Leaving the Book Festival and watching Capoeira

This is a continuation of my last post on our visit to Decatur, Georgia, to visit the Book Festival taking place during the Labor Day weekend.  After spending many hours there we walked by the garden pavilion then the DeKalb County Courthouse.  There is a statue of Thomas Jefferson sitting on a bench in front of the courthouse - to sit sounded good and we decided to find a place to have a late lunch-early dinner.  (Click on collage twice to enlarge.)

We stopped at a couple of booths then walked by City Hall.  A large crowd was waiting to have their book signed by the authors - the book was "Where Did Our Love Go."

 

We kept walking and passed some shops selling clothes and funny sculptures.

We stopped at Cafe Alsace to have a bite to eat.  My husband had a steak sandwich in a baguette with brie cheese.  I had the salmon salad with fresh peaches and pecans in a balsamic vinaigrette.  Both were delicious.  We ended the meal, him with some cinnamon chocolate ice cream and me with some lavender honey ice cream.  The cafe is decorated with many nostalgic French signs and pictures.  In the background Jacques Brel was signing, then Edith Piaf.

We slowly walked toward our car and could hear some music behind a crowd.  We stopped and watched a group dancing in an acrobatic style.  I found out it is called "Capoeira" (pronounced Kah-poe-air-ah) a Brazilian blend of martial art, dance and game originating in Brazil.

Since then I have read about this capoeira, which I had never heard about.  My husband said that he had seen some of it in TV, but I don't watch much TV.  The story is fascinating.  I have been reading quite a lot about it.  I know that there are some blogging friends reading my blog from Brazil and Portugal so I hope my short account is accurate.  In 1500 the Portuguese came to Brazil under the leadership of Pedro Alvarez Cabral.  After many of the local Brazilian Indians died of infectious diseases or escaped in the jungle the Portuguese brought slaves from their colonies in Africa, i.e. Angola, Mozambique, Guinea, etc., to work in their tobacco and sugar plantations.  Two millions slaves were brought from these different areas with a multitude of languages, cultures and traditions.  Many slaves escaped the horrible conditions in the plantations and established settlements in remote areas called quilombos.   One of the largest quilombos was the quilombo of Palmares.  There they perfected the capoeira combat dance.

"Negros lutando com passasos de capoeira, 1824" painted by Augustus Earle, English 1793-1838

There is still a debate about where this style of martial art started.  Some say it came from the N'golo or zebra dance of Angola.  Others say it came from the combat dance called Danyme or Ladja from the Caribbean and mostly Martinique where it is danced inside a circle of people and accompanied with tom tom drums.  Below is the Bele dance from Martinique and Guadeloupe. (Alan Lomax photo.)

But in Brazil in the plantations where martial art was forbidden, the slaves disguised their fighting training as an innocent dance.  They added music, dancing and other rituals to capoeira to conceal their fighting techniques; actually, it is more the art of evasion rather than striking or blocking.  One theory is that, in Brazil, it originated in the "Senzalas" or living quarters of the slaves.  Another is that it was practiced on the quilombo colony of escaped slaves to fend off attacks from the Portuguese slavers.

Jogar Capoeira - Danse de la Guerre, 1838, painted by Johann Moritz Rudengas, German 1802-1858

After slavery was abolished many men, unemployed, turned to crime using moves from capoeira.  In 1890 the practice of capoeira was prohibited in Brazil by President Da Fonseca.  If caught practicing capoeira the punishment was the cutting of tendons from the back of the ankle.  However, in 1937, after demonstrating in front of President Getulio Varga, a young man, Manuel dos Reis Machado, called Master Bimba, was authorized to open the first capoeira school.  Master Bimba created a new style of capoeira and called it "Capoeira Regional" with new martial techniques.  He had convinced the authorities that the martial art was of great historical and cultural value for Brazil.  Capoeira Regional is a unique blend of acrobatics, with fluid fakes, leg sweeps, kicks, feints and other maneuvers.  I found many videos on it as it is now practiced worldwide.  Below is a demonstration from a club in Boston.

When we were watching capoeira in Decatur I did not know all this history but enjoyed the moves and the music.  A young boy with a Canadian cap came into the circle and danced with one of the group members.

 Actually I would not call it a dance as it looks physically exhausting.  You have to be fit with good balance and flexibility if you wish to become a "capoeirista."  It is beautiful to watch.  The participants form a roda or circle of people chanting folk songs with a few musical instruments such as the berimbau (a single-string percussion instrument, a musical bow) where two capoeiristas ritually start their fight/dance.  Here is another demonstration, from Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.





