Happy New Year 2019!

New Year is the time to be open to the changes and make your life a wonderful one… Wishing you a happy and magical New Year. I hope it brings you lots of joy and happiness. All the best!

“And now we welcome the New Year, full of things that have never been.”

- Rainer Maria Rilke -

Happy New Year!
Alexa

Okean Elzy: Merry Christmas!

Tonight is Christmas Eve in the western world… 

The gift of love. 

The gift of peace. 

The gift of happiness. 

May all these be yours at Christmas. 

Merry Christmas! 

- Alexa -

Love, hope, music, Ukraine &… Okean Elzy: All the colors of my soul in a poetry book!

Dear Friends and Readers,

I’m pleased to inform you that my first book of poems "Dans le coeur du poète - In the heart of the poet" was published today! 

 

First of all, I would like to say that this post is not an advertisement :) - honestly, I think that only a few people like to read poetry and I don’t expect to make money with this book. And it's in French: only some of you could be interested in this... It doesn't make sense to advertise here! :)

No, in fact, there are several reasons why I decided to write about it:

1. Looking at the statistics of this blog, I noticed that, if you like lyrics translations, you also want to know more about me… - I understand that it’s quite unusual that a French fan writes in English about an Ukrainian rock band…. ;) - So, I think you’ll be very interested in this post! :)
Thanks you all!

2. I started working on this book in February 2015. But I had to stop it because the organiser of Okean Elzy’s concerts in Europe asked me to lend a hand to official communication of the band in French. It was an opportunity that I could not say no. :) And since then, the project has remained on the drawing-board…
Last February, I thought that this book should be published anyway: So, I decided that I had  to work on it just after the concert to be held in Paris on March 26. That's what I did...

3. Love, hope, Ukraine & music are my main sources of inspiration. All of these themes also inspire Vakarchuk... So, in the end, I should not be surprised that writing a poem led me to his works 6 years ago today - Yes, it was a 10th of August :)

Moreover, the thing is that since I've started working on French translations of Vakarchuk's songs - in 2014 -, I've also improved my own writing style. Translating lyrics is a very good way to learn more about foreign languages, of course, but it's also a great writing exercice in itself!

Another thing is that I'm now writing my own lyrics - in French, of course... And I sometimes do it for Vakarchuk's songs. Sorry again for this, Svyatoslav !


And I also adapted into French of a famous Ukrainian popular song. What a wonderful experience!


To conclude on this point, I can say that, even if they reflect the colours of my soul, my works sometimes also have a little taste of Okean Elzy... :) Well, again, I should not be surprised about it!

4. I also have to say that one of my poems is dedicated to Svyatoslav (yes, I dared!) But not for the reasons you think. Even if... :)

Well, in 2014, I gathered ideas to write a poem about my own experience of poetics: what are the things that move me when I read a poem, why do I write poetry, what readers can understand/know about me when they read my poems...
I found the ideas, but didn't know how to build the text! The answer just seemed to pop into my head when I found this this picture on Internet:

Yes, I know what you think "Wow! What a portrait! " :)) Yes, indeed. But the thought crossed my mind immediately was the following question: "What's in your eyes and in your mind, Svyatoslav?" I tend to believe that the most interesting is not what a person looks like but what he or she most deeply is.... And now that I met Svyatoslav, I can confirm that depth is at least as interesting as appearance! Well, I leave that to your imagination... :)

So, anyway, this question gave me an idea: I would talk about the composition of poetry and poems reading by writing a portrait and I would ask the following question several times: "Do you know what is in the poet's heart?" (Of course, I should translate this text into English... An idea for another post? Why not!)

The comments I received from readers - and friends who write poetry - were that my text "Dans le coeur du poète - In the heart of the poet" describes their relationship with poetry in a very good way. So, when I started working on my book in 2015, I have come to the conclusion that its title should be "Dans le coeur du poète" because this text is an excellent synopsis of my works.  And I already knew which photo to use on the book cover... :)

What's funny is that, when collecting poems to include in my book, I realized that "Coeur - Heart" is a word that is in nearly 85% of my compositions. So there's logic in all this. :)

By the way, I now know what's "in my heart of poet"... and I understood a few weeks ago that all this makes sense to me! Life is full of surprises! Although... :)

"There are no coincidences, only encounters."
Paul Eluard
5. I would like to offer a copy of this book to Svyatoslav next time we meet. I know what he will say: "It's very French! " Yes, it is. :) But I have not lost the hope that, one day, he will learn French :)  - The study of poetry or lyrics is a good way to know more about foreign languages!

