Posted by Keith on Sep 16, '08 6:16 AM for everyone How time flies.
I've been so busy this year that it hasn't even occurred to me that I haven't blogged in a while. There are just so many things to do, and really not enough time. Sometimes I really hate it, but I do appreciate the fact that I always have something to do. Well, here's a quick update:
My plans for Europe are well under way. I've sent e-mails to all the companies that I plan to audition for. Some have replied, and some have not. I just need to keep pestering people until they see me and just let me into their companies. Much harder than it sounds though. I'm really looking forward to 6 months of no regime, constantly changing plans and ever changing scenery. Oh, and being extremely careful with my money.
However, I am auditioning for the Queensland Ballet this weekend and if I get a contract, I will probably stay in Australia for another year before I look for a job elsewhere. I am only doing this because one year of experience will make me more employable to companies, and it will also be good for developing my performance skills and technique. I fly to Brisbane this Friday, and will be spending most of Saturday with Shannon. I can't wait!
I recently sat for my Advanced 2 RAD examination. I managed to pass with a distinction (88 marks), which I was really hoping for because I worked so hard and endured a lot of pain for it. I'm really happy I did it because it really helped me with my technique, which was why I did it in the first place.
WAAPA has been full on. Every time you finish something, something else pops up and I find myself being constantly tired. I can't believe I only have 3 months left. How time flies.
Pic: Me and my cast after our performance of D*A*S*H* at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art Posted by Keith on Aug 9, '08 7:22 PM for everyone
 It's been a really full-on year for me. When I was in first year they said that third year was the easiest year, but 'they' are all liars! I suppose it depends who you are. If you are in the Bachelor course, it's pretty cruisy, but for us Diploma students, it's just as bad as second year. That's the reason why I haven't blogged in a while.
I sat for my RAD Advanced II exam on Friday. I've been working on it since February this year with Diana DeVos. It's taken up a lot of my time and has caused me a lot of stress. However, all the hard work has paid off and my ballet technique has improved noticeably. Now I just have to wait three more weeks before I get my results. I'm not too bothered if I don't get a high mark, because the main thing is that I have gotten better.
Things at WAAPA have also been very busy. We are a month into our final semester and the pressure is on to 'get good' before we graduate. For me, I know I've achieved many of my goals and there are just some fine details I need to polish before I get to the audition standard. I can safely say that I've worked hard for the past three years in spite of the many challenges and let-downs. I've accepted that my body is not perfect, but it is still a healthy, strong, and more importantly, functioning body that serves me well. God has blessed me with a talent and I am making full use of it.
The Student Works at PICA is coming up yet again, but this time my piece will be in it. I've never thought of myself as a choreographer, and I remember the girls at EZBS used to make fun of me saying that my choreography will probably be stupid. They were not wrong about it being stupid, but I've used it to my advantage. It's not just about making beautiful movement, it's also making the right decisions to make the movement efficient and effective. And you can't be stupid to do that :)
 I've started planning my trip to Europe. I've bought my ticket to London so now I definitely have to go. I've started contacting some companies, but I need to start pushing this job ahead. There isn't much time before I finish and I want to be organised and know where I am going and what I am doing when I wake up the next day after my last WAAPA performance. My goal company is Nederlands Dans Theater, and I've already contacted them. Hopefully I can get into the junior company to start out with then we'll see what happens.
