28 January 2009
Our very own Arlecchino - Nicola Tuxworth has very kindly written a blog for the website about her time in Paris,
Cheers Nicky!
Tuesday 20th January 2009
At 4am we all met at the airport; Jamie, Leigh, Mark and Stephan.
Along with carers Colin and helpers from Lung Ha's; Su, Nick and Nadia
who was also our interpreter, and Artistic Director Maria, to fly to
Paris.
It was almost unthinkable that we were in Paris, a city I never thought that I would ever see.
When we all got the the hotel I had a room on the 1st floor overlooking the small garden leading up to the reception.
The venue were to perform at was called Les Turbulences and there we
were met by Phillipe the Artistic Director and Joue who was one of the
chefs there.
We had lunch and then they welcomed us with music consisting of drums,
bells and a saxophone, there was also a girl dancing her name was
Madelyn. After a short while we joined in with the music and I joined
in with the dancing.
The next day I traveled on the Metro (underground) with Nadia to join
in more workshops at the venue including some belly dancing in the
afternoon, which I enjoyed very much. Even the woman who was teaching
us was impressed.
Liam and Catherine arrived late on the third evening with the set. The
next day as the set was being built, our musicians John Sampson and
Robert Pettigrew were busy with the music as we were rehearsing.
The show went very well but nothing could have prepared us for the
reaction of the audience, who enjoyed the show so much that they gave
us a standing ovation. It was so unbelievable, the French audience was
the best we have ever had.
When we weren't busy rehearsing or doing workshops we explored Paris
and could only go to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower due to strong
winds. Nadia and I went under the Arc de Triumphe. Then we joined Su
and Michael and we went to the Opera House, then after seeing that, we
met up with the others at the River Seine where we all took a boat trip
and the main thing I enjoyed seeing most was Notre Dame Cathedral from
the river.
Then to round off a great time we had a Burns Supper and a Ceilidh and
I would very much like to thank the Scottish Arts Council and Lung Ha's
for a great time.
written by Nicola Tuxworth
