Gala de Danza

Was very excited about tonight - TAC played a blinder, with tickets for the Gala de Danza at Central Hall Westminster! This is billed as an extravaganza of music, dance, and art. Happily, how they're doing it is providing a code, which you then use to book your own ticket - as expensive as you like, you still get it for nothing but the admin fee! I booked to eat beforehand at The Red Lion - it's always crammed.

Well, I stayed a little bit late working, to finish something - not too much. What delayed me more was running into my flatmate as I was trying to get out - he'd been away, wanted to tell me all about it. By the time I was finally ready to go, no bus would get me there in time - it'd have to be Tube. Mind you, it occurred to me that I could expedite matters by taking a bus to the station, considering traffic wasn't as bad as previous days - I'd picked the later showing, which made things easier for me. Sure enough, the #381 was soon along, and despite having to wait for the second Tube, the first one being too crammed, I still made the pub in time!

And it was crammed. I thought I'd head straight to the upstairs dining room, but a sign said it was closed for a private function - I then spent some minutes queueing at the bar to get the guy's attention, told him I had a booking - he checked, and told me it was downstairs. Huh, I hadn't known they had a downstairs space! Mercifully, it was infinitely quieter - and although not all the tables were occupied, when someone rang down to see whether they had a table for walk-ins, they were told no, everything was reserved..

Service was a little slow - it took forever to get a drink. I had steak and ale pie, as usual - with mash. Now, it wasn't up to the heady heights of Greene King - indeed, I got the distinct impression the whole meal was pre-prepared and reheated - but I have to say, the pie and gravy were lovely, the mash a bit nondescript - I didn't finish that. I was in time, nonetheless, for a dessert - feeling overly hot.. it's been a very clammy day.. I thought I'd have a couple of scoops of ice cream. I really don't know whose daft idea it was to serve them in two separate dishes, but it was lovely..

Across Parliament Square then, and I arrived at the hall five minutes before the scheduled start time of 8.30. To discover a whopping queue! They obviously hadn't opened the doors early enough.. I'd forgotten, of course, that there'd been an earlier showing. The queue stretched right around the block - there was no way the show would be starting at 8.30..

Inside, we had to climb the grand staircase (there's also a lift). They were whetting our appetite:

Unfortunately, by the time I booked, all the seats with a head-on view were gone - although I did get the front row (to the side):

Screens on either side of the organ display a close-up for people without a proper view - with the acts playing to the front, I found these useful on occasion:

Terrific projections on the ceiling too:

Unfortunately, there is a moratorium on photography and filming during the show.

Ah, this is a lovely thing! We were treated to an amazing array of performers - world-class dancers performed mostly ballet, but also contemporary dance; one danced most movingly to Hozier's Take Me to Church. One of the biggest rounds of applause of the night came for the littlest dancer, just a little boy, pirouetting as well as any. Rambert were there. There was also tango, accompanied by Marcin on guitar and danced by Latin American ballroom champions - the first tango was to L' Amour est un Oiseau Rebelle, from Carmen. I was a little disappointed not to have flamenco..

Murmuration performed an unusual dance number, best viewed on the screen. The whole evening started with a rendition of Summer from the Four Seasons (appropriately) - and a vocal performance of Ave Maria was accompanied by a sole ballerina. Jakub Józef Orlinski performed a piece - and wow, did a headspin when he came on to take a bow with the others, at the end! And there was a performance by a man called William Close, playing something called the Earth Harp - the world's largest playable stringed instrument, strung across the auditorium, from the organ to the lighting fixture on the other side!

Ah, honestly, I had no idea what I was in for! This is something very special.. one more performance tomorrow (Thursday) evening. Still some seats left - I strongly urge anyone who can to go!

It did run a little late - tomorrow's performance is at 7, and is advertised as 90 minutes, straight through. Having said that, tonight's ran for about two hours, from about 8.50 to 10.50pm..

I was waiting for the bus, under Big Ben, when it dramatically struck 11. Didn't wait much longer though - with an altercation starting nearby, I hopped on the next bus, which was just approaching, and got me across the bridge, where I picked up the #381 again.

Tomorrow is looking like film again - delving into the group of (now two) films, I think The Ballad of Wallis Island looks like the one: another comedy, in which an eccentric lottery winner, living alone on a small offshore island, hires his favourite artists to play a private concert for him. (If only..!) Thing is, the artists used to be a couple, and have since broken up, which adds to the fun - she's played by Carey Mulligan. I suppose I had to get around to it eventually - as usual, subject to change, if ratings change, or I get a better offer. Still showing in Picturehouse Central.

Next two days are something of a Meetup extravaganza. On Friday, I'm back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Miss Myrtle's Garden, at the Bush Theatre. Eating beforehand at Shikumen Chinese restaurant.

Then on Saturday afternoon, I'm attending their summer social, at The Oxford Market. 

That should be finished in time to head over to the BFI, where The Hideout is seeing Videodrome, a body horror by David Cronenberg, that evening. Stars James Woods and Debbie Harry. Love a bit of Cronenberg.

On Sunday - the only day this month they could make it - I'm meeting Ivan and James (and possibly Martin) for our monthly social, and we've decided to try The Phoenix again.

On Monday, back with London Classical Music and Theatre Group (London Baroque Music Lovers are also going, but I had to pick one - mind you, the same guy is organising) for the opening night of Handel's opera Semele, in the Royal Opera House. And of course, I would start seeing discount codes after I book.. Eating at Cote Covent Garden beforehand.

On Tuesday, thinking film again - and what's looking good at the top of next week's list is Sudan, Remember Us, a documentary about the popular uprising in Sudan following the overthrow of a dictatorship, and the subsequent violent military crackdown. It'll be great to get a view of a country I don't know much about, and am unlikely to visit.. showing, of course, in the Curzon Bloomsbury, the home of documentaries.

Next Wednesday, back with the much-neglected London Literary Walks - this one is called The Modernist Walk, and we're meeting in The Garden Gate, Hampstead. You can eat there, but I couldn't book for just one person, so will have to take pot luck.

On the 3rd, film again - documentary again - Curzon Bloomsbury again! This time for The Salt of the Earth, about the photographer Sebastiao Salgado, who died last month. Co-written and co-directed by Wim Wenders, it's part of the country-wide Kino Dreams retrospective of his work.

And on the 4th - which is, of course, US Independence Day - I'm heading to TunedIn London for the first time in ages, courtesy of The World Music Meetup (whom I've signed up with) and the London European Club, not to mention Curiosity - London Arts, Culture & Walks, for a concert called An American Melt, happening in St. Mary's Church, Rotherhithe.