January 30, 2014
Concord Pioneer • www.concordpioneer.com
Page 11
A dance with Concord’s ‘first celebrity’ ‘The Miniaturist’
CAROL LONGSHORE
OLD NEWS Caroline Hipple Holpin was born in Minnesota. At the age of six her family moved to Chicago. Mind you, this was back in the late l880s. She met William Holpin and although there isn’t much history of their relationship, we know that he encouraged her to dance and arranged for her dance lessons by the father of Flo Ziegfeld during the Chicago World Fair in l893. He thought she had something very special and, as she says, proposed a contract and that started her flamboyant, colorful and amazing career. With William’s knowledge of electricity and her creativity with mirrors and silk, they created spectacular stage design, choreography and special effects, that in this day and age, would have won awards all over the place. She performed at large venues
CAROLINE HIPPLE HOLPIN is known as the founder of modern dance. She and husband William owned a ranch in Ygnacio Valley. But before they could retire there, William died.
all over the world and relished in the fact that nobody know who she was. They thought she came from Europe or South America, and that tickled her pink.
The modern dance community is on a mission to give her the honor she deserves. This community of dancers believes she was the founder and “god-
dess” of Modern Dance. The reason this piece of history is news for us is because in 1893 she and William bought 167 acres here in Ygnacio Valley. She loved horses and when she was little she would stop the milkman so she could ride his horse. It was their dream to settle down and raise race horses therefore becoming, as Nilda Rego calls her, Concord’s first celebrity. Unfortunately, she and William were just about to settle down and “retire” here for good when she got news, while she was in Europe on tour, that William died of a heart attack. With a broken heart she continued to dance until November 21,1907, when, while performing in Dusseldorf, Germany, she had a stroke that took her life. Can you imagine how that could have changed our history, to have a celebrity of that stature living and contributing to the Valley? The property was sold and the new owners ended up raising grapes. Carol Longshore has been a Concord resident since 1950. She is a community leader and current president of the Concord Historical Society. Send comments and suggestions for future topics to editor@concordpioneer.com.
Local dignitaries take on teen lit PEGGY SPEAR Concord Pioneer
Jeff Carmen is a tough guy, but even he was probably reduced to tears while reading “The Fault in our Stars” by John Green. What was Contra Costa County’s fire chief doing reading a teen novel? It was part of a unique program offered by the Concord Library. In Reverse Required Reading, local dignitaries are invited to read teen literature and review the books, all in an effort to encourage teen reading and create a sense of community through literature. Ten local influential adults participated in the program, including Carmen, Concord
Police Chief Guy Swanger, Concord City Manager Valerie Barone, city council members Dan Helix and Edi Birsan, and even Ygnacio Valley High School varsity football coach Phillip Puentes. Lynne Noone, the Adult Services Librarian at the Concord Library, spearheaded the effort, and in December put up at the library on Salvio Street a display with photos of the adult reviewers holding up their books of choice, as well as their thoughts and reflections. “Following in the footsteps of Katniss from Hunger Games and Triss from Divergent, it is an excellent read,” Swanger said of “The Fifth Wave,” by Rick Yancy. “I was expecting more of a
teenage ‘love story’ that was riddled with immaturity. It was nothing like what I expected,” said Concord High Principal Rianne Pfaltzgraff of her read, “The Sky is Everywhere” by Jandy Nelson. “I liked reading this book because it presented many new and interesting ideas about how Internet gaming could expand in the future to create many virtual worlds, and the impact and consequences of this progress on the way we live,” said Concord Community Relations Manager Leslye Asera of “The Eye of Minds” by James Dashner. Noone said that the program was so successful, she’d like to do a sequel next year.
Concord PD officer Jeff Carmen was one of ten local dignitaries to participate in the Concord Library’s teen reading program.
Mountain Shadow movie club offers artsy alternative for cinema lovers
Mountain Shadows founder, John Bennisen, chats with the audience before the movie at a recent showing.
