Christopher Hampson, Barely vertical in Japan
Christopher Hampson, a dancer and young choreographer with ENB, has been keeping a diary for us since November 97. Initially he covered the creation of his new ballet ‘Country Garden’ but now he has lots of other things on the go..... Here is a link to the previous column in the series. 2nd July 1998 I'm excited about going to Japan, and about time too - I leave tomorrow. Romeo and Juliet finished on Tuesday. Performing the role of Paris on the last night has meant that I've had very little else on my mind except remembering the mime scenes and trying not to mess up the bum-lift in the Ballroom scene. Another perturbing aspect of this role is knowing that when I walked out into that arena at the Albert Hall, I didn't look too dissimilar to a pencil with an eraser on the end. I enjoyed performing Paris, especially when Marguerite Porter was my Lady Capulet. Stuff the "Rescue Remedy", she could talk me into buying the Daily Mail. As well as being supportive, she also has a wicked sense of humour and enjoyed laughing at me when, after lifting Agnes Oaks in the air, my hat was knocked off and I ended up looking like Norman Wisdom for the rest of the scene. During the Albert Hall season I met various designers to discuss future projects, did class in Kensington Gardens as part of Lark in the Park to publicise the season and met with Wayne Sleep to discuss his Coliseum season, all of which will be touched upon in further diaries. 3rd July 1998 30, 000 ft above Europe. Zzzzzzzzz 4th July, Japan. Good news - I'm here. Bad news, I can't do the diary until tomorrow at least. Sorry. Very long journey that felt like it started a month ago. Katsumi (we like her by the way - a friend of Koen Onzia's also) just gave me enough Nippon Ginkas to last me for a few drinks. She met me at the airport, took me for dinner, drove me to the hotel and wants to change the schedule for me so that I can get some more sightseeing done. We DO like her! Historic moment when I landed at Hong Kong, as I'll never get to land there again. Even more historic was the "CLOSING DOWN!!" Duty Free Sale - I bought a 2 litre-box of red (complete with tap thingy), so that should last me until breakfast....(Curiously, diary ends abruptly at this point, Ed) . Earlier Hampson     Later Hampson
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