Latest news with #HanselandGretel
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Wichita Falls Ballet Theatre presents twist on Hansel & Gretel
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — A new, fun spin on a classic fairy tale is coming to Wichita Falls. The Wichita Falls Ballet Theatre will perform Hansel and Gretel in two performances at MSU's Fain Fine Arts Auditorium, on Friday, May 16, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, May 17, at 1 p.m. Tickets for the show are $25 and can be bought online. 'Hansel and Gretel' is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. It was published in 1812 as part of Grimms' Fairy Tales. Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a forest and fall into the hands of a witch who lives in a house made of bread, cake and sugar. The witch intends to fatten Hansel before eating him. Although Gretel saves her brother by pushing the witch into her oven, she escapes with the witch's treasure. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Indian Express
24-04-2025
- Indian Express
Why do many people still believe in witches?
'I'm a modern witch, I admit it,' says 59-year-old Barbara. She has spent her entire life feeling that she is in contact with the spirit world. Her room smells of incense, and she's about to consult the runes for her future. In the Early Modern period, Barbara would likely have ended up burned at the stake. This fate also threatened Maria Anna Schwegelin, for the people wanted to see the former maid burned in April 1775. She had confessed to fornication with the devil. Maria Anna Schwegelin was the last witch to be sentenced to death in Germany, in the Bavarian town of Kempten, even though leading thinkers and authorities no longer truly believed in witchcraft in the Age of Enlightenment. However, they didn't want to disappoint the people, who were still deeply mired in superstition. It wasn't until 1995 that a historian discovered that the sentence was never carried out. Maria Anna Schwegelin died in prison in 1781. Belief in witchcraft spreads worldwide Whether the supposed witch truly met the devil or was mentally disturbed remains a mystery. What is certain, however, is that even in the 21st century, there are still people who believe in witchcraft. Barbara is by no means the only one. According to 'Witchcraft Beliefs around the World: An Exploratory Analysis,' a global study released in November by economist Boris Gershman of American University in Washington, D.C., a remarkable 40% of the global population across 95 countries is convinced that witches exist. That figure fluctuates from country to country: In Tunisia, it is around 90%, in Germany just 13%. The authors of the study also define those who believe in the evil eye and in curses as 'believers in witches.' Barbara, however, doesn't want to put a curse on anyone, she told DW emphatically: 'This classic image of a witch sneaking out at night, flying on a broom and conjuring up something evil for people, that's of course total nonsense.' Scapegoats for calamity For centuries, many people, especially women, fell victim to this notion of the witch, and particularly between about 1450 and 1750 in Europe. Whatever the misfortune — disease, dead livestock, failed harvests, a failed business — a scapegoat was needed. This was common in the past, but still exists today in some countries. 'Similar ideas of witchcraft to those of the early modern period actually exist today in other parts of the world as an explanation for calamity,' ethnologist Iris Gareis told DW. 'Unfortunately, for decades people believed to be sorcerers or witches have been killed in a cruel way in many parts of the world.' While in countries such as Tanzania or Ghana women accused of witchcraft have to seek refuge in so-called witch camps to escape death, some people in the northern hemisphere openly profess to witchcraft. For example, Justin (name changed): 'As a child, you learn about the witch in the Hansel and Gretel story, as the evil one who eats up the good. And at some point, you address that notion and learn to see the witch as a wise woman.' Justin is a self-professed follower of Wicca — a neo-pagan religious movement named after the Old English word for witch. 