More esoteric music-making.

Part Two of this week's New Age Concert Activity took place in a superb facility here in Toulouse, Espace Bonnefoy. The huge old converted former whatever-it-is, barn, shed, munitions factory or workhouse houses a media centre, an exhibition gallery, a concert hall and a branch of the town hall. Our show, Dialogue de la Mer took place in the concert hall. I say 'our show', but it really wasn't; 99% of it is the brainchild of Cathy, who variously choreographs, films, takes photos, makes sculptures, seeks out funding, sells the production around the country etc etc. It's her baby and her team of four girls (three other dancers and one singer) are the ones who shouild justly claim credit for its creation. Wasters like me just go along and play the five classical songs required and admire the choreography, for purely artistic reasons only, of course. It's a very peace 'n' love kind of show: there are modern dance improvisations, choreographed numbers, videos and diaporamas of undersea life, coral reefs and the like, a few classical songs about water and a bit of meditation at the beginning of the second part, in which the audience is invited to participate. This should actually have been made clear to them, as they seemed a little nonplussed as to why we were all sitting on stage in the lotus position while spacey, science fiction-type music drizzled out of the speakers. That was a long five minutes, I can tell you. It was funny to do two hippy gigs in two days, particularly as there was no actual connection between them. In addition to doing all the preparation and promotion, Cathy brings up two sons on her own. Hats off.

Maybe there'll be more of this type of concert in the offing for me in future. Doing these little gigs around the place from time to time is fun; you meet new people (not that I always really want to, but still) and get to eat a lot of biscuits. Neither tonight or last night had any complimentary bottles of beer or wine, but that's not the end of the world. It would be if became a habit, though. Note to self: Must stipulate refreshment requirements in future...