It's my last night in Europa and there's a free Cabaret at a wonderful community circus space, called La Nave Espacial. I discovered the place thanks to David, who I had met and exchanged contacts with back in Berlin. He's a juggler, and he's Mexican, and I've never met anybody which such original and protuberant piercings and scarifications on their face. Yes, David looks like a member of the new tribal culture, some kind of "postmodern shamanistic" type. He's colorful, but quiet. He's a nomad too, and well... he knows where it's at.
He landed in Barcelona about a week ago and immediately found the Nave. Meeting on our favorite social network the next day, he invited me to come check the place out.
"Should I bring my juggling clubs?" I asked.
"No. We have everything here."
... Yes they do!!
We're talking about a gigantic industrial hangar kind of space. In front, a few caravans are parked alongside the curb. Upon walking into the vast entrance lounge, one might greet a few hippies, some acrobats (with that kind of unmistakable body), or some b-boys. Children, sexagenarian, locals and wanderers. All meet here.
"Como funciona todo?" I asked some circusy folks smoking cigarettes in the /communal kitchen.
"Pues. Puedes ir por allá, esta el gym. Todo bien, si quieres practicar.''
"si, todo gratis..."
"Vale!"
No entrance fee!? Free access to all of this?
I notice a chalkboard with a weekly schedule on it: those are all the free classes offered: spray paint, flamenco, breakdancing, body awareness, etc.
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| Una Nave muy especial! |
I go to the gym to find David and... wow: the place is fully equipped! The full array of circus apparels - trapezes, fabrics, mats, ropes, rings, etc. - the heavenly sight of which spiced up by some good sound system blasting in the breakdancing area. Jugglers, acrobats, b-boys share the space. There are even some weight-lifting machines on the side!
There it is: from babies crawling around to young teenagers, folks in their prime and old activists, whites and blacks, latinos and spanish, etc. All here practicing their passion, their trade, on a wednesday afternoon.
"La Nave" also counts a computer lounge, a sewing room, two dance studios, a laundry room, a ping pong table, plus a theater area, and, I assume, some cubbies or rooms for those who live and sleep there.
How can all of this be open to free use? Well because the place was abandoned and is now "occupied", of course! The project was made possible by a few leaders - who somehow came up with the equipment - many of which are originally from Latin America. The place has been running for about three years now.
How freakin'' inspiring!
''Eso es... cómo... Utopia!'' I suggest to an older Argentinian man I'm chatting with.
''No es utopia,'' he corrects me, '' se puede hacer.''
Please, let there be a place like this in Montreal!
Last night in Europe then. I haven't seen half of the common attractions of Barcelona but I don't feel like getting myself lost in the meanders of yet another city. I'm satisfied with what I have experienced: the fantastic modernist designs of Gaudi and his contemporaries, the museum of Catalunya (which by the way I didn't get to visit in its entirety, even though I was there for three hours!), the Barceloneta beach, and the old city. That alone is enough to feel overwhelmed. Too much would be hard to digest. I like to keep it delightful and inspiring.
I really wanted to write about my visit to the Park Güell as well. That's a park on a hill, where some rich industrialist named Güell had Gaudi and his architect buddies design modernist village of "modest" habitations.
It was 1900 to 1914. It was the industrial boom, and Güell was inspired by the English Garden City Movement (super interesting wikipedia discovery!). The area is surreal and superbly gorgeous! I wish urban design could still find such inspiration instead of giving us those sad, uniform, unicolored, developments. Aargh, it makes me nauseous just to think of it.
But I digress! I tangent! I parenthesize! Pardon me (and quantum phenomena) for this. As I was saying...
Last night in Europe.
Free Cabaret.
I have seven Euros left for the rest of my time on this side of the pond. I must be intelligent. I must plan. I decide to find a grocery store in order to buy myself some lunch/dinner as well as something for the airport. (I'm flying out at 6am, so I'm going to have to sleep at the airport.) I could have saved so much money had I done more home cooking, but then I wouldn't have had tasted all these local delicacies!
