Dirty Dancing in Deutschland

As a ballroom dancer and a huge fan of Dirty Dancing the movie from before I even started dance classes, when I passed the Theatre Am Potsdamer Platz and saw the lumo pink sign proclaiming "Dirty Dancing...Das Original Live On Stage" I knew I had found my Friday evening activity. The show was a mixture of German dialogue and English songs (from the movie). Given that I can almost recite the original dialogue I could translate the German dialogue enough to follow. I had amazing seats level with the stage for 39.90 euros (R380) which is actually less than I'd probably pay back in South Africa.

The general cast dancers were amazing, good ballroom dancers and fantastic free-styling. Their lifts, spins and moves were executed with such precision. The leads were another story. "Johnny" was a very talented dancer but "Baby" was quite obviously not a trained dancer. I realise this is the idea behind the story, but she looked awkward even in the closing dance.

Lets hope the production goes on tour in English somewhere near me.

Jazz hands and funky feet

Yesterday is a story of many places, many things and much hilarity. It started with a mad dash to Vienna Rathaus (City Hall) for the start of Imelda May's free jazz concert. Vienna is filled with cheap (free) cultural experiences in Summer with free opera viewing on the big screens, film festival and Jazz festival of which last nights performance was a part.

Imelda May wasn't spectacular, more Country than Jazz but it was still nice to sit back and listen to while soaking up the ambience. The Rathaus itself is spectacular and I will get to taking the tour on of these weekends. The bars and fast food restaurants look appealing too, so maybe a stop for a quick drink one night wouldn't hurt either :)


For those of you in Vienna, I took a 'short cut' through the Volksgarten, it is absolutely stunning to take a stroll through. Its open til 10pm daily according to the sign. With all the major lit at night, Vienna is just as alive and welcoming as during the day.


After a not so quick stop back in Simmering for an online planning meeting for Umonya (does anyone know any CS contacts at WITS?), I high-tailed it back to basically the same U-Bahn stop to watch the football at the University grounds, an area filled with beer stands and many TV screens. Our group had a pretty even split of supporters, but the octopus was right, Spain did prevail.

We moved on to a Scottish Pub (Highlander Pub) a few blocks away for a commiseration/celebratory drink depending on the person. I happened to read the food menu...Chilli Con Carne was not Scottish when I last checked, then again neither is Guinness which takes up most of the signage space.

The highlight of my night was not actually any of the above, but the impromptu Samba and Salsa lesson for Avery and Markus at midnight on the U-Bahn platform. I think there is some potential there :P

Oper für alle: Festspiel-Konzert

The Opera is a funny story, during our night tour we happened upon the stage crew setting up an outdoor stage and as interested citizens asked what it was for. The answer: "Oper für alle" which we discovered was not actually opera but the Bayerisches Staatorchesters.

The program included:

Debussy: Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (ATTACCA - Jugendorchester des Bayerischen Staatsorchesters)
Debussy: La mer
Strauss: Eine Alphensinfonie op. 64
Conductor: Kent Nagano

The first piece was performed by the Youth Orchestra, an initiative to train up the next generation of orchestra members. I found it very amusing and had to take a picture of the actual orchestra hanging out, waiting to play the next piece, in tails on the Opera steps. There was an encore by the main orchestra but I can't remember the name. I have learnt one very important lesson though, an open-air concert is wonderful but sitting for 2 hours on a cobbled stone floor is very uncomfortable.

Palace Sommernachtskonzert

Tuesday night was the Vienna Philharmonic Sommernachtskonzert Schönbunn, a free concert given in the palace grounds. As the sun set over Vienna crowds flocked to the impressive gardens of the Palace. Normally you cannot walk on the grass, but for this special occasion any space is hoarded. Its not that clear from the photo but the stage is down the hill. We were inundated with mosquitos and we couldn't hear the music that well but it was definitely worth seeing the palace lit up at night.

The program was a mix of the old and the new. Star Wars at a Palace anyone?

Program
Williams: "Star Wars Main Title" aus "Star Wars" (5:10)
Joseph Strauß: Shpärenklänge. Walzer, op. 235 (8:00)
Liszt: Klavierkonzert Nr. 2 in A-Dur (21:40)
Williams: "Princess Leia's Theme" aus "Star Wars" (4:20)
Williams: "Imperial March" aus "Star Wars" (3:00)
Lanner: Abendsterne. Walzer, op. 180 (7:30)
Nicolai: Mondchor aus "Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor" (4:30)
Holst: "Mars" aus "Die Planeten" (8:00)
Johann Strauß: Wiener Blut. Walzer, op. 354 (9:00)
Josef Strauß: Auf Ferienreise. Polka schnell, op. 133 (2:10)

Cossack's in CT

The Cossack dancers were in Cape Town and delivered a lively performance that required both stamina and strength. The guys were phenomenal with their spinning and the height to which they jumped. Definitely worth going to see.

