June 25, 2011
The Best of...
Here we go again. It's the end of another busy season including: a world premiere, two foreign tours and a plethora of dance. But what were the highlights? Here are my nominations:
Best moment of 'Oh dear':
A ballerina, who shall remain nameless (for reasons that shall soon become apparent), had a case of being 'Lost in Translation'. The incident occurred on our recent tour of Japan, before a show of the Sleeping Beauty.
On an innocuous grey afternoon, she did a rather innocuous thing - buying a can of soft drink. However, upon drinking the tainted tasting 'soft drink', the delicate ballerina found herself stumbling...as if drunk. Further inspection of the can revealed the truth. She had just consumed a fairly sizeable dose of alcohol. A quick cast change was made.
'Best hotel on tour:
Without a doubt - the ANA Intercontinental hotel in Tokyo. This 5 star accommodation was so far above our usual 1 star expectations, I almost felt obliged to steal bananas at breakfast and take as many 'complimentary' room accessories as my suitcase could handle.
With 3 Michelin stars, £50 steaks and £200 brandy on offer, my polite 'per diem' unfortunately required me to investigate less salubrious culinary options.
Best scary moment on tour:
At the same hotel; after being chuffed about being on the 20th floor - I heard at breakfast the following morning - that the 18th floor had floor to ceiling cracks everywhere. A reminder of the massive '9' earthquake just months before.
That night, I was awoken early in the morning by a lesser, yet sufficiently scary tremor. Suddenly I was wishing to be moved to the 1st floor.
Best show:
So many contenders yet - this one has to go to our charity performance at the U-Port theatre, for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. A case of art entertaining, inspiring and helping communities in a practical way. Great also having the legend Miyako Yoshida there with us too.
Best stage door autograph hunters:
And the award goes to...our typhoon resistant Japanese fans outside the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan stage door. Every day, morning, night, impending storm, or beating heat, these fans religiously queued for the chance of a varyingly posed photo, with a hurriedly signed signature. After some shows, there were over 100 autograph hungry supporters, held back by discreet barricades; ensuring orderly signing.
Best on-time trains:
There's been some stiff competition here, however the Tokyo JR and metro lines just clinched it by seconds.
Best event that didn't happen in Japan:
Cinderella of course! Box office was very happy with our new production - with coverage on the BBC on Christmas day ensuring a hit for many years to come. And we didn't even need to descend into a documentary hanging out all our dirty underwear to get air-time...
...alright enough of that. I'm just jealous I didn't get these 'best of' moments on camera so I could sell them to ITV. Who knows, maybe next year. Until then, happy holidays!
P.s. Best coffee and also - at £5 - the most expensive coffee: Cafe Cardiff, Tokyo. As I can't translate Japanese I can't give you the full address. Yet it's definitely worth googling, translating, flying over and spending £5 on. Promise.
P.p.s. For those of you curious about our eventful Japan tour, with all the behind the scenes, check out my tour diary appearing in the August issue of the 'Dancing Times'. It's accompanied by some great photos taken by dancer/photographer, Tyronne Singleton.
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