The weekend has been our first Dance Eisteddfod and it was in the town of Cowra, about 2.5hrs north of Canberra. A small place which is very rural and isn’t close to anywhere significant.
That said, the town does have some interesting history as it had a POW camp during WWII and was the site of a one sided battle between a couple of hundred escaping Japanese POWs and the Aussie Guards. The Internet has various accounts of what happened, but the town is somewhat focused on “reconciliation” and boasts some beautiful Japanese gardens and Australia’s Peace Bell (only one of these per Country and usually reserved for Capitals)
Site of the POW Camp
The Japanese Gardens
Chasing the Galars....parrots which are as common as pigeons buy not as clever.
Apart from these attractions, which were 1 and 2 on the Tourist Information list of “Must Sees” I can report that the Fun Museum replicates a scrap yard (fortunately closed) and the Aboriginal Paintings on the town bridges concrete pylons(!?) are probably not worth the drive.......elsewhere they call this vandalism, in Cowra it’s a tourist attraction.....anything that gets the punters in. I think this same idea applies to the Eisteddfod, sign up to host a 2 week event of any kind and Bingo!....B&Bs all full, KFC maxed out and the town thrives on visitors that can’t actually buy anything anywhere else unless they drive for 2+ hours............they even have a Cherry Blossom festival here in September........remind me to be busy that month.
Immi - going now without training wheels.
For us, our involvement in the Eisteddfod centred on Katie and Holly’s Dance group, with dance spread throughout Sunday. I think the first Dance was around 9AM and the last finsihed well after 8PM.
Now, I’m all new to this competition malarkey, but whilst I understand that there are a few different disciplines in dancing and different age groups to compete, the section names introduced me to words and combinations that I’d never heard of – “Demi-Character, Jazz Dance, Dance (any kind), Expressive, Modern Expressive, Dance Entertainment, National Folk, Song/Dance and Dance Like your Dad....maybe not!
The dancing in the main was good, but there are always a few individuals that stand out to me – in particular the one who’s pushy Mum has told them to smile, smile, smile but still looks as happy as I do when I’m having root canal work.
The judging was also very strict, with one adjudicator located in the middle of the audience in a roped off area with signs saying “do not approach”. After each section, this lady would pass a few brief comments on all of the sections competitors and then state which group (by number not name) had won highly commended, 2nd and then 1st and the corresponding score which was out of 100.
The first round was very tight, of 4 groups the lowest achieved 76 and the highest was 79! Wow, I thought this is close stuff, there is nothing between these kids.......by the end of the day, a pattern had emerged....the lowest score that I heard all day was 73 an the highest was 81......the marking was actually out of 8, but the judge just happened to add 73 to every score.
To mark the start of every new dance and request silence from the audience a bell was rung, with what felt like hours of dancing watched, I was looking for other things to amuse myself with and came so close to shouting “last orders please” - Simon Cowell, you deserve every penny that you earn.
Full "War Paint" and me just out of shot holding a Tazar Gun for any boys.
Seriously, Katie and Holly were fantastic. They both light up the stage and Katie’s solo point work during the start of her group's best dance made me gasp......very proud and lucky Dad Xx.....x Immi
