Dances
with Death
Radical acceptance-
with gusto
The paintings and papercuts of my Danse Macabre dramatize the reality of death as a part of life that we must embrace if we are to live with our whole hearts. They propose an attitude of radical acceptance--with gusto. Each piece centers on a dance, modern or traditional. Some are papercuts; most are paintings in acrylic on canvas.
The Danse Macabre has a long history in the art of Europe and a longer one in the art of the Americas. A mural in a Parisian cemetery in 1425 showed Death dancing with people of all walks of life, from pope to commoner. In Mexico, around 1900, José Guadalupe Posada drew on ancient indigenous traditions to create newspaper illustrations of dancing skeletons and his notorious Catrina.
Courtship Dance with Dragon
(Jarabe con dragón)
Baile Folklorico, a famous Mexican dance troupe, inspired the Macabre Dance series. This jarabe is a popular folk dance with a twist, to evoke the courage love demands of us--there is no love without loss--and the joy of embracing the wild ride of life--there is no life without death.
The original is in a private collection. For prints, see ruth-hooper.fineartamerica.com.
The Dybbuk
In Jewish folklore, a dybbuk is an unquiet spirit who takes possession of a living person. The folklorist and playwright S. Ansky staged "The Dybbuk" in Warsaw in 1920, and in 1937 the play was made into a Yiddish-language movie. It tells the story of a poor yeshiva student who turns to the Kabbalah in pursuit of the magical power that would enable him to marry his beloved, the daughter of a wealthy man. He dies in the effort, and his spirit returns to claim his love on the eve of her marriage to the rich man her father has chosen.
Bachata
my lovers teeth are white geese flying above me
my lovers muscles are rope ladders under my hands
we are the river of life and the fat of the land
death, do you tell me I cannot touch this woman?
if we use each other up
on each other
that's a little bit less for you
a little bit less for you, ho
death, ho ho death.
Bless this day oh cat our house
help me be not such a mouse
death tells the woman to stay home
and then breaks the window.
--Judy Grahn, "A Woman Is Talking to Death"
Cajun Stomp
(Delectable Mountains)
Delectable Mountains is a traditional American pieced-quilt design.
To love as we grow old, approaching the Delectable Mountains, calls for both tenderness and courage.
The original is in a private collection. For prints, see ruth-hooper.fineartamerica.com.
Clogging
Broken-Hearted
For sisters regrets can be too many to name.
These sisters are stepping out in the old style of Appalachian clogging.
The border is a tribute to Mexican tinwork and milagros, tiny votive offerings used to represent fervent desires and to express gratitude for wishes granted.
The original is in a private collection. For prints, see ruth-hooper.fineartamerica.com.
Boho Dance
(L'Apache)
Whatever the cause, a death often feels like an abandonment, a betrayal.
The Boho Dance dates from early 20th-century Paris, and it was based on costumes and dance moves of the city's gangsters. It was also called L'Apache, meaning "savage"--and the dance, an enactment of violence inflicted by a pimp on a prostitute, is dramatically savage.
The English Dance of Death
This waltz pays homage to Thomas Rowlandson's "English Dance of Death," a series of etchings with aquatint published 1814 to 1816. A dancing master is startled when the lesson takes an unexpected turn.
Maypole Dance
The Green Man dances the whole cycle of life, from seed to harvest to seed again. He appears in the mythology of many parts of the world. My Green Man hails from the Celtic territories by way of New Orleans.
The maypole dance is a European pagan tradition that celebrates the growing things of spring and summer.
