Considering I'd slept on Tom Mellish's sofa and Batchwood had been, once again, the cruellest mistress, I was feeling pretty good as we pulled up outside the Wyllyotts Theatre in Potters Bar for the tech run.
I didn't know that dance was such a big thing, but here they were; the dance crews in their matching hoodies, sitting in the stalls, tapping feet or bodypopping randomly to snatches of the music coming through the PA. All under 25, some were just kids, and black, white, asian, trainers, cane rows, make-up, skinny waists, tight costumes, big hair, smiles, bored faces. We sat there and watched the dancers run through for the lighting techs, and I talked to Benji who was there armed with his camera.
It's a scene I hardly knew existed, but it was instantly obvious that what we were watching was a high standard of dance. The event was organised by AlterEgo Dance Company, but among the crews performing were Illusions, an all-girl group from South East London, who were incredible, especially the girl with the half-shaved head (call me if you're reading this), as well as Living The Dream, a combination of slapstick humour and ballet, which came off really well. AlterEgo contributed five or six pieces, and there was also Pole Dancing, which was great, and highly inappropriate for a family show. The latent dirty old man in me was loving it, even if the 20-year old me was sitting kind of awkwardly next to someone's mum and dad.
We were on at the end of the first half. Benji got some pictures of us backstage:
And of our show:
Thanks Benji! You can see Benji's website here.
You can see what AlterEgo are all about here.
You can see explosions and boobs here.
Anyway, that was a good weekend. Only five working days until the next one!
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