Snowbombing Festival 2015- Mayrhofen 06.04.15-11.04.15

Last week I headed off to join my friends for Snowbombing festival in the beautiful Austrian town of Mayrhofen. With the days spent skiing, snowboarding or falling flat on one's face (or in my case, crashing into a DJ booth, skis, poles and about 30 beer drinking males who thought I'd bombed it into their conversation out of enthusiasm for a Stiegl. Thanks for encouraging me to bomb it down that slope Leanne! love you longtime :)) and the nights spent partying, I had my comfy party trainers at the ready for the week ahead.

After a couple of skiing lessons last year, I felt I was ready for anything-errmm not so. I must thank my friends for praising me once every thirty seconds for just staying on my feet! A few more lessons needed me thinks. But it has to be said, Snowbombers are a crazy kind. Staying up until the early hours, then getting around 3 or 4 hours sleep before hitting the slopes in the morning is not easy and takes an energetic and enthusiastic kind of being.

On Monday we headed to the Racket club, Snowbombing's biggest venue to see Carl Cox who is known for having a residency in Ibiza. Although I bopped along in warm up mode, I wasn't so bubbled up by this guy. I do enjoy house when the DJ seems into it, but his music along with the masses of strung-out bombers around made me feel a little like I was in purgatory! I was grateful for the good company that night, otherwise I'd have left a lot earlier. Thankfully it wasn't a sign of things to come.

Tuesday however- a different ball game altogether. It was the Mad Hatters Street Party, and we made

it in time all dressed up for the start of the wonderful Basement Jaxx set. They played all of their classics, highlighted by the African drums and lit up dancers. My favourite moments included 'Romeo' and of course 'Where's youuuuur heeaaaaad at'. 

                             

The night came to a massive explosion when we headed to the Racket club for Skrillex. Having seen him at last years Sziget festival I knew we were in for a fun set. He works really hard at hyping the audience up, and is always on point with his samples which this year included 'O.T Genasis-CoCo', 'Beyonce- 7/11', The Lion King (cute projections also added in) and he finished once again with a sample of 'Benny Benassi-Cinema'. The lights and the man himself were a treat, and he managed to have us all dancing to the early hours.

We used Wednesday to recover ready for the Forest Party on Thursday, which we approached as festively as possible. A light hearted costume of 7 Dwarves made us feel playful and ready for mischief in the mountain forest which is one of the most beautiful settings for a party I have ever been to!

Us with the lovely James Zabiela

                   

Two great sets from the lovely James Zabiela (who smiled all the way through his set- heartmelt!) and 2ManyDJ's who again had some great samples finishing off with Supergrass 'Alright' which was a satisfying way of reminding us that we are young! We are free!....keep our teeth...(you see where this is going...:)

A final night went off with a bang again in the forest, warming up with Idris Elba who just looked like he was having great time and that was infectious to us all watching and joining in the vibe. Thanks to the lovely boys that volunteered to have us on their shoulders, we had the  best view of Rudimental's set. By this point we were using up a lot of the money on our wristbands, so it's safe to say we were in a happy state! Being up close, outside with a view of the snowy mountains singing along to 'Free' and 'Feel the Love' was a memorable way to end the festival.

Idris Elba

A final goodbye was had after sampling a bit of Sigma at the Racket club. We headed back home at around 3.30am, which gave me a nice but risky 2 hours to shower, pack and head off to get the Zillertal, a train, a taxi, two planes, a Heathrow Express and a 328 to Kilburn High road. SHATTERED!

Thanks so much girls for a great week! Snowbombing is certainly fun and not for the faint hearted.

Find out more about the festival here:

http://www.snowbombing.com

WHY I LOVE SOHO THEATRE

The Soho Theatre on Dean Street has been bringing me some delightful evenings out recently.  A much loved centre for new writing, comedy and cabaret, this theatre has a great bar with a great choice of BEER, and you can order hearty Burgers Pizzas or even Bagels to fuel your laughter session.

The other week, my cousin Jen and I had a much needed 'cousin date' (although we live together we hadn't had any proper FAM time so we called a FAMILY meeting) at the Soho theatre, watching Pajama Men do their work in progress hour for £5! Our tummies hurt after watching them so we actually got a free abs workout too :)

After a couple of post work drinks (I'm not even sure who paid for those but thank you!) she took me to Tuk Tuk noodle bar on Old Compton street first, where we both had a beer and a Masaman with Rice for £8 each! If my maths is correct that is a cousindate with food and show for £13 each! Look out for the work in progress nights for a cheap and very cheerful ticket.

Last night I went with my friend Andy to see The Beta Males do their Edinburgh 2014 show 'Happenstance'. I enjoyed how the narrative built with this group and certain characters like the rhyming slang copper will go into my character favourites list (we all have those don't we?)

I'll be spending more time here for sure. Have a look at how to support them here:

http://www.sohotheatre.com/support-us/

Places like these who support creative endeavours need our investment. Check out their vision to revamp The Walthamstow Granada, which even includes a programme to develop Education and Community projects.