Top Pic: Rehearsals for Giselle on Open Day. My partner is Caitlin-Rae Crook (photo by Glynn Moore)
Bottom Pic: I've been trying out some dance photography, and now lots of people have asked me to take photos of them. All my photos are on my Facebook page. Dancer is Sharni Laffan. Posted by Keith on Jun 19, '08 11:03 AM for everyone
I've been working on this piece since the start of the year. Saying that, I haven't actually spent that much time on it. Anyway, the audition for the Student Works season was yesterday, and my piece was chosen to be in it! Yay! 10 pieces were chosen out of the 23 pieces auditioned so I'm really happy. I've uploaded a video of a rehearsal on Youtube. It's not the final product; I'm planning to develop the movement a little further and then we'll see. Check out the rehearsal video, but keep in mind that it is very rough:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMsVsh2orXA
Posted by Keith on May 19, '08 8:36 AM for everyone I've been working with the WA Ballet for more than a week now, and it has been such a good experience. We came in so late, so when we arrived, we had to go on stage already. We spent most of last week doing rehearsals on stage. When it came to my turn, they decided to put us in costumes (which we didn't even have a fitting for, so luckily the costume fits me really well). We also had to put wigs on, so first they tried a blonde curly wig and I looked like an Asian cherub. The wig was meant for someone else, so they tried a brown beard on me, but it didn't exactly match my short jet-black hair. In the end, they found a spiky blond wig and it worked perfectly. I look like an eccentric 'ah beng'.
Joe and I share the same part (except he wears a beard), which is the lead servant. We also have to pull a horse across the stage twice which is actually a lot harder than it looks. It was really hard to find a character for myself because we were kind of just chucked on stage. In the end I found it, and I'm a really happy Asian servant. It's actually a lot of fun to do, and because that is all I do it has been a really good week off; something we have needed for a long time. The five of us have also learned the second wedding and the finale, so hopefully they will put us in that as well before the season ends.
The guest artist from Stuttgart arrived on Wednesday, and he is so amazing it's not funny. He can do triple tour en lairs perfectly and he suits the character so well. He is also such a cool guy and is not stand-offish or anything.
I performed on Saturday, on the second night. The performance itself was much better than opening night, but the audience was less lively. Glynn came with two of his friends and they really enjoyed the show. Some first year girls from WAAPA came as well. It's good to get support haha. I don't know when I'm performing next, but I should know pretty soon. Even if I don't perform again, it has been a really good experience and I don't regret it at all. Unfortunately I have to be back at WAAPA this week.
Posted by Keith on May 12, '08 8:51 PM for everyone 12 May 2008
It was back to WA Ballet after 2 weeks. We were not able to go for rehearsals because we had our own show to work on. It went really well, and most people who came to see it really enjoyed it. The theatre was almost full every day except Tuesday. I'm glad it's over, though.
We started with a warm up class at 10am (10am! Can't wait to get into a company so I can sleep in everyday). It was a good opportunity to suss out the competition. There were some students from New Zealand and some from Terri Charlesworth as well. There were about 10 WAAPA kids there, so we're definitely going strong.
After class we rehearsed servants. I'm in second cast for it, so when first cast performs I don't have to do anything! Yay! I get to pull a horse in it too. We were expecting to come in and do lots of corps work, but they already put all the other students in it. It's good in a way because we still get to perform, but it's nothing much so we do get the week off (in a way). We really need a break because we've been working so hard at WAAPA lately.
There was a run on stage (first cast) in the afternoon. Since I am only in second cast, I got to watch the whole thing. The set is up and it looks amazing! It's going to be quite a lovely ballet and I'm going to be part of it. I can safely say that my decision not to become a ballet dancer is still quite firm. I don't think I want to spend the rest of my life doing ballet. I want to be good at the technique but contemporary works all the way :) We finished at about 6pm, and Glynn almost burned the house down again.
Posted by Keith on Apr 30, '08 11:10 AM for everyone Posted by Keith on Apr 18, '08 8:23 AM for everyone
We were all very tired after a long week of rehearsals during our mid-semester 'break', but the five of us made our way once again to Hay Street to the WA Ballet studios.
It said on the schedule that there was a full call. They ran the whole of Act 1 (principal and soloist parts only), and managed to run through both first and second cast. Since they wern't doing any corps parts, and the servants part isn't until Act 2, we basically just sat and watched rehearsal today. This was good for two reasons: it was beneficial for us to watch the ballet so far (which looks really exciting and it suits the company very well), and also I was very tired and really couldn't be bothered to get up and jump around. Haha. The rehearsal went for about two and a half hours. It's pretty full on and I can understand why they need more people.
