Week 6 [02.11 - 08.11.2015] The Fringe

International festival in Edinburgh is a dream come true for many artists and performancers from all over the world. This gigantic event with a tremendous reputation attracts not only musicians and actors, but also other curious events which have a chance to be noticed and appreciated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbT2gpN3KMQ

Contrary to a popular belief Edinburgh Festival is not one but several festivals, including the various areas of cultural activity.  Nowadays  there are as many as twelve. They are independent events, which ' create' the largest cultural festival in the world. The festival events take place mainly in August. 

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The idea of ​​a large international project which would build a basis for artistic world than political borders, was born in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital city , in the difficult years after the end of Second World War. First Edinburgh International Festival was organized in 1947, mainly thanks to the British Government, cultural activists, local authorities and a lot of enthusiasts.  Since this year it  takes place every year and it is growing in popularity and recognition. It brings a profit, too. Rudolf Bring, later the director of the New York Metropolitan Opera, was the first director and co-founder of this festival.

The Edinburgh International Festival successfully pretends to be the most prestigious festival all over the world in the field of theater, opera, ballet, music and visual arts. The most famous teams, performers, directors, conductors and choreographers want to participate in it. The decision who will have the right to appear in the next edition of the festival is made by the Festival's leadership. There were also many Polish events there like a great theater production "2008: Macbeth" by Grzegorz Jarzyna and Karol Szymanowski and Witold Lutoslawski's performances.

The Edinburgh International Festival has made several impressive facilities. The most known next to the Festival Theatre for 1800 seats are Usher's Hall, Queen's Hall, the Royal Lyceum Theatre and the King's Theatre. For the purpose of the festival there was adapted a former cinema complex the Edinburgh Playhouse too.

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The Edinburgh International Festival is referred to as the official festival. It suggests that there is also an unofficial festival too. The story is that during the first International Festival there were a few of British theater companies that were not qualified for the main festival stage. They decided to perform on the sidelines of the official festival. Each year there were more and more unconventional and unofficial artistic events that do not fit into the mainstream of the International Festival. Over the years they have evolved into an independent festival which  also complements the "official" one. It has no jury, it does not require a qualification process and invitations. It needs only applications for participation.

Polish performances have  received the most important prize of the festival "Fringe First," awarded by the daily newspaper 'The Scotsman,' many times. Here they were shown spectacles by  Tadeusz Kantor, Jozef Szajna or Andrzej Wajda. Worth mentioning are the successes of Wroclaw Pantomime Theatre, the Theatre of the Eighth Day from Poznań, theater Wierszalin from Bialystok, theater Travel Agency from Poznan, theater Provisorium of Lublin, Poznan Theatre and New Theatre too.

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The Edinburgh International Festival and The Fringe Festival are the two main pillars of Edinburgh's festival events. But there are also many more.  Very popular and spectacular is the festival called Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, whose tradition dates back to the early fifties. This festival is organized at large stands of Edinburgh Castle.

Another festival in Edinburgh is International Book Festival, organized since 1983 in a tent city, specially built for this purpose. Nowadays it is the biggest such a festival in the world. Thank to this festival Edinburgh received in 2004 the title of the World City of Literature by UNESCO.

Lovers of good jazz and blues can commune with their favorite music at the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival. It has been organized since 1978 and the main purpose is to connect different music styles and make music together in the "jam session" style. The best known are the big parade of New Orlean 'Mardi Gras' and a great concert 'Jazz on a summer day'.

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The last of the twelve festivals is the Edinburgh's Hogmanay. It is a great three-day New-Year-Eve event, which takes place on the streets of the city. It begins on the 30th of December and lasts until January 1st. Hogmanay is feted throughout Scotland, but  the Edinburgh's version is hailed the greatest event of the New Year in the world.

Week 6 [02.11 - 08.11.2015] Magic of BOLLYWOOD

The times when Hollywood dictated the obligatory trends and directions in the movie industry are going to end soon, if it has not happened already.

Bollywood is the sorbiquet for the Hindi language film industry, often incorrectly used as a name to the whole of Indian cinema. Bollywood is aclaimed as one of the biggest film industries in the world, it produces over 1000 films every year. Since 1913, when all of it  started, the Indian cinema has made a long journey from simple silent films ('Raja Harishchandra') to sound movies ('Alam Ara'), then advanced films of the present day. The name "Bollywood" is a cluster from Bombay (now Mumbai) and Hollywood, the American Film Industry. But unlike Hollywood, Bollywood does not exist as  a physical place.

