Theatre Review - Midnight Tango

What do you get if you cross two stars from TV's Strictly Come Dancing, a Buenos Aires bar and a Tango band?

The answer is this - Two intoxicating hours filled with pleasure, pain, jealously and above all passion, and it goes by the name of:

Midnight Tango

Alexandrawoodtango.co.uk

On Tuesday night my sisters and I took to our seats at the Liverpool Empire Theatre ready to be transported to Argentina's capital city Buenos Aires, where we'd visit a late night bar filled with some of the best Tango dancers in the world.  

The story centres around Flavia Cacace's character who (in my interpretation) is the new girl in town who catches the boy's eyes with her demure and shy ways.  Cue Vincent Simone's character playing the typical good guy who asks the new girl for a dance. 

Kaleidoscopefilmdistribution.com

Not everything is plain sailing for the new dance partners though, as bad guy of the show Leonel Di Cocco also has his eye on Flavia and he wont give up without a fight.  What ensues is a fight for the girl and one of my favourite parts of the show danced by the two men. In the fight scene the men danced a fierce tango together combining simple stage combat with the traditional dance to create an exhilarating scene that ultimately had you rooting for Leonel  Vincent  Leonel Vincent! (Oh but Leonel is so bad he's good!) No you're definitely rooting for Vincent!

Publicreviews.com

It is a simple story about a love triangle, the girl is swayed both ways because of the boy's conflicting personality's, does she chose the good guy or the bad guy? A simple story told through the pulse raising, exciting, passionate dance of the tango. 

Thewesternmercury.co.uk

Flavia's transformation in the show was also one of my favourite parts, she transformed from girl in to woman over the course of the show,  through costume changes, each dress becoming more beautifully stunning and less girly girl than the last, and the dance routines that where getting more passionate and challenging as the show went on.

Dailyecho.co.uk

I'm a massive fan of the weather being used as a character in books, films and theatre, and Midnight Tango certainly didn't disappoint on the weather front. In this show you can feel the humidity of Buenos Aires, the bar is hot and smoke filled and the heat and smoke spread out in to the audience and like a spell it intoxicated us as we got more and more mesmerised by the drama of the Tango. A thunderstorm marked the feud between the two male dancers, and as the crash of the thunder and flashes of lightening subsided the rain was all that could be heard on the warm pavement outside. Cue a steamy, hot, moonlit dance between Flavia and Vincent.

Zest.co.uk

 I don't know much about dancing but from the 'hoppy' playful Tango routines to the slow and sensually close routines I was sold, not a word was spoke throughout the whole play, but you didn't miss it, you didn't long for a conversation between the lovers because you were so captivated and enthralled by the language of dance.

Girls... and boys! Put down 50 Shades of Grey and check out www.MidnightTango.co.uk  because it does not get much hotter than this!

x

In this box of snaps - 8

It's been a while, but forgive me if you will because I have been one extremely busy gal!

Since my last post I've been revising for my driving theory test, practising for my driving test, planning a road trip holiday of a lifetime, and working practically seven days a week! 

Oh woe is me!

Here's a few of my favourite snaps that I took while I was away on holiday, I couldn't resist sprucing them up a little with the help of Instagram and Pic Stitch.

The Giant Girl and The Pyramid at Musee du Louvre.

Painting the town Rouge.

 Love on the Pont Des Arts.

La Cathedrale Notre Dame.

Paris when it twinkles.

Stunning view of Chambon Sur Lac.

Breathtaking view of Millau Viaduct.

Mmm blissful times at Biarritz.

Best nights sleep in the world at the Parador in Leon.

Traditional Ladies in Leon.

It's a long way to Santiago.

Precious memories made in Muxia.

Journey home from Santander to Plymouth.

That's all from this box of snaps this time, but expect to find lots more posts here about our wonderful holiday and a post or two about my driving test dilemmas!! 

Love

L

x

Check out my other blog @ http://www.netcars.com/blogs/laura-cox-the-trials-and-tribulations-of-a-learner-driver/22/ to read more about my quest for my pink driving licence and more about mine and The Boy's France and Spain road trip extravaganza!

