RhineBuzz

Patti Smith "Just Kids" The Endearing Friendship with Mapplethorpe

Patti Smith will be reading from her book "Just Kids" on March 19th at the lit.Cologne. Tickets for Patti's event sold out pretty much immediately but RhineBuzz managed to secure a couple places and John and I will be there. So join us after March 19th for the tour at the Mapplethorpe Retrospective as we can relay first hand anecdotes from Patti herself about the endearing friendship she shared with Mapplethorpe.

On March 19th my colleague Rita will be taking the English tour at the NRW-Forum at 9pm. Thanks Rita and thank you Manfred Schmidt for the beautiful photograph of Rita taken at the pre-opening of the show.

©manfred schmidt photography

Yoga in English with John Vilardo

next session March 14th
John Vilardo, professional dancer and experienced yoga instructor from the United States, is offering yoga classes on a Sunday at 11am from March 7th from Holmes Place Fitness Centre on the Königsalle. €15.00 per session of 90 minutes. John is a fantastic teacher, if you are interested in yoga at all go along. You will not be disappointed.

You do not have to be a member of Holmes Place to take this class. Congratulations John - you have worked out a great deal!
Contact John to reserve your place - they are limited!

Further details here, or email John at guyj646@aol.com or yoga@rhinebuzz.com

John at the NRW-Forum Friday at 9pm
John will also be taking the English tour of the Robert Mapplethorpe Retrospective at the NRW-Forum on March 5th and 12th at 9pm. Go along and meet him, he will give a great tour! However, you are not obliged to visit the exhibition, you can just go along and meet other English speakers in the bar for the evening. John will be around for a drink before and after the tour too.

John meeting Michael Stout, president of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation

American Citizen Services Day

The US Consulate General Duesseldorf have asked us to let all US citizens know that St Patrick's Day, March 17th, will be American Citizen Services Day in Duesseldorf from 10:00 to 14:00.
All services available on that day only can be found in the link.
So if there is something you need to get done at the Consulate save yourself a trip to Frankfurt and go on down there.

Mapplethorpe

Robert Mapplethorpe Retrospective

Shocking. Authentic. Desperate. Obligated. Graceful.

Mapplethorpe’s eye was all this and more. So much more.

RhineBuzz back at the NRW-Forum every Friday until midnight. Free tour in English at 9pm.

February 6 - August 15 2010

Mapplethorpe was an artist of endless superlatives.

The talent, the search, the obsession and the honesty produced masterpieces to some and startling offensive images to others.

He opened up dark, secret worlds and at the same time paid homage to the great classics as he described photography "the perfect way to make sculpture."

This artist produced perhaps the world's most graceful still life photographs of flowers; strong, sometimes fragile, spell-binding portraits of royalty and the world's greatest artists and in parallel sparked controversy and ground breaking judgements dealing with sexuality and the question of what public funding of the arts should be.

Mapplethorpe never leaves you without emotion.

RhineBuzz Friday Nights at the NRW-Forum

Every Friday from February 12th. Stammtisch for the international community until midnight

Everyone welcome even if you do not wish to visit the exhibition

Museum entry €3.80

Free tour in English 9pm

Ehrenhof 2

40479 Düsseldorf

U Bahn Tonhalle/Ehrenhof

Rhine Ballet Premier b.03 and upcoming b.02

RhineBuzz were at the Premier of b.03.

Phenomenal.

The entire performance was stunning but the highlight for me was the heart-rendering centre piece "Signing Off." A strong, emotional dance that will remain with me forever. Unbelievably powerful in a mystical and haunting way, this award-winning piece by Paul Lightfoot and Sol León is about farewell.

Stunningly beautiful. One of the members of our group is a professional performer - he had tears in his eyes as we met for the intermission.

The Philip Glass music was just incredible.

We met members of the ensemble after the performance who shared the delights of working with the Rhine Ballet's director Martin Schläpfer with us. Simply put, we were told that each day is a new challenge and that the learning process, working with this quiet Swiss artist, is second to none. "Everyone is a star when working with Martin, there is no better director to be working with today" the ballerina smiled.

The next performance is on Friday 26th February and again on Saturday 27th. You can purchase tickets from the excellent Opera Shop or online.

b.03 runs in Düsseldorf until April 4th.

RhineBuzz have secured discounted tickets for the Rhine Ballet b.o2 Kunst der Fuge for April 16th at 19:30. Email caroline@rhinebuzz.com for details.

