Swarovski Fashion Rocks 2007
18 October 2007, Royal Albert Hall

I recently had the pretty unique opportunity to attend the Swarovski Fashion Rocks event, in aid of the Prince's Trust, at the Royal Albert Hall. It's a show held annually that celebrates the world of fashion by having the world's most renown designers present their clothes alongside the current most successful bands; so it's all very glitzy and glamourous. Amongst the sparkling Swarovski crystal set, there were stars (the celebrity kind) oozing from all the cracks and crevasses, both on stage and in the audience. Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson compered the show, which held host to acts such as Razorlight, Lilly Allen, Iggy Pop and Timbaland alongside designers such as Versace, Armani, Valentino and Dolce & Gabbana (all of whom made personal appearances). However, it was not all as materialistic and shallow as it sounds, as it merged superficiality of the celebrity and fashion world with the serious note of the Prince's Trust, a charity that supports underpriviledged youth in the United Kingdom. It was definitely an interesting and somewhat exciting experience, but I'm glad to say I managed to resist doting myself to the modern culture of celebrity and the ridiculously rich ... trust me, there are better things in life ...

Nye
aneira@c-world.co.uk

Photos by Richard Dryden

Rope & Silk Climbing
WORKSHOP: 2 April 2007 - 10.30-12.30 PM
VENUE: THE ROUNDHOUSE

During the Easter break I thought I might as well try out different things and learn a new skill or two, instead of letting my days of freedom waste away. Eventually, through general browsing, my eye came upon a ÎRope and Silk Climbingâ class at the Roundhouse, Camden and well, I signed up. The class was run by the actors from the then current Roundhouse main play ö ÎA Midsummerâs Night Dreamâ. It incorporated loads of physical acting with ropes, and expressed the script in 7 different languages (most of them from India) to give Shakespeareâs 16th century play a bit of a twist. The workshop began with a video about the history of rope and silk climbing in India, to give the participants the cultural background. We were then led into the main theatre space where, one by one, we were able to climb up the 10 metre tall streams of silk hanging from the ceiling. The process required immense upper body strength and the ability to wrap your feet tightly round the silk, as well as help from the actors to support your body weight. It was a lot trickier than they made it look, but by the end of the session we were hanging upside down in the air, supported only by the silk. After the silk, we moved onto the rope. This needed the skill of stretching open the space between your big toe and the one next to it, to almost walk up the rope. It was a little bit painful though, as toe stretching is not my forte. Overall the workshop fulfilled my Easter aims and was a lot of fun. Also judging by what I saw and learnt from the workshop I reckon this version of ÎA Midsummerâs Night Dreamâ definitely worth seeing. Itâs on tour around the UK at the moment and is coming back to London sometime in the autumn, so if you can ö check it out. I intend to.

Nye
aneira@c-world.co.uk

it's my life
PERFORMANCE: 25 FEBRUARY 2007 - 4PM
VENUE: DRILL HALL THEATRE

Bizarre, but highly watchable is probably the best way to summarise it’s my life – a play written and directed by the youth theatre company Limelight. It’s not often that improvisation groups use all areas of performing arts in created productions, or even use topical, political issues as the basis for their piece. Limelight is clearly no ordinary theatre company. As a group of young people they tackled many issues that are core to the youth today – pregnancy, poverty, crime and bullying (just to name a few). There were several ‘chapters’ to the play, each focussing on a different youth issue, with characters that you both loved to love and loved to hate. The imminent danger that is often present when addressing these societal problems is that productions can take a dark tone becoming something of an effort to watch. However, Limelight company’s unique musical aspect ensured this was not to be the case. Their stylised approach, presented the action through the mediums of dance, singing and acting; whilst the use of a narrator meant that the various ‘chapters’ of teenage problems were interlinked without flaw. The songs, composed by the company members, not only entertained you during the performance, but were left whirling around your mind for several hours after. It was not at all what I expected, but surpassed my expectations due to the complex and unique way it was devised and presented.

Suitable for ages 15+

Nye
aneira@c-world.co.uk

It's My Life is supported by (W) HEART, Camden Council and Camden Neighbourhood Renewal Community Chest