USC was kind enough to send Shannon, Graham and me on a little field trip to a town called Grahamstown (no connection with Graham the person) this weekend. Grahamstown is the home of Rhodes University and of South Africa's National Arts Festival, which they conveniently scheduled during our visit to the country.
We left on Friday morning and returned Sunday night. To get to Grahamstown from Cape Town we had to take a short flight to the city of Port Elizabeth then ride in a bus. As it happens, there are several privately owned nature reserves between Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown, so driving between the two it's easy to spot zebras, springboks, giraffes, and wildebeests from the freeway. If you know me at all, you can imagine how I squealed with delight every time this happened during the hour-and-half-long drive.
We stayed on the campus of the university. It's amazing how colleges kind of look the same everywhere. My little dorm room had the last tenant's stickers on the wall, the hallways had silly construction paper decorations taped up everywhere, the women's bathroom had a poster explaining one's options in the event of an unwanted pregnancy. On top of the familiar dormy ambiance, Rhodes University literally looks just like Occidental College--big white buildings with red tile roofs, early 20th century architecture, green spaces punctuated with weird sculptures--the whole deal. It was eerie.
I digress--you're here to read about the festival.
Since we only had one full day, it didn't seem like we really had enough time to get the whole Arts Festival experience, but all things considered, I think we did pretty well. First of all, we got media passes. Media passes are fun because they get you into places for free and they let you take pictures even when photography isn't allowed for the laypeople.
I was taking photos for News24 which you can view here.
In my short time in Grahamstown I managed to squeeze in three little music/dance shows, two really weird modern dance shows, one one-act-one-man play, two jazz concerts, a performance by Chinese acrobats, a church service which was supposed to include more marimba music than it actually did, and a little bit of shopping at an open-air arts and crafts market. I also drank beers at several new places.
Of course, some shows were better than others, but as a former theater critic, I've learned to tolerate watching the whole spectrum of the embarrassing and weird things people do onstage.
A big highlight was the Soweto String Quartet. They were enjoyable not only for their snazzy, zebra-striped jackets, but also for their music. In fact, their music is so popular here in South Africa that apparently even Nelson Mandela is a fan.
I'll leave it to them to finish this post:
We left on Friday morning and returned Sunday night. To get to Grahamstown from Cape Town we had to take a short flight to the city of Port Elizabeth then ride in a bus. As it happens, there are several privately owned nature reserves between Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown, so driving between the two it's easy to spot zebras, springboks, giraffes, and wildebeests from the freeway. If you know me at all, you can imagine how I squealed with delight every time this happened during the hour-and-half-long drive.
We stayed on the campus of the university. It's amazing how colleges kind of look the same everywhere. My little dorm room had the last tenant's stickers on the wall, the hallways had silly construction paper decorations taped up everywhere, the women's bathroom had a poster explaining one's options in the event of an unwanted pregnancy. On top of the familiar dormy ambiance, Rhodes University literally looks just like Occidental College--big white buildings with red tile roofs, early 20th century architecture, green spaces punctuated with weird sculptures--the whole deal. It was eerie.
I digress--you're here to read about the festival.
Since we only had one full day, it didn't seem like we really had enough time to get the whole Arts Festival experience, but all things considered, I think we did pretty well. First of all, we got media passes. Media passes are fun because they get you into places for free and they let you take pictures even when photography isn't allowed for the laypeople.
I was taking photos for News24 which you can view here.
In my short time in Grahamstown I managed to squeeze in three little music/dance shows, two really weird modern dance shows, one one-act-one-man play, two jazz concerts, a performance by Chinese acrobats, a church service which was supposed to include more marimba music than it actually did, and a little bit of shopping at an open-air arts and crafts market. I also drank beers at several new places.
(You should see a photo slideshow here. If you don't see it, update your Flash settings or click here.)
Of course, some shows were better than others, but as a former theater critic, I've learned to tolerate watching the whole spectrum of the embarrassing and weird things people do onstage.
A big highlight was the Soweto String Quartet. They were enjoyable not only for their snazzy, zebra-striped jackets, but also for their music. In fact, their music is so popular here in South Africa that apparently even Nelson Mandela is a fan.
I'll leave it to them to finish this post:
You got some good shots.
ReplyDeleteI loved the string quartet--not what I was expecting. The Zebra coats should have given me a clue.
ReplyDelete