Moving to Scotland and having to find a house and juggle work, the dog and just trying to settle in to a very unfamiliar place, didn't really give me time and at least give my parents time to explore Scotland and enjoy the the summer. Tutors has asked us to visit and get involved with as much theatre of event work as possible, and moving made this very tricky. Travelling around whether it was just in to the next town or into the city transport was not easily available to me.
We managed to buy some tickets for Strictly Confidential which was touring around the UK over the year. I didn't know what to expect and went with a completely open mind about it.
I didn't know anything about how this would play out, what it involved, all I knew was who to expect to see. The stars of the 2012 Strictly Come Dancing that we saw were Lisa Riley, Artem Chigvintsev, Natalie Lowe and Ian Waite as well as an amazing instrumental group and dancers. The audience connected to the stars and the atmosphere was great, loud, alert and lively!
The set for the show was very simple, very easy and there wasn't actually anything on the stage, obviously because the dancers needed all the space they could get. Before the show began there was a gauze screen across the front of the stage, it wasn't light too strongly from behind or from the front and we, the audience could just about see through it. The main piece's of kit that the touring company used was the costumes, as they couldn't cart to many props or set around, and depending on the size of the stage the dancers would have to adapt a bit.
Lighting was the main piece of kit used as each venue would have their own set up. Using different lighting techniques to set the mood through out the performance. It was really interesting to find out more about the stars and the program was quite informative, giving details about the stars back stories and of course a whole double page on the costumes, from fabric and thread to swirling on the dance floor.
It isn't exactly Strictly Come Dancing, but it is more of an insight into the whole story, the things behind the scenes and just the general excitement of the celebrities and dancers. I enjoyed my experience and I would love to go along to one of the live shows, even more so now I've seen into the show a bit more.
To find out more about Strictly Confidential visit http://aecc.co.uk/events/strictly-confidential/ Picture is not my own.