Cinema Listings for English Language Showings

This post will change regularly as we receive new listings, so please keep checking back. We cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions but please let us know if you spot any so we can correct them. Unfortunately, listings are generally only made available for the following week hence the sometimes limited listings.

Tues. 9th
Alice in Wonderland: Cinestar 14:20, 20:10 (OV)
Invictus: Cinestar 14:25 (OV)
Up in The Air: Cinestar 17:20 (OV)
Nine: Cinestar 14:50 (OV)
*************************

Weds. 10th
Alice in Wonderland: Cinestar 14:35, 20:10 (OV)
Invictus: Cinestar 14:10 (OV)
Nine: Cinestar 14:50 (OV)
Up in The Air Cinestar 17:20 (OV)
**************************

Thurs. 11th
Alice in Wonderland: Cinestar 14:35, 20:10(OV)
Anvil! The Story of Anvil: Bambi 21:30 (OmU)
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Fri. 12th
Alice in Wonderland: Cinestar 14:35, 20:10,22:55 (OV)
Anvil! The Story of Anvil: Bambi 21:30 (OmU)
Avatar: Cinestar 22.30 (OV)
Up in The Air: Cinestar 22.55 (OV)
***************************
Sat. 13th

Alice in Wonderland: Cinestar 14:35, 20:10, 22:55 (OV)
Anvil! The Story of Anvil: Bambi 21:30 (OmU)

Avatar: Cinestar 22:30 (OV)
Up in The Air: Cinestar 22:55 (OV)
******************

OV = Original Version
OmU = Original Version with German subtitles
OmeU = Original Version with English subtitles

After Work Arts at mkp in March

We hosted our first After Work Arts at mkp last night.

This is what one of the guests had to say - her words are way better than mine could be -

I had such a wonderful time - I can't remember the last time I was in such a zen zone just doing art! The instructor was fabulous - she created such a nice positive open atmosphere and sort of led us in playing with stuff. AND we had really groovy background music! Everyone should come - it beats most TV shows, and it beats *yet another* evening standing around at cocktails with people, asking where they're from and how long they've been here. This gives you something more interesting to hold than a cocktail glass, and a much better return on your investment. For boys and girls.

This will happen the fourth Thursday of every month.

Next date March 25th at the Studio at museum kunst palas t. 7 - 9pm.

€18 all materials inc. Email me to reserve your place caroline@rhinebuzz.com

More information here

Mapplethorpe Opening

John and I spoke with Michael Stout, the president of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation and Eric Johnson at the opening of the Robert Mapplethorpe Retrospective at the NRW-Forum last night.

Michael kindly, with a big smiling face, gave us a personal view of the photographer; they had known one another many years, he was his friend, his lawyer and the person he asked to help build and take care of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.

I also spoke with Ralph Goertz, who has recently returned from the States where he was able to speak with, and film, people who had been friends with Mapplethorpe and who had worked with him. I asked Ralph if these people were tired of having to answer questions on Mapplethorpe and was very surprised to hear that several of the people in his movie "Shapes" had never spoken about Mapplethorpe before! A enormous coup for Ralf - congratulations - and a wonderful film is the result! You can see it at the exhibition and purchase it in the shop at the NRW-Forum.

The tour will evolve greatly I'm sure as we move through the weeks of the exhibition.

We encourage questions and discussions and are able to contact the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation with unanswered questions which will no doubt come up.

Certainly the response to the packed opening last night was very positive. The photographs are everything - stunningly beautiful, intriguing and quite unlike anything you may have seen before.

Marja from Finnland and Mercedes from Spain who won an invitation to the opening at our Funk & Soul Party in November.

Stammtisch every Friday from February 12th.

Free tour in English 9pm.

©Bernd Ahrens Photography

Aids Gala 2010

Saturday Night at the Düsseldorf Opera House certainly was Some Enchanting Evening

I was fortunate enough to be part of the audience of the first Aids Gala at the Rhine Opera, under the patronage of Düsseldorf Mayor Dirk Elbers and hosted and curated by Albert Eickhoff, founder of Eickhoff on the Königsallee, the store with the most beautiful windows!

We were treated to an evening of incredible music performed by some big names of the opera world singing a program that crossed Verdi with Dvorak, Tschaikowsky and Rodgers. Beautifully accompanied by The Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra and The Chorus of the Rhine Opera who quite obviously really enjoyed being part of this charity gala.

As glitzily German celebrities and politicians took their seats in the house, Herr Eickoff conveyed a very serious message to us all:

Aids is not going away.