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Mumbai is a place where one of the most famous film industries is based. Bollywood, which produces more films than Hollywood, makes millions of dollars each year.

source: indiamarks.com/wp-content/uploads/bollywood-vs-hollywood.gif

Many Bollywood actors, whose names include Arjun Rampal and Preity Zinta, are brand names in India and other parts of the world. A lot of the films are centered around music and dancing and bright colourful costumes. They focus on places where the sun shines and people are happy.

However, many Indian films have a more serious message too.  Mira Nair, who directed Monsoon Wedding is interested in more serious issues such as poverty, child abuse, overpopulation, arranged marriages, and the like. This film and the others, such as Pride and Prejudice, have become the box office hits outside India.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhWGm6136rw

Trailer of “Pride and Prejudice”

 Music has been a part of Indian cinema since the first audio movie. Now it is definitely one of the most important thing in this factory. 'Alam Ara' included seven songs and 'Indra Sabha', the movie from the 1932, included 69 songs. Today India's films include between six and eleven songs. Bollywood movies are not just about the plot, story and acting. As I wrote before, music is just as significant. Composers are as important as producers and directors. Songs are played as a background sound, sometimes as a part of the dialogue.

Instead of music, dance is worth mentioning.  Dramatic facial expressions and movements help viewers follow the plot. They are a parade of traditions and  historic symbols, which originate from India's numerous traditional dance forms.Classical dance forms such as Bharatnatyam and Kathak , and folk dances such as Bhangra, each has its own unique style, but they often share signs and meanings that are combined to create modern Bollywood dances.

Many Bollywood film stars are also well known all over the world. A good example could be a recent film The Lunchbox directed by Ritesh Batra. The main actress , Nimral Kaur, is well- known to  American and European viewers from a popular TV series Homeland.

Do you think that Bollywood has a chance to become a cinematic giant?

Week 6 [02.11 - 08.11.2015] Robert Lewandowski

Robert Lewandowski

      Robert Lewandowski was born in 1988. He started his football career very early, when he was 6 Robert’s mum signed him up for football lessons. When he started training football, other children called him „Bobek”. Sport was a common activity in Lewandowski’s family. His mother and sister were training volleyball whereas father was a great fan of football and judo. His story with „the highest league” started in Borussia Dortmund , where he started his proffessional career as a football striker. After 5 years he became so popular and experienced football player that both president and coach of Bayern Munich decided to transfer him to Bayern Munich.

     Recently we have heard about Robert Lewandowski’s amazing match. A Polish striker, who plays for Bayern Munich, came  as  a substitute at half-time when Bayern Munich was losing 0-1 to Wolfsburg. Shortly after his  appearance on the pitch,  Lewandowski scored FIVE GOALS within 9 minutes (8 minutes 59 sec)! He is going to be a legend of German and Polish history of football.

Unbelievable!

Twitter, Facebook and the world is crazy about him!

Publicist „New York Times” – Grant Wahl

https://twitter.com/GrantWahl/status/646403358367055872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Football icon from Liverpool – Steven Gerrard

https://twitter.com/Gerrard8FanPage/status/646404680260681728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

One of the best goalkeepers – Petr Cech

https://twitter.com/PetrCech/status/646406441935458306?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

BBC Sport

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34332408?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_sport&ns_source=facebook&ns_linkname=sport

He broke records:

• ·             Fastest 3 goals in Bundesliga - 3min 22sec
• ·             Fastest 4 goals in Bundesliga - 5min 42sec
• ·             Fastest 5 goals in Bundesliga – 8min 59sec
• ·             Lewandowski is the first substitute in Bundesliga to score five
• ·             It was the first time in 24 years that somebody has scored five goals in a Bundesliga match – since Tönnies against Karlsruhe.

Pep Guardiola's  reaction  when  Robert Lewandowski scored the fifth goal:

Coach about Lewandowski :

"I've never experienced such a thing, either as a coach or as a player," he said.

"Five goals in nine minutes. I am very happy for Robert. You play poorly for 45 minutes and then grab five goals in nine minutes. I cannot explain it."

Robert Lewandowski:

„It was an amazing evening for me. I entered the pitch to help the team. I did help and that is the most important for me! I would personally like to thank everyone for the congratulations coming from all over the world. dear media representatives please understand my lack of accessibility caused by the numerous duties at the club. We play every 3 days and I must focus on the next game now! Again, thank you to all my fans. RL9min”

For me Robert Lewandowski is one of  the top players in the world. I think that Lewandowski, Ronaldo and Messi are on the top of this list. I wish Robert Lewandowski won Fifa Ballon d’Or , the trophy for the best football player.

Source:

www.wikipedia.pl

www.facebook.com

Should he win Fifa Ballon d’Or ( a trophy for the best football player) ?