dracula at the old vic

The night before last, it was the theatre. Last night, it was the ballet.

Moira+I continued our week of culture and live performance at Bristol’s Old Vic last night when we went to see “Dracula” performed by the wonderful Mark Bruce Company. I hadn’t spent my early adult years watching horror movies, but even I had a vague knowledge of the vampire legend (based on Bram Stoker’s book of the same name, first published in 1897).
I knew that last night was going to be dark, dramatic… and bloody.
In fact, it was pretty amazing. I know very little about dance, but I was completely captivated by the mesmerizing brilliance and athleticism of the dancers… it literally took my breath away at times. Jonathan Goddard as Dracula was simply superb (we’d previously seen him in HeadSpaceDance’s “If Play Is Play” in April) and Eleanor Duval, as Mina Harker, and Kristin McGuire, as Lucy Westenra, both also gave stunning performances (I was particularly captivated by McGuire’s intensely beautiful, powerful portrayal). The music was stunningly good too – ranging from the intense, painful, grating themes composed especially for this piece to traditional folk tunes, Beethoven, Bach, Schnittke and even Florrie Forde’s “Down at the Old Bull and Bush”!
Another stunning evening of live performance (the last performance at the Old Vic is on Saturday 4 October… but the tour continues to Manchester, Birmingham, London, Glasgow, Caernarfon, Ipswich, Brighton and beyond). Catch it if you possibly can.
As we walked home under a clear, half moon, black sky… I resisted the temptation the kiss Moira’s neck…

HeadSpaceDance and London

Moira and I have just returned from a couple of days in London. Maybe it’s our age, but, these days, all our trips to the capital seem to involve overnight stays – we fit in a lot of activities, but at a pretty gentle pace!

The main reason for our visit was to see a performance by HeadSpaceDance (“If Play Is Play”) in the Linbury Studio Theatre at the Royal Opera House on Thursday evening - the final night of its run. One of the HeadSpaceDance directors, Charlie Broom, is the wife of actor Sam Alexander… who is a long-standing friend of our daughter Hannah and son-in-law, Felix (they were part of the wonderful Thame Youth Theatre back in their teens!)… hope you’re following all this?!
Anyway, back to the dancing…
Although I love live performance, I think I’ve only seen two or three professional dance performances in my life. However, I HAD seen some impressive video footage of some of their earlier productions and so had a sense that we might be going to see something very special… and that is EXACTLY how it turned out!
I know very little about dance but, from start to finish, was completely blown away by the sheer brilliance of the dancers and the programme of three dances they performed. I’ve been trying to think of appropriate words to do justice to the evening, but don’t think I can… mesmerizing, inventive, athletic, intricate, funny, articulate, delicate, powerful, unsettling, stunning… simply beautiful. I was completely “hooked” by the second piece (“Before The Interval”) in particular – in which three of the dancers take a tongue-in-cheek appraisal of themselves as performers (complete with dialogue!). Absolutely captivating to watch and very funny to listen to. Quite, quite brilliant!
As a former sporty person who’s now well past his sell-by-date and about to undergo a hip replacement, I found their flexibility, athleticism, humour, timing and elegance completely entrancing - even if I ended up feeling very old, stiff and inflexible - and just a “little” jealous of ALL their massive talents!
An exceptional evening (and great to meet up with Charlie+Sam again afterwards as well).

In an effort to save some money, we decided NOT to see the acclaimed Henri Mattise, David Bailey, Vikings exhibitions (and, no doubt, countless others)… but we DID visit the following (all free):

1.     BORO (at Somerset House): an exhibition on the Japanese textile tradition of boro – translated to “rags” in English.

2.     National Portrait Gallery (one of my favourite London galleries and spaces).

3.     Sir John Soane’s Museum (an amazing, bizarre house, designed by Soane himself, and filled with his antiquities and works of art).

4.     The British Museum (I particular love Norman Foster’s Great Court space – great for people-watching!)(we also spent over an hour doing the museum’s mini-tour – so MANY things to see, you could visit every day for a year and still see “new” things).

5.     And, of course, just walking around London is always an experience in itself – this time incorporating the Embankment, Covent Garden, Lincoln’s Inn Fields and loads, loads more.

Photo: Christopher Akrill and Gemma Nixon performing “Two”.    

bristol harbour festival

This weekend was yet another reminder why we love living in Bristol. It was the annual Harbour Festival – which is an amazing mixture of music, dance, drama, children’s stuff, fireworks and, of course, boats (plus wonderful food and drink stalls etc). The weather was perfect; the atmosphere was very relaxed and jolly… and it was all completely FREE (well, apart from the food and drink)! It seems that the event attracted some 250,000 visitors… and certainly helped show off the city wonderfully well.
Congratulations to the City Council!
Photo: images from the weekend.