Home?

I realize this blog is slowly becoming less cultural and more of an online space to rant about various issues; but realistically, who wants to read about a culture and art when you can read about my theories on life?! Yeah, I thought so.

So I have been home for almost 2 weeks now, and seeing other people back from uni, it seems to be the consensus that being home is nice, but strange. The novelty of sofas, double beds, cuddles from your mum and an endless supply of food wears off after a week and you start craving a good 2 litres of White Ace and some packet noodles.

My life here feels like putting on an old perfume and being transported back to a hundred memories I thought I'd forgot; it's always going to smell good, but it's almost a little too nostalgic. I have to worry that old family disputes will rear their heads if I leave my room looking like a Tracy Emin exhibition, something that at university goes scold free and is even considered endearing to my flatmates.

Everyone changes when they move away, whether it's for good or bad. And everyone talks about how they've changed, nights out, new friends, jobs, boyfriends etc. etc. until anyone who doesn't go to university, or even does, wants you to shut the f**k up.

I have come home to hear of about at least 3 people popping out infants, engagements between school friends, romances between unlikely people. It's as if when we moved away, those that didn't came together and formed new unlikely alliances. My old world feels like a foreign one and I am a tourist; it's a good holiday, but it's not completely home any more.

An unroyal post about not seeing the Queen and not feeling excited.

I have been in bed ill for about a week and therefore did not get to see the Queen today. I thought I would test the waters of leaving the house by venturing to Tesco, a whole 2 minute walk away, only to find myself coughing my life away over a self service machine. Enough said. I returned to hibernate in my bed and cuddle my meal deal.

As everyone else will probably be blogging about seeing the Queen, the atmosphere, so on and so forth... I thought: I'm going to blog about the royal visit from the outsider's perspective. Who wants to read about the Queen coming again, yawn. So being the anti-royalist I am I thought I should be the first to bring cynicism to the party and ruin everyone's fun. ANARCHY!

So there I am, reading everyone's excitable tweets about Her Majesty coming and whether or not Queenie will be wearing royal blue (shock horror), and am surprised at how impartial I feel to the whole thing. The angry left-winger/verging on communist in me is saying, why do we even have a royal family? And why is everyone obsessed with them?

I start to feel like I'm on Grumpy Old Women far before my time and need to lighten up, appreciate joy more. If the royal visit means that we have a huge party with lots of dancing and excitement then it has to be a good thing, right?

What I find depressing about it all is that it is only the royals who seem to attract this kind of display. The only family who are routinely entertained for free in various parts of the country. WHEN THEY EARN MILLIONS. Not even earn it, are given it. Why can't we do performances like this for people who might appreciate it a bit more? Or maybe the royals could do a dance performance or two, seeing as we pay for their incredible house and excessive standard of living? See how they like it eh?

In conclusion, the key thing that I felt from not seeing the Queen and not feeling excited is that, what would really have been fair and probably more interesting, were if the royals came and entertained sick folk like me now and again. They should turn the Jubilee tour into a portable entertainment service, performing nationwide for the Diamond celebration. Kate can do the cheerleading and the Queen can do Capoeira. Or vice versa?

Meal deal, bed, dancing royals, DONE.

Of Mary by Adrian Lester

The room was packed as I made my win in to the lecture theatre and struggled to find a seat. Whispers of "Adrian Lester!" and "that guy from Hustle/Case 39/As You Like it!". Of all the events I had been to this week, this one had the greatest anticipation.

 He finally entered the room, to meet a lot of gasps and giggles from the audience, and we all calmed ourselves to watch the short film. What we saw was far more clever and intricate than I had ever expected. In case you plan on watching the film (which is definitely recommended) I won't give it away.

 It basically focused around a family, a couple who seem to be separated, their son, and their relatives. Only at the end do we fully understand what's happening, although Lester provides us with clues throughout. What made this short film stand out is that in 20 minutes it managed to provide a full and moving story, compared to the short and snappy punch lines of many.

 Adrian Lester and Lesata Productions are planning on getting a feature film, and I think I'm not alone in saying I am eagerly anticipating it.

What a difference a photo makes...

Every photo was perfect, or near it. Even when it was fluke. Shots of the royal wedding that he thought had been awful, ended up being iconic pictures. Unsmiling celebrities would smile only for his camera.

Eamonn McCabe, the renowned Guardian picture editor and four times sports photographer of the year, is a bit of a glorified hero of mine. Since starting photography this year, working at a few gigs and club nights, I have a new found respect for incredible photographers like him. Especially without a digital camera, which I struggle with enough.

