Thursday, May 21, 2009

ARTS IN LITHUANIA

VILNIUS - JUNE 2008

The National M. K. Ciurlionis School of Art, founded in 1945, is named after the famous Lithuanian painter and composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis and is the most important art school in Lithuania. With three different departments, it covers the entire twelve year learning cycle.


"MUSIC DEPARTMENT - Teaches pianoforte, string, wind, percussion and other instruments, choral conducting and music theory. It hosts a junior string orchestra, some of the members appearing on this photo"




"OLD WOODEN SCULPTURES"


"OLD IRON SCULPTURES"



"FINE ARTS DEPARTMENT - It offers courses in painting, graphics, sculpture and design"


"THE BALLET DEPARTMENT is the third one in the school and offers courses in classical, duet and historical dance, ballet and theatre history, as well as other art subjects"

***

The State Song and Dance Ensemble «Lietuva», established in Vilnius in November 1940 and having made its debut on February 22, 1941, is a professional company of dancers, folk instrument orchestra and choir created, in the words of its initial artistic director, composer Jonas Svedas, to upgrade folk instruments, perform «new music in folk style» and stage versions of folk dances. Currently, the ensemble involves 116 persons including singers, dancers, musicians and administrative personnel and, since 2004, its director is the composer Giedrius Svilainis.


"THE ORCHESTRA - The Ensemble upgraded the ancient Lithuanian folk instruments to form a folk instrument orchestra. It includes zither, panpipes, wooden trumpets, pipes, recorders, folk clarinets, a bow made from a pig’s bladder filled with dried peas, cow bells, gongs and other rattles, as well as certain shepherd instruments..."


"SKUDUCIAI - A set of five to eight pipes used to perform instrumental «sutartinès» - an ancient form of two and three voiced polyphony, found in the north-western part of Lithuania"


"SKRABALAI - The instrument, included in the ensemble’s orchestra in 1947, consists of trapezoid wooden bells, which are small trapezoid wooden boxes. The tone of the bell depends on its size. The Ensemble uses skrabalai made of 27 boxes arranged in 7 rows"



"SINGING - In the traditional national costumes"


"DANCERS"


"KLUMPAKOJIS (Clog Dance) - a type of folk dance in which the dancer's footwear is used musically by striking the heel, the toe, or both in unison against a floor or each other to create audible percussive rhythms - is one of «The Merriest Lithuanian Polkas»"


"SVENTINE POLKA (Holiday Polka) - A great way to finish the concert"

54 comments:

Trotter said...

Hi Everybody! Things are not yet in regular terms, so I had no chance either to answer your comments on the previous post or to visit most of your sites. Hopefully things will improve in the near future and I hope to have chance to circle around again... ;) In the meantime, thanks for your comments. Truly appreciated!!! Have a great weekend!

Venksh said...

Hey Gil,
This National M. K. Ciurlionis School of Art is awesome....
Clog dance seems like superb iam sure u might have had good time watchin this out there....

Kven,
http://kollywoodmoviereview.blogspot.com/

Mandy said...

Nice! It must be quite a priviledge to attend a school like that for 12 years!

SusuPetal said...

I can almost hear the music and the song when looking at these photos! Have a nice weekend, Gil!

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

Hi Gil!
It's such a busy time of the year that I have not had much time to visit blogs lately, either! I'm glad I was able to visit yours today as I found this post fascinating as I have some Slavic roots. I wish I could hear the SKRABALAI instrument and watch the clog dance and polka!

Rakesh Vanamali said...

Great pictures Gil! Culture very well captured for the world to see!

For folks like me, who do not what it is like in places that you visit, this is an eye opener which brings a great deal of delight!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Alexander said...

Nice captures! I like the wood carvings. :D They are beautiful.

Alexander
Alex's World! - http://www.kakinan.com/alex

hpy said...

Your picture remind me of my freind Olga. Must give her a call!

Stella Bella said...

very nice photos! :)

Nomadic Matt said...

very interesting post. nice photo too. makes me want to go to lithuania more.

Indrani said...

Stunning images from the school. The rhythm captured so well. :)

Anonymous said...

I adore that first photo Gil. Hope all is well at your end. We are off for some much needed R & R at the beach this weekend. ~ Lynn

Ash said...

Wow! Delightful post and images. I can almost feel myself tapping my fingers looking at these :-)

Thanks for sharing!

Joy said...

Such a rich culture! You have captured their artistic spirit, Gil.

Thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo and leaving your comment. Come back tomorrow for more of Norwich!


joy
A Pinay In EnglandYour Love CoachI, Woman

GreensboroDailyPhoto said...

These photos make me want to be in Vilnius, RIGHT NOW. So much art and culture. Invigorating!

Anonymous said...

Must have been lovely music. Love the sculptures. I trust your parents are doing well.

Paz

alicesg said...

Am glad I managed to view blog this morning. Thanks for your visit to my blog. Hope all worked out fine for your parents.

The sculptures are so beautiful. The concert is fantastic and the costumes are so lovely too.

Have a nice weekend and take care.

Tinsie said...

Very artistic! I love the photos of the dancers :-)

lyliane six said...

J'aime beaucoup les danses folkloriques de chaque pays ainsi que les costumes, ceux ci rapellent un peu ceux de la Karélie.

Vamsee Modugula said...

Oh wow...didn't know much about the culture in Lithuania - for that matter didn't know anything about Lithuania:)
Thanks for bringing different parts of the world to us through your blog.

Hope your parents are doing better.

kyh said...

I love the wooden sculpture... seems like the lithuanians are very religious... ;)

eye in the sky said...

looks like you had lots of fun "at the theatre"... loved the ones that conveyed movement... beautifully shot... as usual

Jo's-D-Eyes said...

Hi Gil,
You should know that I had for a few days difficulties with visiting your blog,( without succes!)because always a irritating "journey , kinda booking site", is popping out, and this site blocks my visit at your blog.....did you know that?

Anyhow throug some circle's around I could visit your blog finally to say that your music and dancing pho's are great to see, I look forewards to your journey's.

Best week/weekend wishes my friend<
Greetings from a "busy JoAnn":)

Azer Mantessa said...

you were there for the performing arts! whoaaaaaaaaaaaa

it's classical, traditional, historical, looks interesting and errmmm ... beautiful women!

whoaaaaaaaaaaa

Baron's Life said...

This is a great post...enjoyed it very much....

[G@ttoGiallo] said...

Hi Blogtrotter,
Yes, images speak...

A Lady's Life said...

Wow Soo nice and makes me homesick whatever that means lol
Nice people do this sort of thing still.
Loved the wooden sculptures.:)

Daniela Valdez said...

Hello trotter!!

Oh, I hope your parents are great. You are really sweet for taking care of them!!

Lovely pics!!

Cergie said...

Tu n'as guère de temps à offrir au blog, il me semble que c'est le cas de bien d'entre nous. Moi-même je rentre de déplacement. C'est le serpent qui se mort la queue : on a plein de choses à montrer et pas de temps parcequ'on a fait des choses qui sont à montrer....

Je ne comprends pas bien la structure de ce message : dans cette école il y a une partie enseignement avec divers départements (musique et danse) et aussi une partie musée et démonstration plus "statique" et didactique par l'exemple donc ?
J'adore les oeuvres en bois entre autres. Sans doute sont-elles plus "anciennes" ("older") que celles en métal ?

lv2scpbk said...

I bet it was wonderful watching the dancers and listening to the violin players. I really like those iron sculptures.

I am paying tribute to Memorial Day today. Have a good week.

Light and Voices said...

In the last photograph, you caught the skirt swirling and the men's tie in movement. I love that! What a wonderful time you must have had there watching the dancers and hearing the violins being played. What a neat experience.
Joyce

Jen Laceda | Milk Guides said...

Oh lovely! I would have liked to see the performance for myself! I love live performances. This one has great costumes and it seems like a very traditional exhibit of their national pride!

Pietro Brosio said...

Hello Gil! This is a very informative post about that important School of Art.
All splendid photographs! I like the wooden and iron sculptures and find very interesting the skrabalai instrument.
Have a nice week!

lyliane six said...

J'espère que la santé de tes parents te donne moins de soucis. Peter est parti en Suède pour sa maman aussi, elle ne peux plus rester seule chez elle, quel casse tête! la mienne ne va pas beaucoup en ce moment, elle marche de moins en moins et comme elle est chez moi, je dois l'accompagner dans le moindre de ses déplacements, ce qui me prends énormément de temps, je vais de moins en moins sur le blog, mais pense bien à vous 2 quand même.

leo said...

This is an interesting change from the usual building and scenery :))Enjoyed it very much. Hope your parents are getting better. You take care too.

Shionge said...

I would love to visit this country someday soon...they are so rich in culture :D

Thank you Gil for visiting my blog all the time, appreciate your visits :D

Lara said...

