by Katie Chavez

A new entertainer has come to town, swooping down from Barcelona. His name is Luis Pardo, and the trade he plies isn’t your standard rabbit-out-of-a-hat magician’s brew. He’s a mentalist (we’ll get to that later), and a resourceful one at that – the audience doubles has his prop.

During his introduction (this is before he almost shoots himself in the head or pulls a string through his neck), Luis Pardo says that he hopes to change your perception of the world. If you’re a skeptic, he hopes to make you more open, perhaps, to the powers of the human mind. Ever heard the “mind over matter” aphorism? Yeah, me too. Well Mr. Pardo takes his money and puts it where his mouth is.

Apparently he won an award as “mentalista of the year” in 2004. So we’ll call him a Goya award winner of mentalists. And what is a mentalist, anyway? According to Wikipedia, “Mentalism is an ancient performing art in which its practitioners, known as mentalists, use mental acuity, principles of stage magic, hypnosis and/or suggestion to present the illusion of mind reading, psycho kinesis, precognition, clairvoyance or mind control.” In other words, it’s a performing art with a tradition dating back to the 16^th century, meant to entertain and astonish, and to make one wonder, maybe just a little bit, about the true extent of life’s possibilities.

While some may confuse it with being a psychic, mentalism is different. A psychic sees into your mind, a mentalist claims to control it. A psychic professes to have extra-ordinary capabilities, while a mentalist only says that he trained very hard. From what I can tell, “mentalism” is more about control and discipline than flash and flair. As Mr. Pardo points out (and as we all already know), we only use a very small portion of our brain’s potential power. And of the portion that is used, an even smaller portion of that involves our conscious mind. What Mr. Pardo does, it seems, is to expand and to master those portions. The resulting show, while sometimes predictable and ho-hum, is also sometimes mind-boggling.

The mise-en-scene of Kasual_mente could use some revamping — flash and flair it certainly isn’t: upon entering the theatre we see a red backdrop, a small patch of screen to the right of the stage on which we see live feed of performer and audience throughout the night. A small table, a chair, and a few large black box-like objects complete the scene. These boxes are covered with Mr. Pardo’s logo for this particular show: a brain with a large question mark with a comic -type explosion coming out of it. (Holy mind games, Batman!) The stage is small and the setting intimate: one can easily see the other members of the audience and Mr. Pardo himself. The camera serves as a cinematic close-up of sorts, allowing us to examine each prop and determine that no; it does not appear to be a fake.

The show itself plays out like standard magician’s entertainment with a dramatic arc from smaller surprises to increasingly astonishing tricks, all of which involves manipulating members of the audience, inanimate objects, and his own body using only his mind. If you’re expecting innovative dramaturgy, this isn’t it. There are, however, a number of events that take place that make this show interesting to witness. I’ve seen a video of Balinese dancers in trance poke giant sticks through their cheeks and removing them without a trace on the skin, and knew a man from Mali whose father could walk from Providence, RI, to Boston, MA, faster than the time it took to take a train. This is just to inform the reader that I am not necessarily skeptical about the human mind and its possibilities.

So you should take that with a grain of salt when I say that what impressed me about Kasual_mente was Mr. Pardo’s ability to work that hard. The whole show was in many ways a simple repetition of the same idea: anyone can do this; everyone has mental capabilities that they don’t bother to use. But we of the western civilization persuasion don’t usually do much more with our minds than perhaps getting into medical school to impress mom and dad or cranking out that novel. I’m not saying that we are not a civilization of noble pursuits (not that the notion of “western civilization” as a cohesive unit exists anyway), but rather that we are trained to think on the straight and narrow, so to speak. We more often accept our limitations than test them, so I do find it interesting to witness people who attempt to step beyond that boundary. This show is not particularly impressive in any way except the abilities of its performer, and it knows that. The sound quality was poor, the light design unimaginative, the film footage grainy, and the spoken dialogue portions often repetitive and trite. But the point is somehow I managed to stay engaged and entranced the whole time anyway.