Posted by Keith on Apr 16, '08 7:16 AM for everyone
16th April 2008
After another full day of rehearsals, Ben and I headed to the city for another rehearsal for Taming of the Shrew. The boys didn't have to be there till 5pm, so Ben and I went to Kings Street Cafe to have a baked banana and chocolate cheesecake. It was really delicious, I don't think I've had a cake that good in a while. Makes me crave my mum's cakes.
Jenny and Caitlin had been with the company since 3.30pm, and they have been cast in some corps de ballet parts and are the understudies for the bridesmaids parts. They fit right in, and technically they were just as good as the company members. I'm so proud of my peers.
We went over the same servants section for the boys, and it was good because the 2nd cast (which includes me) got to do it twice, and I think Ivan noticed me today. He still doesn't know my name, but at least he knows my face which is a big step for me. I think I worked pretty well today, and I hope to keep learning from everyone.
Posted by Keith on Apr 14, '08 7:26 AM for everyone
We had already done a whole day of classes and rehearsals, so we were relatively tired when we took the bus into the city to His Majesty's Theatre on Hay Street, where the WA Ballet rehearses.
Joe, Ben and I put our stuff down in the male changing room and went straight to the studio. Joe did Alice in Wonderland with them last year, so he knew most of the people and he fit right in. Ben and I were obviously newbies, so we tried our best to stay professional. We watched some of the rehearsal, and it was really good to see Sarah, Meg and Vicki (who graduated from WAAPA last year). Sarah is absolutely stunning, and I'm really proud of her.
Today they taught us the servants section in Act 2. Joe was immediately put in first cast because he had worked with them before and Ivan (the artistic director) knows that he can deliver. I just have to prove that I can deliver just as much and maybe even more. It wasn't very difficult, and it involved some acting skills. We just have to be really silly, which comes quite naturally to me. It shocked me how quickly we were expected to pick things up, but I gave my full concentration and did the best I could. It was good also to be treated as professionals.
We finished early today, and left at about 5:30pm.
Posted by Keith on Apr 13, '08 6:23 AM for everyone  Halfway through lunch on Friday, Ben and I were approached by Kim McCarthy (who had a serious look on his face). We thought we were in trouble, but it was quite opposite to that.
Kim came to tell us that the Western Australian Ballet needed dancers for their upcoming performace season, the Taming of the Shrew, choreographed by Stuttgart Ballet's John Cranko. He told us that he wanted us to take this opportunity, as he is only going to send five of us from third year. He warned us that it was going to add more stress on top of what we already have, and it would be throwing us in the deep end. We will have to be extremely professional and have to keep our cool for this whole time.
We agreed to do it, so Ben, Joe, Jenny, Caitlin and I will be going to His Majesty's Theatre tomorrow to attend rehearsals with the WA Ballet. We're all really excited about it. For now we are just learning the work as understudies, but if we get cast we will be getting a young artist contract and will get paid for rehearsals and performances. This is great, my first real job! I'm really happy that I get to do it with my friends. I'm not sure I would have said yes if I had to do it alone.
Anyway, I will try and keep you updated with what happens. I have been really bad with my blogging, and it was so hard to even finish the Adelaide ones. Sorry it took so long. It's just really difficult when there are so many things on my plate. Here is a quick update on what is going on in my life:
- School is as hectic as ever, with never ending assignments and classes
- Our May season performance starts in about 3 weeks (Argh!)
- I'm going to compete at the RAD Festival, doing James' solo from La Sylphide Act I
- Chris and I are working hard on our Advanced 2, which we will be sitting for in August
Anyway, I will try to be more disciplined with blogging so people know what is going on. More news soon.
