Bourne Again...

I've been enjoying a little staycation for this 'week between' Christmas and the start of the New Year. It's been a week of pottering about at Gidday HQ: literary lie-ins (aka indulgent reading in bed until somewhere around 10am), comfy couch sessions and bouts of cleaning with a few dips into some local delights - a trip to The Phoenix Cinema to see Gone With The Wind (all 4 hours of it - at last) and a fab girly catch up over cocktails & lunch at Skylon  - in between.

After a couple of brisk, blue-sky days, the weather is wet and a bit dismal today so amid continued bursts of cleaning up, I'm aiming to tick a few more movies off the I-haven't-seen-it-yet list with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes already under my belt this morning.

Speaking of ticking things off my list, I want to tell you about my Boxing Day. You see, I went to Sadler's Wells to see Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake as a Christmas present to myself. Yes peeps, Happy Christmas to me.

I first saw Matthew Bourne's work in July last year. Play Without Words left me thrilled and awestruck and his take on Sleeping Beauty was clever and fun and brilliant. His Swan Lake, which premiered in 1995 with an all-male 'swan ensemble', has something of a reputation. So even though my previous experiences of Swan Lake had left me bored and wondering what the point was, I took my seat just before 2.30pm feeling quite excited.

The first familiar notes of Tchaikovsky's score swelled from the orchestra pit soon after, the curtain rose and I was riveted.  

It was theatrical and dramatic and witty, filled with light and shadow and the most extraordinary dancing I've ever seen. And for the first time I really felt the story. It was visceral - I could feel the fear and liberation in the prince, the reined-in majesty of his mother and the sycophantic expectation of his subjects. But most of all I felt the magnetism and menace of the swans. Their flapping fury, their drooping necks and piercing eyes, the muscular ebb and flow of sweeping, swooping limbs that were, it seemed, inseparable from the music.

Source: www.sadlerswells.com

Source: www.sadlerswells.com

www.sadlerswells.com

Source: www.new-adventures.net

Source: www.sadlerswells.com

Source: www.new-adventures.net

It was an amazing show and for me, it was if Tchaikovsky's powerful score had finally met its match in the powerful movement on the stage. I felt incredibly emotional and as the cast took their final curtain call, I was on my feet applauding furiously. 

Thinking back, I can still feel the moment that the final note evaporated into the air and the curtain fell. The slight prickling of my skin, the full feeling welling in my chest and the profound sense of being touched by something extraordinary.

A Litany On London Largesse...

Since coming back from holidays just over five weeks ago, I have been struck by how many great things there are to do in London, particularly when it comes to activities of the stage variety. And I have to admit that I've been a little lax in sharing this largesse with my lovely Gidday-ers so I thought I'd make this post a litany of my recent cultural adventures.

I'd been back not much more than a week when I popped down to Sadlers Wells to see Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty. Regular readers might remember my first Matthew Bourne experience last year and I was really looking forward to his take on this traditional tale.

And I was not disappointed. A combination of modern irreverance and gothic spirit cast their magic over the story and I found myself enchanted by Bourne's mastery all over again. There were moments of laughter and darkness and beauty throughout and I left the auditorium wondering whether I'd get an opportunity to see the balance of Bourne's Tchaikovsky triumvirate - Swan Lake and The Nutcracker - anytime soon. Sleeping Beauty has left Sadler's Wells and is touring so you may have the chance to see it somewhere near you.

Sunday before last I went to see Argentinian company Tango Fire's show, Flames of Desire. This had been inspired by a half price ticket deal in The Metro on my morning commute earlier the same week. 

For two hours the auditorium thrummed with passionate pas de deux, fleet feet and erotic attitude as the five couples, musicians and a rather smooth crooner brought the milonga (late night dance hall of Buenos Aires) to life. It was heart-stoppingly, breath-takingly brilliant. And when the cast - musicians, singer and dancers - took their curtain calls at the end, their absolute delight in the thunderous applause from the audience was as wonderful to see as the performance they had just given us.

And most recently, it was dinner and a show last Friday night with a friend. Again a deal dropped into my lap a couple of weeks ago and after a fabulous feed at Italian restaurant  Polpo near Carnaby Street, we took our seats for the greatest of musicals, A Chorus Line. 

While I'd seen the 1985 movie starrring Michael Douglas, I'd never seen the show. I am thrilled to report that this oversight has been corrected.

Because thrilled I was.

Every foot-tapping, fractious moment held me in thrall. The individual stories laid bare on the stage before the darkened auditorium: the pert, the cynical, the world-weary and the hopeful. The rediscovery of tunes I knew but had buried themselves in my memory. The cleverness of the choreography, entwining itself around the differences in shape, size, style and attitude of each dancer to create a whole truly greater than the sum of its parts.

And the culmination of all of this in the finale, 'One'. One moment in the presence of an amazing cast and the most quintessential show tune of all time - a 'singular sensation' of glamour and celebration and synergy. Which took A Chorus Line to my all-time top 3, sharing my trinity of musical favourites with Les Miserables and Chicago.