Each capoeira move is responded by a combination of defensive and offensive moves that look like a dance.  Modern day capoeira is up-tempo, fast paced and known as Contemporanea (contemporary.)  It is an active exporter of Brazilian culture as many capoeira masters have been teaching the art in many countries.

In Brazil capoeira is practiced as a national sport at schools, universities, clubs and military academies and a source of pride for Brazilians.  I watched videos of demonstrations and matches from New York, Paris, London and all the way to Kazakhstan.  It was fun to watch the group from Atlanta but I am not nimble enough to ever participate...

We finally walked back to our car after passing a field of brilliant red roses - a good end to our day at the festival -  music and flowers.

Why Long Island, New York ?

Last month I wrote two posts on the reasons for selecting certain travel destinations. Some were selected because of stamps, postcards, art exhibit, books, movie, etc. There is another reason which I did not mention then, and that is: selecting a destination because of an article that I read online. I read it in March last year and this made me decide to visit the North Shore of Long Island, New York. We have been to New York City many times and have seen most of the sights there. The last few times we decided to visit the surrounding boroughs like the Bronx and Brooklyn but had not thought about Long Island, until I read an interesting article last March. Why did we decide to visit the North Shore of Long Island? I’ll explain below.



On the old postcard above you can see the North Shore which starts at the bottom left of the card. It is on the north coast of Long Island bordering Long Island Sound. Long Island Sound is the estuary of the Atlantic Ocean between the state of Connecticut and Long Island in the state of New York. The photo at the top of this post was taken in Great Neck, Long Island.

Long Island Sound by Thomas Moran, American, 1837-1926

Long Island is close to the center of New York City and has been an affluent area for many years. The area was nicknamed “The Gold Coast” because of the opulent estates built there between the 1890s and 1950s by wealthy New York City business tycoons. The Vanderbilt's, J. P Morgan, David Guggenheim, F. W. Woolworth and President Theodore Roosevelt had large mansions with acres of formal gardens on the North Shore.

From October 1922 to May 1924 F. Scott Fitzgerald lived in Great Neck, one of the towns there. There he found inspiration for his celebrated novel, The Great Gatsby, in the glitzy soirees given in the large estates around him and the estate across the water in Sands Point.



Articles I read in early March last year announced that the Long Island mansion that was thought to have inspired The Great Gatsby was going to be demolished to make way for several McMansions – 5 huge custom homes starting at $10 million each. The 25-room colonial property, called Lands End, was built in 1902 on 13-acres facing Long Island Sound in Sands Point. Lavish parties were hosted there in the 1920s and 30s with such high-profile guests as Winston Churchill, the Marx Brothers, Ethel Barrymore, Albert Einstein, Dorothy Parker, the Wright Brothers, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, writer Oscar Wilde and hundreds more. The 24,000 square foot house had original hand-painted wall paper, marble, parquet floors, Palladian windows, two private beaches, two tennis courts, a 75-foot swimming pool, a greenhouse, horse stables, French gardens and more. Below are pictures of the estate found on a 1970s real estate brochure.




I was truly astounded that such an illustrious part of America’s history would go under the wrecking ball. I read more about it and found out that the current owner had let the house deteriorate for many years and had decided not to spend the $2 million to renovate it. It was more beneficial for him to have the house demolished and sell the land. I was also surprised that no one, including the state or the government would step in to save it. It was in such a beautiful and unique setting along the Long Island Sound.

North Shore, Long Island by William Moore Davis, American 1829-1920

The land could have been made into a gorgeous park and the mansion used for many art venues, or at the very least, it would have made a fantastic convalescent home. But, of course, parceling the property and developing it for millionaires would bring more money… (it is well known that in the pursuit of financial gains many such mansions have been demolished after suffering intentional neglect.)

So this is why we decided to travel to Long Island – to see some mansions before they might be razed. We went to Long Island last September and I’ll have more posts on our trip later. Last April though I read an article on the Los Angeles Times that a planned demolition had taken place at Lands End that week. A photographer was sent to take some last pictures – here they are below courtesy of the LA Times.



A photographer, Jen Ross, who is also a blogger, took many pictures of Lands End at Sands Point and allowed me to show some of them here.



Please go to Jen’s site and click under the main picture on “start slideshow” – her pictures are exceptional and help us witness the demise of this once elegant and grand house. Please click here for Jen Ross Photography. Below is a last view of Lands End (courtesy LA Times.)



