circus costume research

I was thrilled today to find these additional images of circus performer Mademoiselle Lala. One is an oil painting of Lala in performance by Edgar Degas (he's one of my favorite Impressionist artists); the other is a full body shot (cited as the only known photograph of Lala) of which I'd only seen a torso length crop before.



I'm really liking Lala's look; am thinking my actual costume creation may start with her. I like the period frills and flourishes, but also how they are very athletic in design. Expresses a nice balance of entertainer/athlete/spectacle. Here is a close up of the costume from painting "Mademoiselle La La at the Cirque Fernando by Edgar Degas c1880":

( detail )

Mademoiselle LaLa was a circus performer of incredible strength. She was a strongwoman, wirewalker and trapeze artist. She was known variously as Olga la Negresse (being of mulatto heritage), African Princess and La Femme Cannon because of her ability to support a cannon by her teeth - not dropping it even when it was fired and gave out a 'tremendous report'. Degas painted her in her regalia. Her real name is thought to have been Olga Kaira. She was born in 1858 in Stettin, Germany (now Poland) and began performing at the age of nine.

fangirling: extreme women today

Lol....and the ballyhooed spectacle of sport continues...

As she mentions in her book THE EXTRA MILE, Ultramarathoner Pam Reed wasn't exactly thrilled with this 2005 article about her...

I mean, really, check out the title! "Desperate Housewife Stalks Male Supermodel in Sports Death March"

http://outside.away.com/outside/bodywork/200510/ultrarunners-1.html


Also, here's a little wiki bio for Pam: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pam_Reed

and an article on her first Badwater win: http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=5383

Ok, I've put off mentioning one other fact about my fangirling Pam Reed; she's a recovering anorexic. My issues with food are not the same as hers were, but maybe there's still a message...


"Reed credits ultrarunning with healing her relationship with food. For 15 years, she battled anorexia. "I look at food now as fuel," says the former triathlete, who ingests Ensure, Red Bull, noodles and oatmeal during a race (often while running). "If I don't eat, then I can't do what I want to do. I see food now as a positive thing." She shoots down the suggestion that her anorexia actually prepped her for the deprivations of her sport. "A lot of people think that," she says, "but it didn't."

Instead she points to a surprising secret weapon: her age. "A huge aspect of ultrarunning is patience," explains Reed, who is 45 (now 49). "And patience comes with age. I am not a really fast runner. I broke three hours in a marathon once. But in ultrarunning, it's not about speed — it's about heart."
From: http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/diet-fitness/inside-mind-serial-runner.html

District 9

So, forget about starting the Summer with Star Trek (and I didn't even bother with Transformers); I'm just glad to be finishing it with District 9.

"It’s a smart, socially conscious science-fiction film that requires audience attention....It's also incredibly dark and somewhat depressing and poetic at the same time."

Wow; Now, THAT is science fiction. I was impressed.

http://www.filmofilia.com/2009/08/14/district-9-review/ *
*includes quotes and links to multiple reviews and an embedded video of the director's original short film, ALIVE IN JOBURG.


a not quite random exercise note: 6.5 mile walk (to and from the theatre; I like "bribing" myself with midwalk rewards sometimes.)