Like most of you, I’ve long been mesmerized by the extravagantly imaginative theatrics of Cirque du Soleil. I love it all. The fabulous get-all-under-your-skin music… The inflatable-climbable-disappearable-swimable sets… The way-beyond-that Jillian woman levels of superhuman physical fitness.
Lucky for those of us in Central Texas, Cirque’s traveling show, Kooza, is on its way to the grounds of Austin’s Circuit of the Americas. The humongous swirly blue and yellow tents start setting up in August and the shows start September 3. Don’t you think we should splurge on a set of VIP Rouge or Backstage Access tickets this time?
I realized while looking through the show’s website that, hey, I can write a new post about the wonders of my other favorite traveling circus, the Round Top Antiques Show, without actually writing anything. Love that. So, without further ado, I present to you an imaginative, mesmerizing, get-under-your-skin, practically inflatable look at the Antiques Show accompanied by copy stolen straight from the Kooza web pages!
The show is set in an electrifying and exotic visual world full of surprises, thrills, chills, audacity and total involvement.
It highlights the physical demands of human performance in all its splendor and fragility, presented in a colorful mélange that emphasizes bold slapstick humor.
Between strength and fragility, laughter and smiles, turmoil and harmony, the show explores themes of fear, identity, recognition and power.
Charming and sophisticated, The Trickster is a sublimely quick and agile being, a genius who knows all about the world because he created it. He appears and disappears at will and there’s electricity in the air each time he arrives on stage.
The Innocent is a naïve and melancholy loner carried off into The Trickster’s world. Outwardly childlike, ingenuous and simple, he is eager to get to know the new world he’s in, but as soon as he uses The Trickster’s powers he discovers an unexpected and jarring environment, a reflection of his soul.
Those 1830’s and 40’s were a busy time in Texas, full of attacks and massacres and woundings and marches and escapes and something awful called the Black Bean Death Lottery. I didn’t pay much attention to all that back in middle school Texas History class, but I’ve grown to appreciate that history is the mother lode of juicy stories and great names like”Black Bean Death Lottery.”
After a recent meeting at the sweet Latte on the Square, I took a lovely turn around La Grange’s downtown, reading all the markers and snapping sunny photos as I went. Back home, I continued my journey, stumbling along the endless Google Trail until I landed upon a creative gold mine: The 1843 Treaty of Bird’s Fort. You were probably paying attention and remember it from 7th Grade, but if not, just know it’s the peace treaty where several Native American tribes agreed to stop teaming up with the Mexican Government against Texas. Its list of Articles is quite fascinating, but even more intriguing are the names of the tribe “chiefs, headmen and warriors” who signed on to the Treaty. I know, I’ve already given you lists of great names here before, but I’m hoping you have another restaurant or band or baby ferret or ski house to label, because check these out:
Cherokee: Devereaux Jarret “Chicken Trotter” Bell
Delaware: Roasting Ear; McCulloch; James St. Lewis
Chickasaw: Ishteukahtubby
Waco: Aca Quash; Chetickkaka
Tawakoni: Kechikaroqua
Keechi: Kahteahtic
Caddo: Red Bear, Bichah, Haddahbah
Anadarko: Jose Maria
Ioni: Towaash
Biloxi: Hoyo Tubby
Plus my favorite name of all the Interpreters: Pierce Sobby.
Just off the Square is Victorian Gothic Old Jail. It has, in its day, housed members of the Bonnie and Clyde gang, a lady who would have been the first woman sent to the electric chair had she not starved herself to death while incarcerated there, a few random ghosts and many a jailer and his family. Today it houses the City of La Grange Visitors’ Bureau and yes, I’ll call you if it ever goes condo.
Do you ever spend your morning trying to decipher the exact lyrics to the songs that the neighborhood birds are belting out? I do, and I don’t find it easy at all. Sometimes I get to the point of actual pains in my skull. The good news is that I am making progress. Here’s what I’ve figured out so far:
“Your ladyship, ladyship. Your ladyship, ladyship.” “SEEECRET secret secret SEEECRET secret secret.” “Your panties, your panties show. Your panties, your panties show.” “She thinks she thinks she’s coooool.” “Tony Duquette, Tony Duquette.”
