Month: June 2023

Dirty Dancing

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This afternoon, my daughter and I went to see the stage show of Dirty Dancing as a birthday treat. The tickets were a surprise from my husband because he knows how much I love the film. It has always been my favourite film but I was genuinely taken by my emotions this afternoon at the stage show.

I was excited for today and had planned all the aspects, from my watermelon nails, outfit and my old tote bag to a lovely al fresco lunch in the sunshine. There was such a gorgeous atmosphere in the town centre, it was absolutely buzzing, there was a European cheerleading contest at the large Convention centre with lots of practices happening in the gardens, as well as lots of people going to the beach to enjoy the sunshine or just strolling among the gardens and esplanade. It was one of those days when its just lovely to be there and share the happiness.

I have been reflecting on why I had such a strong reaction to the musical and I think it was a perfect storm of a few things. Firstly, I love the film and have lost count of how many times I have seen it. I was explaining to my daughter that whilst her generation has terrestrial, satellite tv and streaming, when I was growing up at the film’s release in 1987, we had 4 channels and had to watch films at the cinema. It was then a year’s delay for its release on video which we had to borrow from our local video shop. Dirty Dancing was the first film I actually owned, first on video and later on DVD and with limited choices, became my go to film. There was a time, in my teens when I think I was pretty word perfect on the script and yes I did cheer when the iconic lines were said today.

Whilst I may have watched the film, innumerable times, the CD soundtrack has also been one of my most played CDs ever. It came with me to university, to my year in France, to holidays played on my CD Walkman or trusty radio / CD player, it is pretty much the soundtrack to my teens and onwards. I love the songs, and it introduced me to so many classic songs, which led to further discoveries of some of the singers’ other work too.

Dirty Dancing appears such a simple holiday romance, but it is so much more and its abortion plot line was really quite unusual and brave at the time. Of the characters, I really could empathise with Baby, she was politically aware, determined, shy, clumsy, pretty much teenage me. Today I sat with my 15 year old daughter and felt the shift of change, perhaps I was no longer identifying with Baby, but the adults in the film. I was caught by the words of Mr Kellerman and Tito, the band leader, about the the passing of time and change. By the time the actors sang the camp closing song, I was genuinely crying and I really didn’t know where the tears came from. And then .. Johnnie appeared next to me for the iconic return to the ballroom. By perfect chance, I was sat in the aisle seat where after running down the aisle, he stopped before jumping onto the stage. I felt so part of it all and the happy tears flowed. But it wasn’t just me, my daughter noticed that there were others, all a similar age to me who had grown up with the film who too were crying. It was so emotional when we sang, cheered and danced through the standing ovation and encore and it took me a little while to compose myself and be able to explain to my daughter why Dirty Dancing was such an important film.

I never expected such a strong reaction to Dirty Dancing but on reflection I am pleased that I showed such emotion, its been such an important film in my life and it was an absolute delight to see it live with my daughter.

My week .. the one making plans

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Whilst I made the collage a week ago, it’s been a difficult and challenging time again at home (birthday season for adopted children is triggering) So here are a few sentences to go with the photos until normal service is resumed …

– After an 8 hour online queue, I got my first choice tickets for the Chanel exhibition at the V&A. We’re off to see it in October half term.

– Watermelon nails as in this nail cycle we’re off to see the Dirty Dancing live show. It amuses me to have matched my nails to the iconic line.

– The Ted Lasso finale was perfect. It was true to its ethos and whilst we may have wanted some neat happy pairings, they wouldn’t have been true to the characters’ development. Please, please can we have a spin off series.

– Finally after years of trying, we have the most beautiful sweet peas in our garden. They make me smile every time I see them.

– We had school sports day and the Olivia Newton John photo was one shared in our group chat as we decided on outfits. I went for blue shorts and our school polo. We had a lovely afternoon in the sun with students and parents.

– On Saturday night, my son and I had a great evening watching the Champions League final. I do know my football so we have pretty good banter, just a simple and relaxed night.

My week … on the Isle of Wight

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Over the past few years, we have enjoyed a UK half term holiday and it has always been a mini heatwave. This year was no exception with a week of hot, sunny weather, perfect for our caravan holiday. We were blown away by the quality and setting of our caravan, a beautiful 3 bedroom van with decking looking out to luscious fields.

We decided on the Isle of Wight as despite seeing it every day from our seaside home, the children had never visited it. The Isle of Wight is a bit of an iconic landmark for us, particularly for weather forecasting. If you can’t see the island from the beach then it is a very bad weather day as it is only 18 miles away. However, our journey to our caravan park was nearly 70 miles on road, including en route the ferry from Lymington to Yarmouth and onto Shanklin. I loved the ferry journey, its short and the sea was so smooth that we sat outside for both journeys, breathing in the sea salt spray and feeling the gentle breeze on your face.

Our children are now a little old for the park’s organised children’s activities so we had more off site trips. However they loved the sports courts and many an hour was spent playing football and hanging out with new friends.

We enjoyed lots of trips around the island. Our first activity was cycling the Red Squirrel Trail, which was a fantastic trip, cycling along the beaches and then onto a disused railway track in the heart of the countryside. The scenery was breathtaking and it was my favourite activity of the week, we also discovered the most picture perfect cycling cafe on the track perfect for a much needed drink in the warm sunshine.

Without a doubt, the children’s favourite activity was the Aqua park, it was so good we returned for a second trip later in the week. It is set in Tapnell park and having visited three aqua parks around the country it was exceptional for its organisation, safety, facilities and inflatables. Tapnell park is a beautiful venue, it is a farm for younger visitors, hosts a wonderful gastropub and has a stunning farm shop which sold refreshments for those watching and lots of Isle of Wight goodies which were great thank you gifts for our foodie neighbours. The children loved the inflatables, they were fun, with such a variety of challenges. We have so many videos and snaps of the sessions as the viewing area is so close to the action. It did help that we had two visits in stunning weather but tit really was a happy place for participants and spectators alike.

Another fun activity was a roller skating disco in Newport, the music was a great mix of modern and disco classics and the kitsch decor was perfect at creating a cool vibe.

As the Isle of Wight is such a small island, it was easy to travel around the island and we visited most of the popular towns. I enjoyed our day in Ryde where we discovered a community owned open air swimming pool and had a great session there, it had such a lovely vibe. It felt quite retro to watch that hovercraft whizzing over to Portsmouth from Ryde. We had been at the Spinnaker Tower in April and to look across and see it at a different angle was a nice reconnection to the great weekend. We stayed at Shanklin and I liked the old fashioned feel of the town, especially the old part which is picture perfect with thatched cottages and Chine.

It’s a little random for a holiday post but I must mention my holiday read, Alan Rickman’s diaries, they are brilliant, a real mix of cultural and political commentaries. The book is nearly 500 pages long and I had my Kindle with me at all times to nip into the book at any opportunity. I felt quite bereft when I finished the book. especially as I knew the very sad ending. There are some deaths which shock you and his, David Bowie and Victoria Wood within a few weeks of each other did make me sad, three leading lights in their fields.

I thought the Isle of Wight was perfect for a family holiday, it is a beautiful island with lots to see and do. It is very much a family rather than a party island but it fitted our brief superbly and we will have very fond memories of our sunny half term holiday.