Tag Archives: performance I’m not the first to say it, but music crosses boundaries: the boundaries of time and place. One of the things I always loved about the annual Easter long weekend Byron Bay Bluesfest music festival was the cross-section of ages, styles, and origins, of the performers – and of the audience members. The family-friendly event always […]  It was a trip I’d been anticipating for a long time: an ocean voyage on a small ship to visit remote West Papuan villages and to snorkel in the marine-rich waters around Raja Ampat and the Spice Islands. The chance to swim with giant whale sharks was what had sold me on this particular itinerary. […]  Any visitor to these pages knows I love my music festivals. While small festivals (eg: Thredbo Blues, Thredbo Jazz, and Vancouver Island Music Festival) have their charm, the granddaddy of them all is the annual Easter long-weekend Byron Bay Bluesfest. I first attended back in 1999 when it was a three-day celebration of local and international […]  It is remote. And rugged. We were met with a mock war-dance: warriors sporting black body paint and carrying bamboo spears and arrows charged at us, while other villagers crowned in feathers danced and sang. Welcome to West Papua! The island of New Guinea has been populated for tens of thousands of years – mostly […]  It was hot. And dark. And chaotically noisy. And, I loved every minute of it! To a non-Indian, a Kathakali dance performance can best be described as a Punch and Judy show on steroids. One of India’s many forms of regional classical dance, Kathakali is unique to Kerala on India’s southwestern Malabar Coast. After spending a […] |
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