Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/04/06
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Howard, Now I know where they got all their propoganda posters from! Cheers Jayanand On Wed, Apr 6, 2011 at 1:24 PM, H&ECummer <cummer at netvigator.com> wrote: > HI Luggers, > In addition to touring Russian inspired heavy industry factories while in > China in 1976 I was also invited, many times, to see revolutionary ballets > and operas, mostly the Red Lantern, Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy, and > the Red Detachment of Women. These works were overseen by Madame Mao and > they were the only public performances allowed. So we got to see them over > and over again until we were sick of them. The tickets you received > depended > exactly on where you ranked in the VIP list. In this set of photos, some > taken in Shanghai and some in Guangzhou, I was quite lucky because, > although > only middle ranking (a First Secretary) I managed to score the second row - > meaning there were few real VIPs in the theatre the nights I was there. > Having seen the dances so many times it was easier to anticipate the action > and no one minded me taking pictures with my Pentax K2 and 85mm f1.8 lens > on > high speed (!) Exta 160. No flash, of course. > So here are eight slides, some of them cropped because of the VIP head in > front of me. Please enjoy, look large and C& C always welcome. > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Howard+Cummer/1976ChinaBallet/ > > Howard. > > PS: 35 years on there is a lot of nostalgia for these works and there have > been several revivals in recent years. The communist messages (class > struggle, etc) that was so important in each play originally has been > subsumed by the memories of the "good old days". > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >