Saturday, August 09, 2008

SOLD OUT - for one night only!

I'm not sure if words and pictures can really serve to give you a sense of last night's electric performance with the Mafumani Secondary School Choir , but I'll give it a shot:

Prelude:
As you will know if you read yesterday's post, I was in pain, with limited mobility, and really hoping it wouldn't put a crimp in my evening but y'know, sometimes you just have to soldier on, and deal with any consequences later. Right ?? Right!!

Okay, so:
high on adrenalin, covered in heat gel, and bolstered by many more anti-inflams and heavy duty painkillers than was really advisable, I drove into town, parked close and was able to walk in relatively normally, albeit carefully. Flat shoes helped.

We weren't allowed into the Theatre proper for a while, so there was general milling in the foyer, chatting, hugging and cheek kissing, and checking out of everyone's costume

Eventually though we did get in and despite some buggerising around with sound checks and trying to work out how to fit us onto the small stage of the Theatre Royal, it all kicked off albeit about half an hour later than planned

guess who had snagged her seat in the front row?


The sheer exuberance of the performances was exhilarating.
...the singing, mostly in a 'call and response' format, was enhanced by frenzied, uninhibited, joyous dancing, clapping, and whistling by the 5 young men and 6 young women in traditional garb - over board shorts, sneakers and Chicago Bulls sports socks - and you wouldn't believe the torrent of sound produced by such a small number. Musical backing was provided by these gentlemen augmented occasionally by James Rigby on guitar

Now being a Secondary School choir, I was expecting 'children' - which these young people absolutely weren't - but discovered from reading the cover notes on the CD that I bought as a blogiversary prize [ more on that tomorrow ] that because these people come from one of the poorest areas in South Africa, children frequently start school quite late by western standards and are often still in school well into their twenties. I'm a little surprised at that statement, because I would have thought that the labour of an adult would be of more benefit to the family unit than that of a small child.

anyway
we had a ball!!!!!!!!!!!!

To keep the spirit of the evening, and to complement the African music we had so painstakingly learnt and the fabulous Limpopo T-shirts worn by the Millennium Chorus, the dress code for the rest of us was black tops and colourful bottoms [!!] with many improvising ingenious 'African style headwraps.


I was intending to do something along those lines but in the end I made myself a perky little hat instead ... beret-ish but with less 'poof' at the top and a much deeper band... a red angora muffin - to match my red skirt and shoes... and as Castlemaine is the home of 'interesting' winter head gear, I do intend to wear it again ... although perhaps not on the zero degree mornings - it won't do a lot for keeping the ears warm

I'll probably blog about the genesis of the hat sometime this week [ note to self - overhead fluro kitchen lighting SO not flattering ]

postscript to the evening: while I'm not exactly moving normally today, I'm certainly better than I expected to be, so all those good thoughts and long-distance healing vibes may just have worked :]
along with the wonders of modern pharmacology and music-fueled endorphins

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

YAYYY!!!! For a fantastic evening. I'm glad it all worked out in the end and I bet you had a ball! I love african music, so I can imagine the level of energy their performance would of encapsulated.

Lindi said...

Glad you were able to make it! Sounds like a fantastic evening. i love anything African. It has such an energy and heart beat to it. It always sounds to me like they have captured the pulse of life itself.

Anonymous said...

I'm voting for the music, myself - especially when joyously, exuberantly and passionately presented - it could cure a rainy day!

I'm very glad you're feeling better :)

Sheepish Annie said...

That sounds simply amazing! And your headwear was most appropriate. I'm so glad that you were able to make it! Yay for fortitude!!!

Lynne said...

I'm so glad that all went well and that you were able to get through it okay.

I'm not at all surprised how much volume comes from a small number - my Sudanese women students are very loud when singing and dancing!! :-)

Carol said...

What a brilliant night it sounds like it was and your hat is so brilliant. Love the colour you've knitted too. Do hope you're feeling a lot better today.

Lindi said...

Hi Susan! I just awarded you a Brilliante Blog Award, but I see you already have one! Does that mean you can post 2 pics of it now? vbg

Anonymous said...

Hi Susan,

The night sounds wonderful - we are going to Dallas Brooks Hall on Friday, where my grand-daughter Aysha is singing with the group. Look forward to having another coffee with you some time soon.