A big Merry Christmas from Chris and Laura here at the Pastiebap bunker! We'll be indulging considerably until the end of the year and there will be a reduced schedule here on the website until the new year. We will have bits an d pieces going up, but just not daily like they currently are. Anyway thanks for reading and have blookin' great Christmas. I'm away for my dinner and another Mince pie!
0 Comments
Another Christmas staple in Belfast, and some would argue Belfast theatre's best kept secret, Pony Dance once again put on their Pony Panto to get us all in the mood for Santa's arrival. Pony Panto is something which truly has to be seen to be believed, it's dance, variety, live music, but all with attitude. On stage there's a VIP chair which is filled by a member of the audience "Cara" and over the night she's given copious amounts of wine, crackers and cheese and even another couple to sit beside. But more about Cara later. The show is one of 2 half's and is hosted by the irreverent Miss Leonie Pony. The Pony dancers, Emmen Jude Donnelly and NI street crew Ajendance provide most of the craic with their funny, brave and at times breath taking choreography. Emmen Jude Donnelly put on an amazing dance and aerial display to the sounds of Nine inch Nails but with live guitar and 2 Members of Ajendance put on a clinic with their number "The evolution of music" dancing every conceivable style in the space of 4 minutes. As you can see from the photo above there's a fair quota of Christmas shenanigans as well, with last years singing sensation Sinnead returning to sing us 2 numbers (she sings the first one first and the second one second) as she plunders the audience throughout to find people to sing along with her and the big words on the screen. The Lords of Strut (who are visiting Belfast with their own show) are our ultimate guests and are impressive and hilarious in equal measure, at this point our VIP - Cara - comes alive and practically makes herself the 3rd member of the dance duo, the guys are cool as cucumbers and work around her, eventually incorporating her to huge rounds of applause, I guess those years of street performing really paid off! Pony Panto is a great laugh and a brilliant end to any Christmas night out, the guys usually have a summer show as well so until then I'll leave you with the immortal lines of Sinnead and say "Meddy Christmas!" Who wishes you a Merry Christmas...Sir Christopher J Caldwell. I enjoy wrestling, films and nautical adventure. I've just finished making a short film which you can see here. I also DJ sometimes. You'll see me out and about eating or drinking. Sometimes even both whilst walking. I have written for The Big List. I currently also write for BBC Across The Line.
BBC ATL Review: The Magic Numbers BBC ATL Review: Rams' Pocket Radio, A Northern Light, Serotonin "ponydance will now unleash their time honoured and much loved, irreverent approach to everybody’s favourite season…well not everybody’s, but spend a night with the ponies and you’ll remember why Christmas can be so much fun." - The Mac, Belfast Running from 11th - 16th December 'pony panto' was a Pantomime unlike any other. Other than the slightly odd and hilarious picture seen above (and the promise of a comedy dance troupe, there was little else to indicate what was in store for us at pony panto last weekend). 'pony panto was performed in the smaller of the two theatres, at The Mac, giving a much more intimate feel to the night. Although depending on your constitution, this intimate setting can only mean one thing in a show which relies partly on audience participation for its entertainment - you are almost certainly going to make a fool of yourself at one point. This pantomime for adults was quite unlike anything I've ever seen before, it was a dance show with attitude, a comedy show which wasn't afraid to call you out and tell you off. The members of 'ponydance': Deirdre Griffin, Neil Hainsworth, Leonie McDonagh, Paula O'Reilly, Duane Watters and guest pony Eileen McClory had the audience in tears (there were even a few snorts and a couple of cocktails spat everywhere) within five minutes of the show beginning. From genuinely talented and well choreographed dance routines, to a sullen tap dancer in a ridiculously oversized snowflake costume, pony panto was the perfect mix of comedy and dance routines, sure to have you in stitches. Our host for the evening Leonie Pony's sharp wit and dry sense of humour was second to none. A guest appearance by PaperDolls provided a slightly eerie element to the night with their very impressive aerial acrobatics, accompanied by the strange and exotic sounds created by Margie Lewis on the zither. My personal favourite part of the night was the airing of (fake) new celebrity Sinnead's new Christmas video complete with tracksuits, vaseline covered lenses and and all the cheesy Christmas cheer you can handle, followed by her very Irish rendition of The Waitresses - Christmas Wrapping. To be perfectly honest I haven't been able to get her chorus of "Meddy Chrissmas, Meddy Chrissmas" out of my head ever since. Overall, pony panto was one of the funniest nights out I've had in a long, long time and the fact that this was a local theatre group with local performers and musicians made it even better. Most of the music for the show was provided by local band Shake!, and there were guest appearances by Ajendance and drag queen Victoria Secret too. There was even a dance off between two audience members dressed as Jesus and Santa to find the true creator of Christmas. Pretty much everything you'd want form a night out. For those who haven't been to a pony show before, I urge you to give it a go. Whether you're a lover or hater of comedy or a lover or hater of dance, ponydance will have something to both amuse and astound you regardless. Who wrote this...?Laura Caldwell
I'm 20 years old, studying Journalism with Photo-Imaging at the University of Ulster Coleraine Campus. I have an undying love for Belfast and all that it has to offer, an undying love for sleeping, Tegan and Sara, trashy tv shows, foreign snack-foods and being irresponsible with money. I also quite like reading, hip-hop, dubstep, anything acoustic and Food Network TV. |