Review: In the Age of Giorgione (EXHIBITION)

Just a quickie here. In the Age of Giorgione at the Royal Academy. On until 5th June. It is what you'd expect from what I'll bluntly call an 'old painting exhibition'. To put it bluntly again, I wouldn't have paid for it (I have a membership card, normally costs £10 without donation) but it was enjoyable. (But perhaps because it was fun adding stories to sassily painted faces and fancy bouffant hairstyles.)

Not sure I'd recommend (but mainly because of my personal tastes) but if some serious art history is your thing then you'll enjoy this. If not, maybe give it a miss.

If I could, I'd dance instead of walk.

A quick mention of something I definitely should have typed about before: the International Dance Festival Birmingham! It finishes tomorrow so there still might be something you can catch a look at. The city has been taken over by dance. 

I had the fortune of seeing 'In a Landscape'. Here is the brief summary as written on the festival's website:

Featuring Shun Ito, Kei Miyata & Ex Easter Island Head.

Inspired by the writings of Japanese poet Kenji Miyazawa, In a Landscape blends the spiritual and the scientific in a pulsating and atmospheric production which allows audiences to wonder at the invisible rules of nature and the universe.  An unmissable treat for fans of electronic music, art, Japanese Zen and genre defying performance. 

This extraordinary kinetic landscape will be created in the Municipal Bank, directed and choreographed by Kei Miyata (also performing in the piece), in collaboration with Shun Ito and EEIH, and an ensemble of local people.

I'm not normally a person who would go and see dance. But this was something I really enjoyed. The best way for me to describe it is slow. It was very slow but in the best possible way. It was very rhythmic and meditative. Reminded me that sometimes it's best to take your time. This performance was a beautiful example of a successful collaboration. The artist, the dancers and the musicians.

This was a great example of the types of performances programmed during the International Dance Festival. So if you didn't catch anything this year, definitely keep your eye out for when the next one springs up in Birmingham.