Erik Penny "The Shape Of Cowboy Boots"

Explicit content warning

02/11/21 • 132 min

Erik Penny is a US songwriter, musician and painter who has been living in Berlin for more than 12 years.
Erik grew up in El Paso, Texas, where he started his musical career as a bassist at the age of 16. A while later he started a course in painting which he aborted shortly before graduating to go on tour with his band.
This success of the tour led to his decision to go to Los Angeles. Here he recorded several EPs and two studio albums - "Footprints" and "The Linger Kiss". After various visits to Germany, Erik decided to move there for good in 2008. Within a short period of time he made strong connections in the local music scene.
Erik's wonderful album "Bend", published in 2010, written and conceived entirely in Berlin, is a collaboration between many, talented people that comprise the artistic and social hub of this wonderful city, resulting in a flavorful piece of art. Many tours and support tours followed. It is home to one of my favourite songs "Cherry".
After publishing "Live at The Sofa Sessions" in 2011, Erik withdrew from the music scene for 2 years and only returned to the stage in 2013 and played, amongst others, four opening concerts for Joe Cocker.
His album "Heart Bleed Out" came out in 2014 on the Blackbird Music Label, that was produced by Erik himself for the first time together with David Green.
Just recently his new single "The River" was published, a song with a hymnal depth that is juxtaposing a refreshingly positive melody with sinister lyrics. A great song for a world grappling with a pandemic looking for hope.
Erik and I have an overlapping circle of friends and I have been aware of Erik and his work for many years. And nonetheless, for reasons unknown, we never really shared a longer conversation together.
During the second lockdown, when Erik started a painting project on IG and he used one of my images as a reference for a painting, I was so overwhelmed by his art and his positive attitude that I thought: "Boy, have I missed out!

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Thomas Hinterberger "Saison OFF"

Thomas Hinterberger is a solo ballet dancer at the Opera National Du Rhin (ONDR) in Mulhouse, France. He got his diploma in ballet dancing from the Academy For Dance and Music in Munich, Germany, in 2001 and he holds a professorship in classic dance and music since 2018.

Born in 1980 in Munich (Germany), he trained as a dancer at the Heinz-Bosl-Stiftung in Munich with Konstanze Vernon, Hans-Joachim Mets and Alexander Prokofiev. From 1999 to 2001, he participated in productions with the Bayerisches Staatsballet Munich. He joined the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf in 2001 and he danced Swan Lake, West Side Story, Coppélia et Casse-noisette by Youri Vamos. He joined the Ballet de l'OnR in September 2006.
Principal roles: Dichterliebe by Bertrand d'At; Le Marteau sans maître by Maurice Béjart; La Sylphide (Gurn) by August Bournonville version Dinna Bjørn; Immanence by Andonis Foniadakis; Giselle (pas de deux from the grape pickers) Maina Gielgud version, Wedding by Jacopo Godani; Don Quixote by Rui Lopes Graça; Walking Mad and Empty House by Johan Inger; Sinfonietta by Jirí Kylián; Heinz Spoerli's Goldberg Variations; Last Pieces by Anybody and The Nutcracker (Franz) by Jo Strømgren; Pinocchio by Ivan Cavallari; Nó by Deborah Colker,La Strada by Mario Pistoni (Il Matto), Untouched by Aszure Barton, The Rite of Spring by Stephan Thoss, In the Dark Sky, Ed Wubbe, Quintett by William Forsythe (Thomas), Chaplin by Mario Schröder ( Diktator), The Heart of my Heart by Gil Harush, Bless-so-be-IL by Bruno Bouché. And a lot more...
He was appointed soloist in January 2018.
I think, it is safe to say that this was one of the most challenging years in the history of the ONDR as it had to cancel large parts of this year’s season due to the covid pandemic.

The performing arts - and especially dance with its necessity of physical proximity and touch - are quite possibly hit the hardest under the lockdowns and as seats remain empty. How all of this affected the opera, ensemble, and Thomas in particular and what this means for the new year and the new season, we will talk about today.
SHOW NOTES

Portrait of Choreographer Heinz Spoerli
Goldberg Variations, Bayerisches Staatsballet
Einstürzende Neubauten
"Dance Me To The End Of Love" by Leonard Cohen
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Oska Melina Borcherding "A Vampire's Diary"

Oska Melina Borcherding is a director, actor, dancer and musician from the beautiful city of Berlin.

I got to know Oska during the Ierapetra Film Festival on Crete in Greece, where he was running with his short film “Giagia” (which is Greek for “grandmother”). It is a beautiful film about the days following the death of his Greek grandmother and how her legacy and memory is preserved in the stories shared by her family and by the characters she helped shape. He is planning a sequel to the film which I am very much looking forward to.

Ever since then, Oska has been in numerous theatre plays and in various German TV films and series. Right now, he is writing a play about vampires after he has come out of the casket after hiding his true identity for 252 years.

Oska has has made it his mission to educate the world about the many misconceptions humans have about vampires. Whether they are getting better through the worldwide pandemic and what the worst stereotypes around vampires are, we will explore in today’s show.
And, most importantly, we we will discuss how through art we can develop a better understanding of diversity - perceiving it as abundance rather than limitation.
SHOW NOTES
Oska on Instagram
Oska on Facebook
"Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man", Emanuel Acho
"Desintegriert Euch", Max Czollek, 2020
"What We Do In The Shadows", Jemaine Clement & Taika Waititi, 2014
Get Jim's song "Love In The Face Of Fear"
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Yellow Van Stories is a Mind the Bump Production.