I hope everything is ok with your parents - I haven't had much time to visit anybody lately, but here I am, amazed by the beautiful artists in Vilnius!

Lori said...

What a wonderful school! They must have a rich cultural life there in Lithuania. I love the colorful shots of the dancers, particularly the ballerina. How beautiful!

indicaspecies said...

Hi Gil,
Another delightful post on the Lithuanian art. I also like your previous posts on Stroll back to School, and that titled Temples in Old Town.

Hope your parents are feeling better.

Finally, waiting to watch Cristiano's back-heel pass, swerving free kick and his long-distance bullets.;)
- celine

PeterParis said...

(We obviously have similar problems, making it difficult to find the time...!)

I made so many buisness trips in my life and hardly ever had time to see enough of the places I visited... and I hardly ever b rought a camera (not yet a blogger!). However, a few times I managed to include a concert in the program ... wonderful experiences! Happy to see that you seem to manage to make very complete visits!

Ming the Merciless said...

The wooden art pieces are amazing.

And I love the men's jackets and boots worn by the musicians.

Great stuff!!

Dina said...

Your posts really make me want to visit there AND hear the music!

Trotter said...

Hi Folks! I’m finding hard how our societies aren’t prepared to deal with ageing… and statistics show that our communities are getting older and older… Like one of our former prime ministers used to say, it’s life… ;)
Thanks for your comments and good wishes! I understand that these posts aren’t probably as exciting as my former trip to India, so I truly appreciate your efforts to leave a word here!! Thanks from heart!!

Kven,
I wonder whether you would be able to dance with that footwear… ;))
It was a great show, indeed!!

Emm,
Well, I don’t know if the students enjoy, but for the visitors it seems a gorgeous place… ;))

Susu,
And they also danced very well… not to mention the costumes, which were amazing, though a bit too hot for the season… ;))

Pat,
Well, it seems that all seasons are busy around here… With Slavic roots, I’m sure you would have enjoyed the performance! The skrabalai is amazing!!

Ron,
Great to read you here! Always!!

Rakesh,
Thanks! We are all learning from one another! That’s the biggest achievement of the blogosphere, at least from my point of view!!

Alex,
Those wood carvings are actually wonderful! And old… ;)

Hélène,
Olga? Looks Nordic… In the plural, it would remind me of Ayers Rock and the amazing Uluru… ;))

Stella,
Great to read you back! Always a great pleasure!!

Matt,
So you have already been there! It’s amazing the places you have visited already!!!

Indrani,
The rhythm came by accident, I’m sure… ;)) But the performance was quite elegant!!

Lynn,
I definitely need some beach, but things have been a bit hard here lately, and the weather hasn’t been very helpful, though today the temperature is 33º centigrade… However, the Meteorology says the rain will be back on Sunday; strange times… ;))

Ash,
That’s rhythm!! Tap your fingers… ;))

Joy,
They seem to be enjoying their performance also… ;)
It was a bit hard to enter your blog last time, but it seems that Blogger has finally fixed the problems… Hopefully!!

Greensborough People,
Thanks for your first time comment here! About the perspective of getting to Vilnius, it seems to me that you’re getting too enthusiastic. I would cool down a little, and then pack to visit it; not Right NOW… ;))

Paz,
Thanks for the wishes! The show was nice and the woods are outstanding!

Alice SG,
There are always some odds with Blogger, but it seems to be fixed now; at least for a while…. Agree with you as far as the beauty of the singers and dancers’ costumes is concerned…

Tinsie,
That was a great show and I had the chance to in the first row… ;))

Lyliane,
C’est vrai que ça a un air vraiment nordique, je ne suis jamais allé en Carélie, mais si tu le dis, je le crois!!
Merci pour tes soucis; c’est vrai que nous ne sommes plus préparés pour prendre soin de nos aïeux (surtout quand il s’agit d’un seul fils (fille) qui, en plus, doit travailler), et notre société n’est pas non plus préparée pour le vieillissement de la population… Mais, c’est la vie et il faut la prendre comme elle vient... Quand même, je me sens beaucoup plus heureux en ayant tout ces soucis que si je ne les avait pas plus… On ne t’oublie pas, même si on a raté la chance de te faire une petite visite à la fin du mois de mai; on a eu l’espérance, mais pas la chance…

Vamsee,
I’m glad that you enjoyed! That’s the great advantage of blogging: we’re are always learning!! Thanks for the wishes!

