Afrika! Afrika!
Posted by charley on July 5th, 2008This weekend i got the pleasure of experiencing the newest attraction from the first few rows at the o2 Dome. Afrika! Afrika! has only just opened in the last few days but Simon and I got some tickets thanks to lastminute.com.
It’s not actually in the Dome itself but rather has it’s own tent to the side, past the arena where the Spice Girls were gracing the stage that night, and inside was a collection of places to explore. There’s a side tent with some wacky art on display and plenty of African wine and liquor on sale :) Despite waiting a while to actually get in the main tent the show was definitely worth it and there was so much to see!
Our seats were pretty much 2 metres away from the circular stage so it felt like the performers were right in front of us, albeit i might have preferred it if the contortionists didn’t feel so close! They were the most freaky of the show, one guy pushed himself through a tennis racket with the help of a coca cola bottle which he put into the gap underneath his ribs as he pulled everything inwards eek! These people must be made of rubber or something because the next woman managed to bend her back in half, her actual back, which is primarily made of bone.. You can search for her on YouTube to see what i’m talking about, shes called Lunga and is seriously the bendiest person i have ever seen! Some questions arose about how much fun she could have with that talent but i’ll leave that up to your imagination!
Next were the men on unicycles playing basketball, and using skipping ropes to hop on the cycles too. I’d never have enough stamina but these men were riding around in circles and dunking as if they were playing on their feet.. Some breakdancers made an appearance too, which i think was supposed to provide an insight into the new kind of Africa which exists in the generations today but maybe they’re just really good at that over there too! The tribal dancers made you want to move and i often found myself nodding my head at various times, but that was soon deterred by the man next to me and his sometimes annoying enthusiasm. I guess you can only hear “oh yeah!” “woooo” “wooooooaaaaahhh!” so many times before wanting to shake those expressions out of the very person speaking them. Or maybe i was a little too cranky about having to wait to get in as well as pay £2.50 for a bottle of Pepsi? Anyway, the gymnasts helped me block out the mans excitement as we all sat on the edge of our seats scared in case one of them put one foot wrong and re-arranged a face. The skin tight lycra shorts in all the colours of the rainbow were distracting, as as Simon put it, ‘kind of cringeworthy’. Not the sort of thing he’d appreciate for Christmas then. but maybe he would like a pair of sparkly flares the very short trapeze artist was wearing? He got a wolf whistle from a (male) member of the audience for that brave outfit. Umm Rik Flair called, he thinks he’s missing a costume piece.
Overall Afrika! Afrika! was definitely worth the visit and would have been worth the money if we had actually paid for it :) There are no animals involved, only paper mache ones, so if you’re like me and refuse to go to circuses with animals then this one is certain to be enjoyed. Also, if the irrational fear of clowns seems to grip you then fear no longer, not a clown in sight! Although the lycra may leave you feeling a little queasy. So if you’ve got a spare weekend i’d advise spending it watching a piece of culture, one that absolutely deserves it’s exclamation marks.