A capital weekend with an 'old skool' friend: 29.03.15

This weekend one of my old school buddies came to stay from Gibraltar. With the intention of showing her how I like to spend my time in much loved Londres these days now that she's moved away (you know you wanna come back!) I just thought I'd post this up as we had a couple of little gem finds.

We started on Friday night with dinner at my local Smokehouse in West Hampstead 'One Sixty' which involved heavenly mac and cheese, pulled pork, burgers and more...we had a stuffed start to the weekend. This place does an excellent range of beers by the way and I would go there just for that if not their delicious smoked meats.

Click picture to see website:

Saturday we DID venture to Oxford Street, something I've not done for a while although it wasn't painfully busy! I can't believe the sexyness of the shoes my friend bought in M&S-that's what happens when you get vouchers, you discover that M&S do some decent shoes, that looked pretty fine with her perfectly peachy toenails.

We stocked up with a delicious lunch at 'East Street' on Rathbone Place. I had the Khao Soi (recommended by a friend Nat- superrrrb) which were curried Thai noodles with chicken, and a Ramen to rival many for my buddy.  Have a look at their menu by clicking the picture below. It's cute inside with the street food signs hanging everywhere too, and the prices are not spicy either!

    

Click below to see menu.

After more shopping, we had a quick change, then out to see Romeo and Juliet at The Peacock theatre in Holborn (part of Sadlers' Wells). See my post about it from earlier on the blog.

In true Jenny fashion we headed out for some dancing. I apologise to anyone I may have bumped or whipped into! The music was too good. I even remember the DJ spinning some Lucy Pearl which made me so excited that security came to get me as they thought I was being troublesome. But no. The music made our night.

Sunday's hangover breakfast will always be at my little favourite on Kilburn High Road. Ciao Ciao cafe, you just can't beat it :) £3.95 for a cracking English breakfast, and it does the job it needs to and more (mainly because they do chips with it, which is really naughty but I think that's what it is!)

We then headed over to Dalston DIY art Market at EPIC Dalston. In a quest to find some nice 'Londony' art, we did just that. My friend got this brilliant 'Be Lucky' screen print by Ben Rider. See his prints for sale here. 

http://printclublondon.com/artist/ben-rider/

It's so super bright when you see it for real that this picture doesn't do it as much justice, but it'll bring her luck for years to come I'm sure!

In keeping with the London theme, I came across this wonderful artist Pedro Demetriou, who I was able to speak to at the event. See his work here:

http://pedrodemetriou.co.uk

With many of his pieces being inspired by what he sees in and around London, I bought this print 'Skyscraper' which means I can have another version of the wonderful London skyline to look at in my flat! 

The most EXCITABLE discovery was undoubtedly the stall run by Massive Arms Productions. See their bloody brilliant works here:

http://massivearms.bigcartel.com

I immediately purchased this Prince jumper (it says 'I wanna be your lover') in homage to the days my Dad spent journeys in the car with us playing his greatest hits (I thought I'd put this pic of Niomi up as her outfit was super cute :))

I couldn't resist buying their greetings cards, one of which I've already given my friend Andy who is a MASSIVE Prince fan. I think he liked it...A LOT. Oh and they were so nice that they threw in a Lisa Left Eye Lopez tea towel-washing up will never be as fun as it is now!

Rasta Thomas' Romeo and Juliet: Peacock Theatre 28.03.15

As a lover of any art form that crosses over, I was excited to see how Rasta Thomas' Romeo and Juliet would fare, and was hoping that it wasn't going to be style over substance. It wasn't.

Firstly, I enjoyed the casting of Romeo and Juliet, the dark and light coming together literally, and the reflection of our diverse society was great. On seeing Juliet's gentle entrance, I had a feeling that she would pack more of a punch in some of her later dances.

I'm also a big fan of projections, and annoyingly overuse the word 'projection' far more than anyone should in their daily vocabulary (sorry friends!). I started off by using projections in school shows as a way of modernising productions, but also, it hugely resolved the issue of moving a heavy cumbersome set on and off stage. I have actually come to appreciate clever minimal set pieces more as of late, but I welcomed seeing the use of projections, and it added to the 'musicvideoness' of the whole production.

The paparazzi section before the ball was humorous and gave us a taste of what was to come. It also gave us a chance to laugh at the characters a little, on seeing Mercutio using bum jiggling tactics to be the centre of attention. He was great to watch throughout the performance and was full of energy.

Usher's 'Without You' was the first lifter for me, marking the moment after Romeo and Juliet first meet at the ball. It was in this dance that there was much needed unison which added strength and joy to the event.

Romeo's dance with his friends at the beginning to 'Forever Young' actually made my heart pang a little as they watched the revolving ferris wheel and danced their 'youthful' steps of merriment. It harked back to those more carefree days when all you had to worry about was the colour of your backpack, the pictures in your DT folder and your Year 11 crush. It had a 'Sandlot' feel about it, and certainly took the me back to that feeling of newness and first love.

