The Independent from London, Greater London, England • 37

Bohemian rh a psod ies The importance of the Harlem Renaissance the explosion of African-American talent during the 1920s and 1930s is not widely recognised over here. A new exhibition should change that. By Phil Johnson places like IjondoBi through people Khe Edward Burn, and in Jamaica, though people Ore Edna Manley, and in Paris too. So with tha ahow there was an opportunity to rethink and look back at that moment, and to reansc the international danen-aion of it, and also the mter-aimiral and inter-facial dimensions of what we're talking about Harlem areapcratoilliaaTaticflcflicw snisstireatcf mack Aracrta were flirting hnpulaffs that both celebrate and deujgiate their subject, and by a voyeurism that can still be detertedin Robert MerylethmuBTiulajejejiapheof black modest the Seventies and Ejeblaa and even the everyday treatment of black artists in the media today (the recent flan nViraiaaT comes to mind). The canip-reanst painter Burn who a represented in the cxrubition hved in New brk in 193 and for him, Harlem waa a typically eccen-tne Iteration "tike Wham Green wrote (in his usual breathless sryle, far lie lcf never aanwifa 1926 (and whow phofajffiphie life in Waajv tht2flaCeUiArf bctiffMB the twin pain ofuiDdBntwd idwiw white wapp fanLmiavAiaUtato wh locn wnmltaWiri iiwly boch MnpotXTatbly nodV en the perfect RrtwMt aoaiD-nwMc nd faiitV tnevibly pijtflsstivBi cnnitniftioti RaDfaraodcflaV itantly by the jungle imitnry of iheet-musk ffluAntkni end Nt Mcfcdropi.

But while Oebert Sitwefl end SodOmmd cniiwd the fiMMonaMe 'HbiIhii MaonhcaafldbytfaeblacfcheiiemtoahaiP' -sMjpneningfDraiie, posh lebel Nancy Cunardpub-lemed (in 1934) the rernerkabie anthology nejo, which set the writings of many of the Harlem poets ikwgrirlr an article on Kenya by trie young ferao Kenyan, and a cover designed by Henry Mathee. IteteSpanwhpMandplaywiQaeaalxHca, wtovkatalNcw-foin 1929, The Negro, ibubVc oiat of podtCfl tun of Che city, tie wrote thstr 'Apart from the nt but nMchfliei end Intweetiiirtr, the viwei culture of die the eriifeitiro tte itwe African pert. The woMlerfid printing of Anon DouriaW inixMioaf nntftof AfiknaBfewiA, thelpreeaonwK 'HwleHwf laMv by BAeevd Bwisj tled "The Dark the Harlem Renaissance was a secret history, "Something I had to diaebver far myself, over the bat 20 years since I was a stu-dent It was a history which, like a river which is one of the great metaphors in the poetry of the increment had gone luidergraaxfcnocmcould see ir, no one could near it, and it took someone BkeAVWker-whowMjnpuaK-torecaKXwer it from the perspective of the black power era though her labyrinthine detective wort in search-ingj out the life of Zora Neale Hurston." For Caesar, the black British espcrience of It'i really corning fresh from the first generation of black artists either bom here or having spent most of their lives here. Ifs tike the children Africans, who are now Iondoners, or from Birmingham or Manchester, and who apeak aa cockneys or what-ever, and it's perhaps most marked among thechu-dren of the south Asian conaiiuniawttuw break from the religious part. There really is something new snd fresh.

Who knows how long it wiH last? The Hayward eduoition provides a wonderful window on to a world that, whfle vaxdehedlang ago, will be inrtandy recognisarjtetoarrystiidentaf rap, jazi or soul slbum covers. It is rdncirional in the very best sense, and it should defmitehbeseen, Sade ncwithstanding. 'Bhsptodiu at flasi'w 'Art of At Mm Ion Reafsssacr toiZAaj HafmiGalay. SBC. 0171-261 0127; The by WW Naton, prmida an eowauoVe turvey of avasw ABVaaanwcr aasnatav Aim, nri thm pcrtrmh nt prx iyn Mni hy the enfaV Ooman srost Winoid Reiat places the aflbject aasfnat a abased background of umements ndnancal notes.