'Hexe,' the German word for witch, is derived from the Old High German 'hagazussa,' which means fence-rider. Someone who can see into other worlds, says Justin, and can bring magic into their own life or that of other people. Spirits and magical rituals help him, he says, adding that for him Christianity lacked that sense of magic for him and he never felt at home in that religion. In a parallel universe Barbara likewise did not feel at home in the Christian Church. As a witch, she is a follower of natural religions, she says. She talks to trees, and uses a drum to come into contact with spirits and go into a trance. She says that she learned to do this from a shaman. 'The witchcraft universe is rich and colorful. You live a little bit here and a little bit in a parallel world.' While many modern witches read tarot cards, Barbara prefers to use runes as to predict the future. 'Why should I wait for the powers of fate to give me something?' she asks. 'If I ask a question, the answer is sure to come.' She also always has incense and plant extracts at home — to combat illness. 'It all sounds like herbalism. But it's supposed to sound like it, too, because that's what witchcraft used to be all about, knowing herbs and healing people.' While many modern witches in urban metropolises do not belong to any group, but Wiccans organize themselves in circles. (Photo: Freepik) But from a historical perspective, the image of the witch as a wise woman with special knowledge as a healer and midwife is nothing more than a cliche, says ethnologist Iris Gareis. 'The women who were persecuted as witches were not always some great herbalists, but mostly quite normal people. And they didn't always have red hair, as is often claimed. That's total nonsense and doesn't appear in any historical document.' However, the image has become so entrenched in people's minds that it often cannot be countered even with scientific evidence, she points out. Witches as figureheads for feminists The phenomenon of modern witches is closely linked to the women's movement of the 1970s, which rebelled against the dominance of the male world. 'In the witch, they had a figurehead, so to speak,' says Gareis. 'Of course, these feminists were not witch researchers. They were just normal, even intellectual women who just appropriated this image of the oppressed woman.' In the 1980s, the spiritual aspect was added to this image. It was especially urban women who were attracted to nature-based religions, the ethnologist says. 'What I can imagine is that in times of uncertainty, people seek their salvation in nature.' While many modern witches in urban metropolises do not belong to any group, but Wiccans organize themselves in circles. The Wiccan cult originated in Britain in the first half of the 20th century and is recognized as a religion there, as it is in the US. Justin completed his own initiation ritual years ago. Different kinds of magic 'Some say you have to put a pointy black hat on a witch so that she can be recognized as such,' Justin said. 'I personally like to surprise people by not draping myself with charms and talismans. And then — boom — something unexpected and magical comes from me.' 'That's my little wicked witch community,' he adds, with a twinkle in his eye. In no way, however, does he want to harm anyone, he says. But he is convinced, as is Barbara, that there are witches with dark intentions: 'There are magicians who cast curses and spells with which they can definitely achieve something.' Parallels between belief in witches and conspiracy theories? According to the Gershman study, the belief in witchcraft is less widespread among well-educated and economically sound people but iris Gareis is not so sure: 'In view of modern conspiracy theories, which became especially apparent during the COVID pandemic in the US, and also here in Germany, that is doubtful.' After all, she points out that there are even educated people who believe that reptiloids, or lizard people, live among us and control events in politics and the economy — something that is incomprehensible to her. Witchcraft is not a game Justin warns against getting involved with witchcraft if you don't have your feet on the ground: 'People who are mentally unstable should stay away from magic and sorcery. If they can't get their lives under control, they won't find a way to balance themselves through witchcraft or Wicca. If I am not grounded, then I cannot reach out and explore the heavens.' Or to quote Shakespeare's Hamlet, 'There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.'
Times of Oman
08-04-2025
- Times of Oman
Why do many people still believe in witches?
