cafebabel.com

Alex Metric: the man with a studio tan

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:11:24 -0000

The 29-year-old British DJ and producer takes us on his own brief musical journey of electronic music as we await the remixes on his new disc Open Your Eyes. The eponymous first single, an intriguing collaboration with DJ Angello of Swedish House Mafia, is out this January

Top tips from Parisian music festival Solidays

('Angela Therain',) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:00:00 -0000

A few glimpses dedicated to the 168 000 public that attended Solidays – the second biggest music festival in France after les Vieilles Charrues – and without whom the festival would be just another line up of stars

It takes two to tango

('Hanna Sankowska',) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 10:22:07 -0000

A selection of dance-related pan-European expressions will have people dancing 'on graves' in the UK, 'around noses' or 'in many weddings' in Germany or 'with the ugliest' in Spain - but what do all these sayings and proverbs mean? Jumpity idiom of the week

‘If I had to choose between sex and performing live with The Whitest Boy Alive...’

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:15:18 -0000

One day it was just computers. The next day, god brought instruments. Over the past decade, the Berlin-based band’s polyphonic electronic sound has translated into pure deprogrammed happiness for live dance fans across Europe. We hear the boys from Bergen, Berlin and Toruń out

Party burnout in Paris, so go to Berlin

('Ellie Banks',) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:30:16 -0000

'Sssssh, go in quickly,' whispers the bouncer of the electro bar 4Elements on the Place de la Republique. The lights are out in the flat above. It is 11pm, a Saturday evening in Paris. The one-time nightlife mecca of Europe is turning into a sleepy little town, a trend that threatens to continue

European versions of 'Nobody puts baby in a corner'

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:28:58 -0000

On 14 September American actor Patrick Swayze died of pancreatic cancer, aged 57. Generations of teenage – and grown-up girls – knew him as the hunky dance teacher of the 1987 film Dirty Dancing, a cult hit in Europe

A cultural cacophony; international festival in Germany

('Annie Rutherford',) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:00:00 -0000

'Beirut? Isn't that in the near East?' You frequently hear this question when telling European friends about the Festival of Young Artists in Bayreuth. Has anyone other than avowed Wagner admirers heard of this small town deep in the franconian province?

Miss Marion: the French burlesque star will 'tease you until you die'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 15:29:09 -0000

The 32-year-old from Normandy performs a 'slowed-down' version of burlesque. A dance historically popular in eras of depression, her latest show updates the genre, combining nipple tassels and an iPhone - an accessible escape for Europeans in recession

Events: Isle of Wight Woodstock and more in June

('Solveig Werner',) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 03:30:54 -0000

German-Czech festivals, strangers filming in Amsterdam and pure dance in London and Luxembourg - our pick of this month's best happenings

Flamenco – Andalusia’s jazz

('Sarah Gray',) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:00:00 -0000

Flamenco is on a roll. Shows tour all over Europe and hundreds of people travel to Seville in the hope of establishing themselves as professional dancers. But on the dance floor, the native Andalusians are holding onto their tradition and are reticent to share their heritage with outsiders.

Cuba: backstreet with an escape route

('Erin Woycik',) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0000

In the first of our ‘rock and backpack’ series, we discover Havana - the cultural centre of a Cuba in which everyone has the ability to produce something, but few express themselves

Political choreographers: Alexandre and Natalia Furman

('Andrew Burgess',) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 12:55:00 -0000

Art is politics: the third part of our series on portraits of artists attempting to resist the 'cultural Chernobyl’, which reigns in Belarus, a country asphyxiated by the authoritarian regime of president Alexander Lukashenko

Free Theatre of Minsk: onstage resistance

Tue, 22 May 2007 12:00:00 -0000

The Belarusian independent theatre company uses black humour and underground performances to protest against 'Europe's last dictatorship'

Eleonora Abbagnato, shooting star

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Through dedication and perseverance, this 28-year-old Sicilian has risen to the ranks of prima ballerina in the Paris Opera

Gypsy in the mix

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 02:00:00 -0000

Dispelling stereotypes of gypsy music being about old men singing in restaurants, today’s DJs are showing that it remains a vibrant and powerful form of music

Pal Frenak, continuous movement

Sat, 18 Mar 2006 12:00:00 -0000

As he travels incessantly between Budapest and Paris, 49 year-old Hungarian choreographer, Pal Frenak, talks about his sensual yet violent creations as well as the tormented world of contemporary dance.