Posted by Keith on Apr 12, '08 11:12 PM for everyone  By the time we had finished packing and dilly-dallying it was about 10am. We checked out of the hotel and went to Rundle Street for breakfast at the Everest Restaurant. I was expecting more exotic food, but it was very typically Australian. After breakfast we went to see The Other Boleyn Girl, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I love period films, and the acting was superb. We spent the rest of the day café hopping. It was too hot to spend the day outdoors so we just drank coffee and ate cake the whole time before going back to the hotel to catch the shuttle to the airport. It was a pretty uneventful way to end my Adelaide experience, but I don’t mind. Sometimes it’s good to do nothing. Posted by Keith on Apr 12, '08 11:10 PM for everyone Woke up at 8.30am, and went for breakfast at Buskers on Rundle Street. We saw Fitzy from Big Brother. Everyone makes a big deal out of him, but I don’t really care much for B-list celebrities. After breakfast we took a walk around the city, taking in the heat of the morning. We explored the Torrens River, the war memorial, the Vietnam War exhibition at the South Australian History Trust and the Helpmann School of Arts graduate exhibition.
I was feeling really tired, so I went back to the hotel to take a nap. Then Glynn and I took a 50-minute bus ride to Tea Tree Plaza to meet Tilly and her husband, Des. We spent about 5 hours with them. They are really nice people. We just talked and laughed the whole time. Glynn and Des kept making fun of Tilly. I played with their dog and their rabbit.
We had takeaway Indian for dinner. It was alright, nothing fancy. We didn’t want to endure the bus ride back, so we took a cab into the city instead (which took 15 minutes). I took Glynn to see Northern Lights and the Garden of Unearthly Delights. There was nothing much happening there, and the only funny thing to watch was the Silent Disco. We went back to the hotel to sleep after that. It was a pretty relaxing day.
Posted by Keith on Apr 12, '08 11:09 PM for everyone  Last day at Options. First I had a ballet class. We were supposed to have Sally Collard-Gentle, but she couldn’t make it so we had Jaqui again. It was pretty much the same class as yesterday, but I didn’t find her as evil as before. She told me I had really nice presentation, which is nice to hear from someone who doesn’t know you. After ballet we had a swing class. I had to choose between that and a talk by Lloyd Newson at the Festival Centre (which Chilli and Noodle were going to). I chose to stay for the swing class and I don’t regret it one bit. It was really nice to end the festival with a really fun class. The teacher was Chris Ham. There was a farewell talk and some nibbles after the class just to finish off the festival. I have to say that it was a very fulfilling and exciting week. I met lots of new people and I learned quite a lot from all the workshops and classes. I wish I could have done more ballet, but I don’t regret any class that I did. Not even breakdancing. Serena, Nantale and I went to the Festival Centre after that to take some photos for our online bios. Will came along to take some as well. We managed to get some really good shots and I’m quite happy about that. After that Nantale and I went to buy a present for Jen and John to thank them for letting us stay with them for that week. We bought a really cute plate and a card. I decided to spend the weekend with Glynn, so I moved all my stuff to the hotel. It was a bit of a mission with the taxis, so in the end Glynn had to get a taxi to pick me up. Stupid Adelaide. I was happy to get to the hotel and have a shower. It was also nice to know that I would have a comfortable bed to sleep in which would be such a difference to the sofa bed that I had been lying on all week. I spent some time with Glynn and his friend Tilly before going to Grote Street to watch Cat On A Hot Tin Roof at Her Majesty’s Theatre. I met Chilli there, but we weren’t sitting together. It was a really full on play. It was in German, so we had to read subtitles that were projected on a screen on stage, which became a little tiring after 2½ hours. I really enjoyed it, and the set was really amazing. There was actually and aviary on stage with a huge bird in it. Glynn picked me up and we went for pancakes. After that, we went back to the hotel and I went to sleep in a really comfortable bed. Posted by Keith on Apr 5, '08 4:10 AM for everyone  Woke up at the usual time, ate the usual breakfast and walked to the usual Arts Centre. Finally I got to do a ballet class! I was starting to get withdrawal symptoms. Our teacher was Jacqui Statton-Smith, who was quite a nasty piece of work. She seemed to be really up herself and very harsh with all the students. I wasn't really bothered because I was finally doing ballet again. Plus I think she liked me because she told me that I was a lovely dancer, so that was nice.
