This is a post dedicated to all things street theatre, music, dancing, etc including Covent Garden street theatre, underground musicians, and Chinese New Year. Why you ask? Because London is all about dancing in the streets and its ridiculous enough that it deserves its own post. Plus, I have some really funny pictures that just must be shared.
First off, Covent Garden, the self-proclaimed home of street theatre! To start, Covent Garden is a market area with all different kinds of booths and then shops surrounding these. In every corner of the market there are street performers rotating in and out. Everyone from magicians to musicians to acrobats and much more line up to showcase their talents and make some spare change and maybe be "discovered." I learned later that you actually have to audition to even perform there. When I went, I saw a crazy woman doing acrobatics with plastic knifes and a neon pink leotard, a group of dancing violinists, and an opera singer. I wonder how much money they make? And if they have other jobs? I went on a weekday so they can't have a regular 9-5 type job. If school doesn't work out for me, I'm coming back and bringing my mandolin that I still haven't learned to play. If I mix that with my ex-cheerleader skills I think I could have a really interesting show.
I believe those are vegetable steamers she is wearing as a bra.
Dancing fiddlers!
Next, underground musicians. So, most big cities have performers in their metro/subway systems, but London's seem to be the most prepared/ well established/ interesting that I have seen. And some of them are really talented (and as you can guess others are not). My favorite guy I've seen at a few different locations but he always has his electric guitar and amp and is like really goin at it. He plays like hard rock too, not your typical elevator music. They don't shy away from being loud either. I can generally hear the musicians playing from way up the escalator before I even get down by the tube. This could also be a future career for me if I had any musical abilities at all.
Lastly, Chinese New Year. I heard, although this could be completely inaccurate, that London has the largest Chinese New Year celebration outside of Asia. I heard it over the radio in Wales so don't quote me on that, but I would believe it. There were so many people gathered in the streets that there were times when you literally couldn't move. And it wasn't just a couple short streets either. The crowd spread through all of Chinatown and Trafalgar Square and pretty much everywhere else nearby as well. Honestly it was kind of lame though. There were performances on a stage but the crowd was so big I couldn't see them. And it was just an endless sea of people pushing you and tripping you and this giant dragon throwing lettuce at you and banging a drum in your ear. Granted, I really hate crowds, so if you don't mind them then you could have found some way to have fun, but I couldn't get over the not being able to move thing. And then when we tried to go sit at a restaurant and eat, one person told us to go upstairs then the upstairs guy yelled at us to get out and go downstairs. I was so over it, so we left and ate lunch at a British restaurant instead. Best. decision. ever. If I stayed at the festival two more minutes I might have had a panic attack. I'm being a bit dramatic but in summary I would not go again next year even if I was in London.
Happy Chinese New Year!
That's all folks. for now.
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