work descriptions

Text written by barbara golden -
Leonard Cohen, right from the start, in the 60s, was an iconic + romantic Montreal artist--poet, songwriter, performer. Seven years my senior, we both attended the same schools, Westmount High + McGill Univeristy. I married at 20, sigh, mostly to have a regular New Year's Eve date, + our best friends were Leonard's first cousin, Gordon Cohen + his wife. As a 25-year old schoolteacher/ housewife, pregnant with Robert, + wearing an emerald green maternity dress, I attended the wedding of my close friend, Carol, who was marrying Henry Zemel, one of Leonard's good friends. (For Cohen fanatics such as myself, Henry can be heard in the drunken chorus at the end of One of Us Cannot Be Wrong,on the first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen.) However, I digress, + back to the wedding. Leonard was seated at dinner, scant yards from me. I gazed at him with longing, tongue tied + practically drooling. He was gorgeous! Hewas sexy! + from the start I was a loyal fan. In the 70s, both during + after, my first of several disastrous marriages, I vacationed in a tiny fishing village on the island of Lesbos. I went four times in all during the decade. Each time, I encountered the Canadian poet, Irving Layton, Leonard's mentor, + fellow cavorter, + from time to time, Leonard himself. He even complimented me on my handsome son, not that he remembered....sigh. In 1985 I started doing my radio show Crack o Dawn on KPFA. When, in July 88, I heard that Leonard was coming to town to perform at Zellerbach in Berkeley I immediately called Bill Graham Presents + asked for a couple of press tickets. Certainly was the reply, followed by, the tickets aren't moving that quickly, would you like to do an interview? DUH!!!!!SCORE!!!!! Armed with a Sony TCD5 + a couple of mics borrowed from Brian Reinbolt, I arrived at Leonard's room at the Durant Hotel. When the interview was over, he asked me to stay to talk about Montreal, + have some wine + fruit which the hotel had provided. We argued about where to get the best bagels + smoke meat in Montreal. We gossipped about poeple we knew in common. He asked if I had a boyfriend + I avidly, + with salacious detail, discussed my New York lover's predilection for cross-dressing, nipple clamps, the cat o nine tails, + so forth. + so we passed an agreeable hour or so. I was on the eve of the first of many trips to Bali, + tore myself away reluctantly from what might have ensued........+, yes,

::title::	Leonard
::choreography::	alyssa lee
::music::	barb golden
::costumes::	liz bootz
::visuals::	barb golden
::details::	Text written by barbara golden - Leonard Cohen, right from the start, in the 60s, was an iconic + romantic Montreal artist--poet, songwriter, performer. Seven years my senior, we both attended the same schools, Westmount High + McGill Univeristy. I married at 20, sigh, mostly to have a regular New Year's Eve date, + our best friends were Leonard's first cousin, Gordon Cohen + his wife. As a 25-year old schoolteacher/ housewife, pregnant with Robert, + wearing an emerald green maternity dress, I attended the wedding of my close friend, Carol, who was marrying Henry Zemel, one of Leonard's good friends. (For Cohen fanatics such as myself, Henry can be heard in the drunken chorus at the end of One of Us Cannot Be Wrong,on the first album, Songs of Leonard Cohen.) However, I digress, + back to the wedding. Leonard was seated at dinner, scant yards from me. I gazed at him with longing, tongue tied + practically drooling. He was gorgeous! Hewas sexy! + from the start I was a loyal fan. In the 70s, both during + after, my first of several disastrous marriages, I vacationed in a tiny fishing village on the island of Lesbos. I went four times in all during the decade. Each time, I encountered the Canadian poet, Irving Layton, Leonard's mentor, + fellow cavorter, + from time to time, Leonard himself. He even complimented me on my handsome son, not that he remembered....sigh. In 1985 I started doing my radio show Crack o Dawn on KPFA. When, in July 88, I heard that Leonard was coming to town to perform at Zellerbach in Berkeley I immediately called Bill Graham Presents + asked for a couple of press tickets. Certainly was the reply, followed by, the tickets aren't moving that quickly, would you like to do an interview? DUH!!!!!SCORE!!!!! Armed with a Sony TCD5 + a couple of mics borrowed from Brian Reinbolt, I arrived at Leonard's room at the Durant Hotel. When the interview was over, he asked me to stay to talk about Montreal, + have some wine + fruit which the hotel had provided. We argued about where to get the best bagels + smoke meat in Montreal. We gossipped about poeple we knew in common. He asked if I had a boyfriend + I avidly, + with salacious detail, discussed my New York lover's predilection for cross-dressing, nipple clamps, the cat o nine tails, + so forth. + so we passed an agreeable hour or so. I was on the eve of the first of many trips to Bali, + tore myself away reluctantly from what might have ensued........+, yes, There ain't no cure There ain't no cure There ain't no cure For love. Barbara Golden, Berkeley, November 2007
::photo::	ari denison
::video::