Hundreds of mansions have been lost on the Gold Coast – at least 100 of them in the last fifty years. These opulent houses were built by top-notch architects with the best material available. They are now being replaced by tacky houses or more malls and highways. Below are postcards of a couple of mansions which were razed as well - the George Rose estate in Westbury and the Stanley Mortimer estate in Roslyn (partner of Standard Oil.)



I am surprised that some of these houses are not being saved by the US government as part of the nation’s historical heritage. It is a total shame to demolish authentic period houses and replace them with flashy and ostentatious houses which are tasteless or in a variety of styles. I grew up in Paris where we are respectful and proud of our “patrimoine.” It is a hard word to translate – in a broader sense it means “heritage” – to cherish the culture, the environment, the monuments, art and the music of the country. French people pay taxes to keep it up. Where would all the castles, museums and cathedrals be if they had been left to deteriorate and then their land had been sold to the highest bidder? Here are some examples of the French patrimoine: the cathedral of Chartres, the castle of Chambord and the Maison Carrée in Nimes.



By the way the Maison Carrée in Nimes (south of France) which was a Roman Temple built in 1 BC has been in continuous use ever since. In the 18th century Thomas Jefferson copied its architecture in the construction of the Virginia State Capitol (it is fortunate that this temple has been preserved…)

Virginia State Capitol painted in 1860, attributed to Howard W. Montague

Here in the US, I read that the National Trust for Historic Preservation had a “Save America’s Treasures” program and tried to find out more about it and about the funding of culture and the arts. It was not easy, but I found out that the US budget for the arts and humanities was about $6 per capita per year back in 1996. In 2010 it was down to 54 cents per capita per year and in 2012 it is now 44 cents! Arts funding has been steadily blocked by Conservative Republicans. Last year the total budget for the arts and humanities was $167.5M and in 2012 it shrank to $146.3M (or the salary of 3 NBA/NFL players or a fraction of the cost of a new sports stadium.)

Among industrialized countries the US has a historical low rate of overall taxes. It is ranked dead last in arts funding (as a point of comparison France gives $20+ per capita to the arts yearly.) But then I saw that in the 2012 US budget 59% went to defense (42% of the worlds military spending is done by the US) 6% on education and 2% on justice (which may explain why with 5 percent of the world’s population the US has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners…) At least since millionaires are taxed at a 60-year low rate they may still employ artists to paint their portraits as was the case during the “gilded age” of the Gold Coast?

Portrait of Lady Helen Vincent by John Singer Sargent, American 1856-1925

It is devastating to see that the arts and historic preservation are sacrificed here. In 2009 some 10,000 arts organizations nationwide disappeared. I wonder what the number is now. Music and art classes are disappearing from schools, too. The arts are essential to our society. It is so sad that America is losing a vital part of its culture and history because of narrow views. If it is because of money – the arts and historic monuments bring tourists which help the economy. I checked the last figures – in 2010 France was no.1 with 76.80 million international tourist arrivals – the US was no. 2 with 59.70 million international tourist arrivals – but keeping in mind that France is not even as large as the state of Texas shown below in red.

I did find the “Save America’s Treasures” program which states that it “makes critical investments in the preservation of our nation’s most significant and endangered cultural treasures, which illustrate, interpret, and embody the great events, ideas, and individuals that contribute to America’s history and culture.” Rep. Kevin Brady (Republican from Texas) a GOP deputy whip introduced a bill that would cut millions across the board on Historic Preservation funding and eliminate the Save America’s Treasures program. I just found information on this program and it says : ” The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Save America’s Treasures office has closed. The U.S. Congress did not renew funding.”

“Au Revoir” (Goodbye) by George Barbier, French 1882-1932

Recollection: 14th July - Fête Nationale and interesting history

Photo courtesy Nikola Mihov

In France the 14th of July is the National Holiday of the Republic, called le 14 Juillet or La Fête Nationale. The name “Bastille Day” is used only in English and if someone had asked me about Bastille Day when I lived in France it would have taken me a little while to understand to what this referred.

On the 14th of July 1789 the French people revolted against the monarchy and the power of the Catholic Church. A Parisian mob took up arms and stormed the Bastille – a prison in Paris. This was more a symbolic gesture of defiance than the actual freeing of prisoners which were only a total of seven common criminals. This date marks the Great Revolution - the beginning of the republic and the new regime, just like the 4th of July started the American Revolution and birth of its republic. The absolute French monarchy fell when the Bastille fell. On 26 August 1789 the new aspirations of the French Republic were defined by the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen”– which inspired the values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted in 1948 by the United Nations - read it here if you wish.