UCT Symphony Concert

The UCT Symphony Orchestra performed tonight in the Baxter Concert Hall. I love the Baxter with its bizarre ceilings and the acoustics in the Concert Hall are phenomenal. The pieces performed included:
L van Beethoven : Fidelio Overture Op. 72
Hendrik Hofmeyr Concerto for Flute
A Dvorák : Symphony No. 9 in E Minor Op. 95 "From the New World"

Attending tonight's concert with an out-of-towner reminded me just how lucky we are to live in Cape Town and are able to attend so many cultural activities. I wish more people supported arts and music events.

In a Goldfish bowl

I had the privilege of attending the last Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concert of the season. Goldfish played to a sell-out crowd while the sun set over the mountains. I managed to miss all previous concerts in CT due to other commitments or still being in Michigan. While I enjoy their albums, I loved their live performance. They manage to get the crowd going and keep up the energy for the entire performance. I will definitely go to another of their concerts on their return to CT later in the year (They are playing in Ibiza for a month). This experience taught me not to write off a band just because their album sounds offay.

Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concert: Jonny Cooper Orchestra

The Jonny Cooper Orchestra entertained audiences at Kirstenbosch with a mixture of the old favourites from Glen Miller and Frank Sinatra and added a few Proudly South African compositions to the list. I looove big band music and was pleasantly surprised to see so many other people under the age of 40. I even spotted a couple jiving to one song.

Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concert: Watershed

I have been meaning to go to a Kirstenbosch Summer Sunset Concert for the last few years. I finally managed to see Watershed last night. We packed a picnic and arrived when the gates opened at 3.30pm. There were queues like you would not believe. We spent the next two hours eating and chatting and I realise I should have taken a book or magazine.

I was worried that their music would be too chilled for the event but Watershed have a very good dynamic on stage. They were on time and did an encore of three songs which I am sure was all preplanned. Their new album has some fantastic tracks, I say some because I have yet to hear the whole thing. Did you realise that every album they have produced has a song about a train on it? Typical men...

The organisers said the band had 20 mins to sign CDs at the end and I hope they starting signing faster because we passed the queue on the way out and it was long. I highly recommend going to a concert, Parlotones is still coming and Arno Carstens. Check them out at: Old Mutual Kirtenbosch Summer Sunset Concerts or the Facebook group

Symphonies and Secrets

I attended the University Symphony Orchestra's performance of Beethoven's Symphony No 7 and the Metropolis Symphony. The first was magnificent, you could really feel the dance theme throughout and calibre of musicians was phenomenal. The second symphony was a bit weird. Commissioned to commemorate the Superman comics, it is split into five parts each to do with a character or place associated with the comic. I'm not sure I liked it, certainly different.

My evening ended at a house party hosted by my dance partner and his housemates. No Pants party, you had to remove your pants at the door almost literally. I missed the memo that went round the ballroom girls as they all showed up in black underwear, white shirts and stockings/boots. The party had a very lingerie feel and apparently everyone shops at Victoria Secrets.

Counting Crows in Hyde Park

I bought a spare ticket off a friend of Carl's and went to O2 wireless in Hyde Park yesterday. There were 4 sound stages distributed around the park. Turns out that you could hear the main stage from anywhere including the other stages. Drowned out the other acts in some cases. The bands I ended up seeing were Magic Christians (they suck), Eddy Grant (its like an evening in Cool Runnings), Powderfinger (had never heard of them but the music is fairly decent), Bowling for Soup (v. cool), Amy Studt (shame she had a throat infection, couldn't sing properly), Ben Harper (legend), Royworld (weird), Goo Goo Dolls (my favourite, they were spectacular) and Counting Crows (they were decent in parts, but played a lot no one knew and they messed with Mr Jones).

Now i'm told that its not a summer concert without rain, well we had plenty. It came in large doses at regular intervals. Nothing like standing in an open arena soaking wet. I'll post some pictures later when I find batteries for my camera.

Culture at an affordable rate

Trafalgar Square played host to the summer sessions again on Thursday night. Don Carlos is Verdi's longest (I think) opera and is 5 acts. The music and signing was spectacular. The hosts pulled various people out of the audience for makeovers, which was amusing. The weather started off with pouring rain and ended with clear skies.