Wednesday 10 April 2013

Documentaries

Over the past two days, I was blessed with having multiple hours of free time. During this free period, I took in two wonderful documentary films on youtube. God bless youtube for supplying us with free, good quality movies at out fingertips (literally). The first movie that I watched was called "Every Little Step". This was an entertaining film that followed the audition process for the 2006 Broadway revival of A Chorus Line. First of all, A Chorus Line is a superb musical that I have had the pleasure to watch multiple times. It is such an intimate look into the unique lives of aspiring dancers and performers. The show captivates its audience right from the start and doesn't let go of your attention till about a week after the show ends. The documentary touches on many aspects of the creation process of the musical as well. The very first step in creating the musical was when Michael Bennett gathered a group of dancers in his living room and recorded hours of them talking about their lives. I found this very interesting and inspiring. What an original way to gain inspiration for writing. The film itself is very entertaining. I truly felt the emotions and conflicts that all of the auditionees felt. Watching this documentary was a moving experience that as an aspiring performer myself, I took away a very valuable lesson. The film itself is ironically much like the story of A Chorus Line: The struggles and successes of everyday people who just want a chance to shine.

The second film that I watched was called "First Position". This film followed seven young ballet dancers as they compete in the Youth America Grand Prix: A world wide prestigious ballet competition that awards dancers scholarships and contracts with renowned dance schools and ballet companies. Every one of these dancers are very special and gifted in ballet. They are the future stars of the ballet stage. The film documented their struggles, successes, and experiences as they prepare for the Grand Prix finals. Not all will succeed. This movie proves that you need to work insanely hard to reach your goals and sometimes you will ultimately fail. As a past ballet dancer myself, I can relate to the lives of these young dancers. I understand why they put them selves through the pain, stress, and exhaustion of training at such a young age. They do it because they can't imagine doing anything else with their lives. A person knows at a very young age whether or not they want to be a dancer.

Both of the films that I watched touch on similar themes. They both convey the message that in everything there is failure and only a few will reach the top. This is an important lesson that can be applied to all aspects of life. I learned a lot from these films and I would highly suggest that you watch them. Anyone, not just performers, can get something out of these films. There are real life lessons hidden inside.

Monday 1 April 2013

A City On Seven Hills (Not Rome)

San Francisco was great! I had a wonderful time experiencing all of the necessary tourist attractions as well as some cool activities that are more out of the way. Probably my favourite thing that I did was visiting Alcatraz. It was really cool to wander through the jail cells. I even got to experience being locked away in isolation in the dark and small cell appropriately called "The Hole". San Francisco is completely different in every way from the city that I live in. First of all, the fact that it is built on a number of steep hills was very surprising and took a little bit of getting used to. I did not expect the taxi ride from the airport to feel like a roller coaster. The overall atmosphere of the city was very different and it was a nice change from regular life. It is hard to explain exactly what felt different, but it just did.

First things first: the food. Well, the food was incredible! My breakfasts were very american and they were very big which caused us to skip lunch. Of course, the breakfasts were delicious. Probably the best breakfast place the I could recommend, is Rose's Cafe on Union Street. For dinner we mostly ate Italian food. We ate at some very authentic, yet affordable restaurants. My favourite restaurant would have to be Scala's in Union Square. When we drove to Berkley, we ate at this really cool joint called Cheese Board Pizza Collective which serves one type of pizza per day. The one they were serving the day I was there was roasted potato with key limes. It was FANTASTIC! One of the best pizza's that I've had. If you are visiting Berkley, you should definitely go there! So, I ate very well on my vacation.

I did end up catching a show while on vacation. It was in this little studio theatre that was in the basement of some building. I didn't expect much looking around and at the stage. Boy was I wrong! I saw Foodies The Musical. It was a hilarious song cycle about everything to do with eating. My Favourite song was about using Groupons to eat at restaurants. The singing was very professional and the show has been running for six months. It is definitely a hidden gem in San Francisco. Foodies was a good laugh and a wonderfully written show!

Overall, I had a very nice time exploring San Francisco. I don't have enough space or time to write about everything that I did because I did basically everything! I like the city a lot and I will definitely have to go back some day. San Francisco treated me very well!