Painting by Jean Pierre Houel (1735-1813) of siege and fall of the Bastille.


The 14th of July has kept its official status with a traditional military parade in Paris. But there is also much fun in attending the dancing and fireworks taking place in most towns in the rest of the country. This may be the only time people can see many French flags being flown as usually flags only adorn public buildings.


The three colors of the French flag, blue, white and red were combined by the Marquis de Lafayette (1734-1834).


The ceremony, attended by the President of the Republic, starts in the center of the Arc de Triomphe, the site of the tomb of the Unknown Soldier (see picture below.) In 1916, the president of a French war memorial association “Le Souvenir Français”, created in Alsace in 1887, brought the idea for a tomb to an unknown soldier to represent the graves of soldiers who died for France. This was formally adopted by the French Senate in 1920 and an unknown soldier, from the battle of Verdun, was interred in the Arc de Triomphe. Also in 1920 an Unknown Warrior was chosen in the United Kingdom for their monument, and many countries followed suit. On Memorial Day 1921 the United States Congress approved honoring an unknown US World War I soldier in a “Tomb of the Unknowns” in Arlington Cemetery.


The parade then goes down the Champs-Elysées and includes many French military regiments and top military schools.

Below are the Guards of the Republic.


Below is the well known Regiment of the French Foreign Legion (known today as an elite military unit made up mostly of foreign nationals of different cultures).


Here is the First Spahis Regiment in formal regalia (which fought in the first Gulf War).


Below are cadets from the French military school of Saint Cyr (France’s West Point.)


The Air Force will usually have special flights overhead, and a parachute coming down.






























The holiday starts the evening of the 13th with local outdoor balls and fireworks. When I was a small child, on July 13th my parents would go to my cousin’s town, about 1 hour south of Paris. In the evening, the volunteer marching band would give a little concert then there would be a marching procession through several streets. The band would come first, followed by war veterans, then the town’s people and their families. Children would hold “lampions” - lighted paper lanterns on poles - and the march would end back at the village square where a small fireworks display would take place followed by an outdoor ball where everyone would dance.


It was so much fun walking with my little cousins behind the band. The origin of the French Revolution was far from our minds or why, on the entrance of our schools, it was written “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité” (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity (brotherhood)”.


This was one of the mottos, started during the Revolution, which was formally adopted by the French government on 14 July 1880 as the French motto. The US motto, approved in 1782, is “E Pluribus Unum” (From Many, One).

Some of the French motto could have been included in the American Pledge of Allegiance, but were not. (France does not have a pledge to the flag.) The Pledge was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy (1855-1931 from Mount Morris, NY) a Christian Socialist Minister after he was pressured to leave the Baptist Church, because of his socialistic sermons. He was then hired by the editor of “The Youth’s Companion” as an assistant and asked to write a pledge of allegiance to be printed on school pamphlets. Francis originally wrote as follows: “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” He was going to include “equality and fraternity” after the French motto but since many people were opposed to equal rights for women and blacks, he did not.

Here is a vintage postcard showing the pledge as it appeared until 1954. In 1954 the Congress, after strong lobbying by the Knights of Columbus (the largest Catholic fraternal organization in the world) agreed to add “under God”.


Before 1789 the Catholic Church in France, the largest land owner, imposed taxes on the people and was tremendously wealthy. It had many special privileges but was very intolerant and omnipotent. After the Revolution a strong separation of Church and State was established. This recognized freedom of religion, freedom of thought, freedom of conscience and the neutrality of the state. This has been a basic tenet in France since the 18th Century.

Actually the French philosopher, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755), was the first to advocate in his writings the separation of church and state. Montesquieu was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and as Willard Sterne Randall writes, in his book Thomas Jefferson A Life, “Between 1774 and 1776, Jefferson made a systematic study of Montesquieu who more immediately influenced his writing…” and gave him his firm belief in the theory of separation of church and state. Jefferson’s ideas were also fueled by another French philosopher, Voltaire (1694-1778.) Voltaire had said “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it”. Jefferson made also eloquent pleas for freedom of speech and of the press. He is attributed to have said “I am opposed to any form of tyranny over the mind of man."


Jefferson also said: “Every man has two countries, his own and France.” The historical interconnection of France and the United States has been long but with some differences, just like within members of a family. To illustrate this point, here is a vintage postcard showing the 4th of July in Paris in 1918. It is a painting showing American soldiers passing before the statue of Washington in Paris (which is still standing in the Place d’Iena in Paris.)