After ballet I had a yoga class with Simi Roche. She was so amazing, and it was exactly what I needed. She's probably about 40, but her body is a 19 year-old's and she is so amazingly flexible, I can't even describe it. She was also a really good teacher, and she helped me push my hands down to the floor as they were interlaced behind my back. After the class I was drenched with sweat, but I felt relaxed and energised.
There was a cake stall at lunch so I had way too much to eat. Our last class was a workshop with Kate Champion. I am really amazed by this woman and the way she works. For the first part of the workshop we did a lot of improvisation then we got down to doing some tasks. For the first one we had to work in pairs. She would give each pair a word and we would have to describe it using abstract movement. I partnered up with a slightly awkward guy who hasn't been dancing for very long. The next task was really interesting. We were only allowed to do really basic movement like walking, stopping, running and sitting down but we had to create realtionships with people only using these movements. Visually, it worked really well. For the last one, we were put into pairs again, and this time we were joined by a wristband and had to come up with movement together. It was a really good workshop and I'm now even more interested in Kate's work.
Had a shower at the Arts Centre, then Chilli, Noodle and I ventured out to Hawthorn to the Australian Dance Theatre's studio to watch G. It was a bit of a mission finding a bus, so in the end we just took a taxi, and got there just in time. Met Joe, Abbey and Nan there. Some people from QUT and VCA were there as well. What can I say, the show was breathtaking. It was also good to see Tara (who was in third year when I was in first year) doing so well with ADT. Larissa was also performing, and she just blew my mind. We talked to her after the show, and she was saying that they were going to take quite a few people into the company for next year, and she gave Chilli and Noodle very subtle nods. They are both practically in the company now hahaha.
We caught a bus back into the city, then the three of us went for dinner at a Thai Restaurant near the Central Markets. We agreed that the next time we would eat in a Thai Restaurant together, we would be in New York and we will all be successful dancers. I met up with Glynn who flew into Adelaide a couple of hours ago. We had a quick drink then I went home to have a good night's sleep.
Posted by Keith on Mar 30, '08 8:05 AM for everyone Third day of Options. I was really excited for class, because it was kind of like a mini audition. I had to put my name on the waiting list for Elizabeth Old's class because I was assigned to do a salsa class. The class was very good, and I felt that I did quite a good job of it. It was mostly Cunningham technique, which we did a lot of in first year. Noodle looked so amazing in that class, and I knew that Elizabeth was very impressed with her. Elizabeth is also the Associate Director of the Australian Dance Theatre, which is the company Noodle is doing secondment with. I spoke to Elizabeth after class, and she told me that I should definitely audition for Rambert and also Nederlands Dans Theater II because I have a huge amount of potential. She just said that I needed to work on more power and strength, and I wouldn't have a problem. What good news.  The next session was another lecture but this time it was about grant application and independant practice. It was just as bad as the day before, but it was even worse because I am really not interested in becoming an independant artist. I just wanted to fall asleep, but the chairs were too uncomfortable. A large group of people skipped the lecture; a large group of intelligent people. Our last slot was with Adam Wheeler from Chunky Move. He gave us a warm-up, then he taught us a couple of full on floor phrases. WAAPA people definitely stood out because we picked up the work really quickly and had strong enough technique to pull it off. I was quite surprised to see the other schools struggle with the work. Oh well, go WAAPA! Nantale and I walked home after that to chill out and eat some yoghurt and mango, before getting ready to go out for dinner. We met up with Chilli for dinner at Eros Kafe. Haha, yes we had Greek food again. The food was so good the first time, and Nantale and I felt like eating Greek again. Chilli was quite happy to do so as well. The food was amazing yet again, and it always tastes better when you have good company. After dinner we walked down Rundel Street to have some gelati, which was great on such a warm night.  