England The First - Exorcising A Man-Made ‘Black Death' (22:38pm)

Some men may call her the Black Death—although she's only a woman. For some, it is merely a metaphor. She traverses dark woods and lonely places, perhaps the shadows of man's misogynistic past. Maybe to him she is still a witch, but I see no broom, spells, or potions. Perhaps you've always been afraid to come under her spell, a mystique that you helped her create. Her long gown of black silk, an adornment of allure that you dressed her with, is conveniently dismissed whenever it suits you. In truth, you hate to admit that you made it to conceal her heart of gold—something you refuse to accept because you cannot bear lives that are so perfect. Now she has become your lifetime’s curse, one that you invoked in the first place.

From her man-made Sacristy she naturally has the Piety Finger, adding semblance and dutiful right to your Female Deity...

Where you wear your heart on your sleeve...on her sleeve, usually your English colours to her 'particular' mast :(

Which brings me to the freedom of Laura Knight, who was one of the leading painters of her generation, a figurative artist who embraced English Impressionism.

She worked in oils, watercolours, etching, engraving and drypoint. A painter in the figurative, realist tradition where her most popular paintings reflected the backstage world of performance – circus, ballet and theatre – capturing performers in fleeting, intimate moments.

In 1936, Knight became the first woman elected to full membership of the Royal Academy since its foundation in 1768, nearly two centuries earlier. Her major retrospective exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1965 was also the first ever devoted to a woman artist. During the Second World War, she was appointed an official War Artist and is particularly renowned for her paintings documenting the Nuremberg Trials in the immediate aftermath of the war.

Knight’s success within a male-dominated British art establishment helped to challenge institutional barriers and paved the way for greater recognition and professional status for women artists in Britain.

Leading me to Gillian Lynne, a former ballerina, and Bafta and Olivier winning choreographer and director, of musicals and films. Known for her choreography of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals Cats (one of the longest running theatre productions across the world), Phantom Of The Opera and Aspects of Love, and loads more. On what makes a good dancer, she stated:

"You have to understand the element of movement in the core of your being, but you could do that without being a fantastic dancer, I think. You have to understand that movement and thought are wedded together. You can't just go and dance without a thought in your head. You need to know why you are doing the movements, what they mean to you and what they may mean to others."

[Picture: Gillian in rehearsals with John Cranko, a South African ballet choreographer for a show at Hammersmith, London].

You too, need to understand that avoiding your own emotional potential and deflecting it onto her has made her a queen—and not an equally rightful king, but an emotional pauper.

So, Defend! not Hate your women...whilst embracing your True Colours.

Ballet Profusion! From Laura's backstage kind to taking Gillian Lynne's center stage and embracing your free and vulnerable side. Adopt a swan pose, spread your wings, imagine your own swan lake, where you are the only one graceful and beautiful.

So then, The Black Death is all a Stage, you Live or Die on it. And the symptoms are as subtle as you conditioned them with (female or male) throughout their lives. Just like Andre Walker and Ash Gould on TalkTV. But then some things are quite irreversible ;)

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