Mid-Week Libation: Let the Rain Sing You a Lullaby
Bridget Riley turns 93! Plus 2 Goth/Post-Punk playlists, poetry from Langston Hughes, an orange wine from Bosnia-Herzegovina, and remembering Butoh visionary & founder of Sankai Juku: Ushio Amagatsu!
Mid-Week Libation is our weekly curated splash of inspiration and culture! Click above to listen to this weeks’ audio segment!
Two Goth/Punk/Post-Punk/Death Rock Playlists! In honor of two musicians both born today in 1957: David J (bassist for Bauhaus, Love and Rockets) and Boris Williams (drummer for The Cure, 1984-1994)
Wildstar’s Wednesday Wine Pick: Vinarija Škegro, Krš Orange Žilavka (Ljubuski, Bosnia-Herzegovina)
Happy 93rd Birthday to British Artist Bridget Riley! (born April 24, 1931)
Click here to watch a fantastic BBC documentary, Bridget Riley: Painting the Line (2021), currently on Youtube!
A Poem for Spring: “An Earth Song” by Langston Hughes
An Earth Song
by Langston Hughes
It's an earth song,—
And I've been waiting long for an earth song.
It's a spring song,—
And I've been waiting long for a spring song.
Strong as the shoots of a new plant
Strong as the bursting of new buds
Strong as the coming of the first child from its mother's womb.
It's an earth song,
A body song,
A spring song,
I have been waiting long for this spring song. In Memory of the Founder, Choreographer & Lead Dancer of Sankai Juku: Ushio Amagatsu (December 31, 1949 – March 25, 2024)
Ushio Amagatsu, Japanese Dancer Who Popularized Butoh, Dies at 74: He brought worldwide attention to a radical yet elemental form of contemporary dance that emerged in the wake of wartime destruction. (via New York Times)
Ushio Amagatsu, The Butoh Visionary: Dance as a Universal "Dialogue with Gravity" (via Esplanade Offstage)
Check out our podcast discussing Butoh and Sankai Juku here!
Interesting Artists Born Today: April 24th
Visual Artists:
Today is the birthday of Ammi Phillips, Casimiro Castro, Ida C. Haskell, Viktor Oliva, Gaston Bussière, Clara Arnheim, Anna Wengberg, Frederick Roth, André Bauchant, Jean Crotti, Rowena Meeks Abdy, Lyubov Popova, Jāzeps Grosvalds, Arturo Pacheco Altamirano, Willem de Kooning, Donald Mattison, Evaline Ness, Hassel Smith, Irving Guyer, Carlos Nadal, César Manrique, Jack McLarty, Paul Wonner, Paul Soldner, Mohan Samant, Bridget Riley, Robert J. Brawley, Issei Suda, Jan Groover, John Pasche, Monique Régimbald-Zeiber, Michael B. Platt, Ron Arad, Jean Paul Gaultier, Ronna Neuenschwander, Sitt Nyein Aye, Lars Physant and Stephen Wiltshire!
Writers, Philosophers & Scholars:
Today is the birthday of Chō Kōran, Anthony Trollope, Carl Spitteler, Benjamin Lee Whorf, Robert Penn Warren, George Oppen, Stanley Kauffmann, David Blackwell, Gabriel Okara, Satyapal Anand, Rowley Habib, Sue Grafton, Thomas King, Kamla Bhasin, Kōhei Tsuka, Lurma Rackley, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Sinéad Morrissey and Karan Mahajan!
Musicians & Composers:
Today is the birthday of Violet Archer, Johnny Griffin, Freddie Scott, Joe Henderson, John Williams, Tony Visconti, St. Clair Lee, Nigel Harrison, David J, Boris Williams, Augusta Read Thomas, Patty Schemel, Catrin Finch, Kelly Clarkson and Kehlani!
Film/TV/Stage:
Today is the birthday of Lillyn Brown, Gabriel Figueroa, William Castle, Pasqualino De Santis, Dr. Rajkumar, Richard Donner, Shirley MacLaine, Tucker Smith, Barbra Streisand, Eric Bogosian, John Edward Heys, Lypsinka, Cedric the Entertainer, Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen, Rory McCann, Damon Lindelof, Derek Luke and Joe Keery!
This Week’s Words of Wisdom: Langston Hughes (1901-1967)
I love the Langston, Hughes poems, and so good to hear your voice!