Sveva Caetani’s Recapitulation Series: From Medieval Mysticism to the Space Age, by Adriana A. Davies

A review of a friend’s book, by Peter McKenzie-Brown

I am a retired Calgary-based writer. One of my projects was titled the Oil Sands Oral History Project, which included other Alberta writers. To prepare the history, we took on the job of interviewing people who were heavily involved in the oil sands business.

We knew the interviews should include input from Edmonton and other northern regions where many prominent individuals from industry resided and whose input to the project was crucial. My colleague, Bob Bott, introduced me to Adriana Davies, who lives in Edmonton.

 That was the beginning of a wonderful professional and personal relationship. I was then and remain amazed at Adriana’s intellect and her amazing ability to do research. She leaves no stone unturned as she finds gems of information about history. Born in Italy and fluent in Italian (et le français, d’accord), she has a remarkable academic background and has published widely.

My wife gave me a copy of Adriana’s latest book for my birthday last year, and it has a prominent place in the bookcase in our living room. More than 400 8 1/2 x 11-inch pages in length, it is a tremendous read – a read that sometimes challenged me.

The background:  This substantial volume talks about the illegitimate daughter of Leone Caetani, Duke of Sermoneta and Prince of Teano, and his mistress Ofelia. Her name was Sveva Ersilia Giovanella Maria Fabiani Caetani di Sermoneta. Born in Rome on August 6, 1917, she died in Vernon, BC on April 27, 1994. These two locations were the poles of her physical existence, but the universe – past, present, and future – was the inspiration for her art.

To legitimize her and evade Mussolini and the rise of fascism, Leone’s family moved via the UK to Canada in 1921, eventually settling in Vernon, British Columbia. Leone died in 1935; sadly, this left Sveva the “prisoner” of her mentally ill mother, who greatly restricted her ability to associate with other people. After her mother died in 1960, Sveva obtained teaching qualifications. While teaching dominated her days, she dedicated her evenings to artistry. She began to show artistic talent as a child.

Her father, Leone Caetani, who was born September 12, 1869, was the Prince of Teano and Duke of Sermoneta, and his lineage went back to Medieval popes who built the family’s fortunes (in 1294 Benedetto Caetani was elected Pope and took the name Boniface VIII). The family also included many scholars not only of the past of the Roman Empire but also of the world’s languages, Islamic and other religious studies, science and engineering.

Her father Leone had completed a degree in Ancient and Oriental Languages and History at the University of Rome in 1891. As a post-graduation adventure, he travelled to BC’s Selkirk Mountains with a friend to hunt bears. Her mother, the duke’s young mistress Ofelia Fabiani, was the daughter of a Roman engineer and a nightclub performer. Leone’s foray into politics as a socialist won him no friends in the aristocratic world and, as Mussolini came to power, made him an enemy of the state.

To avoid negative repercussions resulting from his socialist political stance and to protect his young daughter and mistress from the criticism of Catholic society (he could not divorce his wife, Vittoria Colonna), Leone moved the family to Vernon, BC, in 1921. There he bought a large home on Pleasant Valley Road as well as an orchard and woodlot. Although Leone succeeded to the dukedom in 1916 on his father Onorato’s death, his brother Gelasio took on the responsibilities of running the family. There he began a new life focused on his wife and daughter and luxuriating in the wilderness. He did, however, continue his scholarly studies of Islam and published the final volumes of his 10-volume series, The Annals of Islam.

While Leone and Sveva loved the natural surroundings of Vernon, Ofelia, who had brought many trunks full of Paris fashions, never adjusted to life in BC. The family travelled regularly to Europe to visit relatives in France and Italy, but this ended in 1931, after the stock market crash that nullified Leone’s investment income. His death of throat cancer on December 25, 1935, in a Vancouver hospital doomed Ofelia to a life deprived of her beloved companion and the extravagant lifestyle that she had expected when she had married him in 1916.

Ofelia sank into depression and compulsive behaviours and prevented Sveva from associating with other children. She had been educated by governesses, and her only formal schooling was from 1930 to 1932 at Crofton House private school in Vancouver. In effect, Ofelia kept her prisoner in their Pleasant Valley Road home. The only other occupant was Miss Jüūl, secretary, friend, and general assistant.

Ofelia prevented Sveva from drawing, which was a favourite pastime (she had drawing lessons in Paris and Monte Carlo in 1930 and demonstrated a real aptitude). Encouraged to read, though, she became a bookworm. Sveva thus grew up in a world not only of European, British, and American literary works but also works in comparative religion, studies of Western civilization, and the history and traditions of the Near and Far East. She was an individual well beyond the norm.

Ofelia’s death in 1960 was shocking for Sveva. The will revealed that her parents had never been married and that she was, therefore, illegitimate. She also discovered that her father had formally adopted her before he obtained his Canadian citizenship (1928) and left her the family home in Vernon. Any monies and the house he had built for Ofelia in Rome were Ofelia’s property, and she had made a bequest to the Roman Catholic Church. Thus, at the age of 43, Sveva was left without money and without a way to earn a living. Through a friend, Vanessa Alexander, she sold some of her mother’s designer clothes for immediate cash and, fortunately, she was given a job in 1964 at St. James Catholic School as a teacher of French, history, and other subjects. It was founded in 1956 by Monsignor John Miles, who had served as the parish priest from 1944 to 1971 and had been Ofelia’s spiritual advisor. The Sisters of St. Ann staffed the school.

At St. James, Sveva developed a passion for both teaching and children, earned her high school diploma (1969 Adult Institute, in Victoria) and took teacher training at the University of Victoria (1970-1972). But art remained her major interest. At this time, she made many close friends, learned to drive, and other normal activities that her mother had banned.

