Saturday, November 5, 2011

Dancing the Degas Way

If you turn 90 in DC, how do you celebrate? Well, if you are The Phillips Collection art museum you have Mayor Vincent Gray proclaim a special day in your honor. And then you throw a giant free 90th Birthday Bash.

You have cupcake party favors, special gallery talks, and musical performances ranging from a Persian accordionist to a classic jazz quartet to a contemporary DJ.

And, since you are an art museum of course, you don't forget the art. A showing of the famed black artist Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series 1940-41 since you have all the odd numbers from the 60-piece series. (The Museum of Modern Art in New York has the even-numbered pieces).  A re-creation of the Klee room, which opened in 1948 and marked the first room in a museum dedicated to Paul Klee's captivating work. And, of course, your current masterpiece, an exhibit entitled Degas's Dancers at the Barre: Point and Counterpoint.

Now a quick word or 2 about Edgar Degas. While I recognize his talent, he is not one of my favorites. I much prefer Klee and especially Lawrence. I've always found Degas' bachelor fascination with ballerinas a tad creepy. And besides, being a thoroughly  modern fellow, I quite prefer my scantily-clads and nudes gyrating around vertical poles, not gracefully balancing on horizontal ones.

Tales, Tidbits, and Traveling Tips:
Free is one of the great 4 letter-words beginning with the letter F in the English language. Free is good. But when a museum that normally charges, opens free of charge you have to expect some entrance lines and crowds around exhibits. But just keep in mind - it is all free. We could have avoided today's crowd, but then we would have to pay. And, as I established before, free is good.

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