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| Way up to the Park: outdoor escalator! |
I arrive there and sit outside to eat some bread and cheese. I don't know anybody and I feel awkward. I'm not feeling very extraverted. I think that my Spanish might actually have regressed a bit recently, because I'm tired. So I just sit there for a while, reading my Kerouac and enjoying some sun despite the cold air. In 24 hours, I'll be in winter land.
I eventually go inside to find a bunch of people busying themselves in the kitchen. Turns out they are serving dinners for one Euro tonight! Ah! This is just incredible. I wonder how much of the food have been "recycled" as they say here. How much of it was dumpstered... I hang around the space, offering myself to help with whatever needs to be done. I'm assigned to the setting up of tables and chairs, which I accomplish quickly so that I'm left again to read my novel.
A quote from The Lonesome Traveller:
"À force de penser aux étoiles toutes les nuits, je commence à comprendre: 'ces étoiles sont des mots' et tous ces mondes innombrables de la Voie Lactée sont des mots, et notre monde en est un lui aussi. Et je m'aperçois d'une chose:quel que soit l'endroit oü je me trouve, dans une petite chambre pleine de mes pensées ou dans cet univers infini d'étoiles et de montagnes, tout est en moi. Il n'y a aucun besoin de solitude. Il faut donc aimer la vie pour ce qu'elle est et ne se faire aucune idée préconçue.'' (p.203)
At 7h30 the lounge is full of people waiting to grab a seat in the theater. It is really cold and I'm hoping things will get a bit warmer once we're all siting side by side. There are some hundred and fifty people here. And what a beautiful crowd! I got a spot on the bleachers, but most people are sitting on pillows on the concrete ground. Not sure they're warmer.
The actors begin the show while people are still finding their spot and chatting. They don't have microphones. On first impression I think: ''wWait! There are still people talking and moving around..'' But then my impression changes; it feels like a public square or a parochial gathering.. it feels amazingly intimate this way!
Little by little the attention focusses on our masters of ceremony. The first act is a clown woman... She is GOOD! The little physical habits, the mimics, the candor, her absurd relationship with the objects of her world... she is wonderfully lovable! Wow... This is the approach I want so bad to take... this innocence... this childlike joy ... this lightness.I'm inspired.
The second act is an aerial straps duo. I have never seen anything like this. The mise en scène is wonderful, the technique is sharp, the moves are original. The images of two hobos flying and spinning in the air is tender and poetic.
Applauses to warm the artists and ourselves. I'm experiencing a small revolution:
This is it. That relationship between audience and artists, this is the real circus. Our MCs remind us: ''Esta frío, no?'' They are not ignoring this reality we are all experiencing together, they are naming it. And that's magical.
I think about Cirque du Soleil and how far it is from accomplishing this. That's spectacle, that's corporate, mass production, it's form above all, it's professional perFORMance. No room for presence, for spontaneity, for community.
And I'm thinking that it's a shame in fact, because Cirque du Soleil is such a global phenomenon. There would be such an opportunity for them to let their clowns take on that sacred function: to name the realities we are experiencing together, globally.
I'll have to write an editorial about this one.
More acts, some incredibly original and mind-blowing, others much less. After half-time (you'll never fully take the athlete out of me!), a few dance numbers. I shed a few warm tears when I see that group of teenagers take on the stage. There they are among a crowd of adults, courageous enough to share their passion and skills with us. Good stage presence, impressive saltos, nice choreography. The crowd is loving it. How heart-warming.
And the last act: woman-man acrobatic duo, with yet another superb story line, unseen moves, and strong technique. I've never seen such muscles on a woman before. I've never seen a man stand with both feet on a woman's head! Dang!
Little revolutions surrounding age and gender relations... That's what I'm talking about.
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| Flying hoboes... |
And in my mind a torrent of ideas... I'm so full of them, these big visions so vivid yet so complex. And if I can't perform all of them, I'm thinking, I could have other people make it happen.
My last couch surfing host studied arts management... that's sort of what he does.
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| Parc Güell (wish I could provide the soundtrack too). |
Your adventures sound great. Come back! We could do something that awesome. I know it.
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