Aids remains a tragic topic, but one that has simply been pushed on the back burner as economic crisis and climate change dominate the media.

Of course we can all argue whether it really makes sense to juxtapose dying children with such a glamourous event. I completely share this view - and yet - it does raise awareness once again. These events do raise a lot of money. People are helped. Without these events Aids would sadly be just another story.

Every week in Düsseldorf someone is diagnosed HIV.

Every 77 minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed HIV positive.

It is not just a problem of the third world or minority groups.

The facts in Africa are staggering: a child dies every two minutes in as a result of Aids.

We were shown a film from Mozambique where a program supported by the German Aids Foundation can help bring a healthy child to the world whose mother is HIV positive. For €650 the mother and child can be treated with medication that in most cases, ensures that the child is born HIV free.

I urge you today to give to an Aids support program. You can donate online here, this is all in German, or search for your own country's Aids programs and foundations and please donate online now. For instance to the UK's Terrence Higgins Trust.

The money raised at last night's gala, over €130,000, is going to help Aids patients in Düsseldorf and Dream (drug resource enhancement against aids and malnutrition) of the Deutsche AIDS-Stiftung.

On this Sunday, but not only today, please embrace "Tue Gutes und habe Freude daran" - the motto of last night's gala.

Thank you.

+++++++++++++++++++

Robert Mapplethorpe died of Aids in 1989.

30 cents of every entry fee to the Robert Mapplethorpe Retrospective at the NRW-Forum will go the the Hope Foundation.

Wine Tasting with Nicola

So many have asked us to organise wine tastings and we've been trying to fix a date for quite some time, so we are very happy that Nicola now has the capacity to bring her amusing tastings with her immense wine knowledge back to Düsseldorf. Nicola Blanchard is a qualified WSET wine enthusiast with years of experience.

Discover 5 fabulous German wines with her accompanied by culinary delights prepared for you by WINELIVE, Düsseldorf's newest wine location, selected by the city guide Prinz as the best opening for wine in Düsseldorf 2009!

Places for the evening are €35, only available from Nicola and RhineBuzz.

Please contact Nicola if you have any questions 0179 590 1097

Wednesday, 24th February 2010

19:30 - 22:00

WINELIVE

Im Liefeld 32

40227 Düsseldorf

Music Events

The listings will change on a regular basis. Please let us know if we've missed something you think we should be showing. Latest additions or changes are displayed in red.

We are not responsible for errors or omissions.

February

26th Depeche Mode : Esprit Arena
27th Depeche Mode : Esprit Arena
27th 50 cent : Grugahalle, Essen

28th Tindersticks : Zakk, Dusseldorf

March
2nd Chris Rea : Philipshalle, Dusseldorf
2nd Lynyrd Skynyrd : Grugahalle, Essen
3rd 30 Seconds To Mars : Philipshalle, Dusseldorf
5th Leningrad Cowboys : Matrix, Bochum
5th Runrig : Oberhausen Arena
6th Pat Metheny : Tonhalle , Dusseldorf
6th Marc Almond : Marientor, Duisburg
6th Jean Michel Jarre : Oberhausen Arena
7th Spandau Ballet : Philipshalle, Dusseldorf
12th Joan Armatrading : Krefeld Kulturfabrik
19th Scooter : E ssen Grugahalle
20th Mika : Philipshalle, Dusseldorf
22nd Joan Baez : Philipshalle, Dusseldorf
26th Ronan Keating : Philipshalle, Dusseldorf

April

11th Angelique Kidjo : Krefeld Kulturfabrik

13th Maceo Parker : Krefeld Kulturfabrik
17th Nigel Kennedy : Tonhalle , Dusseldorf
23rd Mireille Matthieu : Philipshalle, Dusseldorf
25th Rihanna : Oberhausen Arena

May
2nd The Hooters : Zeche, Bochum
3rd Ultravox : Zeche, Bochum

5th The Prodigy : Philipshalle, Dusseldorf

13th Alicia Keyes : Oberhausen Arena
26th Whitney Houston : Oberhausen Arena
28th Eric Clapton/Steve Winwood : ISS Dome, Dusseldorf

31st Michael Bublé : Oberhausen Arena

June
1st Kiss : Oberhausen Arena
22nd Mark Knopfler : Oberhausen Arena

November

6th David Garret : ISS Dome, Dusseldorf
11th Status Quo : Grugahalle, Essen