In this box of snaps - 7

Hey!

It's the return of the box of snaps, and seeing as we're fast approaching spring time I guess you could say that that's kind of the theme... kind of.

Starting with my misty Monday morning shot, which was taken at six am. Although it's misty and it looks kind of grim because it's a Monday morning, it is lighter which can only mean that mr spring is on his way.

Misty Monday

Next up is my daily fix, I'm currently spring cleaning my body of caffeine, I have to say I was pretty much addicted to tea and coffee! So I've ditched the brown stuff for green teas and herbal teas and I have to say I feel tons better for it! I'm loving trying out new flavours at the mo and this vanilla rooibos from Starbucks is definiately a new favourite.

My daily fix

A post about spring wouldn't be complete without spring flowers, these pretty little daffodils popped up in the garden last week begging to be photographed and I did just that.

I spy springtime

Spring is all about things bursting into life, so here's where the theme slips a bit. This picture was taken after the rose on my rose plant bit the dust. I decided to experiment with different ways to picture it, I found putting it underwater made it look really interesting like little shards of ice had formed on it.

Drowning roses

Another pic that has nothing to do with spring... The Boy's parents were over from Ireland and we went for a lovely meal and a spin on The Big Wheel in Liverpool city centre. I almost missed this photo opportunity of the wheel reflecting  beautifully on the water but when The Boy's Mum starting snapping I quickly followed suit.

Reflecting on a wonderful weekend

A picture taken whilst on The Big Wheel. I love this pic because Liverpool looks so alive here with all of the sparkly lights and hustle and bustle, you can even see the Wirral in the top left.

Liverpool - definitely not the shy and retiring type!

Finally a picture of the spring night sky complete with clear skies (but for a strip of cloud) and a distant star, it's still chilly here at night but it's definitely getting a little warmer.

Ice white clouds skating the night sky

Well that's it for this time I hope you've enjoyed this box of snaps and I'll keep snapping away and show you some more soon!

x

Preparing to bare my soul

Recently a friend and I joined a new writers group in Liverpool, after nearly two years away from our days as Creative Writing students we were desperate to get back in on the act.

I was expecting to be faced with the typical bohemian 'hipster' types, you know little mini bobble hats and rucksacks? I joke! In all seriousness what we were met with was lots of lovely like minded people, all just looking for an outlet for the words in their heads.

The group isn't really like how I imagined it to be, I guess I had a lot of preconceptions. I thought we'd all sit around doing writing exercises and drinking coffee, but this place is a little different. This group is really for those who write performance poetry and scripts, which is perfect for me and my friend - he's the poet guy and I'm the script gal. The group provides actors who read your work out for you, which is great because you can really hear what it 'sounds' like as opposed to what you think it sounds like when you're reading it in your head - or like me trying to act out the whole play in your bedroom!

I've had my work performed before - you may remember a post about 'Wildwood', but apart from one 'straight' scene the rest was in verse, which was nerve-wracking enough, so the thought of handing the actors scenes from a 'straight' play I've been working on leaves me feeling a little exposed... and scared!

Well I think I'm ready to expose myself, kill my babies, bare my soul... whatever you want to call it... I think I'm ready!

Wish me luck!

x

Leap into love

Ladies, today is day that you can 'officially' propose to the man of your dreams!

Lads, this is the day when you wish you'd bought a better pair of running shoes!!!

It's the 29th of February, which can only mean one thing - It's a Leap year!

I hope lots of lovely ladies are popping the question and hearts are fluttering all over the world! 

You may be wondering if I'd joined those lovely ladies and popped the question myself? The answer is no, The Boy and I celebrated our two year anniversary last weekend, there isn't a white dress in sight and we couldn't be happier. 

There's always 2016 or 2020 or 2024 or 2028...

Anyway as I was saying we couldn't be happier, but according to an article I read in the Metro today your happiness can actually change depending on where you live. 

http://www.metro.co.uk/home/

Well we don't live in London or the West Midlands so that's a start, we're apparently less stressed and happier than people who do. The happiest people of all though are those that live in Northern Ireland according to the Office of National Statistics. 

