blackBOX www.strangecities.net

PAINTING A DIGITAL PICTURE OF DOCUMENTED MEMORY

Mission

StrangeCities Interactive

Portraits

ScenesFromAShanghaiHotel

Captive

MyMotherToldMe

HOME iPad artwork

China_Heart_dLux/media

blackBOXv3

LAUNCH BLACKBOX

blackBOX.strangecities.net

DCA_Thesis

Girl On A Train

StrangeBlackBox Blogg

Vimeo channel

Credits/Publications

Installation

Testimonials

Mobile

METROPOLIS

Metro Film Strip

chineseBOX

Nina discovers chineseBOX

jewelBOX

pandorasBOX

Isis jewels

Rembetika

Shanghai Hotel

Evidence

Lectures

Bibliography

Academic_Supervision

Resume

Nina discovers Rembetika music & Tsiftateli dance
PandorasBOX reveals a performance of Rembetika music.
Documented live at the Enmore Theatre, Sydney, CARNIVALE multicultural arts festival, 2003. The music conjures a smoky taverna on the island of Kythera, & images of Piraeus & Athens, Greece 1930s. Special thanks to musician Archie Acropoulos (Melbourne, Australia).

The performance begins with two ouzo glasses beating together to create a rythmn. The accordian wheezes out a Parisian style haunting melody. Archie picks an elaborate taximia on his miniature Bouzouki or is that a Baglamas? Nina is too intoxicated to know. But the modal arabic tones mix with the orthodox drones in the taverna. The dancers get up in a trance, cigarette drooping from the lip & dance the Zembekiko, just like Zorba the Greek, but with an arabic twist the Tsiftateli dance. Fingers slide and create another taximia (ornamental road) in the music. The dancer sits down & orders another metaxa. An old man in the corner swings his Kombolio worry beads, repositions his sharp Manghes styles hat & checks out the street angel with red lipstick in the doorway.


 
Copyright Tatiana Pentes 2023 E tatiana@strangecities.net