We walked to North Terrace to meet up with Noodle who had just been to see Sacred Monsters. We headed back to the Festival Centre to the Persian Gardens, which is like an outdoor performance area. In Adam Wheeler's class he encouraged us to go because a band called CrazyP was playing. They were alright, nothing spectacular. We met Adam there, as well as our history teacher, Maggi, and our second year contemporary teacher, Alice. We stayed for a while, but left at about 10pm. That was the end of our day and it was quite a nice ending I must say. Posted by Keith on Mar 29, '08 9:30 PM for everyone It was back to the Arts Centre once again for another day of classes, workshops and fun! My first class was a contemporary technique class with Australian Dance Theatre's Larissa McGowan. Let me tell you, this woman is built like a tank! She is pure solid muscle. However, she was not mean or grouchy, she was a very funny and lovely kind of person. Her class was so enjoyable, none of us wanted it to end. The exercises were challenging, enjoyable and very motivating. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a contemporary class so much.  After that, we had a lecture on auditions and finding work. I think dancers are very bad a giving talks, because it was probably the most boring thing I've ever heard, even though the topic is something I am very interested in. The information was stuff that I've heard before, and most of the panel just talked about themselves. There was an up side to this, however. One of the speakers (Elizabeth Old) is the Associate Director of Rambert Dance Company in London, which is one of the companies that I am very keen on joining. I spoke to her after the lecture and she told me to do her class the next day so that she could see what my standard was like and whether I would be good enough to join the company. How exciting! After lunch I had a workshop with Katrina Lazaroff, who is from Perth. We explored the use of vocals in dance, and also worked on some duo material. It was a fun class, apart from some of the students who were giving attitude. Maddie and I partnered up, and we were the first to show our duo. It was quite funny, and stupid Maddie kept giggling. After class, Quindell, Leeke, Gemma, Nantale and I walked to Central Market to buy some fruit and lots of other yummy stuff to eat for the rest of the week. We bought some homemade yoghurt, which was absolutely delicious and worth every cent. After that, we went to the hostel that a group of them were staying at and got ready to go and watch Sacred Monsters. All I can say is that I'm glad I wasn't staying at the hostel. We ate pancakes for dinner, because it's all you can eat pancakes for $6 at the Pancake Place. We're students, we have to live cheaply.  We walked anxiously to the Festival Theatre to collect our tickets. It was so exciting because we were going to see the best female dancer in the world and one of the best male contemporary dancers in the world. It was truly a sight to behold. Watching Sylvie live made me believe she was real, because I had only ever seen her in videos. Her legs really do go behind her head and her feet are to die for. Akram was equally as impressive, and the two of them (although so different) worked extremely well together. The performance was more casual than we expected, and the showed their personalities quite clearly in it. The set was beautiful; it looked like a cave. I was definitely inspired. The plan was to go for coffee, but when we finally got to the coffee place, most people decided to go home. Nantale and I were going to stay with Serena, Leeke and Quin but Gemma wanted to go home and we didn't think it was proper that she walked home alone, so we left as well. I also made a mistake of wearing the Italian shoes I bought in New York, because my feet were killing me by the time we walked to the hostel, picked up our stuff and made our way home. It was a great day, apart from my sore feet. Posted by Keith on Mar 23, '08 2:14 AM for everyone Toto, the dog came into my room in the moddle of the night, because she was probably feeling a little lonely. Poor thing.  