When Ciné-Arts left Pleasant Hill in 2013, with the demolition of the old Dome theatre, cinema lovers in Walnut Creek and the surrounding communities lost the opportunity to see great foreign, independent and short films without trekking to Berkeley or San Francisco’s commercial theaters. But that’s changed. In January, 2014, volunteer director John Bennison launched the non-profit Mountain Shadow Film Society as the new alternative. Film screenings are held twice each month in the Oak
View Room of the downtown Walnut Creek Library. A $120 annual membership guarantees a seat for 12 shows, along with a number of other member benefits. A limited number of $12 general admission seats are generally available. Each show includes a firstrun feature film that is typically otherwise unavailable in local theaters, along with an awardwinning short film, a brief introduction with a Mountain Shadow film reviewer, and optional follow-up discussion. On several occasions last year, filmmakers made personal
appearances to present their works, which included an Oscar-nominated short liveaction documentary and a fullfeature docu-comedy about the golden era of stand-up comedy in San Francisco that premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival last October. Mountain Shadow’s 2015 Season kicked off in January with a pre-DVD release of Sweden’s Oscar entry, “Force Majeure.” In February, Mountain Shadow will screen the Oscar-nominated Animated and Live-Action Short Films on Feb. 13 and 14, in advance of an Oscar Party with live telecast of the Academy Awards on Feb. 22. The community has responded enthusiastically to the film society. In the first few months Mountain Shadow had grown to maximum membership and a second monthly screening was added to accommodate members’ guests and steadily increasing numbers of the general public. While membership was expanded to 250, it is already fully subscribed for the 2015 Season.
For more information or to be added to the wait list, go to www.mountainshadow.org. or contact John Bennison at 925.787.6965, or email him at jb@mountainshadow.org.
no small read
CYNTHIA GREGORY
FOR
THE
BOOKS
If you’re looking for a deftly crafted historical novel, look no further than Jessie Burton’s debut novel, “The Miniaturist” (HarperLuxe, August, 2014). Set in 17th-century Amsterdam, “The Miniaturist” is the story of young Nella, a country girl possessing an important name and no fortune, newly married to Johannes Brandt, a wealthy Amsterdam merchant. After a short introduction and even shorter courtship, Nella is quickly married to Brandt before he vanishes back to the city to conduct his important business, leaving his bride behind to follow him when she will. With little beside an address to go by, Nella arrives in Amsterdam and finds Brandt’s grand manor in the best part of town, but she does not find her husband. Instead, she finds Brandt’s formidable sister, Marin, who is head of the household and manager of Brandt’s business affairs. There is the fiercely loyal household cook, maid, and chief snoop, Cornelia, who was rescued from an orphanage. There is also Brandt’s valet, Otto, a slave acquired on a trip to the East Indies, then freed and employed by Brandt himself. Nella takes her established place in her husband’s home and begins to discover the secrets that form the heartbeat of her new family. Brandt is formidable and handsome, a respected member of Amsterdam’s merchant class and leader in the Dutch East Indian Company. His business interests keep him far from home, and so do appetites that
in Calvinist Amsterdam put the family squarely on a path of destruction. But he is generous and kind to Nella. As a wedding gift and to keep her occupied in her newly elevated role of married lady, Brandt presents Nella with a model replica of his house and instructs her to fill it as she will. Resourceful Nella discovers a miniaturist in the city who provides her with exquisitely detailed replicas to furnish her small house. Before long, however, Nella discovers that the miniatures, which begin to arrive without having been commissioned, form premonitions of household events. Mysteries stack up. Increasingly, Nella feels herself being watched, and she herself begins to listen at keyholes. She feels as if she is working out a puzzle. No one will tell her the truth – or at least not all of it. Austere Marin wears modest dresses of black wool. . .lined with ermine and silk. She is educated and vicious as a hawk, a grown woman who chooses spinsterhood over marriage for the freedom that it affords her. But surely there are lovers? No one seems to know for certain; or if they do, they are not talking. In accordance with her very dignified position, Nella is introduced to Amsterdam society to great interest, the child-bride of the great Johannes Brandt. She is given an allowance and complete freedom to navigate the city at will. She learns the city’s sophisticated social customs and grows into her position as a married lady. In the end, Nella grows up quickly and manages to save herself, if not the Brandts. “The Miniaturist” has all the appeal of an historical romance, except the romance is found in all the most unexpected places. As a pager-turner, “The Miniaturist” can’t be beat.
Cynthia Gregory is a North Bay nonprofit leader, writer of short fiction, .and author of a blog. Email comments and questions to editor@concordpioneer.com
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