Welcome to Ric's Cafe'!

Ric’s Cafe' is a time and place for artists, open-hearted searching people and their friends to present what they do (or want to do), building on themes, making connections and sharing experiences.

It is a wonderful opportunity to share food, ideas, works-in-process and to meet once a month with friends in a supportive environment. Also, a time to acknowledge courage, heart, talent, hard work and humor, and to express appreciation for luminous moments and surprises.

And a time to eat (first of course!) drink and socialize!

Nicole, Marei, Ric, Lotti, Petra, Simon, Tanja, Christoph, Caro, Max, Felix, Mark, Siggy, Eva, Adam, Kristine, Andreas, Jana, Eduard, Tilmann, Maxi Marie, Lilli, Olga and Dan the Dog met at Theaterwerkstatt Bethel in Bielefeld on a spectacular Sunday afternoon in June. Our theme for the month was: Love Me Tender.

First we enjoyed sharing tasty food, listening to music, socializing and relaxing on our Love Me Tender massage mat eating juicy grapes! We then began our salon by offering a grape to someone that we had not met.

The children created art work throughout the afternoon and hung them across the space on a clothes line.

We also laughed, told stories, introduced ourselves to new faces and played!

Andreas, Kristine, Lilli, Tillmann and Adam then delighted us with a song by the German composer, Theo Mackeben, called "So oder so ist das Leben". The song is from Berlin in 1934 and was created as Filmmusik. Born in 1897, Mackeben was conductor at the Berlin "Metropoltheater" , the piano player at the famous Café Grössenwahn and the conductor of the very first showing of Brecht's "Dreigroschenoper" (Beggar's opera).

The song expresses with its laconic "So oder so ist das Leben" - C'est la vie! - That's life! An ambivalent feeling between defeatism and self assertion. It derives from a period in Germany which is historically linked to the big trauma of the 3rd Reich. However, it was also a late period of one of the most creative times in Germany for art and entertainment .

So oder so ist das leben, so oder so ist es gut,
So wie das Meer ist das Leben, ewige Ebbe und Flut.
Heute noch glückliche Stunden, morgen nur Sorgen und Leid.
Neues bringt jeder Tag, doch was auch kommen mag,
Halte dich immer bereit.
Du musst entscheiden, wie du leben willst
Nur darauf kommt's an.
Und musst du leiden, dann beklag dich nicht:
Du änderst nichts dran.
So oder so ist das leben, ich sage: heute ist heut'
Was ich auch je begann, das hab' ich gern getan,
Ich hab' es nie bereut.

(Spoken)
Man lebt auf dieser Welt und sucht das Glück
Und weiss nicht, wo es hier auf Erden wohnt.
Der eine sucht im Geld sein Glück und sein Geschick.
Der andere glaubt, dass nur die Liebe lohnt.
Ein jeder hat das Recht zum glücklich sein.
Den Weg musst du dir suchen - kreuz und quer.
Ob's gut geht oder schlecht geht, weiss nur Gott allein.
Dir bleibt die Wahl - und sei sie noch so schwer.

So oder so ist das Leben....

Lotti and Ric then led everyone in a game in which two people created statues with their bodies of an "un-tender" relationship. The children were asked to change the shape of the statues to create a tender relationship and then to title the new picture.

We had great fun playing Love Me Tender Statues and Eva gave us a great title for a picture and for next month's salon - "Stromende Liebe"

We followed by sharing information with each other about upcoming events including a performance by Theaterwerkstatt Bethel's of "Metamorphosen" on June 24th.

Lotti followed with a mesmerizing theatrical piece in which she sang "Love Me Tender" to a clown puppet with various shades of meanings and emotions, while Eduard accompanied her on the oboe with a melancholy rendition of "Love Me Tender".

Simon read a Jamaican short story called The Call Of Soul written by Michael Reckord found in a book called 22 Jamaican Short Stories and published in 1970. He read the riveting story about cross-racial  to the music of The Wailers song "Stir It Up" recorded in June 1967 and eventually released in August 1968, included on the box set Songs Of Freedom (released by Island Records in 1992).

Matthias bemused us by singing "Love Me Tender" as the score to his slideshow featuring the recent destruction and aftermath of his new car by a wicked and vengeful tree.

Marei captivated us with a "Love Me Tender" dance piece set to a compilation of music called "unerhörte begebenheit".

Stefanie, our dear friend and hostess of Salon 46 in Berlin, improvised a song with Eduard on the piano.

Nicole engrossed us with a reading from a piece called "Landkarte".

Christoph gathered the children around the piano and led us all in a song called "Der Kuckuck und der Esel"

Der Kuckuck und der Esel, die hatten einen Streit,
wer wohl am besten sänge, wer wohl am besten sänge,
zur schönen Maienzeit, zur schönen Maienzeit.