This book reflects the colors of my soul and Svyatoslav already knows them all (from the darkest to the brightest). Understanding sometimes comes through emotion... So, even though today he knows almost nothing about my mother tongue, he already knows what's in this book! :)

Now I know why the name of my blog is "Okean of emotions" :) There are no coincidences, indeed!


For your information - because some of you will ask :) - please note that this book can be purchased here.

A big thank you again for your interest in this blog. :)
Cheers,
Alexa

Okean Elzy: Happy Birthday, Svyatoslav!

We are celebrating today Svyatoslav Vakarchuk's birthday... 

On this occasion, I created this photo-montage for the O.E. official communication in French:

But I also wanted to make a very personal gift. That’s why I wrote my first haiku in Ukrainian ;) - inspiration is everywhere!

This means:
"Spring colors,
Our hearts bloom again  -
Happy birthday!"

And I also appear with my daughter Oxana in this video created by the administrators of the Official Fan-Club (what a great idea!):

З Днем Народження! Happy Birthday! Joyeux Anniversaire !  

Okean Elzy France celebrates today its 2nd anniversary!

It all started with this simple question: "Would you like to help us?"... 

Then began a very challenging but wonderful project! (More information here)

© Alexa Heinze

Thanks to Svyatoslav Vakarchuk & Okean Elzy Official for the confidence they have placed in me.

"Ми різні, але ми разом - We are different, but we are together."  

"Дякую - Thank you"

"Без меж - Without limits"

Okean Elzy: Fan-art - June 2015

Okean Elzy's fans have talent... Drawings, portraits, collages or videos: there are so many ways to say 'I love Okean Elzy!' Which one do you prefer? :)

© Olya Litvinchik

© Alexandra Kazak

© Elena Tsukanova

© Maria Didenko

© AleXa - Okean of Emotions
Collage for my poem "Le coeur de l'Ocean - Ocean's heart"

© Vitaliy Dmytruk    

Svyatoslav Vakarchuk's birthday - Fan-art

As said in my last post, we celebrated Slava Vakarchuk's birthday a few days ago. As usually, fans have been very inventive and, on that occasion, they created some interesting artworks... Here are some of them!

'Happy Birthday, Svyatoslav!'
© Okean Elzy Official Fan-Club

Let's start with this video... 7 countries, 68 cities & 350 folks: Great!


My friends at the Official fan-club are incredible! Every year, they have some new funny ideas... and they work hard to make sure their projects become a reality. This is one of the reason why I love them so much - but this is not the only one! :)


I also like this video: It's simple and beautiful!

Please note that a new small bronze statue is looking for its place in Mukacheve city - Vakarchuk's hometown . :) It has been created by the Transcarpathian artist, Mikhail Kolodko. 

Photogr. Unkn.

Photogr. Unkn.

Lastly, I want to share with you this video created by the TV Channel 1+1 for Slava's birthday: the whole history of O.E. in a song...

Everything really began with this song, "Там, де нас нема  - Tam, de nas nema"... in 1998!

Source: "The Invisible Family" - Okean Elzy Official fan-club

Okean Elzy: Happy Birthday, Svyatoslav!

We are celebrating today Svyatoslav Vakarchuk's birthday...

Photo: © Ben Robinson Photography

З Днем Народження! Happy Birthday! Joyeux Anniversaire !

On this occasion, I could not resist creating a video with the photomontages that I made to illustrate my translations into French of his songs. :)

Sorry for this poor sound quality, but I've only found this strange soundtrack... and the thing is that I really wanted to sing THIS SONG. Why? Only because it reflects me and the way I am:

• When I listen to Okean Elzy, I know that "Рок-н-рол завжди живий - Rock and roll is always alive"...
• When I'm singing in Ukrainian, what about my soul?  "Так ніби хтось назвав її струною! You could say that something trembles deep in my soul"...
• And when I immerse myself in the lyrics written by Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, "зима стає весною - my winter becomes spring"! :)

Anyway, I still need to work again & again in order to improve my knowledge of Ukrainian language and my vocal technique! Svyatoslav, can you help me? ;)