Icons

I just realize what a week of Icons this has been for me. This past week I had managed to get in some pleasure reading which I realize that it keeps me sane (I am working on a presentation with a co-worker that we now are realizing could turn into a monograph that we may try and get published in the future, it is excited but one can only read so many scholarly articles on the development of art students in a day). I just finished Barbra: The Way She Is (a biography about Barbra Streisand). It is as one reviewer put it scandalsacious! I do love her though, I think it is the whole Jewish, ugly duckling, Brooklyn, musical theater loving, liberal thing :) anyway she is an icon to me. I highly recommend the book if you are a Babs fan.

Last night Esther and I had one of the most amazing theater experiences. It could possibly be the most amazing theatre of experience I have ever had. This was due not so much to the show itself (although I enjoyed that) but more to the presence on stage. In a theatre not much larger then a living room (I think there were only fifteen rows), only feet in front of us was Mikhail Baryshnikov! I do not know what it is but I have always been blown away by him and it was more thrilling to see him live. Interestingly enough it was not an evening of dance but a evening of Beckett shorts. Four of Beckett's short works were presented each with Baryshnikov in one of the roles. The first was "Act without Words I" I think that was my favorite. Mikhail was the only actor in this play. The stage had been constructed as though it were a giant sandbox and there is Baryshnikov who keeps trying to escape through the doors and being "thrown" back into the sandpit. It was amazing, he contoured his body to make you believe that someone was throwing him even though it was clear he was throwing himself. Even though it was not a night of dance just the sheer physical shape that he is in was incredible. It was a sometimes comical/ sometimes agonizing (as only Beckett can be) of man trapped and water just out of reach but never being able to quite grasp it. The other plays were also incredible, Act without Words II, Rough for Theatre I, and Eh Joe. In a less then 90 minutes Baryshnikov transforms himself from the trapped man, to an elderly man caught in a sequential routine, a blind survivor of a nuclear attack (the only one he spoke in), and a man haunted by his past on what appears to be his deathbed. The staging was amazing. In the last play a transparent curtain is kept close and you see Mikhail sitting on a bed listening to the voice of a women in is head and on the curtain projected is a large video of his face. You see the sweat, the tears, the lack of remorse at points, everything. Anyway I think he is just beautiful.

So now I am settled in bed and watching Breakfast at Tiffany's in the background. Talk about icons. Yes Audrey Hepburn is an icon of fashion, beauty, and humanitarianism. Beyond that though Holly Golightly has become an EVERYWOMAN. Every girl has a little Holly in her. What an odd EVERYWOMAN you might say, she appears to be a call girl, a ditz at times, and lacks any responsibility. But Hepburn plays her with such tenderness, vulnerability, and carefreeness that how could women everywhere not see a little of themselves in Holly? This movie has some of the greatest quotes ever and I have a theory that the Holly quote a girl identifies with the most is telling of the person she is.

"A girl just can't go to Sing Sing with a green face."-Holly is getting decked out in her best to visit Saly Tomato in prison. Even though her house is a mess she is searching for her usual Sing Sing outfit (the little black dress, big sunglasses and hat, and alligator heels). If this quote is you then you are the type of person who turns anything into an occasion. You always put your best face forward (after all you never know who is looking) whether you are attending a formal ball or picking up your dry cleaning, everything is glamorous.

"I don't think this place is half as nice as Tiffany's."-Holly is referring to the public library. If this is your quote then you are someone who doesn't get bogged down with the seriousness of life. Each day can be a fun adventure.

"A girl can't read that sort of thing without her lipstick."- Holly knows the letter Jose left is a Dear John letter before looking at it but insists on putting on her make-up before reading it. You are the type of person who doesn't like to let their guard down. You always keep a brave (and beautiful) face.

"If I ever found a real life place like Tiffany's then I'd buy some furniture and give the cat a name." Holly lives in an unfurnished apartment with a no name cat. She doesn't feel she belongs anywhere and therefore won't make anything permanent. Cat doesn't even belong to her.If this is you then you are still searching to find yourself and holding out for the hope that one day you will.

My Favorite! "Of course I think it would be tacky to wear diamonds before I am forty, I'll wait." Paul and Holly are walking around Tiffany's when she makes this statement. I love it because I am not a Diamond Girl (cue Seals and Croft song). If this quote is you then you know that while it is nice to have a special someone in your life to buy you Diamonds, that you can get on fine without that. Besides I have always been more partial to Sapphires and Pearls myself ;)

Whoever your icon(s) may be remember to go through life not emulating you icons but shaping yourself into a icon in your own right.