Kempten" "I'm a modern witch, I admit it," says 59-year-old Barbara. She has spent her entire life feeling that she is in contact with the spirit world. Her room smells of incense, and she's about to consult the runes for her future. In the Early Modern period, Barbara would likely have ended up burned at the stake. This fate also threatened Maria Anna Schwegelin, for the people wanted to see the former maid burned in April 1775. She had confessed to fornication with the devil. Maria Anna Schwegelin was the last witch to be sentenced to death in Germany, in the Bavarian town of Kempten, even though leading thinkers and authorities no longer truly believed in witchcraft in the Age of Enlightenment. However, they didn't want to disappoint the people, who were still deeply mired in superstition. It wasn't until 1995 that a historian discovered that the sentence was never carried out. Maria Anna Schwegelin died in prison in 1781. Belief in witchcraft spreads worldwide Whether the supposed witch truly met the devil or was mentally disturbed remains a mystery. What is certain, however, is that even in the 21st century, there are still people who believe in witchcraft. Barbara is by no means the only one. According to "Witchcraft Beliefs around the World: An Exploratory Analysis," a global study released in November by economist Boris Gershman of American University in Washington, D.C., a remarkable 40% of the global population across 95 countries is convinced that witches exist. That figure fluctuates from country to country: In Tunisia, it is around 90%, in Germany just 13%. The authors of the study also define those who believe in the evil eye and in curses as "believers in witches." Barbara, however, doesn't want to put a curse on anyone, she told DW emphatically: "This classic image of a witch sneaking out at night, flying on a broom and conjuring up something evil for people, that's of course total nonsense." Scapegoats for calamity For centuries, many people, especially women, fell victim to this notion of the witch, and particularly between about 1450 and 1750 in Europe. Whatever the misfortune — disease, dead livestock, failed harvests, a failed business — a scapegoat was needed. This was common in the past, but still exists today in some countries. "Similar ideas of witchcraft to those of the early modern period actually exist today in other parts of the world as an explanation for calamity," ethnologist Iris Gareis told DW. "Unfortunately, for decades people believed to be sorcerers or witches have been killed in a cruel way in many parts of the world." While in countries such as Tanzania or Ghana women accused of witchcraft have to seek refuge in so-called witch camps to escape death, some people in the northern hemisphere openly profess to witchcraft. For example, Justin (name changed): "As a child, you learn about the witch in the Hansel and Gretel story, as the evil one who eats up the good. And at some point, you address that notion and learn to see the witch as a wise woman." Justin is a self-professed follower of Wicca — a neo-pagan religious movement named after the Old English word for witch. "Hexe," the German word for witch, is derived from the Old High German "hagazussa," which means fence-rider. Someone who can see into other worlds, says Justin, and can bring magic into their own life or that of other people. Spirits and magical rituals help him, he says, adding that for him Christianity lacked that sense of magic for him and he never felt at home in that religion. In a parallel universe Barbara likewise did not feel at home in the Christian Church. As a witch, she is a follower of natural religions, she says. She talks to trees, and uses a drum to come into contact with spirits and go into a trance. She says that she learned to do this from a shaman. "The witchcraft universe is rich and colorful. You live a little bit here and a little bit in a parallel world." While many modern witches read tarot cards, Barbara prefers to use runes as to predict the future. "Why should I wait for the powers of fate to give me something?" she asks. "If I ask a question, the answer is sure to come." She also always has incense and plant extracts at home — to combat illness. "It all sounds like herbalism. But it's supposed to sound like it, too, because that's what witchcraft used to be all about, knowing herbs and healing people." But from a historical perspective, the image of the witch as a wise woman with special knowledge as a healer and midwife is nothing more than a cliche, says ethnologist Iris Gareis. "The women who were persecuted as witches were not always some great herbalists, but mostly quite normal people. And they didn't always have red hair, as is often claimed. That's total nonsense and doesn't appear in any historical document." However, the image has become so entrenched in people's minds that it often cannot be countered even with scientific evidence, she points out. Witches as figureheads for feminists The phenomenon of modern witches is closely linked to the women's movement of the 1970s, which rebelled against the dominance of the male world. "In the witch, they had a figurehead, so to speak," says Gareis. "Of course, these feminists were not witch researchers. They were just normal, even intellectual women who just appropriated this image of the oppressed woman." In the 1980s, the spiritual aspect was added to this image. It was especially urban women who were attracted to nature-based religions, the ethnologist says. "What I can imagine is that in times of uncertainty, people seek their salvation in nature." While many modern witches in urban metropolises do not belong to any group, but Wiccans organize themselves in circles. The Wiccan cult originated in Britain in the first half of the 20th century and is recognized as a religion there, as it is in the US. Justin completed his own initiation ritual years ago. Different kinds of magic "Some say you have to put a pointy black hat on a witch so that she can be recognized as such," Justin said. "I personally like to surprise people by not draping myself with charms and talismans. And then — boom — something unexpected and magical comes from me." "That's my little wicked witch community," he adds, with a twinkle in his eye. In no way, however, does he want to harm anyone, he says. But he is convinced, as is Barbara, that there are witches with dark intentions: "There are magicians who cast curses and spells with which they can definitely achieve something." Parallels between belief in witches and conspiracy theories? According to the Gershman study, the belief in witchcraft is less widespread among well-educated and economically sound people but iris Gareis is not so sure: "In view of modern conspiracy theories, which became especially apparent during the COVID pandemic in the US, and also here in Germany, that is doubtful." After all, she points out that there are even educated people who believe that reptiloids, or lizard people, live among us and control events in politics and the economy — something that is incomprehensible to her. Witchcraft is not a game Justin warns against getting involved with witchcraft if you don't have your feet on the ground: "People who are mentally unstable should stay away from magic and sorcery. If they can't get their lives under control, they won't find a way to balance themselves through witchcraft or Wicca. If I am not grounded, then I cannot reach out and explore the heavens."