Elsewhere, Reaafs irdtdnwinss of Hariem street life set aharply dressed gents nesl toEgyptaabtaupdajnnnrsaBsanadan Ascent of Ethiopia" by Lea Mauou Jcaescontranj the Nubian figure in the foreground against an orphic design of snyiiiaucrs and synAolsoftheconr temporary arts. The riaainngi of Ardubald Motley-who for many will be the star of the show -take the laanan comedy of Harlem fifem jest, treating holy rollers, bar-toom conBantorsand Dues dancers with avid colour, and the cornpoai-nondencTrtudeof ahract rklthus. The amazing "nbuaaunt COuverture Series" of guachesbythel9year-c4dJacobIjwrerioeisina dass of Ms own, however, a9 idiosyncratic as to be quite beyond conmare. Now aged 80t Lawrence is the moat famous mack painter in America, and though rather fhuL be wifl be at rhe South Bank today, in the Purcell Room at 2pm, to talk about his work with Richard rVwell. Though the series dates from 193738, at what most people see aa the tai rrofmePrnaiaiiiTrT.itaclsaiapowerMtrfc-ute to the importance the movement had in hcip-utoiediacover black MaloryfararwgeneiBtion.

Though the impact of poets mwIaitt9Mon Hughes and Courttee Cullen leatened after the great Dtpii aakxiand the literary and poutical feuds of the tone, then1 eiauiplea and then1 fauns even-tually formed the basis for the radical Mack arts movement of the Sixties, for the British actor Burt Caesar, who tomor-row at 6pm appears in a dnnuased leading enti The distance from Twenties blues singer Beaue Smith to Eighties srnooth-opera-tor Sade might wan very long road of the new Hiywird Callay extubi-tioo, in Block The Art cflhe Harlem Rcnautana, il'i i journey that not only nrgntkhk, but one of the nun iCMoni far the shows exigence. "London the perfect piece to do the now because there hi been totnething of i renitmnre here related to people of African descent in the bat 10 or IS wan, he mm. "There are author men as Caryl Phillins, mteUectuah audi ai Stuart Hall and even mitnriana Bag, ah. Side, Theie are flg-ures whom people the world over are seeing and recognising far their talent." Try as one might, iff cSffktoieeSadeaiabuterJcaiimBato, who can be viewed in one at the exhibition's film-chpL Dressed aa a canary in a cage, Baiter ta(e-divniriiotnecrowdattheeHcririukiuiri-ber in a marveUou white both of feathers. But if the Huiem ol the Avenues ud Thirties has come to London for the exhibition and in related leries of talks and events, one of the chow's most striking features is the light it throws on how London, and Europe generally, reacted to the rev-olutioa in literature, music and the visual arts that the movement of the Harlem Renaissance represented.

For Powell: "In the past, we've had a ten- dencjr to look at it as something peculiar to Harlem and to one decade, and as tcrncthingvery isolated in terms of just affecting and dealing with black people. But that is incorrect In truth, it wai a global phenomenon that touched not just Harlem but New York, and not just New York but most of the urban ueiUiet of the USA. It alio pops up in one to school) to his friend WH dancer, of a cabaret where one of the i ticca wa" "Gloria Swaraxn', a mcuifflnn black laanflf inn cnteedeCXatf dYeMtrinanedwith sequins who rushed about screaming Gappy weather, just cant keep my old arse tcfeoW keeps rurtnin' afi the time etc and rush up to the table drag- Sh sequins up and itiarinamga filthy pair of silk panties how he nianageol don't know no or arfythmgjei far as 1 could see." Writers lite Ronald Flrbenk, who wrote the Caribbean fantasy AacavAgerm Evelyn Vanigh who jraiunVrl the CJawfttrrfthejaiinaai cianCrKteyin Dedhte and Fat at 1929 -and the AniCiVaTn Ceari ta Ma Gastey; Arena) MbDay REVIEWS I An embarrassment of riches Like mother, like daughter CLASSrCAL MUSK Klri te Ksniwa and Andrea Bocalli Hampton Court another of the tenors to have been lined up for Pavarottii throne, AmrjHksticHiiietak but it seemed loud voice, willing lo indulge in the merest hint of sob, although not blatant. There is hint of toughness, but as it swelled in "Che getida manina" tenor let loose. His Mmdnees may, or may not, mliibaaataeycareer.buttrusaait rough gear changes between chest and head voice- When le Kanawa joined him for leave fanciuua" (Boheme again), there waa that pricking behind the eye as the tear ducts responded, even if the duet ended on a tour note.

