Tonight, I was supposed to be with another new group: London, Surrey and Beyond.. for an event called "A Unique Experience. Olde Pub, Gerry's Private Club, 2 'i's Famous Fish 'n' Chips". Which says it all, really! But then TunedIn advertised flamenco at Sands Films.. irresistible really. So I booked that instead. And then RSVPed with the World Music Meetup, when they finally got around to advertising it. (I see that London, Surrey and Beyond event was cancelled in the end, for lack of interest.)
Actually, this concert was one that the organiser, who runs all the concerts here, told us about weeks ago, and had been on my radar ever since. So, I booked as soon as it was finally advertised. Now, I adore Sands Films - but it's a 'mare to get to, even from where I'm currently based! Taking the bus, it was going to take me around an hour. Well, I started out over an hour before the doors were due to open, taking the option of the #176 because that stopped nearest to me of all options, then to change to the #C10 at Elephant and Castle.
Now, I've heard complaints about the #C10 - but Google Maps was wrong on this occasion, it wasn't late at all. Which was just as well, considering the traffic we ran into as we reached Rotherhithe! I've heard complaints about that before, too. It was so bad that the driver let out a whole swathe of people as we waited through change after change of traffic lights. When we finally got to Bermondsey Station, I decided to walk the rest of the way.
Having passed my bus three times on foot by the time I turned off the main road, I'm fairly confident I made it faster than that bus! Even though I got slightly lost at the roundabout, it only cost me a couple of minutes. By the time I arrived at the venue, the doors were open and people were queueing to go in. The organiser was pretty busy, so I didn't have a chance to say hi - just hurried upstairs, because this was, for once, in that dinky little wooden theatre they have on the first floor! Got myself a seat to the side, about halfway down.
Now, tonight's event was apparently in honour of the centenary of the birth (and the 50th anniversary of the death) of Violeta Parra, a celebrated Chilean singer-songwriter, and was one of a number of events being held worldwide. Supported by the Anglo-Chilean Society, and the Chilean embassy - so there were a lot of Chileans in the house. Including our dancer for the night.
Ah now, this was something special. Flamenco at its most fiery, passionate and intense - showing its gypsy roots. Three different outfits she came out in, each more flamboyant than the last - but it's really not the outfit that people come to see. I really don't know why she bothers to wear things in her hair - the ferocity of her dancing just flings them out! (One audience member in the front row was kind enough to pass a comb back to her at the end.) And she was accompanied by three fine Flamenco musicians - one on percussion, matching the beat of her feet: one intense-eyed singer, his voice matching the ferocity of her rhythm: and a guy on guitar, who gave us a solo, and had cds for sale outside. As usual, I had no cash..
Between acts, we had piped music and words, presumably from Violeta herself.. And the very last scene went to the dancer, who, after the others had left, danced for us without music, making a soundboard out of her body. Awesome - I don't hear half enough of this music, see half enough of this dance; it ran through my head, all the way home, and I had to wonder what would have happened if my destiny had taken me to live in Spain, which at one stage I was poised to do..
A blast of Spanish/Chilean sun, as winter sets in. Too crowded afterwards to look for people, so I just left. Tomorrow, it's back to Ireland for the weekend again. Wet and windy, we're promised.
On Monday, I had booked at Hampstead Theatre, for No One Will Tell Me How to Start a Revolution. North London Friends are attending - and charging extra, so I was going it alone! But now it turns out I'm spending the week in the Stockholm office - back on the 8th. I'll need my laptop, so what with going back to Ireland for the weekend, I brought it home tonight and will work from home tomorrow - first time in, gee, nearly a year! Great to have a lie-in..
On Tuesday, it was free comedy in Hammersmith - nominally. With Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith, Wimbledon and Greenwich. So, that was easy to cancel, for Stockholm!
Wednesday was Up in the Cheap Seats and Labour of Love, with Martin Freeman, at the Noel Coward Theatre. Cheapest tickets from the venue, which I'm finding lately has been the norm!
Thursday, same group - headed to see the Company Wayne McGregor, at Sadler's Wells.
And finally! next Friday, headed to see Chekhov's The Seagull, at the Lyric. Third night in a row for that group - almost as busy a group as I am a person! So, four things in all I had to cancel, without refund.. what the hey, I'll doubtless be saving money in Stockholm! Expenses paid, after all.
On the 9th October, I'm finally going to see the show so many people have asked me whether I'm seeing. Ink is showing at the Duke of York's Theatre.
On the 10th October, I'm back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Ballet Boyz at Sadler's Wells.
On the 11th October, back with Funzing (London Speaks Sessions and LDN Talks @ Night) for a talk on Revolution in Iran: Girl with a Gun. This will be an interview with a female Kurdish revolutionary.. on the Battersea Barge, which I believe can get choppy. Never mind. This is one I got for free, for completing a loyalty card with three talks.
On the 12th October, Let's Do This are back to St. Martin-in-the-Fields, where London Concertante is performing Bach Violin Concertos. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again.
And on the 16th October, back at Southwark Playhouse with Up in the Cheap Seats - this time, it's for A Day By the Sea.
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