Kyh,
That’s exactly the feeling I caught; no wonder after so many years of state atheism, the reaction is perfectly understandable. We’ll see in some years from now how it settles…

Trotter said...

This is awful now; I've to split the answers as Blogger allows only some 4000 characters per comment...

Eye,
I was in the first row, with my feet already in the stage; a perfect position to catch the pictures… ;))

JoAnn,
I also had some troubles entering my blog, but it was only for a few hours last week. Hopefully Blogger has fixed their problems or has finished creating problems to us… I’m so happy that you managed to get here and leave your comment! I’ll try to find out what happened with your beautiful pictures at the Photo Festival!!

Azer,
Ahhhhhhhh! You noticed they were beautiful!! And those heavy costumes weren’t at all appropriate for the summer time we had there… ;)

Baron,
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed!!

G@tto,
… much better than the words I could put in there… ;)

Lady,
Homesick? We in Portugal would mention name it «saudade», which is quite difficult to explain!!

Dana,
It’s not an easy task, and there is no one else that could help! But I prefer it that way… ;)

Lucie,
La métaphysique du temps n’explique pas tout, mais c’est vrai qu’on a des difficultés à trouver une sortie pour tout ce qu’on doit faire…
L’école fonctionne normalement, sauf que le curriculum normal est inclus dans chacun des trois départements d’art: musique, beaux-arts et dance! La partie musée vient en addition… ;)
Les œuvres en bois semblent être beaucoup plus anciennes que les fers… ;)

Barb,
Great to have a Monday holiday; we never have holidays moved, so if they come on a Sunday, they rest on a Sunday… ;)) It was a great performance, indeed!

Joyce,
With a little bit of luck (like Mr. Doolittle…) I could have caught them almost as a whirling dervish… ;))

Jen,
I think you got it: national pride!! The show was quite nice and there was a reception afterwards; nice also… ;)

Pietro,
The wooden sculptures are old and outstanding!! The Skralabai is amazing and the show was a great performance; but they were sweating on those heavy costumes… ;)

Leo,
An interesting change: I had already posted some museums and some shows, but this was a bit more organized… ;)

Betty,
Better try it in summer or I bet you’ll find it a bit too cold in their winter… ;)) Nothing to compare with the climate in Singapore… ;))

Lara,
No one seems to have time for anything… ;) Thanks for taking time to drop by and leave a word here!!

Lori,
The ballerina was the winner of the first prize in the dance department! Real Class!!

Celine,
Things are getting manageable… But yesterday it was a disaster: Cristiano started well, but ManUnited lasted only ten minutes… Barça won decently yesterday, but they would never ever had been in the final in Rome if the referee of their previous game with Chelsea wasn’t a bit blind on penalties… ;))

Peter,
Hope things are better or at least manageable with your mother. My father is getting ok, but surgery isn’t yet excluded and that, at almost 92 (in ten days), isn’t something to make me feel calm…
This time the visit had a quite nice «side» programme, so things were a bit more interesting than usual… ;)

Ming,
Great to see you back here! The wooden pieces are outstanding!! And the costumes…

Dina,
You’re welcome to travel whenever you wish! Make a stop in Lisbon… ;))

Lifecruiser Travel Blog said...

Art is always interesting and beautiful, but even more when you see art from other countries. The difference - and similarity.

Oh, I would have loved to see this dancing live, so I'm so glad that you did catch it so well with those photos!

Trotter said...

Lifecruiser,
Some years ago I wouldhave taped it on a video camra, but that's not so blogger friendly, so now I have only pictures... One day I'll mix it up again... ;))

Daniel Chérouvrier said...

La soliste Skaidra Jançaite, diplômée du Conservatoire de Kaunas et de l'Académie de Musique de Vilnius s'est produite hier à Brienne le Château.
Beau témoignage de la qualité de l'enseignement artistique dans ce pays.

Trotter said...

Daniel,
Tu vois, quelle coïncidence...

Leena said...

Lithuania has got also so diverse history !
And your post is too very diverse :)and fine as well, thank you!

Greetings from China and Finland and Leena !

Trotter said...

Leena,
Diversity seems to be the mood; it has even beaten Susan Boyle... ;))
Tanks for the visit and the comment!!

Lakshmi said...

The sculptures are amazing and I can almost hear the music..

Trotter said...

Lakshmi,
You would love that music and dance...

Unknown said...

visit www.folkcarving.lt for more lituanian wood carving :)

Trotter said...

Tomas,
Thanks for the info!