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By Will Cade

I never know if I should give money to panhandlers or not. Reading their signs about having children and no job, I do feel for these people, but I never know if my money is going towards a hot meal for the family or a fresh bottle for mom or dad.

Street performers, however, fit into a different category. They’re providing me with entertainment, which, if I like, I’ll gladly pay for. What they do with the money is their own business: they worked for it.

My favorite street performers in Madrid have to be in the Metro, because they give me a much needed break from a busy day running around the city. We have some talented metro musicians here - and some not so talented - but there’s nothing like hearing African bongo drums or an acoustic version of Ave Maria echoing through the underground.

Even with these daily pick me ups in Madrid, I have to be the most impressed with the metro performers in Berlin, although at first I didn’t realize they were performing. Out of the blue, a homeless or otherwise scrappy looking individual would step onto the metro. But before asking anyone for money, this person would proudly lift a newspaper - one specifically written for the homeless to sell - and commence to give a speech.

Now, I don’t know a lick of German (aside from a few curse words) but still these speeches were magnificent. Sometimes they sounded like the diatribe of a madman, but they were given with enough vigor to inspire me to do whatever it was I couldn’t understand them saying. And other times they were given with such a smooth delivery that I felt like I was sitting in the Globe Theatre listening to Shakespeare, or, in this case, Goethe.

Not until these performances were finished would anyone even start to rummage through their pockets, and sometimes not until after the applause erupted into the metro with more intensity than the speech just given. It’s times like this when I’m not only happy to emtpy out my pockets, but I would gladly sit with these people over a coffee and listen to their stories - even if I don’t understand German.

by Khilen Mehta

As we hit the long weekend in Madrid, many of you will be wondering what there is to do if you stay here. Well, now into its 5th year, Documenta Madrid will be running from the 2nd- 11th May and is guaranteed to provide entertainment for people of all ages.

Presently the city’s most widely attended film festival, Documenta Madrid is an international film festival which is dedicated exclusively to the screening of documentaries. According to the producers of the festival, the main aim is, ¨For the purpose of strengthening and disseminating the documentary genre, insofar as it understood to be a reflection of the social, cultural, economic, artistic, environmental, and other realities that exist in the world.¨

Through the selection of films, the festival provides an annual meeting point for workers, producers and the general public to whom the documentaries are aimed towards. The organisers aim to try and make the viewers relate to what is being portrayed on the screen and therefore all the films are subject to qualititive criteria and all critical opinions and viewpoints are considered.

The festival is divided up into three different blocks of activites, which means there is something for everyone to enjoy: screenings (in both public and private screening rooms, and in their original language and formats), parallel activities (publications, exhibitions, presentations, gatherings, round tables, DVD releases, etc.), and training activities (conferences, instructional classes, workshops, etc.).

During the last five years, Documenta Madrid has established a reputation of being one of the most influential documentary festivals worldwide. The films portray a strong image of a modern day issue whcih the audience can then relate to. The organizers hope the audience will then reflect upon these issues and possibly even act upon them to make a change in the world.

So if you are stuck for something to do this long weekend, head down to one of the screenings or workshops where you could witness something that could take your breath away!

http://www.documentamadrid.com/

by Maja Gojkovic

If your not lucky enough to be escaping elsewhere for the May puente, then there is plenty that you can be doing right here in Madrid. If you fancy doing something different and finding out a little bit more about dos de mayo the Madrid 2nd May 1808-2008 One people, One nation exhibition is a great place to start. The exhibition is a virtual journey that recreates, from the hand of writer, journalist and member of the Spanish Royal Academy Arturo Pérez-Reverte, a journey in time commemorating the bicentenary of the uprising of the people of Madrid against Napoleon’s troops in 1808.  With the helpful use of a virtual tour it helps in viewing the recreation of incidents that occurred in the streets of Madrid from the early hours of May 2nd, 1808 until early next morning.