Such is London's largesse that I've managed to see all of these in the space of a month. Life may not always arrange itself so supportively - and cost-effectively - around my cultural interests, but let me assure you that I intend to grab every 'moment'.

Another Spotlit Stage...

It all started in Seville in 2002. It was an additional excursion, added on top of an already busy trip. Tourist-y it may have been but it was spell-binding.

In the deepening twilight, we'd driven down from our dinner in the hillside village of Mijas Pueblo to join the throngs at a tablaos flamencos in Seville. It was crowded and we had to push our way through to our reserved seating in the front rows (one of the perks of much-maligned organised tours). 

Before long the show began: the pounding feet, arched poses and haughty profiles holding my attention, challenging me to avert my gaze elsewhere if I dared. Women danced, men danced, women and men danced together. Skirts and shawls swirled and swayed, fingers flicked and clicked and the cantaores (singers) wailed and clapped. It was powerful and passionate and provocative.

Then a small man took the stage. He was not handsome or well-built. He had a hard, weathered face and a small wiry frame.  But he exuded a raw magnetism and as his heels started their gentle tempo against the floor, he looked out into the darkened audience over his hooked nose, turned swiftly, sharply and raised his arms.

From my seat in the front row, I could feel the heat of his body, see the beads of sweat rising on his face as he pounded the floor. I held my breath, my heart thumping in my chest and my eyes glued to this stomping, whirling, arrogant dervish in front of me. It seemed to last forever and be over in a minute. As he remained still for that last time, it was a few seconds before I could leap to my feet and applaud, so mesmerised was I by his performance.

Ten years later, my pulse still races when I remember the man on that small stage in Seville, dancing with such arrogance and magnetism. And it fuelled an ongoing desire to immerse myself in that wonderful Flamenco spirit at every opportunity.

This weekend I went to see Paco Pena and his Flamenco Dance Company at Sadler's Wells. It's the third time I have been to see this unassuming master of plucking, picking and strumming since I've lived in London and he has lost none of his musical magic.

This latest show, Quimeras, is a fusion of Spain and Africa. It is filled with foot stamping, arm waving movement that spends two hours weaving in and out of haunting wails and tempestuous rhythms. It was unbelievably good. So good that I was on my feet at the end, cheering and clapping until my arms hurt.


Source: www.sadlerswells.com

Yet for all its wonderful-ness, as I walked back to Angel tube station, my mind wandered and I was taken back to another small man on another spotlit stage.

My heart skipped a beat and my soul soared again.

Speechless...

In the midst of preparations for last weekend's Gidday Soiree, I took a break and went to Sadler's Wells to see Matthew Bourne's Play Without Words. This was both my first Bourne and even more remarkably, given my love of dance, my first visit to Sadler's Wells. And apart from it being another bonza deal unearthed during my daily travels, Sadler's Wells is an easy commute down the Northern Line from Gidday HQ so I suspect that this cultural pocket of London will feature amongst my erstwhile ramblings a little more often.

Anyhow, Play Without Words is set in London in the early Sixties and is based on Robin Maugham's novel, The Servant. The action starts as we see leading man, Anthony (all 3 of them) sign the lease on a swanky new pad. He hires manservant Prentice (3 of them), a maid Sheila (only 2 of these), meets up with an old friend and then hosts a party with his glacial financee Glenda (yes, 3 of these too) by his side.

The trios and duos interweave to show the same character captured in three different moments in time, adding power and depth to the wordless storytelling.  There's friction and frostiness as the relationship between Anthony and Glenda disintegrates. There's wit and clever visual repartee as Prentice and Sheila insinuate themselves into the household. And there's sizzle and sexual tension and lust and betrayal - and I LOVED IT!

But more than anything, it's Bourne's visionary eye that makes this a seamless and sensual masterpiece. I was entertained, uplifted, moved and thrilled...and determined I'd be back for more.

So as I left, I picked up the program for the rest of the year and amongst the turned-down page corners, you'll find the San Francisco Ballet, the Rambert Dance Company, Paco Pena and...yes you guessed it, Matthew Bourne and his world premiere of Sleeping Beauty.

It might be baked beans on toast for a while should I let myself indulge in this passion.

Now where is my debit card?

If you are in London between now and August 5th, make sure you get along and see Play Without Words. I kid you not - it's absolutely brilliant! And I even got an Editor's Choice for my review on Weekend Notes.

ps...if you've been under a rock ignoring me not reading my posts all the way to the end, Birthday Number 43 is fast approaching. You are down to only 13 shopping days peeps so let's make that a lucky 13 shall we? Don't let a little superstition get in the way of celebrating...well...me.

A Highland Fling...

After travelling for the last couple of weeks for work, on Friday night I was looking forward to a quiet weekend, catching up on a few chores and squeezing in a bit of chilling out. But in actual fact, Saturday became one of those days that kept unraveling and unfolding as the day progressed. 

After a slight over-sleep (meaning no chores pre-departure), a planned catch up with A-down-the-hill prior to a regular appointment at the hairdressers developed into somewhat of a larger day and after an impromptu movie matinee (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows if you must know, and yes it was great!) I found myself at a Ceilidh.

'A what?!' I hear you say.

