Timeless, The LSE Multicultural Dance Charity Event

Timeless ctors in colorful costumes gather during rehearsals.

So I'm not sure if I've mentioned it, but I'm part of the LSE A Capella group. The group is a lot of fun; very colorful, groovy personalities, etc.. I'm learning a lot about other cultures from hanging with these kids, and singing is a lot of fun and a great way to take a break from lectures/ studying.

Part of the LSE A Capella Group, goofing around during a break.

So, apparently our group had enough potential to earn a space in the annual charity musical, known by the cognomen: Timeless. Whether it was truly timeless? Well, the amount of rehearsing sure took a lot of time! We met up for a few 6 hour rehearsals in various places, including the theater that we ended up doing the performance in: the legendary Sadlers Wells Dance Theatre. If you don't know what Sadler's Wells is (and don't worry- I won't blame you because I had no idea either), it's the place where West Side Story, The King and I, and a few other noteable shows were performed. Currently it features a number of really cool avant-garde dance numbers, one or two of which I'll have to catch as the theatre is literally 2 minutes walk from my dorm.

Timeless cast during break at Sadlers Wells practice theatre- Very captivating location.

Timeless ended up being a 31 act behemoth of a musical, featuring cultural dances and songs from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, belly dancers, and modern hip-hop, to name a few. The group was incredibly diverse; I believe I was one of two caucasians in a crowd of 170+. Needless to say the experience was really interesting, and the dances were a lot of fun to watch. Being the crazy student that I am, I ended up carrying a copy of John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism around and reading it whenever we had a small break.. On the day of the actual performance, that meant I had time to read almost the entire book.

Timeless was on a Sunday, and I think that Sunday was one of the longest of my life.. I am fully recovered at 5 PM on Tuesday. Let's quickly go through the day:

Wake up at 8:30 AM and mosey over to Sadler's Wells, where students are converging for a run-through of the finale. Lots of shouting, moving around, slow waking up (I've never seen a groggier group of people than 170 students at 9 AM on a Sunday), then a 1 hour break for lunch, after which started the longest tech rehearsal I've ever seen. As I said, 31 acts, all with lighting to figure out, mikes to check, formations to run, etc.. We finished that rigmarole at 6 PM (luckily those of us whose acts were already done could go sleep for a few hours during that time period), and then we had to meet up again at 7 PM, as the show started at 7:30.

Rehearsing the Finale on Sunday morning.

I just thought the catapillar-air-duct was too cool.. plus I confess I was a tad bored.

The show itself was a lot of fun- our a capella group sounded fairly decent (though the professional singing critic that I know said our costuming sucked.. to her I simply have the response: we were a human rainbow dammit!!.. and it was our first performance ever, so we deserve a break). The audience of 1500 seemed to like the performance, and that's all that really matters. After the performance, I ran back to my hall to finish an essay that, because of snow, I STILL haven't turned it.. but at least I finished it. Then I ran back for the finale, which took about 20 minutes because each one of the show's creators had to thank mom and dad and sisters/ friends/ dogs and cats for helping them to make the show happen. I felt like I was at the academy awards.. the only problem is while these talks were going on, all 170 actors/dancers were standing on the stage waiting for the finale to finish.

Waiting in Line to Perform.. Neilesh, our Fearless Leader, in Green :)
Here we are on stage.. in our "multicultural rainbow" formation. I'm in blue. Oh yeah.

Ah well it was interesting, and I got to see some of the other cultures interacting around me. I like the Indian kids- they work really hard and are easy to talk to. The Sri Lankan guys were kind of a gang, but cool as well once you get to know them a bit.

Tthe Sri-Lankan dance group during one of the rehearsals..

I think I got an embarrassing picture with a gaggle of Indian princesses.. I couldn't think of a pose so I just put my hands together in Namaste.. I felt very regal though-- I hope I can find that picture.

The best thing about timeless really was the camaraderie- shows put people together because we all work so hard to get the thing to happen, and there truly was something special, even timeless to the whole affair. I think Timeless raised around $22000 for the homeless in Kenya with that one event, which is pretty cool as well!

But wait, there's more, because after Timeless ended (11 PM- three and a half grueling hours later), there as the Timeless after-party to go to! The after party was a couple of miles away.. IN THE SNOW. At this point, London was covered in 6 inches of snow. All of the buses stopped, and all of the taxis went home. Therefore, when we left the club at 12:30 (I had a superbowl to catch) THERE WAS NO TRANSPORTATION BACK!! I've never heard of a city shutting down because of 6 inches of snow, but apparently that's the way they do things in London. It's the same sort of thing as not letting you eat your own food in a pub that is currently not serving any food, but more on that next time.

The Snow outside.. random snowball fights abound!

What looked like it was to be a long trek back through a small blizzard turned out to be a blissfully short walk, as some nice Londoners pulled over and offered us a ride home!! How wonderful! I suppose that although there's something to say about a city that shuts down because of almost nothing, there's more to be said for citizens willing to let strangers into their car and give them a ride. Timeless indeed!!

The night ended with football. As we're 8 hours behind Pacific Time over here, our super bowl started at 11 PM and ended at 3 AM. What a day, what a night! I had my guiness, watched the Cardinals lose a very close and very exciting game, and passed out.

Ahh, Super Bowl.. you lack your ebullient adverts on British Sky TV,
but you are a wonderful holiday nonetheless.

Jamie and his wife had a lot of money on the Steelers.. we were giving them so much crap when the Cardinals took the lead late in the fourth, but Rothlesburger pulled through.. Jamie was extremely modest considering how much money he'd just won.

When I woke up in the morning, London was blanketed with snow and COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN, but more on this next time.