24 City

Sometimes, one scene makes an entire show click. In 24 City, this moment for me was when a buyer for wealthy ladies in Chengdu, China acknowledges that she will survive because she is the daughter of factory workers. Born in the 1980s, Zhao Tao is one of the final characters we meet in this poetic take on how China is shifting.

24 City focuses on stories from three generations of residents in an area formerly known as Factory 420. In a subtle mix of documentary and fiction film-making, director Jia Zhang-ke handles his subjects carefully, akin to a portrait artist, focusing on memories of migration and the lines around the lips. Quotes from Irish writer W.B. Yeats along with music from Chinese red songs, orchestral strings and Japanese enka add to this peculiar yet strangely comforting film about the transition of an aeronautical factory into a luxury high-rise complex.

As I watched the film, I thought of the stories buildings contain. Once these places are demolished, do memories become rubble to be swept away?

Here’s a trailer…

 

Resource: Circle of Vths Decoder

mDecks has created the amazing Circle of Vths Decoder. This interactive page shows circle of fifths relationships for multiple scales. Along with diatonic scales and medieval modes, you can decode:

• Messiaen modes
• Indian ragas
• Blues scales
• and more…

If you want to see structural harmonic relationships using either keys or function (letter names or roman numerals), check out this Circle of Vths Decoder. I will use this graphic tool to build chords idiomatic to certain harmonies + to spur intriguing modulations.

 

Resource: National Jukebox

Do you like Tin Pan Alley? Ragtime? Victrola 78s?

The U.S. Library of Congress now offers historic recordings free to the public online at the National Jukebox.

You can even make and share playlists. I found four recordings of Chinese opera recorded in Philadelphia in 1903 (!)

 

About Sound

British sound consultant Julian Treasure speaks about how sound affects people. He advocates conscious listening and an attention to soundscapes. Is acoustic ecology co-opted for business positive?

 

Thoughts from RADAR L.A.

From 14-19 June 2011, REDCAT, Under the Radar Festival, Center Theatre Group and Theatre Communications Group hosted 15 contemporary performances in Los Angeles. I attended nine of the shows from RADAR L.A. and give brief impressions from three:

Neva | Teatro en el Blanco
In this potent work set during Bloody Sunday (1905), three actors question the value of theater on a small platform lit by a heat lamp. The ending rant about the bourgeoisie audience had the supertitles flip so fast I held my breath. In a panel at the RADAR L.A. Symposium, director Guillermo Calderon said that he strives for laughter that starts in the stomach and ends in the brain.

State of Incarceration | Los Angeles Poverty Department (LADP)
This installation/public education/performance caused some audience members to walk out and others to weep. I was in the latter category. Towards the end of the show, the performers cleaned the bunks with rags. I was stunned by this ritual of futility and dignity.

Amarillo | Teatro Linea de Sombra
Text, dance + projections = a performance result of NAFTA focusing on a man lost when trying to cross the U.S./Mexico border. I marvel at his athleticism scaling the wall of a theater but never escaping. Plastic water bottled are lit by flashlights and in the end sand falls.