arty farty

Had a very cultural end to the work-week last Thursday and Friday.

On Thursday, it was the Red Giselle by the Eifman Ballet of St. Petersburg:



It's a biography of the ballerina who plays the female lead in Giselle, whose life mirrors that of the character she plays, ie. she gets into some superbly messy problems with her romantic life and is driven insane eventually. According to the programme booklet, the actual ballerina whom this ballet is inspired by has spent the last 20 years in a mental institution. Not a pleasant thought.

It wasn't as brilliant as Romeo and Juliet, which I watched with Ad about a year ago, and the story gets a bit strange and jumpy towards the end. The interpretation is also very modern, and a lot of elements from other dance styles were incorporated into this ballet performance.

So, to put it simply, not a fantastic choice I would recommend, and not something I would go watch again (unlike Forbidden City, which I did watch a second time this year, but I digress).


And then on Friday, it was a whole lot more exciting:



For those not in the know (which included myself before Ad told me who this fella is), he's Wade Robson, who is supposed to be this super dance prodigy, and particularly in hip hop.

So this was the finals of Overdrive, a local hip hop competition, and Wade Robson had flown in to be the guest judge for this event. As a reference point (again for those not int he know, like myself), this chap starred in Michael's Jackson Black orWhite MTV at a ripe old age of 9, and went on to choreograph for many superstars, including Britney Spears, N'Sync, etc, etc. So a hip hop event judged by him was, well, huge.

So anyway, the competitors were mostly brilliant, and the competition was well-planned, including a very nice segment where the final 4 competitors had to learn some fresh dance steps from the man himself.



But the highlights of the evening that drove everyone wild were the two dance items performed by Wade and his dancers. It's evident from the choreography that he was heavily inspired by Michael Jackson, but I would say he has managed to take it even higher. Well done.

The second item was a tad weird, and very reminiscent of Thriller, but the first item was simply brilliant. Done to Sexyback by Justin Timberlake, here's the bootleg video (disclaimer: it wasn't me):




So yes, I have been immensely immersed in dance, and next up would be the Raffles Hall Concert on 28 Oct. Hopefully they've gotten out of the rut they've fallen into in recent years...