Opening Celebration
La Fura dels Baus (Spain)
Friday 5 February 2010
Along with the Children’s Choice Awards Jury, the Haircuts by Children stylists and their families joined us for the opening night performance of La Fura in the Supreme Court Gardens among thousands of onlookers.
A massive scale spectacle, the performance incorporated 60 locals harnessed together and suspended 150 feet in the air, dangled from a construction crane. Together they created a moving choreographed grid, brightly lit with changing colours that contrasted with the fireworks that became their backdrop in the starry sky. The dangling people and the fireworks were a huge hit among the Jury and hair stylists.
On the ground was a huge cage wheel led by a Roman-like vicious chariot-driver, with acrobats suspended inside, as it churned through the audience, which frantically ran every-which-way to avoid being squashed. The exciting adrenalin rush felt by most of the adult audience translated into a group of nearly 80 panic-stricken youth who were too short to see what was going on and were at the mercy of a much taller herd who were only concerned about getting out of the way of the rolling cart than what they themselves might trample in their attempt.
Frightening for obvious reasons, and boring because we couldn’t see anything; both for the wrong reasons.
