubs of Battersea, the former Labour MP, comedian Mark Thomas, Bianca Jagger, founder and chair of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation, and presenter Gia Milinovich. London Play has also given their support, as has Play England.

For more information, with further videos about Battersea Adventure Playground, check out Wandsworth Against Cuts.

The occupation has also set up a facebook page.

Wandsworth are cutting basic services, closing libraries, cutting school crossing patrols, refuse to pay their lowest paid workers a living wage, has axed 14 staff posts at three adventure playgrounds, and yet can find £2 million for Boris Bikes (the cost of hiring is due to double this year).

The only response from Wandsworth has been to smear the opponents to destruction, ordinary kids, parents and carers.

The following demand has been issued from local groups, residents and occupiers involved:

We demand the suspension of the demolition of Battersea Park Adventure Playground, pending the holding of a public meeting with a transparent and accountable dialogue and a full consultation by Wandsworth Borough Council of the whole community about the future provision of free, safe, staffed adventurous and accessible play facilities.

This Saturday a fun day at the adventure playground 1400 to 1600 afternoon Saturday 11 January 2012. Attend and join in the fun. Show your opposition to Wandsworth.

Please sign the petition Hands off our Adventure Playgrounds.

Please spread the word and give your support.

We judge a society by how it treats its children.

• Benefit cuts
• Wandsworth residents fight Battersea Park Adventure Playground changes
• Battersea Park Adventure Playground occupied!
• When Occupy met the mums of a middle-class nappy valley
• Protest over Battersea park refurbishment
• Occupy invades to halt bulldozers at Battersea playground
• Protesters continue Battersea Park occupation for sixth day
• Battersea Park Adventure Playground occupation: almost 9 out of 10 parents and carers said NO to plans in Wandsworth Council’s own survey

Gangnam Style Christmas lights spectacular

Merry Christmas, Christmas lights Gangnam Style.

Gangnam Style just won’t go away and this Christmas the song is providing the soundtrack to a festive lights spectacular in Texas, USA.

Gangnam Style has recently become YouTube’s most-watched video of all time.

One thing’s for sure, the electricity bill for this sound and light show must be through the roof!

• Gangnam Style Christmas lights spectacular

Warning: Video contains strobe lighting and flashes.

Petrushka

Wimbledon Music Festival Petrushka

I met Anthony Wilkinson Festival Director during the summer. He invited me along to the Wimbledon Music Festival. Russian ballet with puppets sounded interesting, it would either be awful or brilliant.

Wimbledon during the afternoon, have a wander around, grab something to eat, then along to St John’s Church in the evening where the performance was due to take place.

No sign of puppets. I knew there would be projection, but I thought to give a backdrop. Surely I was not here to watch a film of puppets, I could watch a film of puppets on my laptop.

The concert started late, but where were the puppets?

The first half was Mikhail Rudy, an acclaimed Russian-French pianist, on piano. I had come for the puppets, ballet, not a piano recital. Where were the puppets? Had I come to the wrong event?

Shostakovitch left me falling asleep. I would like to say those around me were captivated, spellbound, but I think they too were falling asleep.

The pianist was good, and a beautiful sound from the piano, it was only a pity he did not have something worthwhile to play. Random notes would not have sounded much different.

With some music, you have to have the dance, it is not good enough to stand alone.

Riverdance is a good example of this. The dance on its own is boring, the music on its own bland, put the two together and it is magical. On the other hand Tchaikovsky Swan Lake can stand on its own as a piece of music in its own right.

Prokofiev was far better.

What was I doing here, I had come for puppets?

A long interval, for me too long, but probably not for others as most of the people there knew each other.

Second half was the world premier of Petrushka, transcribed by Mikhail Rudy and performed by Little Angel Theatre.

It started with Mikhail Rudy wearing a cloak playing the piano. On the screen, swirling snow, Moscow, then a medieval scene of peasants at a market dancing. More dance than ballet. Then along comes a magician (wearing the same cloak as Mikhail Rudy), a Punch and Judy show with puppets, but without either Punch or Judy.

It was magical. It held everyone spellbound. At times the puppets appeared to be humans playing puppets, their movements were so fluid. Mikhail Rudy appeared on screen, amazing shots of him looking through the piano. Was this him live, or if recorded, amazing synchronisation?

In some ways it was like an old silent film, only in colour, with the man playing a piano rather than the organ. But that does not do the performance justice. Indeed it is difficult to find words to do it justice.

For the first half I wondered why was I there. For the second half I was more than pleased I was.

It is rather a pity it was not on DVD. An announcement at the end we have this available at the door on your way out. It would have sold as hot cakes. But copyright issues to be resolved.

I have suggested they upload as soon as possible to youtube and vimeo in order that it can be shared. Maybe a link to buy on DVD and blu-ray, but even not, good publicity for the Wimbledon Music Festival.

It would also be a good idea to put the sound track on bandcamp, pay-what-you-like, split 50:50 between performers and music festival, with a link to buy DVD and blu-ray.

I talked afterwards to Russian Valeria Meng of EyesOnTheWall who filmed and edited and congratulated her on what a marvellous job she had done.

I asked what did she think of doing another production based on one of the books by Paulo Coelho. She jumped at the chance. We will have to think what book, who for the music. Maybe world premier at Wimbledon Music Festival 2013.

Mikhail Rudy (Russian: Михаил Рудый) (1953- ) is a Russian-born French pianist, who has won several awards for his recordings including the Grand prix du disque.

Wimbledon Music Festival runs 10-25 November 2012.

• Il Siglo d’Oro

Petrushka was performed in St John’s Church in Wimbledon.

Petrushka is not the first multimedia collaboration for Mikhail Rudy. Inspired by Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky and watercolours by Kandinsky, which in turn were the beginning of a conceptual idea for light and sound, led to a concert at the Guggenheim Museum which holds one of the world’s largest Kandinsky collections.

• Museum Gathers Piano, Paintings and Video in a Blended Work

Drumline Style 싸이 강남 스타일

Western Style 싸이 강남 스타일

Gangnam Style, Western style.

Paris Free Pussy Riot Gangnam Style 싸이 강남 스타일

Gangnam Style 싸이 강남 스타일 flash mob in Paris in support of Free Pussy Riot.

Top Story in Art Grinder (Saturday 3 November 2012).

London Style (강남스타일)

Gangnam Style (강남스타일) in London.

MIT Gangnam Style (MIT 강남스타일)

MIT flash mob with guest appearance from Noam Chomsky.

• 草泥马style

Top Story in Daily Music News (Wednesday 31 October 2012).