Billy Elliot the Musical!

Yesterday was awesome!

My friend was too sick to see Billy Elliot yesterday, so I took his place and ventured into the unknown of leaving the house on a Friday night. It was a last minute phone call from his mum (who I went with), but my decision was basically instantaneous:

"YES! Yes yes yes yes pleeeeeaaasseee!"

I've wanted to see it for years now, yet I could never find the time, or when I had a free weekend I would spend it watching something else or lazing away at home. I was so excited that I finally had the chance to see it :D

It was at the Victoria Palace Theatre, a pretty little theatre a short way from Victoria Station, thank goodness, for it was freezing outside. We went in and there were formally-dressed ladies and men chatting and sipping on bubbling drinks, standing under chandeliers and fancy lamps in the lobby.

And on the other hand, girls wearing leggings and baggy hoodies were pulling at their parents, who muttered about missing tickets and missing people (I'm not kidding, there was a woman who was frantically searching for a 'Claire'). It was like two worlds brought together, and it was kinda amazing.

The musical itself was wonderful. I love the cool ways they used the stage and all the trapdoors and sections of the set which could be pulled out. There was a round trapdoor that had a whole section underneath that could rotate upwards and extend into a raised platform, which was used so brilliantly and in the most clever ways. The art and drama style, with some scenes realistic, some abstract, was absolutely phenomenal!

I hardly use that word, so you'd better believe it!

And of course, the dancing was on fire. The boys especially...there's something so gorgeous and magical about boys who can dance. It may be because they're so passionate about it, as surely the ones who aren't would have dropped out early on from such a 'girly' activity. You can tell with any male dancer that they're truly in it for the fact that they love dancing.

I think I melted when the older Billy came on - did it get a bit hotter in here? That was probably my favourite part, when both younger Billy and older Billy danced together. It was perfect, they moved in sync with each other, gliding through the smoke and blue light. (Wow, just writing about this has me grinning and sighing to myself...)

I loved it so much. I'm now ashamed that I had not seen it sooner, and I'm so grateful that I got this chance (thank you, my ill friend) whilst it's still running. It was a great end to the weekdays, and I'm certainly going to channel this love for Billy Elliot in my next dance lesson!

♥

I love you

xxx

Drama Performance and Visiting the Elderly

Hiya!

It's been too long...but I've been away with a dying amount of mobile data, and anyway the Android Blogger app has issues which I hate.

I've spent the past week in a university, in wonderful uni accommodation and all the lovely responsibilities that come with it, such as cooking my own food and cleaning up. And the apparently £17,000 set of keys which, if you didn't keep on you at all times, you would most likely end up locked out of your room until you find the ever absent mentors to unlock your door for you.

And so, the main lessons I learned from living uni style is 1) The beds are uncomfortable, and the showers are small, 2) I mustn't burn rice, it's horrible cleaning that up, and 3) boilers are demonic and will make annoying horrendous noises, and possess you to stuff your ears with toilet paper in order to sleep :(

Anyway, enough on that. Last week I spent most of my time at various places, learning drama skills one minute and then at an elderly care home the next. On the first day, we had a public speaking workshop, which was a terrifying (but pleasing) experience, and a talk about voting.

The second and third days we met up with a practitioner who helped us to produce drama pieces for a showcase, and in the afternoon we visited an elderly nursing home and talked to the residents there. I honestly loved it, especially seeing how happy we made them feel just because we were talking to them <3

And finally the last day arrived, the day we had to perform in Stanley Halls. Thankfully, everything ran smoothly, and for once I didn't elbow someone in the face.

Kinda hard controlling your limbs when you fall backwards from a chair (standing up!) into someone's arms, someone who you only met two weeks ago and hardly talk to...

But it all went well, and all was good.

Surprisingly, despite being back in a school for the talks and having to put together a performance in only roughly 8 hours, I had loads of fun.

♥

I love y'all

Goodbye!

xxx