Visitors will have access to the hall where original pieces and reproductions of different objects from the time are displayed, including objects such as utensils, weapons, engravings, uniforms and much more.  The exhibition is divided into seven areas which offer a chronological account of what happened during the 20 hours in which the uprising by the people of Madrid against the invasion of Napoleon’s troops took place, triggering the beginning of the Spanish War of Independence. The precedents are explained, as well as events that sparked off the uprising, the offensive carried out by the French army, the urban guerrilla which fought the invasion, the battle between both armies, the landscape after the battle and a final report of the consequences resulting from these events as well as the people who lost their lives in the uprising.  If going to museums is not one of your favorite pastimes, you may be about to change your mind. This exhibition is a great way to discover such an important part of Spanish history. The virtual journey makes the exhibition a fun and easy way of learning something new.  

If you’re interested in seeing this exhibition it will run from  26th April 2008 - 30th June 2008.Venue: Canal Art Centre Schedule:

From 10:00am to 9:00pm Price: EUR6.

For the under 12 years old and the over 65s EUR4.

Guided visits (big groups) from Monday to Friday from 10:00am to 3:00pm and also on Monday from 4:00pm to 9:00pm. EUR65 in Spanish and EUR150 in any other languages during working days, EUR118 in Spanish and EUR170 in any other languages during the weekend and holidays.

Bus: 5, 27, 42, 49, 66, 67, 70, 107, 124, 134, 135, 147, 149 Metro: Plaza de Castilla

by Maja Gojkovic

Keeping with the theme of things to do during the dos de mayo celebrations- European vibe are just full of ideas. On May 2nd 1808, the people of Madrid rose up in rebellion against the French occupation. Four important figures that witnessed these events from their particular perspective were; Francisco de Paula, King Fernando VII, the young Madrilenian seamstress Manuela Malasaña and artist Francisco de Goya. Their different accounts of this historic event are featured in a dramatised tour that takes you throughout the city as their story unfolds from beginning to end.

The tour is a great way to visually learn and understand exactly what happened and helped shape Spain’s history during the important era. The tour is a great idea if reading guide books or listening to audio tapes at museums bores you. If you have children your in luck as the live play atmosphere is a lot of fun and is definitely something to keep them quiet for a while.

The tour departs from Plaza Mayor, 27 (Centro de Turismo de Madrid) on 26th April, May 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th at 8pm; and May 2nd at 5pm. 

The tour costs 7,35 euros for adults with a reduced price of 6,35 for under 25s ,students, retired people and unemployed people

If you would like more information on the tour you can call information on: (+34) 91 588 29 06 / (+34) 91 588 16 36 or visit the website at: descubremadrid@munimadrid.es

by Maja Gojkovic

As Madrid prepares itself for the commemoration on May 2nd 1808, the city will be hosting an amazing cultural programme featuring exhibitions, publications and a spectacular street display in order to remember the day on which the people of Madrid rose up in rebellion against the Napoleonic troops, changing the history of Spain.  

One event that will definitely be on my list of things to see will be the street performances. The larger than life streets show 6 Goyas 6 that have been created by Pere Pinyol, with musical direction by Carles Santos and features special performances by La Fura dels Baus and Carles Padrissa. The show is based on works by Francisco de Goya, and portrays the most significant events of the uprising. Works by the artist will become alive in a historic interpretation incorporating dance, theatre, parades and music by prestigious creators and companies.

The street performances will take place over the Prado Museum, Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, Plaza de Dos de Mayo, Plaza de Oriente and Cibeles.The shows will start on May 1st in the afternoon although the central part of the show will take place throughout the evening of May 2nd, with La Fura’s closure in Cibeles.  If you’re interested in checking out the street displays, they will be hosted on:1st May- Prado Museum at 18.002nd May- Puerta del Sol/Plaza Mayor at 18.00

2nd May-Plaza de dos de Mayo/Plaza de Oriente at 21.00

2nd May- Plaza de Cibeles at 21.30  This is promised to be an amazing event and well worth seeing, so if again you’re in Madrid during the ‘dos de mayo’ celebrations check this one out and the best part is its totally free. 

By Khilen Mehta

In order to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the events of May 1808 and the start of the Spanish war of independence, the Prado has opened up a special exhibition to commemorate the works of Goya. The exhibition will fall within the framework of the commemorative programme sponsored by the National Committee for the Bicentenary of the Spanish War of Independence and visitors have the opportunity to witness more than 200 works of Goya.

