Dance Marathon // NNF2013, Epic - 10.05.13
I broke my shoes at the Dance Marathon!
It's not every day I get led through the backstage darkness by a man in Speedos, knee socks and roller skates with a referee whistle round his neck on my way to ride blindfolded around a racetrack on a child's trike. But still, this is the Norfolk and Norwich Festival and anything can and does happen.
The Dance Marathon was rather vaguely advertised and from the looks on the faces of the other audience members as they arrived, it was clear none of us knew quite what to expect. We were asked to put on numbered tabards, leave our coats and bags, and find our 'feet' on the dancefloor, under a makeshift disco ball and with a magnificent 5-piece live band playing. We were told what to do by the team of Brooklyn / Toronto based artistes. Everyone was paired with a stranger, in my case a young girl, and the rules of the marathon were explained. We must always keep our feet moving, we would be eliminated round by round, and in the meantime we should dance and be entertained.
So we did! We all just DANCED. It was marvellous. Every other song there was a performance of some kind; a history of dance performed by sequinned and top hatted singer Lady Jane, a poem by Stevie O, a New Jersey dancer, or a song from our MC, a glamorous blonde in a genuine 70's prom dress. There were some Norwich folk who had volunteered to be in the performances, and other dancers who had been planted in the audience so you felt constantly surprised. Members of the audience were called on to demonstrate skills they had professed to having at the start of the evening; tap dancing and juggling were amongst them.
The atmosphere was one of pure fun and collaboration between us as an audience and the performance itself. The artistes themselves were very funny as well as brilliant dancers and singers in their own right. Somehow I ended up being in the semi-final, and after my rendition of the hula dance, managed to get into the final, which involved being pushed hell for leather around a race track blindfolded and trying to steer whilst a fellow audience member pushed me and shouted directions. Unfortunately we were pipped to the post in our race, but I had such a wonderful and fun night, danced my feet sore and exchanged many delighted smiles with the very varied audience members.
As always, the festival volunteers were happy and helpful. Thanks Dance Marathon, I sure enjoyed it! You can find out more at their website www.bluemouthinc.com.
Lizz
It's not every day I get led through the backstage darkness by a man in Speedos, knee socks and roller skates with a referee whistle round his neck on my way to ride blindfolded around a racetrack on a child's trike. But still, this is the Norfolk and Norwich Festival and anything can and does happen.
The Dance Marathon was rather vaguely advertised and from the looks on the faces of the other audience members as they arrived, it was clear none of us knew quite what to expect. We were asked to put on numbered tabards, leave our coats and bags, and find our 'feet' on the dancefloor, under a makeshift disco ball and with a magnificent 5-piece live band playing. We were told what to do by the team of Brooklyn / Toronto based artistes. Everyone was paired with a stranger, in my case a young girl, and the rules of the marathon were explained. We must always keep our feet moving, we would be eliminated round by round, and in the meantime we should dance and be entertained.
So we did! We all just DANCED. It was marvellous. Every other song there was a performance of some kind; a history of dance performed by sequinned and top hatted singer Lady Jane, a poem by Stevie O, a New Jersey dancer, or a song from our MC, a glamorous blonde in a genuine 70's prom dress. There were some Norwich folk who had volunteered to be in the performances, and other dancers who had been planted in the audience so you felt constantly surprised. Members of the audience were called on to demonstrate skills they had professed to having at the start of the evening; tap dancing and juggling were amongst them.
The atmosphere was one of pure fun and collaboration between us as an audience and the performance itself. The artistes themselves were very funny as well as brilliant dancers and singers in their own right. Somehow I ended up being in the semi-final, and after my rendition of the hula dance, managed to get into the final, which involved being pushed hell for leather around a race track blindfolded and trying to steer whilst a fellow audience member pushed me and shouted directions. Unfortunately we were pipped to the post in our race, but I had such a wonderful and fun night, danced my feet sore and exchanged many delighted smiles with the very varied audience members.
As always, the festival volunteers were happy and helpful. Thanks Dance Marathon, I sure enjoyed it! You can find out more at their website www.bluemouthinc.com.
Lizz