I woke up at 7:30am, had breakfast as usual and left the house with Nantale at about 8:30am. It was a 30 minute walk to the Arts Centre from where we lived, and if it wasn't for the heat it would have been a very pleasant walk indeed. My first class was a ballroom class with Jade Erlandsen. It was a really enjoyable class! We learned how to do the rumba, waltz, merenge, cha cha, jive and tango. My favourite would be merenge and jive, and it was a really good way to meet the other people from all the other schools because we had to switch partners all the time. I had a really good time. Next I had breakdancing for boys with Richard Seidel. It was totally out of my comfort zone to break, but it was definitely a good learning experience and I think it is important to try as many different styles as possible. I definitely have more respect for B-boys and girls after doing this class. I was actually surprised at how much I could do and pick up. It was very different to what I am used to. Don't think I will make it as a breakdancer any time soon though.  After lunch I had a workshop with Aiden Munn which was about phrase manipulation. We warmed up with a bit of improvisation, then he taught us a really cool phrase. We had to manipulate the phrase in all these different ways, and by the end of the class we had 3 different variations of the phrase that he taught us. It was very cool, and a good way to end the day. Nantale and I went to Chinatown to buy some groceries so that we could cook something to bring for lunch everyday. We decided we would just make some stir fired vegetarian noodles. We got home and started to cook, but I had to get ready to go out so I didn't really do that much. I was going out with a family friend, my Aunty Keat Siew and her family.  They picked me up from the house, and I met A. Keat Siew's son, Fong, his wife and his two kids, Sebastian and Isaac. They took me to a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. I ate so much, because the food was really really good. After that, Fong took me to Adelaide Hills to see the sunset over the city. It was such an amazing view, and the temperature in the evening was just perfect. We were going to go to the Garden of Unearthly Delights, but it was closed off for some dance music festival. We had gelati instead and then they took me home. Posted by Keith on Mar 23, '08 1:32 AM for everyone  When I woke up this time, I knew where I was and the time was 9:15am. Nantale was still in bed, of course. She is a bit of a sleeper that girl. Spent the morning lounging around, eating and reading. Nan and I left the house at about 1 o'clock to get some food and explore Adelaide a bit. Naturally, we walked to Rundle Street. It was definitely time to eat, so we walked to the end of Rundle Street to a very nice Greek restaurant called Eros Kafe. The decor was simple but very chic, and the atmosphere was cosy, casual and very friendly. We ordered some bread and dips, a chicken salad and a melted cheese dish that the waiter recommended, to share. What can I say, it was so delicious we cleared up all the plates. My favourite restaurant in Adelaide so far.  We slowly made our way to the South Australian Art Gallery, stopping occasionally to look inside little quirky shops selling really cool things. We arrived at the Art Gallery at about 2:15pm. It is such an old building, and it's definitely nicer than Perth's art galley. There was an endless amount of exhibitions, and we worked our way through most of them. By the time we had seen 90% of the gallery, it was 4pm. Options registration was at 4:30pm, so we had to leave for Light Square quite quickly. We met Nanette on the way there and bought an ice cream.  We arrived at the Arts Centre with 5 minutes to spare, and registration was really quick and easy. We were given a tour of of the place after registration. It's quite a huge building, but it was quite a cold place compared with WAAPA. There were a lot of stairs, and the dance studios are all on the 4th floor. Well, at least it's a good warm up before classes. The studios were very nice, and very very big. We were assigned to our classes, and if we wanted to swap with someone, we could. I was quite happy with the classes that I got, and only swapped my acrobatics class with Megan for a yoga class.  We didn't stay for the welcome speech, because it meant that we had to wait another hour and a half. A group of us took the train to Glenelg to Maddie's house to have a barbeque dinner and a swim. It was a 40 minute journey, and it cost me $4.10 on the tram. We got there eventually, and some of us jumped straight in the pool. You can't blame us, it was 37degrees. Maddie's dad did the barbeque, which was really yummy. It was really nice to spend time together outside dance, and have a big meal together. We critiqued So You Think You Can Dance, and let me tell you we are very harsh critics. It was time to head home at about 8pm, so Chilli, Noodle, Gemma and I hopped on the tram at rode back home to sleep and prepare ourselves for a fun week. Posted by Keith on Mar 21, '08 1:55 AM for everyone It took me a few minutes to realise where I was when I woke up at 9am. Raided Jen and John's cupboard for some breakfast with their permission. Their house is a heritage site, so the front can't be torn down, but the back part of their house is very new and renovated. They have lots of windows so the kitchen is really cosy especially with all the natural light. Jen asked me if I wanted to go and see the Central Markets, because Nantale was still fast asleep. I agreed.  