El Milongón

When my aunt was in Montevideo visiting me, we went to a dinner show--El Milongón. Although it was as touristy as touristy can get, it was a nice overview of the musical styles of Uruguay.


There was folk dancing, candombe, tango, fire spinning, and gaucho stomping. For a show in Uruguay it was ridiculously pricey (about 21 US dollars), but for a comparable 1.5 hour show of live music and dancing in the US you couldn't even come close to the price.

Enjoy a short video from the evening:

A Little Bit of Magic

I went to a magic and comedy show yesterday at the Chambersburg Capitol Theater. The building was quite nice, and the show was entertaining. I have never seen a live ventriloquist before. A lot of Pete Michaels' jokes were a bit off color, especially considering there were kids in the audience. His routine was more for the older folks. Greg Kennedy did innovative juggling, and I have never seen juggling quite like that before. Chris Capehart did some comedy magic aimed at the kids. He liked to say, "hurry up kid."

One guy, Jason Bishop, did lots of the those fancy smancy hand card disappearing tricks. But most impressive were his making-the-lovely-assistant-disappear feats. I really have no idea where or how the girl could have escaped and reappeared. To top it off, she had on a different outfit every time she returned. Whoah. That just might have been magic.

Peking Acrobats

Ridiculous I say, ridiculous.

I went to see the Peking Acrobats from China last night with John, and they were amazing.
I think I had a clenched fist for the entire performance.

We witnessed stunts like precarious chair balancing, spinning plates, jumping back and forth from two really tall poles, Chinese dragon costumes, a human jump rope, tables balancing and twirling on feet, riding a unicycle on an umbrella, juggling with odd objects, bodies hopping through hoops, 10 people on one bicycle, unwinding from free hanging ropes, crazy lifts, and body contortions.

I'm still amazed.

The show was definitely first class. I could imagine it being performed for important dignitaries. The music by the instrumentalists was beautiful, the choreography great, and thrill entertaining. I can't but help but wonder what life is like for the young performers. Nobody's spine is supposed to bend the way they bent theirs.

A Trip to DC

Yesterday Emily C. and I went to Washington DC. We drove to Shady Grove and then took the metro into the city. EMILY gave ME wrong directions. Yes, that's right, now there is balance in the universe and people can no longer accuse ME of being a bad direction giver.

We first visited the National Museum of the American Indian. I was more impressed with it that I expected to be. The elaborate bead work of Native Americans is amazing. Also, the influence of Christianity on Native American culture was clearly delineated in certain displays.

Next we visited the National Zoo. Unfortunately, we got to the zoo so late that we missed a lot of the animals. Emily flirted with the zoo police in the panda exhibit so the officer let us stay to watch the pandas chomping on bamboo for an extra half hour. Way to go.

Lastly, we saw a show at the National Theater: Nen Daiko: The Power and Beauty of Taiko Drumming. I was highly impressed. The settings were intimate. We were very close to the performers; so close we could see the sweat dripping off their brow. The performance was spectacular. I don't know how their arms don't fall off.

The fabulous drummers from the Ekoji Buddhist Temple present kumi daiko – ensemble drumming – played on large Japanese drums with choreographed movement. Their performance embodies the bold energy and athleticism characteristic of this mesmerizing musical form.

Overall, we had a nice day.