Julian Bastida

Jouer is the French word for acting. When a Frenchman says "Tu joues trés bien" he means the same as the German who reasserts: "Ja echt, sehr gut gespielt". In both French jouer and German spielen the verb means to act, perform, play. The first memories I have of Julian is playing during our childhood in Palma. A dusty old armchair would be a Japanese Zero in the Battle of the Pacific, our bikes immortal horses through the plains of Death Valley and the steps of our house the stage where our fantasies, fears and wishes would be thrown onto the street of our sunny neighbourhood of fishermen. Those eternal afternoons were only broken by Julian's commitment to an early passion: swimming. None of us believed that somebody could train for five hours and then keep on rambling with his friends. At the age of seventeen he was given a scholarship to train and study in Sheffield, England. More disciplined training and studying. According to his letters, nothing much came from it. Far from home, in the need of company, he started socialising with Marlowe, Garcilaso, Cervantes, Moliere, Shakespeare, Lord Byron or Shelley. He had discovered the wonders of the library. Three months after the course started, he stood up in the International Marketing class and replied to the teacher's question: "Sir, I do not know what I want, but I know what I don't want." Days later he was starting his ballet, voice and drama lessons in hometown Palma. Days of local venues and success were followed by contracts with international dance companies: Mallorca, Canary Islands, and Germany. From dancing to drama. From Paris and London down to Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin. Late cabaret shows in late clubs. Smoke, noise and first flirtations with cinema. More travelling to Los Angeles and New York looking for inspiration, vibration, art and life. His performances and impersonations, his sensitivity towards varied moods and accents has not only surprised the audience, but has also been an asset when escaping from Cuban police, sweet-talk South African border clerks (I still recall his boer accent) or socialising with the crème de la crème of Hollywood party dwellers. Spanish novelist Pío Baroja stated that an artist or a writer first has to live - experience life - in order to create emotional baggage (fondo sentimental) before performing or writing. Julian is prepared to perform and write. His passion and respect for the acting and filming career is overwhelmingly contagious. His dedication to it, admirable. The greatest English bard wrote "the world's a stage". If he had met Julian he wouldn't have hesitated in pointing that Julian's stage is the world. (May 2008)