 Eamonn flicked through his front page photos and portraiture and told us the stories behind them. He chatted casually about political, sports and newspaper photography. doing shoots with Iris Murdoch, Zadie Smith and... wait for it... Jude Law. Yes. Forget writing, photography is my new ambition. Jude Law I'm coming for you.

 The talk was compelling, I was already interested in photography, but Eamonn's charm and wit put everyone at ease. The whole room was laughing and listening. It was instantly understandable how he was so successful, and how his photos had been so good, he knew how to make people comfortable. It is good to know that it's not all ruthless ladder climbing to success in your career, simply being friendly and down to earth can get you a long way.

Your workplace is sexist, just quit?

4 women and one brave man discussed the gender politics of their careers at Tomorrow's People: Maximising Women and Talent in Cultural Leadership. Farooq Chaudhry, (Akram Khan Dance Company), Diane Lees (Imperial War Museum), Ruth Churchill Dower (Earlyarts), Deborah Dawton (Design Business Association), and Stephanie Sirr ( Nottingham Playhouse)and chaired by Hilary Carty (former Director of the Cultural Leadership programme), debated the future of cultural leadership and the issues within it.

 The varied experiences of the panel meant that some interesting topics arose; with Diane Lees bringing up the treatment and criticism women receieve in the media and in the workplace, and Deborah Dawton saying that if the struggle is too much, get out and go somewhere where you are appreciated. This struck me particularly: should women just get out? Maybe on a personal basis, it's better to work somewhere supportive. But on a larger scale, perhaps this is the problem? That women are not sticking it out in situations where their workplace is sexist or discriminatory?

 I left the talk feeling like I knew how to be a good cultural leader, listening to the pros, but only more confused on gender politics and sexism in work. Perhaps it is something we have to accept, there are people that are set in their ways and there is no way forward in working with them. Perhaps men and women are essentially different, and this can be a good or bad thing. Perhaps there is no difference, and men can have female qualities, and vice versa. I could go on... But with so many female leaders on the panel alone, it is clearly possible with enough determination and ambition.

And as a woman, I came away feeling more like a feminist than ever in my life, bitch-clicking and felt like going to kick some misogynist ass.

What do you get when you combine Wales, Brazil, clogs and Skype?

 A Hiraeth/Saudade Dance Performance apparently. The ex-DMU student Angharad Harrop collaborated with performers from Brazil in order to create the performance today, which incorporated live music with Welsh and Brazilian dance forms.

 In all honesty, dance performances are not something I attend a lot. Although coming from parents who are left-wing, middle class, read the Guardian and eat organic food, I have been to a few in my time, amongst other theatre performances, art exhibitions, you can see where I'm going.

 But what I particularly liked about this performance was the sense of fun; it didn't take itself too seriously. In fact I felt like I'd been invited as a spectator to one of their parties, like this was something they did all the time. The dancers were incredibly co-ordinated, and were all the more impressive on finding out that they had spent just one day rehearsing as a full group.

 The project arose over the internet, and they rehearsed over Skype. The Brazilian members of the group talked about how they had only seen the space they performed in virtually, and how much better it was to visit it in real life.

 Audience members responded by saying it was "Magical" and expressing how much they "wanted to join in". I couldn't have agreed more, you felt a part of the performance and it was both skilled and fun simultaneously. It struck me how relevant this performance was to Cultural Exchanges festival. They really were exchanging cultures, combining Welsh clogging with Brazilian dance, and it worked perfectly.

Getting me some culture init?

When I've told people that I'm going to the Cultural Exchanges festival, for those unacquainted with it, I'm often met with a bemused look and a comment like, "Cultural what? What liiiiiiike... art and s**t?"

Well. Sort of. When I explain that actually, it's a whole week of dance, literature, poetry, films, with appearances from celebrities like Jamal Edwards, Murray Melvin, Gwyneth Lewis and Hustle's Adrian Lester for little or no money, people's expressions change.

Being a newcomer myself, I'm excited for next week. I've never been to a festival quite like this one, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when lots of creative types are thrown into one place at one time.

In a world where students are constantly told it's near impossible to get a job in media, art, writing, and so on, it will be interesting to see a group of successful people in these fields who have got these jobs, and find out how.

To book for the events running Monday 27th Feb - Friday 4th March click here.


Natalie Beech