Fire Dancing in my Lewes Garden.

This is Danse de Feu (Fire Dance), one of my David Austen roses. It has burst into flame this week in its unlikely place at the darkest part of my small Lewes garden on the mostly shadowy North facing flint wall. It is well-named as it lights up this sun-starved corner with its lively bursts of fire.

It puts me in the mood for a real fire dance – something that makes me think of countries with hot climates and a sense of extravagant fun. Already I’m hearing Spanish composer Manuel de Falla’s most famous piece – the Ritual Fire Dance. As it’s a holiday weekend, what used to be the old Whitsun Holiday, this weekend, we should all be in the mood for a dance and no one does joyful dancing better than the Spanish.

Manuel de Falla (1876 – 1946)

The Ritual Fire Dance (Danza ritual del fuego) is from Manuel de Falla’s ballet score for El amor brujo (Love the magician), written in 1915 and it’s danced as a seductive ghost exorcism by a village woman who dances until he’s consumed by the flames.

Srikanta Barefoot

Cirque du Soleil’s phenomenal fire dancer Paris-based Srikanta Barefoot has a way with fire too – You might burn more than your fingers if you try this at home so better just to watch Mr Barefoot from a safe distance.

——————————————————————————————————–

STEPHEN DEARSLEY’S SUMMER OF LOVE BY COLIN BELL

My novel, Stephen Dearsley’s Summer Of Love, was published on 31 October 2013. It is the story of a young fogey living in Brighton in 1967 who has a lot to learn when the flowering hippie counter culture changes him and the world around him.