HAM LIT

I attended a very entertaining lunchtime recital last week, as part of the commendable and very imaginatively constructed Hampstead and Highgate Festival. The organisers have taken dance, and especially Diaghilev as their inspiration and binding theme, and the event I went to in Burgh House (itself a treat to visit, café attached) comprised poetry, prose and even some nicely delivered song, on the broad subject of dance.

The pieces were cleverly selected and exquisitely performed by Piers Plowright, Diana Bishop and Valerie Sarruf. Among many I had not met before, there was Auden in full horror nursery rhyme flow:

The desires of the heart are as crooked as corkscrews

Not to be born is the best for man

The second best is a formal order

The dance’s pattern, dance while you can.

Dance, dance, for the figure is easy

The tune is catching and will not stop

Dance till the stars come down with the rafters

Dance, dance, dance till you drop.

a hilarious piece from Beachcomber, satirising ballet culture (in the shape of a 'Madame Tumblova'), trade unions and a wide range of other targets; the sadly undersung Louis MacNeice, with 'Bagpipe Music' (an absolute tour de force) and a smattering of work by contemporary writers, including India Russell, whose collection The Kaleidoscope of Time is published by our parent company, Stacey International. India's new collection is, appropriately, The Dance of Life, available from Godstow Press.

There is much more literature, music, dance and even walking available from the Festival, (full details of which are in the link above), with some star performers, including Jonathan Miller and Simon Callow.

David

DAUNTED

A very pleasant evening was had yesterday, launching a book from Capuchin's parent company, Stacey International, at Daunt Bookshop in Marylebone High Street. It is always a delight to return to the original shop - the owners having opened counterparts in four other judiciously selected sites - and to bask in the air of a place whose guiding spirit is a passion for good writing and publishing.

The only disadvantage to visiting what I have long believed to be the best bookshop in London - and possibly the UK - is that I am always tempted to buy so many books, and have to weigh this instinct against the constraints of personal finance and domestic space. This is, however, a pleasant dilemma in which to be caught.

Thanks to Brett, Adam, Lucy and the other Daunt staff, who provided the perfect setting for our event.

David