A Disastrous Pretension: Anatomy of an Afternoon

Lightning review:

I feel I should be supportive of dance, especially one that is choreographed by an Australian artist. But Sydney Festival’s Anatomy of an Afternoon is definitely far from enjoyable. The show starts slow and takes a LONG time to get to a point where it’s even close to enjoyable.

Now, before you critics yell out “Exegesis!” or “Human condition!”, let me clarify that I am all about artistic expression and all that. I just feel that this performance is a PhD thesis on dance that has no place in a festival that aims to bring accessible art to the masses.

Mind you, the dancer is REALLY talented and he does gets the message across… except the message is something I truly do not care to hear. Pretentious is one word to describe it. Boring is another.

If you are keen on seeing shows where the dancer prances around on stage in his undies with half his butt cheek hanging out (and I am not exaggerating here), then this show might be for you. Me? My tastes are more basal - and for me, there is nothing to see in this autopsy.

One slice out of five.

A Different Kind of Fox: Fleet Foxes Live

I’ve always appreciated The Fleet Foxes. They are, at least to my ears, best described as an alternative folk band. Their vocal harmonies remind me of the all-male choirs in churches and cathedrals, and their songs are produced in such a way that reflects this type of sound - very grand in their simplicity.

However, having a record so well produced makes playing the songs live very difficult (*cough* Britney *cough*) especially if the artists in question actually have artistic integrity and are not the lip-synching type. Because of this, I was quite keen on watching them live in the Sydney Opera House, a magnificent venue that is not known for its acoustics especially with bands.

Well, the end result is that they are good live, but as expected, they are not the same live. The songs take a different life of their own, and their performance is much more dynamic. The strength of the lead vocals is usually masked in the albums but only because of how the songs are produced. If you hear him live, you know he has great pipes and his unconventional techniques certainly suit the songs.

The only thing that brings their performance down is that the three singers still have to work on their presence onstage in between songs. Really exceptional bands know how to “work the crowd” so that people are not left twiddling and waiting to see what happens next. The drummer did his best and it did work from time to time, but truly not enough to really connect with the crowd - it was bad enough that the concert was at a venue that dictated a certain stiff decorum, but to leave the audience detached meant they could not warm up to the band more. Mind you, they were appreciative for sure, but they were far from fanatical.

One more thing is that the pianist really was ill-placed in some songs. I felt that in some parts, he was just a little bit slower than the band, and it dragged the song a bit. They still sounded alright, but for an prominent instrument to follow the harmony is quite risky, and I certainly think it did not pay off in songs that should have sounded astounding.

All in all though, I would rate that as 4/5 slices. It was still an enjoyable experience and I certainly admire bands that provide an experience that is different to what one would normally expect.

A New Year Resolution List

One good thing about getting a Macbook Air is that it does give me this chance to write wherever I want, given that it is much more convenient to type on, compared to an iPad at least. The other day, I was reminiscing of the days when I could write whatever went through my mind, creative juices pushing my fingers to type fast and my thoughts to throb even faster.

But somehow, with the years, I realised that the juices have dried up, so slowly that I barely even realised it until I found that my last journal entry was a year old, and my brain was a graveyard of thoughts I wish I had committed to paper - or at least, a blog.

So now, I am back. I’m not sure how long I will do this, but 2012 is the year when I will try my best. And I guess that’s more than enough for now.

So what is 2012 for me? This year is the year of change. As most people can tell, change can be difficult - but not unwanted. Sometimes, the pain will be necessary to make things better - not just for myself, but for my spouse as well.

To begin this change, ladies and ladies, may I present the 2012 Resolutions.

1. Clean. And I mean no more dishes lingering in the sink, laundry waiting for a wash or dustballs lounging in the living room. I think the worst is when I leave my shoes wherever

2. No chips and wedges. Yup. I said it first on Facebook and now I’m finally committing to it. No more fries/chips/wedges. It doesn’t sound like much, but I reckon it will make a darn big difference in terms of my weight loss / cholesterol levels.

3. No cheesy snacks. This means Cheesy Twisties, Toobs and all the lovely cheddar goodness I usually run to in times of depression, madness and … well, days ending in Y. However, BBQ and chicken flavoured chips are still fair game. Let’s face it - having a little treat once in a while will help me stay sane.

4. Nail my postgrad studies. Doing a Grad Certificate in Marketing this year - and by goodness, I am going to make this happen. The last postgrad I did was a decade ago and I had a distinction average - let’s see how consistent I can be.

5. Blog more. At least once a week. Once a fortnight at worst. I imagine that during essay week, even the fortnight promise will be pushing it, but we’ll see. :-)