Los Angeles Times
06-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Art, commerce, Hollywood and family drama collide in ‘The Californians'
'When did everything turn into a grift?' asks a young man named Tobey midway through Brian Castleberry's 'The Californians,' an ambitious, widescreen novel about the ugliness that often ensues when art and commerce collide. In 2024 Tobey is a down-on-his-luck college dropout who's been chased out of his Northern California apartment building by wildfires. Hurting for cash, he signs on to a scheme his brother has concocted to steal three valuable paintings from his father's home in Palm Springs. What's supposed to happen after the theft is hazy to him — something NFT, something crypto — but he's desperate. In this way, Tobey answers his own question: The grift happens when we don't pay attention to what we're destroying for the sake of a dollar. To explain how that happens, Castleberry covers about a century's worth of activity between two families whose fortunes and failures are intertwined. Tobey is the grandson of Frank Harlan, a stone-faced TV and film actor best known for playing the lead role in a '60s detective show, 'Brackett.' The Columbo-esque character was conceived by Klaus von Stiegl, a filmmaker who came to America from Germany and enjoyed acclaim as a silent-film director. His granddaughter, Di Stiegl, painted the artworks that Tobey is stealing, made during her '80s heyday of putting a spotlight on AIDS and the moral bankruptcy of the go-go '80s. All of which is to say there's a lot going on, and a lot of it catches fire, literally or metaphorically. The family tree that opens the book covers family relationships, but nearly everyone is estranged or strained in some way. Given that, many of the Harlan and Stiegl lineages replace affection with money, who wants what from it, and what they embrace or forsake for it. The fickle way time treats art has an impact as well. Klaus was a pioneer in the silent days — think Lubitsch or Lang — but he can't successfully make the transition to talkies and relies on the largesse of his heiress wife. Di's paintings were acclaimed by New York's downtown set, but shifting times plus a debilitating cocaine habit took a toll. 'He'd come west dreaming that he was an artist, and immediately been made a cog in someone else's machine,' Klaus thinks, but he's not the only one suffering that fate. Much of the action takes place in Palm Springs. It's where Klaus films an alleged masterpiece on his own back lot, an artsy 'Hansel and Gretel' allegory that MGM refused to release, and then attempts to burn down in a fury. It's where Di as a child developed her shimmering photorealistic style, and where the Harlan clan pursued property development when art didn't quite pan out or turned into hackery. 'Maybe art didn't put anything into order,' Di thinks, rightly, at one point. 'Maybe it reflected back the chaos, the ambiguity, the vertigo of living.' To that point, Castleberry has pursued the tricky task of creating an orderly novel whose theme is chaos. There are places where he's not quite up to the task, where the various lines that stretch through and across the family trees can feel like tripwires for the reader. A mother's disappearance comes into the narrative, then fades; a money-grubbing son arrives, then steps off the stage. Castleberry means to frame Klaus as hard-hearted to the point of cruelty. One woman in his life, a prized silent actress, is driven to kill herself by jumping off the Hollywood sign — a tragedy that, in addition to being a bit on the nose, is softened by more compelling narratives about Klaus' late-career revival via 'Brackett,' his selling out a writer during the Red Scare, and genius granddaughter. Castleberry can make you wonder which reprobate to care about most, which sin causes the most harm. But the flaws in 'The Californians' reflect ambition and overexertion, not slackness. Castleberry strives to realistically capture the way money shores up or permeates all sorts of creative endeavors: Hollywood, TV, fine art and more. The realism is bolstered by interstitial chapters featuring news stories, blog posts, term papers and other ephemera that address the characters' lives, while also suggesting that the official story these pieces help create always gets things somewhat wrong. He makes you desperately wish you could see the fourth season of 'Brackett,' where the lead goes dark and rogue in a way that anticipates 'The Sopranos' by decades. 