[ General ]
by Miriam Christ
@ 23.11.2007 22:09 CET
Yes, we do celebrate Guy Fawkes here in New Zealand too! I don't know why anyone celebrates a day where someone tried to blow up Parliament, but I'm not complaining because we celebrate with fireworks and I love fireworks :D So, for this years Guy Fawkes (as if I've ever celebrated it before :P) I went to Katherine's house. She lives on top of a hill in Kelburn, in a massive house with a gorgeous view over the harbor. Perfect! We came, we had cake and then the fireworks started. The city council always has a public display of fireworks down in the harbor. They even shoot fireworks from a helicopter! It was very pretty and really big and it lasted forever :D Just the finale was a bit disappointing. Afterwards we had our own little fireworks! Very nice :)
Oh, and shall I tell you a funny story!? The day before Alison and I went to the open day at Parliament and guess what?! They didn't even scan our bags as they usually do! It would have been so easy to have a go at a real Guy Fawkes :P
[ General ]
by Miriam Christ
@ 23.11.2007 22:08 CET
Saturday 3 November my ballet school, Deirdre Tarrant's Dance School, had their annual end of year show. (The real show will be in March next year though because Deirdre will be away from the middle of November till the end of December. So the show in November was only a small practice show.) Half way through the year we started learning dances from Swan Lake, and that's what we showed on Saturday (although they were not finished yet).
The day started off with normal training from 10 to 1. Deirdre also made some small corrections in the dances and changed little bits here and there. Typical! :P Then we went over to the Opera House and got ready for the performance. We had borrowed white tutus from the theater so we looked like real swans. But man, they were tight! No one could breathe in them but it looked real good :P The audience sat on stage facing the auditorium, and we danced with the back to the auditorium on the very front of the stage (since it was only a practice performance). There were heaps of people there to watch!
The show started with the very little ones. They were skipping around and pointing their feet. Very sweet :) Then the bigger girls (and the one boy) showed some parts from swan lake and other dances they had been learning this year. It was very good! Then it was our turn. First I went on stage as a little swan, in a blue tutu, with 3 others. We danced the “little swan solo”. It went very well :) We then had to run and get changed into the white tutus while other people were dancing. We had more solos, a polka, two pas the trois, the cygnets and a waltz. The finale was the big swan dance with all of us “old” girls. It went quite well considering we had only been practicing that dance for a month :P After about an hour and a half it was over. I had lots of fun and the people watching seemed to enjoy themselves too. Deirdre commented on everything throughout the whole show. She introduced all the dancers and told the audience about the dances. It was very different from all the shows I have been involved in before, but it was a nice experience :D And i got to be a swan in a white tutu – every little ballerina's dream :P
Am 3. November hatte meine Tanzschule einen Auftritt. Der Jährliche Auftritt wurde bis nächstes Jahr verschoben weil meine Lehrerin verreist, aber wir hatten einen kleinen Übungsauftritt. Im Juni hatten wir angefangen Tänze aus Schwanensee zu lernen, und die haben wir dann auch vorgeführt (obwohl sie noch nicht ganz fertig waren).
Der Tag fing mit normalem Training an, wo Deirdre, unsere Lehrerin, noch kleine Änderungen an den Tänzen vornahm :P Danach sind wir zum Opera Haus rüber gelaufen und haben uns für die Vorstellung fertig gemacht. Wir hatten weisse Tütüs vom Theater ausgeliehen :) Die waren aber echt äng! Niemand konnte richtig Atmen, aber es sah sehr gut aus :P Das Publikum sass hinten auf der Bühne (da es ja nur eine Probevorstellung war) und wir haben vorne auf der Bühne mit dem Rücken zum Saal getanzt. Es waren ruchtig viele Leute da!
Die kleinsten Kinder waren zuerst dran. Sie sind auf der Bühne etwas rum gehüpft und haben ihre Füsse schön gestreckt. Sehr süss! Dann waren die etwas grösseren Kinder dran. Sie haben einige Sachen von Schwanensee gezeigt und noch ein Paar andere Tänze die sie dieses Jahr gelernt haben. Zum Schluss waren wir grossen dann dran. Zuerst bin ich mit drei anderen als kleine Schwäne, in blauen Tütüs, auf die Bühne und wir haben unseren Solotanz getanzt. Sehr gut gegangen :) Dann waren andere Leute dran mit einem Waltzer, pas des trois, Polka, cygnets und einem Männersolo. Das Finale waren dann wir grossen Mädchen in weissen Tütüs als grosse Schwäne. Auch das ist sehr gut gelaufen wenn man bedenkt das wir erst seit einem Monat an dem Tanz arbeitet :P Auf jeden Fall hat die Aufführung sehr viel Spass gemacht, auch wenn es ganz anders war als alle Vorstellungen die ich bis jetzt mit gemacht habe.
[ General ]
by Miriam Christ
@ 23.11.2007 22:06 CET
I know it's nearly the end of November now, so this comes kind of a month too late, but better late then never, aye?
On Monday the 22nd of October, labour day, Alison took me to Waikanae's Nature reserve Nga Manu. They had just started with a new offer for their visitors: bird feeding! It was quite exciting :D We went inside their enclosures, watched them closely as they got fed and even got to hand feed some of them. Wood pigeons, tuis, kiwis, ducks, kakariki, black swans, kea, kaka, fantails, morepork and herons – heaps of New Zealand native birds. The most amazing ones were the kakas. They came and sat on our heads and shoulders and started rubbing their beak on our chin. What an experience! The tui was also very fascinating, and the kiwis of course. We also got to feed rats, a possum, a wiesel and tuataras. After the feeding Alison and I went on a walk around the whole reserve and up to the lookout tower. Very nice :) That day we also went to Wrights Hill Fortress in Karori, Wellington. It is an old bunker built to defend Wellington against a possible enemy attack from the Pacific in World War 2. It was of course never needed. The bunker is massive! I would have got terribly lost if it wasn't for all the signs there now. Quite impressive.
Saturday the 27th Alison and I spontaneously went to a Footnote (a modern dance company directed by my ballet teacher) performance at the Opera House. It was absolutely amazing! Such a good show :D For the first part the six dancers had big boxes of different sizes on stage which they integrated in their dancing. You can't imagine how many possibilities there are for what you can do with a wooden box! The dancers sat in them, walked on them, jumped from box to box and carried them around. It was very funny sometimes and the dancing was just great. My favourite parts were when the dancers sat inside the boxes. It was amazing how they fit! They just sat there and were rolled around and they did not move a millimeter inside the box. So cool! I also really enjoyed the part where the boys and girls paired up and lifted each other. And when they mirrored each others movements and then just sank into the boxes! Great :D The second part was much shorter and included heaps of jumping and lifting. Excellent partner work and incredible technique. What a strength! Real good too :) The whole show was brilliant New Zealand contemporary dance.