Speaking of Tony Duquette, it was such a treat to be invited in for a private tour of the elaborate, fantastical, richly worked in/lived in/played in Clayton House at Festivall Hill. You remember Festivall Hill, home to the Festival Institute and where all of Round Top spends its summers listening to exquisite classical concerts.
Duquette called his interiors “celebrational environments” and man-o-man that is exactly what these rooms are, each completely overflowing with joy and creativity and culture and travel and craftsmanship and curation and playfulness and history and love of a good story or song.
And in that rich tradition of Schroeder at the piano, the house is chock full of busts, including, even, one or two of Festival Hill’s founder and Clayton House resident James Dick himself.
The home was moved from nearby La Grange and is everyone’s dream of a quaint old Victorian in the country. In the early years, before the immense concert hall was built, performances were held here. Today it’s a private space, used as a residence and for lessons. So how do you get to the William Clayton House? Practice!
The Herrings are well-known around these parts as gifted creators, collectors, promoters, and presenters of their own and others’ artistic endeavors. Their Red & White Gallery in Fayetteville is the headquarters for most of those activities, but that one fabulous vintage building isn’t nearly enough space for all they’ve got going on. Today I’m taking you around their Blackbird Farm which does multi-duty as the Herring’s home, a BnB property, a gallery/event space, a music venue and an incredible art and framing studio.
Let’s start with the cedar-iffic Blackbird Cabins, loaded with folk art and posh amenities.
Did you just say, “Wait a minute there, what the heck is that?” Well it’s just what it looks like, a huge fantastic photo of Nina Levy’s Big Baby sculpture made of resin, fiberglass and auto paint.
Sidenote: Be very sure you’re prepared for what you’re going to get when you Google Images search “baby sculpture huge.” It’s been 30 minutes since I did it and I’m still kind of disturbed.
Next we walk past the pond to the Herring Hall Gallery and Event Center. Live music performances, exhibits, private parties, just squint a little and I’m sure you can see it all happening.
That last piece (and the blue shadow box house in the cabins) is by an outsider artist I also collect, Missionary Mary Proctor. We have one of her famous Doors like the one above and a Fat Lady Sings painting, both acquired decades ago at an art fest in South Florida. What a fun surprise to see her work way out in rural TX.
Finally, we’ll go to the Herring’s private studio/framing workshop/dreamiest creative space ever. Half of the wonder is in the incredible architecture and volume of the barn itself, the other half is in the incredible collection of things. Y’all can sleep in the cushy beds over in the cabins, I’ll just sleep on the floor here.
If you’re looking to Round Top for sublime and sophisticated, this is what you’ll see.
I’ve talked before about the weary show blindness that can develop after looking at days and days and fields and fields and booths and booths and tables and tables and walls and walls of heart-stirring treasures and insignificant junk. When I get to that state, I just let myself wander around in an out-of-focus-kind-of-way while I wait for the Magic Eye 3-D poster phenomenon to take over. I hope you remember Magic Eye. It’s that optical illusion fad from about twenty years ago where if you diverge your focus on a random field of colorful dots in just the right way the image of a pouncing panther or a pirate ship will leap right out at you.
At the blurry end of the most recent Marburger Preview Day, it was Great Estate Goods that jumped out and into focus for me. It’s Amelia Tarbet’s cool, dark corner booth, and it’s filled with carefully chosen and carefully placed objects. Frankly, the space really deserves a photography shoot with a proper camera and a nice annotated catalogue. But until then, here’s my The Crush List Style look at Amelia Tarbet’s curatorial sorcery from wide shot to extreme close up.
The good news? You've discovered The Crush List. The not so good? I haven't been actively posting here for a few years now, which means the never terribly reliable details about my crushes are even more unreliable. Antique vendors have switched venues, shops in town have moved or passed on, donkeys may or may not be in the same front yards... In spite of the risks of massive misdirection I've left the site up in hopes that it still achieves its goal - to inspire you to visit Round Top for the Antiques Show or any time you have the time.
With that said, I leave you to explore this random list of my very favorite things about my very favorite place. I’ve tried to capture the area’s special pieces and parts. Some are big deal, some are small gestures, some are legendary and some are just tiny pip and squeak.
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