'In America, art is always paid for by somebody and griped about by somebody else,' Klaus opines late in the novel to Di. 'Occasionally something breaks through, people see it, people like it, their lives are changed by an infinitesimal degree. … If you're really lucky you can make a living looking at all this and making some sense of it and communicating it to others.' In the context of the story, he's inspiring a young Di to pursue a painting career. But in the world of the novel, Castleberry is trying to honor art-making — including novel-writing — to a world that wants to reduce it to matters of profit and loss. Art often is just a business, but a dangerous one: Changing people by an infinitesimal degree, Castleberry knows, has a way of thoroughly warping and wrecking human lives. Athitakis is a writer in Phoenix and author of 'The New Midwest.'
The Guardian
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Hansel and Gretel review – Northern Ballet ditch the witch in peril-free eco-fable
Traditionally, Hansel and Gretel is a tale of tasty delight and grisly dread. Northern Ballet's new version for young audiences chucks out the gingerbread cottage and the witch who has unsavoury plans for the siblings. Rather than fearing the forest, the duo learn to love and respect green spaces in a breezy, 40-minute eco-fable with as little jeopardy as the company's sugar-spun version of Little Red Riding Hood a few years ago. But this peril-free, meandering story is often witty in its compositions (by Colin Scott) and choreography (by Harris Beattie and George Liang), both with a helping of music-hall tomfoolery. The show also has an attractive, economical patchwork design by Ali Allen that matches the environmental message and creates a collage of town and countryside. This Hansel and Gretel live in an urban apartment with their father – there's no stepmother in sight – and are glued to video games. Dad despairs of them so takes them for a walk in the woods: cue a relatable scene for parents in the audience as he bounds out into the fresh air, with the kids dragging their heels behind him. Andrew Tomlinson, dressed in a dandified business suit that matches the monochrome cityscape, stands with chest stretched and hands on hips like an adventurer surveying awe-inspiring terrain. Archie Sherman's Hansel and Julie Nunès's Gretel are a kerfuffle of huffs and shrugs, arms folded and lips pursed. Left alone, the duo encounter characters that shift their perspective. The first are a pair of birdwatchers – greeting them with great rippling hand shakes – whose beloved birds are represented by rod puppets and accompanied by fleet notes on flute (Sarah Bull) and clarinet (Joanna Rozario), from a quartet directed by pianist Ewan Gilford. The ensemble sits at the side of the stage so young audiences can enjoy the musicians' characterful movements, too, and identify the sounds of each instrument. Alexander Volpov's cello is best at conveying the weary melancholy of a rubbish monster (Bruno Serraclara) who shuffles along with glowing eyes, weighed down by a coat of litter, looking as if a bottle bank's innards have been spewed out. A pirouetting nature spirit (Mayuko Iwanaga) appears under Abbi Fearnley's emerald lighting and, like a disappointed teacher, rebukes the siblings when they carelessly toss their sweet wrappers away. Instead of a witch, the children encounter the Lady of the Wood (Gemma Coutts) who shares the joy of gardening. The dancing can at times appear as didactic as the plot, with the siblings mimicking first the scampering, feet-flicking birdwatchers and finally their green-fingered host. There is an over-extended jig of a finale, and an overwhelming sense that the original story has got as lost as Hansel and Gretel themselves, but there are appealing performances and even the sorrowful rubbish monster is treated to a fairytale transformation. Touring until 7 June
