The last day of October - I don't even know where this year's gone! In 62 days, it will be 2023!! Nooooo!
Since my last post, I've done TWO Solo Sessions. Wow, it feels good to write that!
On Sunday, 2 October, I did my second Solo Session, this time at the Athenaeum, in Newlands. I liked the privacy the venue afforded us, and I liked the feeling of singing in a building that is reputed to have been built in the 19th century. As a person classified "Coloured" during apartheid South Africa, prohibited from entering places that were reserved for "Whites", I absolutely love going into those spaces now and doing my own mini-version of reclaiming the land. :-)
Having said as much, there are certain old buildings that don't make me feel welcome at all, like The Cape Town Club (in Queen Victoria Street, opposite St George's Cathedral) and the Mount Nelson Hotel. There are other structures, especially in our inland towns, that also make me feel I need to keep looking over my shoulder for some under-educated-but-over-indoctrinated White man in a khaki safari suit and a comb stuck in one of his long socks, who's going to roughly evict me from yet another hallowed Whites-Only space. Hard to shake those memories. Like scar tissue after surgery, the humiliation never completely goes away. If you've never experienced it, don't even think of telling someone who has, to get over it. That's something only they can decide.
Solo Session 2: Two Athenaeum photos, by Marwhaan Lodewyk.
My third Solo Session was held at Café Societi, at the Homecoming Centre, in District Six, on 22 October. I must admit, this was my favourite Session, so far. I practise consistently, so each time I feel more on top of my material. I loved the venue! I liked the starkness of the space, with its bare walls that reveal the original bricks, here and there. I liked the centrality and accessibility of the venue, as well.
But, of course, my favourite thing about the space was that it's part of the Homecoming Centre, which is part of the District Six Museum and all that it stands for, formally commemorating the forced removals in that area, and paying tribute to the many victims of that inhumane, racist programme. The slogan on the outside wall of the D6 Museum, "Wherever we are, we are here" hits me in the gut, everytime I see it.
As for the venue as a performance space, I could happily return there, over and over again. It feels like part of my DNA.
With my third Solo Session, I got detailed performance notes from my daughter, giving me constructive criticism on every song, as well as on the show as a whole. This is something which, as a performer, I can't get enough of. Every performer needs someone giving honest, no-holds-barred feedback that is aimed at improving the overall performance. I am lucky that my daughter - who studied performance for 4 years, during which she had to learn to deal with very blunt feedback - is around, to help me on my journey. I appreciate it more than you could possibly know.
Solo Session 3, at Café Societi, Homecoming Centre, District Six. Photo: Lisba Vosloo
A photo by Summer Dawn, capturing how magical the space is for an intimate performance.
Two cool things that happened ahead of Solo Session 3 were a short article of me in the Tatler, one of Cape Town's community newspapers, and a ten-minute radio interview with Sara-Jayne Makwala King, on Cape Talk.
In my next post, I'll share the Tatler article and the link to the radio interview.
Exciting news - I'm the featured guest on another radio station, CCFM 107.5FM, this coming Saturday, 5 November, from 7 - 9pm. I'll be interviewed live in the studio by Daniel Petersen, the host of Just Jazz. He'll also be playing a few of my tracks.