It would have been apod to bear more of the Two THEATRE Amy's View RUT, SBC, Usndon First day of the Lord! Teat, Ladies' Day at Aacot, WmMsdon four days away: ram guaranteed, and otsyaafanifanteoTjtmiirt air concert (shelter for VIFt only) for such a day. In the event, Kiri te Kanawa's concert at Hampton Court began in sunshine and ended in twinklmg starlight, with not a raindrop to intervene. Someone up there must bice her. And who wouldn't? The reference books tell us that she made her debut aa Carmen with Northern Opera in 1968, but the mtervening decades have only added radiance, and the voice sulTsounds prefiy spectacular too, even if there were biematies The mmiiiilKsie aaiathnei found a metallic edge when she pushed hard, and in her first aria, "Secome voi" from Puccini'i Lt VWt, she and mnducror Robin Stapleton didn't quite find common cause. Then on the final note of "Senza mamma" from the tame composers Sua Angelica, the voice momentarily itemed altogether.

Well, it was a cold evening and, until that moment, the piece had exactly the right meJanchoiy timbre. AltlmiflebnawaperfcrmaPiiccim not necessarily the repertoire thatycvimniedutteryaan- date with her, perhaps because, unlike Mozait, Puccini absolutely insiiti that his heroines are young snd, emc-utandly at least, innocent. One duuactcrietk of tfje voice that works well in this repertoire is its utterly adult rich-, neat, antidote to the sentimentality that Puccini so easily succumbs to. That ssme quality is what, for this listener, mikes it the wrong voice for show tunes such as Richard Rodgerss "You'll Never VAlk She's careful to scale the voice down ao that it doesn't overwhelm the material but, instead, it becomes mere breathy whisper, unsupported by the chest, sometimes obliterated by the arcneatra the BBC Concert the second half a the programme went the ssme way, snd when she returned to Puccini for an encore, the opening phrases of mio bebbino caro" got applause, as if voices toaether, but all we not was an schweuten" from Lehar's (German) with Bocelli tinging Italian and lb Kanawa in English. Very odd.

Kbt Kanawa 'i 'Sob amort: Pucdnii Ariai' ii avaU-abkoi Erlo JUL sflrfi IWa llamlBflBjy everyone Her ic were renevea to get Back to opera, guest for the evening was Andrea Bocdli, gn Castles in the air DANCE TesNgawara: I Vtta Real Dorarnant UFT, QEH, SBC, London THE DTOEPEMMNT ow does one make people That is the problem that that Eame is now a casualty of the Lloyds insurance disaster, with no end to the money she owes, snd that, ironically, in the light of her previous acorn for television and its Dominic-shaped values, the is reduced to playing a nurse in a medical soap. Her position oddly echoes that of her daughter. If Amy cannot bring herself to leave an adulterous husband, Eame refuses to sue or boot out her live-in companion (Ronald Pickup) the man who, aa her financial adviser, is the author of her woes. So what right has either woman to criticise the others arrangements? It is this that sparks off their climactic ding-dong. Amy's view is that you have to give love nnormdirionalryand that one day it will be rewarded.

"You never see the man I love," she complains to her mother. Offered mmffiricnt glimpses of a Dominic who might have turned out better, an audience could answer neither do we. The excellent, bleakly ambivalent final act, set in 1995, after Amjft premature death, leaves you wondering for a while, however, if her love will bear posthumous fruit. In the stark dressing room where she ii preparing to go on in a surprise hit, a withdrawn, sobered Eame, who has lost everything but her work, receives an unexpected visit from Dominic. Having betrayed Amy, is it legitimate fbrriimtowamtoniakescciethingrjca-itive from her death by eetabnsUng the friendly relations with Eame she had always longed fart hate him, hesaya, would be a watte of Bane's life.

