62. A lesson in patience and the wisdom of age
"When there is beautiful music, you can't not feel something, right?"
suggested reading method
To best savour this artwork, please take a moment to eliminate distractions. Consider minimizing all other windows on your computer; putting other devices (phone, tv etc) aside; taking a deep breath, to the full extent of your lung capacity; and focusing solely on the “artwork” section.
Once you’ve processed that to your satisfaction, the rest of the post is optional reading, provided only to share my own impressions and reasons for choosing this piece.
artwork
“amour” and “ouessant” from Jean-Michel Blais’ album aubades. Use the “cc” button to see English subtitles.
interpretation
If you are impatient like me, you might be tempted to skip to the part of the music video where the song starts. But then you would be missing out on a wonderful story.
We are introduced to the real-life Russian ballerina Larissa Belova. Ballerinas are typically prized for flawless youth and poise, and I love that this shows another perspective. Maybe Belova is older than we’re used to, but her grace remains, and fits perfectly with the swells of music. Especially because we see more of her humanity, beyond the moves she can perform on stage. We see her in quiet moments, walking through the snow, sharing homemade food. We see her as as a mother, someone who shows love to others, and who appreciates and creates beauty.
Juxtaposing the VHS clips with modern-day Belova recreating those moves in the empty theatre is such a smart editing move. This leads me to think: it may be easy to assume her prime has passed, the audience has gone. But even after all these years, she can still dance. The audience doesn’t matter, and doesn’t have to be there; the implication is that she’d continue dancing regardless of the camera crew or anyone else.
Her wisdom is informed by life experience, richer and deeper than superficial, fleeting youth. From this perspective, I think there is no need to fear age.
context
Jean-Michel Blais (b. 1984) is a composer and pianist from Montreal, Quebec. According to a Bandcamp interview, he worked as a special education teacher while recording his first album, II. His 2022 album aubades (meaning a morning love song, or a song played at daybreak) expanded his repertoire from piano solos to fully orchestrated pieces. Blais has been nominated for a Juno Award among others.
From Blais’ comment on the video:
“when approached to dance for 'amour', Larissa responded with an additional choreography for 'ouessant' ! this only merely shows that woman's singularity. we then had no choice but to write this docu-fiction, interpolating her glorious past as a Soviet ballerina with her current grace as a woman, a loving mother, a generous, sensitive and explosive artist. 'amour / ouessant' is therefore both a process and a product, a testimony and a continuity, a creation and an inspiration for those who forgot their dreams along the way …🩰”
Feel free to share your own thoughts in the comments!