The Central Markets in Adelaide is probably the best fresh market in the country. I would even say it is better than the Victoria Market in Melbourne. You can find anything you could ever think of eating there, from fresh fruit and vegetables to cakes and homemade yoghurt. If we had something like that in Perth, I would definitely consider shopping there every week. Prices are also very very good.  When we got home, Nantale had just gotten up so when we were both showered and ready, we arranged to meet Noodle (Natalie) and Chilli (Richard) for lunch at the Central Markets. The food court there is actually very impressive. Noodle and Chilli both had a bowl of noodles, while Nantale and I had curry and rice. Kangaroo curry is the best. We went for a walk around the city, heading towards North Terrace and the Botanical Gardens. We met up with Megan, Red (Kate), Maddie and Alison and walked to the entrance of WOMADelaide. WOMAD stands for World of Music, Art and Dance. It's a music festival held in Adelaide every year, and is very popular. The standard is much higher than the Rainforest Music Festival, with nicer stages and performances going on the whole day and a lot more food, but it was very hot, dry and dusty which is not as nice as a warm rainforest evening. Nantale didn't come with us because she couldn't get a ticket, but Liz turned up straight from the airport.  It was about 40 degrees, so we tried our best to stay in the shade and drink lots of water. The first performance we saw was a Japanese percussion trio called the Joji Hirota Trio. They were good, but it got a bit boring after a while. We spent most our time in between performances eating, looking at merchandise and trying to stay cool. The next performance was by Beirut, which is quite a popular band from France. The lead singer is from the states. I was really impressed with the fact that every single member of the band could play at least a hundered instruments. Definitely the favourite of the day. We saw a bit of Bob Evans and a bit of Sarah Blasko, but Chilli and I had to rush off to the Dunstan Playhouse to watch Kate Champion's The Age I'm In. We met Leeke, Abbey, Gemma and Serena, as well as a dance students (Francis, Miranda, Leisel and Ian) from Queensland University of Technology who were also here for Options. The show was really good and very cleverly crafted. Only four of the performers were dancers, and the others were actors and other kinds of performance artists. That is what Force Majure is all about, dance theatre. The movement was a lot of body manipulation, and was obviously very task based. The performers were from all walks of life from the age of 15 up to about 70. I really enjoyed it.  After the show, we walked on North Terrace for a while to see Northern Lights, which is a row of really old buildings, but with different things projected on them to make them look like something else. It was very clever. The WAAPA gang wanted to eat, so we went to Rundle Street to eat pancakes before heading back to our respective hostels, backpackers and in my case houses. Adelaide is a really nice place to walk around at night. Posted by Keith on Mar 21, '08 12:45 AM for everyone  After half a day at uni Leeke, Serena, Nantale and I shared a taxi to the airport. After checking in, we had a quick coffee before going to our gate and flying to Adelaide at about 5pm. We arrived at the Adelaide Airport at about 9.20pm. We were collecting our bags when suddenly Nantale's dad grabbed her suitcase and started running for the door. She just sighed and gave me a look saying "this is normal." He was actually running because his friend Fay was making circles round the airport and he didn't want her to be doing too many rounds I guess. I had a good laugh. Nanna and I spent some time with her dad, Kivu, and Fay at Fay's house. He made us some chai tea, which was exactly what I needed. We were also quite hungry so Kivu cooked us some kangaroo and some vegetables. It smelt amazing, and tasted even better. We were going to stay with Nantale's family friends, Jen and John, but they were at WOMADelaide and wouldn't be back till about midnight. It was almost 1am when we got to Jen and John's place. We were tired, so after a quick introduction we all went straight to bed. | |
