The Langtry Club Jersey

Langtry Love of the Day - Langtry Literature

We LOVE LOVE LOVE curling up with a great book (or Kindle for the techno happy amongst us).  We are even contemplating buying a love seat sized sofa, not for our other half to share, but so we can get all cosy with a blanket, a mug of white tea (our new thing) and a story.

If reading is geeky then we are embracing geek chic in a BIG way. 

This month the Book Club theme is Fantasy, now this does not mean the leading man is called Fabio with a long flowing mane (NOT OUR FANTASY WE MIGHT).

From vampires to galactic hitchhikers, fantasy is a major genre which readers tend to love or hate. As Langtry Living is about getting out of your comfort zone this is a good opportunity to try something you might not normally read.  Popular fantasy stories include Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight and the Philip Pullman Trilogy, while authors such as Kazuo Ishiguro bring fantasy into the literary domain with works like Never Let Me Go. We strip away the settings and look at the stories beneath.

Suggested reading: The Silent Land, Graham Joyce

Date: Tuesday 5th April

Time: 6pm

Location: Grand, Jersey

Langtry Love of the Day - Paris (I'm glad I didn't die before I met you).

The lessons we learned after a weekend in Paris:

You should only ever see the Eiffel Tower with someone you love. Tick

You should only ever see the Eiffel Tower with someone who loves you. Tick

You should only ever see the Eiffel Tower at night. Tick

You should NEVER go back there in the day. Tick

You can only ever LOVE Paris. Double tick tick

Langtry Lessons in how to be Parisian:

1. Watch Coco Before Chanel - you will instantly feel more intelligent watching a film with subtitles.

2. Eat a croissant in a French cafe - no one wants to be sat opposite the girl with the fruit salad.

3. Visit Le Bar du Marché and drink a neat Jack Daniels with ice (we appreciate the problem with this)..

4. Walk the whole of Paris for one of Fauchon's chocolate Macaroons.

5. Wake up to a breakfast left outside your door by a French man who had walked across Paris to the only bakery open on a Sunday for you.

6. Drink red wine - it tastes better there.

7. Learn that Turkish photographers are not the same as Turkish waiters.

8. Don't go out in Paris - just stay out in Paris.

(You should also eat a big chocolate crepe under the Eiffel Tower as it tastes REALLY good).

 

Langtry Love of the Day - Salsa

Langtry Love of the Day - Photography

LOVE LOVE LOVE this http://louloujordanphotography.tumblr.com/

 

The Adventures of A Modern Day Lillie - The Madeira Dance Company

One of our most fabulous members went along to The Madeira Dance Company at The Opera House and wrote us a brilliant review...

Madeira Dance Company – 23 September 2009 Jersey Opera House

Lovely to attend this performance with 2 fabulous langtry ladies.  The programme was set out to demonstrate various styles of dance with classical ballet to be the main component.

The dancers performed duets from various ballets like Romeo & Juliette, Giselle and Don Quichoteto name but a few. I was very impressed with the strong leg technique from both the female and the male dancers. Also the jumping of some of the male dancers was spectacular.

The down side of choosing the main duets from the popular classics is that it gets a little bit boring. Each duet is set up following a certain structure where both the ballerina and her partner show off their technique. It felt we were watching the same thing over and over again.

The contemporary bit was quite funny. This consisted of two soloschoreographed and performed by the same dancer. His first solo involved a chair and lots of funny quirky hand movements. One of the ladies commented after that it looked like a good audition for Britain’s got talent! The dance was set to a beautiful cello concerto from Bach with a film of the cello player projected on the screen as décor. His second solo had something to do with a fallen angel and again involved the quirky hand movements – must be his signature move. I enjoyed both solos but was not moved. 

Then we got treated to some very weird and wonderful flamenco mix. We did not quite get this but the audience went mad! The male had a wet perm with complimentary mullet and a very piercing stare which he probably thought was doing something for us. The lady looked like she could have been a man in a previous life. She very much enjoyed rattling her castagnettes which got on my nerves quite a bit.

The finale was nice, set to a catchy Michael Bouble song where all 8 dancers appeared one by one to take the applause. All in all we had a good laugh, especially when two ladies got told off for having drinks in the theatre. They had brought their own glasses!! We left in a happy mood.

Langtry Culture - The Theatre (September Dates)

We thought we should maybe do a little review of the upcoming performances on at The Opera House.  It seems like a good idea to be both cultural and supportive of local events - within reason.  If any of us go to any we would love reviews to post. 

