Tuesday, July 20, 2004

Visions of the heavenly city

Well, that's what mediaeval abbess and composer Hildegard of Bingen thought they were. To me they're 'scintillating scotoma', the little flashing zigzags that come with a migraine attack. The only revelation I got from them yesterday morning was that I was going to feel crap for a couple of days, which was a pain as I'd got a ticket for Sierra Maestra at the World Music Prom.

Their set was a musicologists' delight with a whole range of different Cuban styles and rhythms (it might have been nice to have had a bit more emphasis on son for those of us who consider ourselves dancers rather than musicologists). The number which ended the first half was very long, and the final number was very fast, so it was a good thing I danced them both with Charlotte - she can follow my lead even when I'm half asleep or in a post-migraine daze. It would be nice to see them in a club context - the 'Prom' format, with its interval and ending around 10, is a little restrictive (the previous time I saw them was in a muddy field at Womad).

Couple of observations: nice to have a really big dance floor at St Davids' Hall so there was room for dancers and muggles, unlike the much smaller dancefloor for Victor Hugo's band last year. Suggestion: how about having appropriate music (eg salsa and son) played before the show and in the interval at a danceable volume?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Bailamos, I would like to cite your comment about Hildegard of Bingen's migraines and your own experience of your scintillating scotomas on a webpage devoted to Migraine Art, see http://www.migraine-aura.org/EN/Migraine_Art.html . Can you give me a feedback whether you permit the quotation - Klaus Podoll MD, kpodoll@ukaachen.de

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