Der Kuckuck sprach: "Das kann ich!" und hub gleich an zu schrein,
"Ich aber kann es besser, ich aber kann es besser!"
fiel gleich der Esel ein, fiel gleich der Esel ein.

Das klang so schön und lieblich, so schön, von fern und nah,
sie sangen alle beide, sie sangen alle beide
"Kuckuck-iah, kuckuck-iah"

Ric sang Stephen Sondheim's "I Remember", accompanied by Christoph on the piano. This ballad by Stephen Sondheim is about a man who has been living in a department store for many years and remembers the simple pleasures of the world outside and the memory of a beautiful day, such as the one we shared on this Sunday.

Finally, Tanja  accompanied herself on the guitar and sang "La dama D`Arago", a beautiful Catalan ballad.

We closed this beautiful salon with our monthly giveaway, sharing small treats and gifts with one another.

Ric's Cafe' meets again on July 2nd in Bielefeld. Our theme for July is Stromende Liebe. Ric's Cafe' will take a summer break after the July salon and meet again in October.

Ric’s Cafe' is a time and place for artists, open-hearted searching people and their friends to present what they do (or want to do), building on themes, making connections and sharing experiences.





It is a wonderful opportunity to share food, ideas, works-in-process and to meet once a month with friends in a supportive environment. Also, a time to acknowledge courage, heart, talent, hard work and humor, and to express appreciation for luminous moments and surprises.


And a time to eat (first of course!) drink and socialize!

Markus, Anna, Antoni, Gabriele, Christian, Aachim, Nicole, Marei, Ric, Lotti, Petra, Simon, Tanja, Mark, Siggy, Eva, Adam, Kristine, Andreas, Jana, Eduard, Tilmann, Maxi Marie, Lilli and Olga

met at Theaterwerkstatt Bethel in Bielefeld on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in May. Our theme for the month was: Alles Neu Macht Der Mai ...







First we enjoyed sharing tasty food, listening to music and socializing.







As an art project, we also created visual responses to the question, "Was Machst du neu im Mai? Are you doing something new in May?"









We drew or wrote our thoughts on paper and hung them with tiny clothes pins on lines of string decorating our space.

Lotti began our afternoon with a Movement piece, dressed in white and wearing a crown of flowers. Marei read text posted on a canvas, while music played and Lotti  danced and painted over the text, which compelled Marei to read only what could be seen through the paint. Lotti finished the piece as she tossed flowers in the air and danced among the fallen bouquet. It was a stirring start to out afternoon!

Ric led the group in a sing-a-long of "This Little Light of Mine" to celebrate the sunny day!

Welcome to Ric's Cafe homepage. Our first salon in Bielefeld was held on the first Sunday of April. Our theme was: Let It Be. Lotti, Maxi, Ric, Christian, Annette, Ben, Phil, Kai, Marei, Willi, Tilman, Andreas, Christine, Eduard, Matthias, Anne, Kolja, Lia, Ruth, Benedikt, Bradford, Eva, Adam, Mark, Siggy and Petra were there to celebrate our first salon together.

After sharing food and socializing, Ric and Lotti welcomed friends to Ric's Cafe. Ric put on his tap shoes and did some “stepping” while people called out their names in rhythm.

Eduard improvised  a bit of “Let It Be” on the piano...

Lotti began with a mesmerizing piece in which she looked at her body and then looked at herself in the mirror while putting on makeup to the music of India Arie. Lotti then wiped all the makeup off and invited us to dance with her at the end of the piece.

Marei offered a movement piece with poem and song.

Benedikt shared the story of Artist’s Unlimited, an artists collective in Bielefeld, which he co-founded with a small group of people. He passed around a book celebrating the 20^th anniversary of  Artit’s Unlimited. Recently, many people announced their departure with the collective. After sharing his feelings about being open to the changes ahead, he asked us to share our thoughts and feelings.

Bradford, a guest artist at Artist’s Unlimited, is originally from California and living in Hanoi. As part of is “Show and Tell”, he shared several antique pieces which he purchased during his recent trip to Krakow.

Eva, Adam and Ric presented a short play titled, “Es Ist Wie Es Ist” with many costume changes and samba music!

After After a short pause, Anne presented a very moving piece by John Cage entitled “4 minutes and 33 seconds”. In this piece, the musician prepares to play but stops just before a note is struck and waits silently, in preparation position for 4' 33".

Ruth then inspired us with a Bollywood dance!

Matthias, the director of Theaterwerkstatt Bethel and our terrific host in Bielefeld, closed our first salon with a stirring photo montage of theatre improvisation workshops recently held in the same space.

He also shared some drawings created by his daughter Leah on Post-It notes!

Thank you to everyone who shared food, participated and collaborated so wonderfully to arrange a comfortable playing space, especially to Lotti and Eduard. Thanks also to Christian for documenting the salon with these very special photos!

Our theme for the first Sunday in May is “Alles Neu Macht Der Mai”