Empire: A Night Inside The Spiegeltent

 

Last night I had the opportunity to see a show inside the Spiegeltent. What is a Spiegeltent? Imagine a century old lavish art deco tent where the inside walls are adorned in mirrors. Sounds gorgeous doesnt it?

My husband and I were married inside a Spiegeltent last year during the Adelaide Fringe Festival. It has now become our tradition to hunt down a show whenever our path crosses with the tent. It's a wonderful way to celebrate and remember our unique wedding day.

Lucky for us a Spiegeltent always visits our home town every summer. We've been blessed this year with two visits so immediately bought tickets once we found out about the new show called Empire. Flown in from New York with rave reviews it was just too tempting a show to not go. The show is hard to characterise as it is a merging of comedy, cabaret, circus, vaudeville and burlesque.



For the entire show I was held in a state of wonder. The cast of Empire push the limits of their strong and limber bodies. I was well and truly hooked when during the first act the room was flooded with a cascade of bubbles.

I highly recommend if you get the chance to grab some tickets to Empire if you get the chance. It'll be haunting my day dreams for a while to come.

A Personal Challenge

Over the last couple of years my tolerance to running has increased. I cannot say that I particularly enjoy the experience but I tolerate it for its health benefits. The concept of a Fun Run just didn't make any sense to me until now. Who knew that all you needed to make a run truly fun was colour?

Over the Australia Day long weekend I took part in the MS Colour Run. I really gravitated to the event as its focus was about having a good time for a good cause. Completely non competitive there were no time markers and much to my delight no die hard fitness junkies in spandex. The only requirement of you as a participant was to wear white.



We started the run in Darling Harbor among 5,000 other white clad crazies. The crowd was an eclectic bunch. Amongst the families and groups of friends I spotted a man in a wedding dress, coordinated neon accessorised fairies and another fellow who thought he'd brave the course in heels. I really didn't know what to expect when we were finally released at the starting line but everyone was very excited.



Running around the Harbor into a nearby park we came to the first colour station. Volunteers wearing masks & holding water bottles were squirting hot pink dust at runners as they flew by. At the first station they missed my white top entirely. I rectified this at the second station whilst 3 volunteers completely coated me in coloured dust. By the third station,  I was starting to look and feel like a Pro Hart creation. Running across the finishing line I was elated to have completed the run. The moment didn't last long as I was doused in a giant dust cloud of green and gold. Yes this is me, the dust cloud with feet.





I recommend if you want to take part to wear clothes and shoes you don't mind getting stained. Most of the colour will dust off but I noticed the pink and green dust did stain once it got wet. Explaining my strange coloured tan marks whilst on the beach later that day was a little awkward but to me they felt like a badge of honor.







Fear not Australians who are also obsessed with colour you haven't missed out on the fun. The Colour Run is coming to a capital city near you soon. Details here.

Thank you MS Colour Run for the fabulous day. If you would like to donate some money to MS Australia to help people affected by Multiple Sclerosis (MS) please do so here.

Awe inspiring Anish Kapoor

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to see a truly ground breaking artist, Anish Kapoor at Sydney's MCA.

Anish Kapoor, is an Indian-born British sculptor. His work explores his interest in the relationship between the contrasting forces of light and dark. He uses colour, form, size and medium to challenge perception, developing immersive and sometimes unsettling experiences.

On first glance the works look simplistic. Its not until you come close & interact with them that you will perceive the beauty within. In my eyes the man is a genius. Each and every time I went to look at a work I found myself completely drawn in. I found everything was highly interactive and awe inspiring. It was like I had fallen down a rabbit hole.

My personal favourite from the exhibition was the elegant S Curve. Wandering its length both sides I found other people's bodies swirled, curled, disappeared and reappeared whilst my own image stared back at me unaltered. It was truly unsettling.



Kapoor's Exhibition will be at the MCA until 1 April 2013. I highly recommend checking out Kapoor's website to see more of his work as they are truly breaktaking. 

4 years ago to the day

4 years ago to the day my husband and I went on our first date.

We were quite enamoured with each other & wanted to do something special. I remember we chose to meet at the Art Gallery for a short but sweet adventure lunch date. We walked around the Gallery showing our favourite artworks to each other like my favourite, Rhinoceros by Angus James. 

I remember having to excuse myself for a moment and raced up the stairs to the bathroom. I was having such a fun date that I raced back to the lower level gallery. A cheeky security guard chuckled 'Dont worry love, he hasnt gone anywhere.' I blushed beetroot for the rest of that day.

Since our first date all those years ago the yellow rhino has been tucked away hiding in the archives. This week, its finally returned! If you havent been to the Art Gallery for a while now might be the time to go check out the elusive and exclusive neon yellow rhino in its natural habitat.

Thank you, Art Gallery of SA. 

Dont Hold Back

Donny Benet: The man is a genius. An art god. A man who transcends genre character generalisations.

The man has been touring like a storm trooper and I cant wait to see him on Friday night @ Format.

I saw him perform at the Adelaide Festival earlier this year and it was love at first synch chord progression. And then again during the sax solo. Grrr like a tiger.

Unfortunately if you are elsewhere in the country you've just missed the dates for his Australian Tour but no doubt he'll be back making a meal of your heart again soon. Grab a slice of Donny Benet here.