Ostrich Dancers

Paula Rego

Rego’s women are frustrated. In stark contrast to painterly depictions of ballerinas from the past, Rego’s dancers are inelegant and uncomfortable;frustrated with themselves, with their garb and with each other. Taking its name and inspiration from Disney’s Fantasia, The Dancing Ostriches share few similarities with their graceful namesakes but they both exist in a storybook type world. ‘If you don’t know what to draw, read a story’, Rego says, and for her this is often fairy tales in their traditional guise – dark and beautiful. Rego’s ballerinas are her friends, her muses and sometimes herself. They are figures in dialogue with themselves.

Wednesday 23rd September

The Moon deepens into earthy Capricorn, drawing our attention to the living soil. Where conditions allow, consider applying horn manure preparation 500, used in biodynamic practice to support soil vitality and root development. Biodynamic agriculture grew from Rudolf Steiner’s lectures in 1924, but the practical work began earlier. In 1923, he gave Ehrenfried Pfeiffer and Günther Wachsmuth instructions for making and testing the preparations. Pfeiffer later helped bring biodynamics to the United States, sharing this approach through research, teaching and farming. In the garden, we carry this work forward through careful observation and attention to the earth beneath our feet.