The Boy is actually from Northern Ireland... hmm... maybe we should up sticks and move to his home town? I'd be quite happy to reside on the Emerald ailse.

Or maybe we could stop being conformists, I'll propose tomorrow and move to London next week!

Your thoughts as always are welcome :)

Love

L

x

In this box of snaps - 6

First of all let me start by saying,

Happy love day everybody!

Inside this box of snaps you will find a little smushy-ness, but hey it's the day of love so whatever! Also included are a couple of pics about reflection and the idea of life and death... sounds deep but it's not really so no need to prepare yourself or anything.

First up is a place I love - 

The view across the lake at the Llyn Gwynant campsite in the heart of Snowdonia. This area of Wales is just so stunning, the way the clouds dance gently on the peaks of the mountains is breathtaking.

Cloudy Waters.

Next up is Pixie one of the family cats. She's just perfect in every way and I love her very much, but her attempt at the 'puppy dog eyes look' still won't give her permission to sleep on my bed no matter how cute she is!

Pixie perfecting the 'puppy dog eyes' look.

A present from someone I love - I received a beautiful rose plant for Valentine's day today (not the typical bunch a red roses I hear you cry) because The Boy knows how much I hate it when flowers die, I get a little upset if I'm being honest. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this plant alive for a very long time. 

It feels lovely to be loved.

A little snippet of a short love story that I've been working on - if you need a handwriting translator feel free to ask and I'll type what it says. 

Love story in the making.

To round off the smushy-ness - Nothing says I love you better than chocolate!

I <3 Chocolate hearts.

This picture was taken in St James' Cemetery in Liverpool. Although I took the picture I can't take full credit for it, The Boy pointed out how 'cool' the roots looked from the tree and I agreed and snapped away.

Remember your roots.

The final picture in this collection is that of a couple of dead Chinese lanterns. The paper textured plant which was once a vibrant red has now died and leaves behind it's fruit.

There is life after death.

As always I hope you've enjoyed looking at my pictures and getting an idea of where and why I take them.

xxx

Find me on Instagram - Inthisboxofsnaps

My Kettlebell Hell!!!

Last week my Sister (gym buddy) and I went to our first Kettlebell class... Oh my lord we did not know what we'd signed ourselves up for!

Kettlebells have a bit of a murky history, it seems that people don't really know where they originate from -perhaps a Scottish curling stone, or a Russian military cannonball (the handle making it easier to load). The most likely explanation is that they originate from Russian farmers who used the weights as a counterbalance.

With movements such as the swing, snatch, clean and jerk, which are supposed to mimic farm labour, it all sounded a little like hard work! I like my gym classes to come with plenty of smiles and a few fits of laughter!

There was no laughter in this class - There were smiles but they were most definitely of the grimace variety.

The class started ok with a basic warm up to the latest dance tune - a little like the start of a Zumba class but without the booty shaking. Whilst we did the warm up the kettle bell assigned to me lay on the floor in front, looking innocent and not evil in the slightest... The instructor guiding us through the steps, smiled encouragingly and flicked her golden pony tail as she clapped her hands, looking innocent and not evil in the slightest... oh how naive I was...

What followed was a series of movements that pushed me to the limit - I swung, snatched, cleaned and jerked like my life depended on it!

The Angel that stepped from side to side with us at the beginning of the class had now swapped bodies and had become some kind of twisted army sergeant!

She barked orders at us over and over again:

'Get lower girls, lower!'

'Squat! I said squat! You won't get anywhere standing there looking pretty!'

'Don't stop!'

'If you don't like it you know where the door is!'

'It's meant to hurt!'

'Don't make me come over there!'

... You get the picture...

I have never been more terrified, I couldn't help thinking - am I totally crazy to be paying for this?

I'll tell you something though her technique albeit scary definitely works, I didn't stop once in the class and I tried my hardest to make sure she had no reason to come over and shout at me!

It was a tough class and I sweated like nobody's business, they're definitely not lying when they say you can burn up to 1,500 calories.

When the class finished and most of the participants looked like they were about to die, the instructor warned us that next week would be harder and if we couldn't handle it then we were not to bother coming back!

Well...