One of her young art professors, John Cawood, advised her to return to painting, and she began to do this on her return to Vernon. In 1972, she obtained a job at Charles Bloom Secondary School in Lumby as an art teacher and purchased a small house in the community. She began to paint regularly; her subjects ranged from fantasy works to Greco-Roman mythology. In 1975, she began to create a series of paintings that would become the Recapitulation series. She returned to the family home and set up a studio. Because of her scholarly sensibility, she began to read works that would serve as guideposts in what became a journey of self-discovery.

Adriana describes this book as her magnum opus, and by any standard I can think of, that is so. That said, Chapters 5 through 8 are extraordinary in their use of reproductions of her art to illustrate the pages. Get a copy. This book is fantabulous.

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The Magic of Ballet

 

The Magic of Ballet

Before the first dancer takes a step, the theatre begins to change. The lights dim, the orchestra sounds its opening notes, and the curtain rises on a world shaped by music, colour, and movement. Then a dancer enters the light. With a turn of the head, a sweep of the arm, or a leap that seems to suspend time, a story begins—without a single word.

This is the magic of ballet: it brings together dance, music, costume, and stage design to create an experience that can feel both dreamlike and deeply human. Every graceful movement rests on careful technique, physical strength, and countless hours of rehearsal. What appears effortless from the audience is the result of extraordinary discipline behind the scenes.

Yet ballet is more than a display of skill. It is a language of the body, capable of expressing wonder, sorrow, courage, and joy across cultures and generations. By transforming effort into beauty and movement into meaning, ballet invites us to believe—if only for the length of a performance—that the impossible can become real.

The Language of Movement

Like a spoken language, ballet has a vocabulary. Its pliés, turns, balances, jumps, and poses are the building blocks from which choreographers shape phrases and entire scenes. A slow, sustained sequence can suggest tenderness or reflection, while quick footwork and soaring leaps can release excitement, urgency, or triumph. The meaning does not come from a step alone, but from its speed, weight, direction, and relationship to the music.

The upper body gives this vocabulary its expressive voice. Through port de bras—the carriage and movement of the arms—a dancer can make a line appear expansive, guarded, delicate, or commanding. The angle of the head and the focus of the eyes guide the audience’s attention, while the hands and face add shades of intention. Even stillness can speak: a held pose may feel like a question, a warning, or a moment of resolve.

In story ballets, dancers also use mime—stylized gestures that communicate actions, ideas, and emotions. A hand placed over the heart may declare love; a gesture toward the temple may suggest thought or memory. These signs become most powerful when they are woven naturally into the choreography, allowing a conversation to unfold between characters without dialogue.

Movement also creates relationships across the stage. Two dancers may mirror one another to suggest trust, turn away to reveal conflict, or move in unison as if sharing a single purpose. An ensemble can surround a central figure, divide into opposing groups, or sweep through space in patterns that change the mood of a scene. In ballet, every pathway and pause contributes to the story. The body becomes the voice, the stage becomes the page, and choreography turns motion into meaning.

Behind the Beauty

The grace seen onstage begins far from the spotlight, often at a studio barre. Dancers repeat foundational exercises to refine alignment, balance, coordination, and control. A plié or tendu may look easy. However, each repetition strengthens the habits needed for more demanding turns, jumps, and lifts. Over time, the body learns to respond with precision, even when the choreography is fast or fatigue begins to set in.

Pointe work reveals this hidden strength especially clearly. The satin shoe creates the illusion that a dancer is floating, but dancing en pointe requires careful preparation, stable alignment, and strength through the feet, ankles, legs, and centre of the body. Progress is gradual: dancers first build secure technique, then learn to rise, balance, travel, and land with control. The shoe supports the foot, but it cannot replace the dancer’s training.

Rehearsal transforms technique into performance. Dancers practise difficult passages, adjust spacing, repeat entrances, and coordinate every movement with the music and with one another. Corrections that seem small—a quieter landing, a clearer angle of the head, a hand placed at precisely the right moment—can change the meaning of an entire scene. Partners must develop timing and trust, while the ensemble must move with the unity of a single design.

Backstage, the work continues. Dancers warm their muscles, secure ribbons, check costumes, and mentally review the choreography. Dressers, stage managers, musicians, and technical crews prepare alongside them, ensuring that each cue, change, and entrance happens at the right time. The audience may see one seamless world, but that world depends on many people working together with concentration and care.

The beauty of ballet, then, is not the absence of effort but its transformation. Strength becomes lightness, repetition becomes freedom, and discipline allows emotion to flow through every step. When the curtain rises, the hours of preparation disappear from view; what remains is the impression of movement unfolding naturally—as though the dancers have discovered how to defy gravity itself.

My Ballet DVD and Blu-ray Collection

Title	Company	Choreography	Format
Raymonda	Teatro alla Scala	Marius Petipa	Blu-ray
Pieces by Gounod, Ravel and Bizet	New York City Ballet in Paris	George Balanchine	Blu-ray
L’Histoire de Manon	Ballet de L’Opera National do Paris	Kenneth MacMillan	Blu-ray
La Bayadere	The Royal Ballet	Makarova, after Petipa	Blu-ray
Giselle	The Royal Ballet	Marius Petipa	Blu-ray
Coppelia	The Royal Ballet	Delibes	Blu-ray
Anna Karenina	Hamburg Ballet	John Neumeier	Blu-ray
Johannes-Passion	Chateau de Versailles	Johann S. Bach	DVD
The Taming of the Shrew	The Stuttgart Ballet	John Cranko	Blu-ray
Swan Lake	Paris Opera Ballet	Rudolph Nureyev	Blu-ray
The Sleeping Beauty	The Kirov Ballet	Marius Petipa	DVD
Romeo and Juliet	The Royal Ballet	Sergei Prokofiev	Blu-ray