Monday, April 3, 2017

Cruisin' Artistically

Last weekend my husband and I embarked on our late honeymoon Cruise trip to the Bahamas. It was a good time. Got to see the locals in Bahamas and try some local Rum, which was extremely sweet by the way. Like, syrup sweet. We danced, ate, explored (We went to a little Museum in the Bahamas about slavery and the liberation of slaves there) And enjoyed ourselves. But I'll take this time to focus on the artistic side of things.

Going there my husband and I sported my Chaddy Boom tshirt. I had a guy ask who is Chaddy Boom. My husband pointed at me and he asked about music, so of course you know I had a CD on deck. I gave it to him. I took a few Cds with me. You just never know. I also got to self promote while doing Karaoke. I used Chaddy Boom for my name, in which someone said "Who's Chaddy Boom?" after the DJ called my name. I performed my homie Bruno Mars' latest joint "That's What I Like" since that was like the ONLY Bruno Mars song I didn't hear on the ship. Man, this cruise loved some Bruno Mars. I heard 24k Magic at least 26 times during the trip. I love him but that was enough. Oh, everyone liked the performance. It was interesting to have people cheer for you during Karaoke. And my voice was broken...a little hoarse from the night before. Of course the next day it was just fine.

We went to a couple of the live shows. The first one was a performance of the cultures around the world. They did about six or seven European countries. They did China, one African, and one Latin and then focused on America, post Native American land. I have issues with things sometime. The performance was great but sometimes when dancers are hired they are hired solely on their technical abilities, without taking into account the other styles of dance they will be needing to perform. So I was a little disappointed in the dance portion of the African piece. The dancers were extremely pulled up, instead of grounded and the choreography was very technical in the ballet kind of way. I was sad to see there was no Indian or Middle eastern Tribute. I honestly think it's because there is no way to incorporate ballet and technical dance into belly dance and BollyWood style performances. (A BollyWood performance would have been so dope.) And I always get sad when things of Native Americans are erased. I was very sad they didn't do a tribute. Then again, I didn't expect one. It was just sad. I wish we knew more about the natives of the land we live in. Ok...sadness over.

Ok I know they couldn't hit on every country, but there most certainly could have been a wider variety. Maybe like 3 European, one middle Eastern, China, India, one African I guess is alright since the world doesn't know the different styles, one Caribbean, one South American, then finished off with a Native American rain dance and then the USA. This would have been ideal for me. The lack of authenticity bothered me. But it was still a great show.

The show the next night bothered me even more. Like I say, the show was great but the lack of authenticity bothered me. They called it a Rock N Roll tribute. The most rock they did a Tribute to was Elvis and a Chuck "Berry-ish" performance. They did Doowop, Disco, lots of disco. Honestly, I need a Hero was the most modern Rock song they did. It was not a Rock show. It was a Tribute to the years of popular music. Still was great. But not rock. Maybe they didn't have clearance for the music of the real rock bands, but they shouldn't have done it. Or it could have been called "tourist rock." There was nothing done by any major well known rock bands but there was a Tribute to Abba! Last time I checked, Dancing Queen wasn't exactly rocking out. But hey what do I know?
  
Overall I enjoyed myself. It was a great experience and the shows, authentic or not, had two great hosts. The male and female leads were amazing. Dancers, eh, we need to start hiring dancers with more versatility. You can't audition dancers only on technical style then throw in ballet-less dances. Because technique is all they know. So they look awkward doing any style that has to be grounded rather than pulled up....ehhh, rant over about awkward bodily pulled up or downness.

The Cruise was great. Looking forward to going again with the whole family. You should try it once in a while.