We're going to find out just how much harder it gets because we're booked on to the class this Thursday!!!

It's hard but it's certainly one of the best workouts I've done in a while. This post doesn't seem like I'd recommend it, but I would I definitely definitely would!!!!

Evil, evil, evil!! But good evil :)

With thanks to  www.powercore-fitness.com without your section on kettlebell history I would have been in the dark writing the history-esque section of this post.

In this box of snaps - 5

What's in this box of snaps this time around?

Well I've gone for a little trip down memory lane this time, taking a few old pics and sprucing them up with Instagram.

It's a bit of a mish mash (some of the pics aren't oldies) but I hope you like it!

This first picture is a new one taken down at the Pier Head in Liverpool. In the picture you can see two of the famous three graces, the Cunard building and the Port of Liverpool building, also you can just make out the new Museum of Liverpool and Liverpool's Big Wheel.

Liverpool by night, it's even pretty in black and white.

 

A beautiful baby lamb happy to pose for the camera - 

taken on a camping trip to sunny Wales last year.

Not long before we see these little babies again.

One of the best signs I've ever seen! Certainly beats the old faithful 'Mind your head' -
taken at Caernarfon Castle.

Oww!!!




The famous graffiti artist Banksy leaves his mark in Liverpool - It was a like a wild goose chase (in the rain) to find this pic, but it was well worth it!

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?.. No it's a Banksy!



A beautiful summer sunset at Crosby beach - This picture makes me feel relaxed and warm instantly.

Heading straight towards the sun.



Almost a year ago me and The Boy went on a wonderful city break to Amsterdam. It was amazing! - This picture was taken just outside of our hotel by the central train station.

There are nine million bicycles in Amsterdam, that's a fact.

This final picture was taken in Ireland (near Donegal) two years ago now.

It was my first trip to the Emerald Isle to visit the home of The Boy, it did not disappoint.

Look at Ireland being all beautiful. No editing needed!

I hope you've enjoyed a look in my box of snaps, why not share some of your photographic memories with me?

Love

L

xxx

You are what you read

The old saying goes that you are what you eat, but is it possible to become what you read?

You are what you read?

Sounds plausible?

I'm currently reading Wuthering Heights on my Kindle, (I know I've become a slave to tecno!) having never read the book before (being a rare one who didn't have it rammed down my throat in English Lit) I love it, which was a little unexpected seeing as most people groan when you mention the title.

I've always been team Austen, give me Mr Darcy any day of the week. A lot of people say your either a Bronte girl or an Austen girl, favouring the more dramatic goings on to the more reserved or vice versa.

I'd like to to think that I can enjoy and fall in love with both.

Anyway to get to my point, you are what you read, in Wuthering Heights everybody seems to become ill, whether it's the flu,  a fever or some other illness:

Catherine
Edgar Linton
Nelly Dean
Lockwood
Linton Heathcliff
Isabella Linton
Mr and Mrs Earnshaw
Frances Earnshaw
Mr and Mrs Linton

Some of the characters die from their sickness (or generally old age), but others become quite well again.

Whilst I've been reading Wuthering Heights I've became sick with the flu.

A coincidence?

I don't live on the moors, although it is pretty windy and wild here at the moment, and I'm not running after a man named Heathcliff, but it's certainly adding something to the story that I'm feeling just as rough as some of the characters.

Let's hope I'm one of the 'lucky' characters who becomes quite well again.

x

In this box of snaps - 4

It's time to take a look in my box of snaps again... Enjoy!

I'll start with a few Christmas themed ones, and then I promise that I'm done with Christmas until December! 

Christmas Eve is all about the Mulled wine and new pyjamas.

I found Father Christmas chatting up some bird on my Christmas tree!!!

Little chocolate ghosts of Christmas past...

I've got a lovely pair of coconuts :) Actually won at a coconut shy!

A little something that caught my eye at the Alice in Wonderland exhibition at the Tate in Liverpool.

I need this cushion in my life!

No more swinging from the treetops 

Type it out!

(This picture will make me write more!!)

As always let me know what you think, and if you're on Instagram yourselves then come find me - Inthisboxofsnaps

x