I know, I know, it's been a long time since my last blog. You may have wondered if I'd fallen down a black hole, been abducted by aliens or downsized to a yurt in deepest Peru. (All of which I have to admit do seem preferable to the endless discussions about the bad weather and the credit crunch.)
But no, I've actually had a very busy summer - even if it does seem a very long time ago now. The JWAAD Summer School was as hectic as ever - in fact, more so, as the Diploma course was running throughout the week and I was teaching a number of modules. But there was plenty of time for playing too - not least at the Thursday night party. Each year has a different theme which fires up people's creativity in a quite extraordinary way. And this year's theme ' Barbies gone Bad' was no different. Seeing Jim Boz and the 'Angels' (ie Summer School helpers) dancing to 'I'm a Barbie Girl' made an indelible impression...
After a week at Summer School, it was off to Verona for five days with my mother to go to the opera. I was a little apprehensive about this one as it was organised by Saga, and I'm still too young to be eligible (hooray!) so I had to be enrolled as my mother's 'carer'! But in fact we had a great time and the other people on the holiday were great. Jean had done VSO with sexually abused children in Russia following her retirement from teaching and Nick was a mine of musical information having been a musician and director with the Royal Philharmonic and London Symphony orchestras. And the music was quite magical; I shall never forget the sheer grandeur of the Triumphal March in Aida, as 150 extras - including dancers, singers and horses - paraded around the stage. Equally memorable was the poignancy of Rigoletto - and wild enthusiasm with which the Veronese audiences applauded the performers, who seem to enjoy an almost superstar status.
Then it was back home, in time to organise the first JWAAD Foundation Course weekend in Stroud. The women on the group were great and Beatrice Curtis, Jan Piggott and I had great fun teaching them. This autumn is jam-packed with Teacher Training in fact, as I'm organising three courses and teaching on the Diploma programme. When I resolved to devote more time to dancing, this wasn't quite what I had in mind, but it's rewarding nevertheless!
So it's been a somewhat hectic Summer. So much for my resolution to do less and relax more. But I think that's a gradual process, after all, as they say, Rome wasn't built in a day. Anyway, now I'm back in the swing of things, I shall get back to blogging like a good 'un - promise!
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