Here is our run-down of what our little island has in store:

5 September ZU2 - tribute band.  Hmmm, never actually seen a tribute band as have been slightly dubious of acts like this since 'Stars in their Eyes'.  It always confused us as a child how people disappeared behind a curtain and instantaneously reappeared as someone else. 

Their write-up suggests they have been voted one of the top ten tribute acts in Europe (who votes on these things though - no-one asked us?)  U2 have always been the act we would love to see live and sure this is the closest we might get to them.

12 September Elkie Brooks - singer.  It always concerns us when we read that someone is 'one of the most successful and popular singers the UK has ever produced' and we are unable to name a song of theirs.  We are off now to google her and look songs up on itunes...ok, back...and still none the wiser, (but many of them were in the eighties and we had Madonna on repeat then so think it is down to ignorance).  She sold out last year so sure this year will be equally successful.

15-19 September dinnerladies - play.  Dinnerladies is spelt without a capital - this is not our bad grammer..this time.  This funny play is here for 5 nights and written by Victoria Wood so promises to be very funny indeed.  Love things like this as we get a taste of what the UK has to offer and also the chance to laugh all night long - decided a while ago that laughter lines are a nice facial feature to acquire.

22-23 September Madeira Dance Company - ballet.  A mixture of classical and modern ballet performed by people who are really, really good.  We were asked to leave ballet at the age of 6 when we couldnt progress from naughty toes to good toes (also we were discrimnated against as our mother was not able to do tie our hair in a bun so we looked like a street urchin continuously during class).  We have so much respect for people who progress in the world of ballet, its tough, painful, competitive, and you are not allowed to eat anything remotely tasty - respect.

24 September Sammy J in the Forest of Dreams - comedy. Ok, this show has '14 puppets','toe-tapping music' and 'a magical journey through the Forest of Dreams' - but no children allowed..hmmm.  Sounds worth buying a ticket just to see who else is into this type of thing.  Only joking, this was a hit show at the Edinburgh Festival so worth an outing.

25 September Nerina Pallot - singer.  Jersey girl made good - maybe she knows famous people and will introduce them to us - why not we are from the same island!?  Sometimes us island folk need to help each other out.

Scottish Dance Theatre - Review

One of our fab 'Langtry Lillies' has reviewed the Scottish Dance Theatre...we think its brill.

I went to see this performance last Wednesday and as a former contemporary dance student/teacher you can understand I was very keen to go and watch. I was accompanied by another Lillie who had never seen a contemporary dance performance in her life and she was blown away!

We both loved the first piece 'I thought I heard somebody calling' by Janet Smith. The dancers moved so smoothly and dynamically. The way the group moved at times was almost like a fuge.  Sometimes it felt there was a magnetic pull between the dancers. Also, the joy the dancers felt whilst performing was clearly visible and the choreography had some really funny moments in it.

The stage lighting played an important role in the piece. The design was almost constructed like a map with the light reflecting off the stage lighting the dancers indirectly (see photo).

Also marking different areas where the dancers would be in - or excluded from the group. The choreographer wanted to create a dark space of the unconscious of drifting thoughts and images. I felt the meaning of the choreography had to do with wanting to be loved and accepted by everybody else (i.e. 'them') but still maintaining your individuality which can be quite challenging at times!

Then the 2nd piece 'DOG' by Hofesh Shechter. This had some amazing moments were the dancers gelled with each other and the surroundings. There was an ongoing contrast of real sharp shocking movements to very soft flowing movements. I was particularly taken by a duet in the middle of the piece which was absolutely stunning and breathtaking. The end was an explosion of different sounds and movements all coming together in one big mountain of chaos. Very intense on so many levels.

Definitely will go and see them again!

Langtry Culture - Scottish Dance Theatre

Langtry Culture is a new section we have added to keep you informed of all those wonderful arty and creative events you tend to hear about when they have already been and gone! So in an effort to expand our minds, vocabularies and creative awareness please let us know of anything you hear on the grapevine that might be worth a visit, such as this one:

Wed 20 May 2009 & Thu 21 May 8pm

Scottish Dance Theatre

DOG by Hofesh Shechter

Honest and raw, urban and tribal, DOG is an exciting new work set to a pulsatingly rhythmic soundscape by one of the UK’s most talked about choreographers.

‘ [Shechter is] the hottest thing in contemporary dance…a true original’ The Guardian 
‘He has you on the edge of your seat, dry-mouthed, from start to finish’ The Observer

Contact the Arts Centre on 700400 for ticket information.