If the final, magically theatrical srnuence aug-geststhat Esnara life wiH never eiuUace Dwmnic, there's aho a hint, far the first time, that Amy's view is not entirely cock-eyed. Booking: 0171-928 2252 David Hare is no big fan of arts journalists, critics, and cultural arbiters: he once wrote in a Specula diary column that you had to hate art to work for The Indtptitdtnt. So one of the gifts for which he has been rightly lauded in his later plays the ability to see things from the other person perspective -was always likely to be put to a severe test when it came to creating a critic-figure about whom the audience could be validly in two minds. Moving in jumps from 1979 to 199i, Hare's new View, looks at how the close relationship between Eame, a winningly actressy old West End pro (Judi Dench, never better) and Amy, her publisher daughter (Saman-tha Bond) undergoes mounting strain after the oaughter throws in her tot with Dominic (Eoin McCarthy) a young film critic and wannabe director. Eame doubts from the start that he can make her daughter happy and tries to drive the pair apart by betraying Amy! secret that the is pregnant, a fact unlikely to go down wcflwim Dominic whose work aTiorniticaUy has to come first.

As it turns out, Eime'i hunch proves -accurate. By 198S, Rxninic has become the repellentry arrogant, power-mad mastermind of i high-rating TV arts jnogramme that exalts in trashing creative effort on the pious pretext of cut- ting through elitist hype and stirking up for the ordinary A grudge is passed off as public asritednesa. Wfih a galumphing lack of tact, given the downward spiral of Ernie's fortunes as the West End declines and parts for older women dry up, Dominic also performs the fashionably ritual dance on the supposed grave of theatre. Athird act, let ii 1993, rs the revelations brilliantly paced both in the writing and in Richard Eyre'i moving, funny, richly rewarding fjraluction WIN a set of MGM Greats and a SANYO Annncam rmic ana Shoot PcthiiLunlBr eaacsats lha msajc of in the dancers' dothec black to start and finish, then tome white, and reds and yellows in the climactic central part Occasionally the movement is almost balletic, parts are eccentric (far instance, the man who repeat-edty runs on far twitchy jumps aa if jerked on an invisible puppet abitttg); most often it comrjrisea a rhythmic sterning, varied pace snd place to which the performers give a dedicated intensity that from a packed house. I riotewimadmiratirntfw generosity of IaKyMiyake Ik msup- evenAough the costume designs are not them but by 'seshajawara, who ia msuumWf far aneniMya-phy, the excellent lighting and a share of the music rrsTipilation besides the choreography and lncKidk cast dataas ales through the sir, especially in a long sequence when it appears that howls from members of the cast are picked up, amplified, Irargthencd and echoed to eerie effect.

There ai almost nothing here of the Tjlwakal objects that have desn-mated Teshigawara's past work, tfie pile of broken glass, the.cot-lection of books and ahoca, the heavy, noisy metal wait. The nearest we get to such eiininaancei is when thne men briefly wheel on metal frames that made me think of a Croat between hfapital bed and a market stall, and the main point of theajecmed to be that, they were empty (another indication of Space). So the euncernataanoet entirety with movemciit, which brings out ahlgawaia1! a iiliiial as well as Wachflrengiaiihicaide. Tlffgiiiia'Bg lb. etna- asn Ins- avn guioa an andUH nMhaansneaauen In the MGM new MlMie Graats ceascHsa.

new avallabis 16 antar Has MGM Gnats compe- hi HfuHoi-Oocummu, the latest creation far ha) group Kane. Wsi, Marcel Marceau found one answer to that in hia early mime sketches many years ago, but Tbshigawara's solution is altogether BBOre crsnphx I am not sure that lie really does make the air visible; but what he docs achieve is, even more than in past Partly 7k" matter of the artiial mmTmrntr nftrn pinMng out, puflmgfaor fwiating. Rather Bsore, however, depeiala on the uneven distribution of bodies about the large QEH atagr, snmr times leaving mort of it free while the dancers pcifunn only along one edge, and leaving gaps even when they do apread out. The Thsss ttttss Incajds Cassaasnca, baloaaiaNwwIhsfDBOwliwojuBS' aa last GanWImTlai What, Bon on ana and anva your mm Tea Great eacaaa. Or rhbaga, andMadanaii UasRHaL Whkil forma actor playad it rbaxnaotfCasaNtoca? ISaffllRaBlERslinn all one of the dancers a poiy- ana enamg (J mmutes aaeri in being math proareajes tiariugn a effect is I brscrjr4raaairaTBDaw and colour PaulTjytor Jural nravwi.