Other familiar songs such as 'Every Breath You Take', 'Unchained Melody', 'Teenage Dream' and 'Party Rockers' featured throughout the show and were all choreographed superbly. In having the mix of classical and modern, it was clear that it wasn't a tokenistic choice for the popularity vote, but it meant that you could easy connect the right tone immediately with a certain part of the story. After all, Shakespeare wrote his plays for everyone and so this production really does have something for everyone.

I was more than delighted to hear Sade's 'Kissing you' used in the Baz Luhrmann film during the famous fish tank scene where Romeo and Juliet fall in love. My eyes even welled up as the dancers created a beautiful tangle, building up at the right moments then revealing the close love that the characters shared for one another.

A final mention must go out to the Friar's dance, which I felt was a hard dance to portray with the usual understanding of the Friar being an older, larger friendly dumpling of a man. However the dance linked in well with the dark lead up to Romeo and Juliet's death, with high tempo music and a 'solid' feel, clean choreography and excellent mood lighting.

So yes, it comes to the final thought! Well, three words that come to mind when I think about this production are SWEET, CHARMING and FUN!

This production was a great example of clear characterisation and music choices in order for the audience to connect to ballet in a way that I know some don't when paying a small fortune to go and see other productions.

It certainly raised some emotions in me that haven't popped up for a little while, so for that I am always grateful.

CHICKENSHED: "as the mother of a brown boy..." 19.03.15

(See the video trailer for this production in the Theatre section of this blog)

On Thursday me and Lisa B (my fellow Drama teacher who I set up the department with, and prime theatre buddy!) went to see  "as the mother of a brown boy..." the second run of the show after the first re-telling of this touching yet beautiful and tragic story in 2007.

This one hour show tells the story of Mischa Niering a former pupil of Chickenshed who died aged 19 in a fatal accident involving the Police.

The narrative is told through the recorded voice of Mischa's mother, and her perspective on the journey of her son, from being a beautiful baby boy in her arms, to growing up to be a son she was proud of. 

There is no sugar coating in the story either. As an audience member being taken through some of the key events in Mischa's life, and some of the Mother's observations, it is clear that there were times when his life bought her great joy, times when it brought her sadness, and times in which she experienced confusion over his decisions and actions.

The main message here in this story is that of LOVE. A mother's great love for her son, and her desperate need to want the very best for him. The special bond that she shared reminded me of my own relationship with my family, and how they may have felt about some of the decisions I made growing up. How I may have caused them stress or hurt or even joy at times. This I know is a wonderful result of Chickenshed's work, always giving the audience the ability to think deeply and reflect on how we behave as human beings, and how we treat and care for one another. 

The use of multimedia, music and movement in this story is a magic combination. The music and movement highlights certain moments perfectly. I loved the use of India Arie's 'Brown Skin' and the way it highlighted the beauty of being mixed race. I particularly enjoyed  the use of the boxes being repositioned on stage for different purposes, and the 'parkour' quality the playground scene in which the actors portrayed Mischa's schooldays.

From what I could see, at least half of the audience shed a tear throughout this production, as we were all hit with the reality that a life that was so precious was taken away so quickly, especially in a time of growth and progress for Mischa. 

This production is not around for long, but if you want to see some of the excellent work that Chickenshed do, go and pay them a visit, as they have a brilliant programme of work coming up. This company stand for inclusivity and showing the value of young people, and this production shows that perfectly.

http://www.chickenshed.org.uk

Performing Dance: How does it all begin?

I was fortunate enough to bump into these two brilliant girls who were helping backstage at the London heats of the Great Big Dance Off on Monday.

They agreed to have a chat about how they got into performance and the platforms that led them to now perform with two excellent dance crews 'Buckness Personified' and 'Project G'.

What came through was that you don't necessarily have to have parents taking you along to Ballet and Tap (from the age of two or whatever) to succeed now!

 In fact, if the interest comes from you, your desire to get better can sometimes have more longevity.

Well done to these two girls for all your hard work backstage, and I hope to see you again in the future :)

Interview with Rachel Steckbeck

On Monday 16th March I had the privilege of being a Judge on the panel of the Primary and Secondary school London Heats for The Great Big Dance Off National schools competition. This took place at the New Wimbledon Theatre, with close to 60 schools competing in both sections.

It was great to see so many schools taking time out of their busy schedule (I've been on the other side and know how hard it can be to get this sort of thing together!) to get their pupils onto that stage and give them a chance to show what they can do.

A big shout out to any of the Teachers (if you are reading this) who helped put together a dance on behalf of your school. It doesn't go unrecognised, and the inclusivity of the groups was also clear to see which is important. You may have planted a new love for dance which will continue to grow in some of your pupils!

Rachel, the founder of the competition took a few minutes out of her VERY busy day to talk about why she started the competition and why it's important to have this platform. Take a look!