"Culture without the petri dish", claimed the slogan emblazoned on a particularly elegant flyer advertising ArtsFest 2007. This year’s ArtsFest culminated in a feast of music, dance and martial arts at the Finale concert last Friday.
As I sat in my seat waiting for a demonstration of how to grow colonies of micro-organisms without a suitable medium, I was distracted by the hilarious double act of comperes Billy Feenan and Katie Heskins.
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The concert opened a grand collabaration between Sinfonietta, IC and ICSM choirs performing an excerpt from The Mastersingers by Wagner. This was followed by the intimate, dulcet tones of the ICSM Chamber Choir before a twinkle-toed Dance Sport couple gave us renditions in Cha, Rumba, Jive and Samba. Wu Shu ended the first half with some demanding and brilliantly worked fight scenes which had the audience on the edge of their seats.
Windband chose a challenging set for their ArtsFest debut, especially considering how few woodwinds there were. This was followed by the music-influenced, Brazilian martial art – Capoeira. Their spontaneous, acrobatic play fighting was set to traditional instruments and the clapping of the audience. ICSE (string ensemble) then provided us with a stunning rendition of Barber’s impassioned Adagio for strings which provoked a tear in the eye and possibly the most enthusiastic applause of the night.
The second ArtsFest debutants, FuNkoLoGy, gave us a highly polished medley of urban styles based on a ‘Heroes-good vs. Evil’ theme. The choreography to Star Wars scoring was particularly imaginative. Not to be upstaged, three teams from Dance Company combined ballet, contemporary, jazz, and tap styles in one outrageous fusion.
BigBand rounded up the evening after the audience had sung ‘Happy Birthday to their singer, Ashley! As always, the BigBand certainly did not fail to rouse the audience. Particularly impressive was Jan Marchant on trumpet whose soaring top notes were the icing on a very tasty BigBand cake.
Once again the ArtsFest Finale has defied Gimperial stereotypes, showcasing the wealth of artistic ability at IC in an evening packed with outstanding performances which were thoroughly enjoyed by an enthusiastic audience. Not only that but around £400 was raised for the Newman Trust too.
Not bad for a bunch of scientists, engineers & medics. Culture without the petri dish indeed…
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