The show will focus on the two great canvases of 1808 and 1809, which are currently being cleaned and restored, but will also analyse and focus on Goyas work in a broader context. More than 65 paintings will be loaned for the exhibition from other insitutions and private collections. These include Majas on the Balcony and Portrait of the Marchioness of Montehermoso, both from private collections; Friar Pedro de Zaldivia clubs Maragato the Bandit from The Art Institute of Chicago; The Capture of Christ from Toledo Cathedral, and a group of nine works loaned by the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid. All the paintings are essential to the theme of the exhibition and they will be used to further portray the context of the artistic development of Goya.

All in all, the quality of paintings on display is sure to make this one of the finest international art exhibitions on the works of Goya since the last one organised by the Prado in 1996.

Date:
15 April to 13 July 2008

Ticket prices
General entry: 6€
Reductions and free entry according to regulations
Advance booking for individual visitors: 9€
Free admission: from Tuesday to Saturday from 6 pm to 8 pm and Sandays from 5pm to 8 pm

By Khilen Mehta

El Coloso, one of the most famous paintings of Francisco de Goya, has been pulled from a new exhibition in the Prado, citing doubts about whether this was actually painted by Goya.

El Coloso has long been hailed as one of Goya’s most dramatic portrayals of the horrors of war. The celebrated work shows a giant naked figure, his eyes shut and fists clenched, rising above a dark, mountainous landscape from which people and animals flee in a terrified stampede. It has been considered by many to demonstrate the  sentiments of war and chaos felt by the Spaniards during the invasion of Napoloeon’s army.

However mysteriously the painting, which has formed part of the Prado’s collection for over 80 years has been withdrawn without reason from the new blockbuster exhibition, “Goya In Times Of War”.

The Prado’s director, Miguel Zugaza, told the national daily ABC on Friday that, “Our knowledge of Goya’s work has advanced greatly in recent years, and doubts over the attribution of El Coloso are widely accepted by the museum’s scientific team.” He also insisted that the evidence would be made public eventually after their team completed their investigation over the authenticity of the painting.

This news has sparked public outrage amongst art fans. Professor Glendinning of London University recently wrote an academic study robustly defending the authenticity of the painting.  He said to, “Remove this painting from view and put it out of sight, in limbo, is grossly unfair to the public, if the museum doesn’t like it, they should tell us why.” The professor will be holding a talk in Madrid tomorrow night, reinstating his conviction that the painting is an authentic and trying to persuade the museum to reinstate the painting.

In El Coloso’s absence, the highlight of the exhibition is likely to be Goya’s restored Le Dos de Mayo which portrays the uprising of the Madrid’s citizens against Napoleon’s troops, which has been disfigured due to gashes inflicted during the Spanish Civil War. The masterpiece was taken from Madrid to Valencia, then Barcelona, to protect it from Franco’s bombardments in 1938, but fell off the lorry en route and was torn in several places.  After months of painstaking work, the missing work from preliminary sketches and copies of the original have been restructured. The restored canvas goes on show tomorrow in a condition as fresh as when Goya painted it in 1814.

by Simon Rashleigh

SPW* 

You may have seen the movie Cabaret, or even the stage show. But I haven’t, and I’m here to tell you about something else.

 For a different night out-in Madrid try watching a theatre show in Alto de la Extremadura.  For the bargain price of 5 you get a drink and a ticket to the great spectacle.  

Entertainers of all sorts will perform their ‘numbers’. You might for example see some Kung-Fu style rolling around on the floor with juggling clubs or a man trying to balance a ball on an Ikea chair.  Expect general defiance of the laws of gravity, with a bit of music to break things up.  Expect to laugh. Having been some days in preparation a splendid time is guaranteed for all.

To get there, follow Helen’s tip below about Line 6.   Ride until 11pm when your presence will be required, a short walk from alto de la extremadura metro. 

shmasound presentCircus Cabaret Primaveranoche librec/Magin Calo 23 “La peña” 

*Shameless Plug Warning