A Ceilidh.

A Ceilidh, pronounced 'kay-lee', is a traditional Scottish knees up, comprised of kilts, whisky and haggis. But mainly, it is about dancing, informal, fast-and-furious, 'catch your breath between sets' kind of dancing. So it's just as well I had come completely unprepared for a night out - flat boots, jeans, long sleeved t-shirt and not a scrap of make-up - because before long, I was sweaty and 'unkempt', and absolutely loving it!

We arrived with A-down-the-hill's Scottish contingent (McHubster is from north of the border you see), snaffled a table and the boys went off to queue for drinks and a spot of haggis. I had grand intentions getting my vegetarian haggis later in the evening but, well, I got rather busy. You see, the music started and the caller invited everyone to take the floor. After a walk through of the dance - usually comprised of a series of steps set to 16 bars which is then just repeated - we were off. And that's pretty much the way the night went...all night.

The first dance was The Gay Gordons (don't ask!) and then a little into the second dance, I was delighted to find I had just renewed my acquaintance with The Virginia Reel, a dance I learnt in primary school.

Three and half hours flew by. There was The Dashing White Sergeant, Strip The Willow, The Flying Scotsman, The Canadian Barndance, The Eightsome Reel and a few that we didn't catch the name of, made stuff up (because we had no idea what we were doing) and had a laugh anyway. The haggis was piped in (and I do mean bagpiped) half way through the evening and Burns' Address To A Haggis read with due ceremony, much theatre and sense of occasion (for those of you who don't know, Burns' Night falls this Wednesday on January 25th).

It was a fantastic night - young and old alike took the floor and it was a refreshing change to see the guys itching to get onto the dance floor to strut their stuff. There was a sense of joyful abandon in the hall - maybe the flow of whisky helped a little - but this was just a great, old-fashioned knees up and the best thing to do was leap off the deep end and give it a whirl.

If you are interested in finding out more you can click here for upcoming ceilidhs in London and here if you feel you really must swot up on a few of the steps.

But there's really no need...sometimes a little improv. makes the best fun of all!

Strictly Heartstopping...

Every so often I experience something that affects me so deeply, I just cannot get it out of my mind.

Settling in last night with a bit of Ben & Jerry's, I was all ready to be entertained and uplifted (to a degree) by my regular Saturday night double dose of guilty pleasure, Strictly Come Dancing and X Factor.

But not like this.

After nine amazing performances on last night's Strictly, this happened:

I was mesmerised. Absolutely spellbound. For the whole 90 seconds, I think I actually stopped breathing.

I kept seeing it over and over in my head all night, despite the brilliant performances on the X Factor Final (part one) that followed.

It was the first thing I thought of when I woke up this morning. And just to double-check I wasn't imagining it all, I watched it again before posting - twice.

My heart still skipped a beat.

Exciting. Aggressive. Passionate. Uncompromising.

I have nothing further to say on the matter.

ps...oh wait, hang on. I need to let you know that there are only 14 sleeps before Christmas is upon us. That's only 14 shopping days left so chop chop peeps. You don't want to be late!

2010...Born To Be Alive...

Happy New Year folks!!!  Sorry there has been a bit of a void in your giddayfromtheUK fix...only 4 blogs for December!  Shall endeavour to 'pull my socks up' but hope you know I was thinking of you anyway...

Well we are 3 days into 2010 and after last year's run of death, illness and hard times for me and my nearest and dearest, I have found myself wondering what this year will bring and where we will find ourselves this time next year...in 2011!!!!  Gulp!!

And then I heard a blast from my past that blew all of that away and left me feeling inspired and, quite frankly, 'kick-ass'.  

In 1979, I danced to this over and over in my pre-teen bedroom (I was ten!) and in 1982, a small group of 12-13 year-olds ventured on stage at the George Jenkins Theatre in Frankston (Melbourne, Australia) to perform the first of many Monterey High School Variety Night dance routines to this disco classic. 

And 30 years on, it is still the greatest disco track ever...and a fitting theme for the year ahead.

So sit back peeps, dial up that volume and take a trip back in time...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H12wNmn87KM

Yeah baby...

Diversity for the Queen...

Britain's Got Talent - so they claim - but with all the fuss in the press about songstress Susan Boyle, I'd kind of gone off it all...until I heard that dance act Diversity took line honours in last night's Final. The prize (for those of you who don't know) is that they get to perform at the Royal Variety Performance 2009...oh and they also get £100,000. Nice!!!

I love great dancing and it was with chills up my spine that I watched Diversity's Finals performance on Britain's Got Talent on youtube this morning - amazing, amazing, amazing! The choreography alone left me speechless enough (what an awesome future, Ashley Banjo has...and he's studying physics???) but the execution by the guys was just extraordinary and it made me smile and go 'wow!' in alternate breaths and I felt thrilled and disappointed (in an 'I just want to see more' way) when it was over. So I went back to see their other BGT performances:

First Audition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPcGy77Gru8&feature=related
The Semis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pg3fvanDDc&feature=related
The Final:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJIz8BgRQc0

What a showcase! And what worthy, worthy winners...Britain really does have talent!