Seeing as there are 220 million French speakers worldwide, 96.2 million of
those being in Africa; it is s no wonder that
the one of the Organization of La Francophonie’s missions has been to promote
solidarity amongst 70 of its member states through the cultivation of
linguistic and cultural diversity. In pursuit of all things Artsy & French
*wink* I headed for the Le Cabaret first showing on Thursday night.
The time on the
Posters and flyers heralded the start of the show to be 7pm however it
officially began at 7.30, no one was complaining though this gave the patrons
enough time to sip or like me gulp the oh so complimentary and not so French wine.
Arties mixed it up as there was a hum of excited conversation. I had to admit
after one glass of dry white I was giggly and girly (oh the shame), I probably
need to work on my booze ethic since a 12 year old with the very same glass
seemed to be doing much better than I. (Could it be more French culture?)
  |
| He looked a little like this.... |
As the show began a
young man (Josh Harley presumably the MC for the night) scantily clad in slacks,
a bowtie and suspenders (cheese-appeal) teamed with more make up Dita Von Teese
herself has ever worn; kept us informed and mildly amused as he see-sawed
between mock French accents and stumbled (humourously) over complex Shona stage
names and often English ones too.(His cute backside did no harm to the entertainment!)
The live band, Summer
Breeze gave a fantastic Jazzy backing as Josh serenaded, “thank heavens for
little girls For little girls get bigger every day!”; a dubious song indeed
that I truly enjoyed.
Soon after Kristina Jenkins, coupled with a young
gentleman Basil did the damn funkiest duel dance I’ve ever seen. It had a very ‘Love
the way you lie’ feel as they mock argued as lovers in dance to Adeles’ ‘Turning
Tables’. Kristina’s emotion was clear, a combination of her Contemporary Ballet
and Basil’s urban Break-dance heated up the stage as they ‘made-up’ to Miguel’s
‘Adorn’. *fans self*
Kristina indicated her versatility and singing talent later
as she did a cover of Pink Martini’s ‘Sympathique’;
something about not wanting to work and smoking to forget life’s problems (sounds
like a plan to me).
A very buxom quartet
of ladies called African Voice sang a medley of Congolese traditional music as well as a cover of ‘In the jungle’ in
French(dans la jungle). It was a beautiful harmony if voices that probably needed
to practice their coordination a tad bit more. (I enjoyed it all the same
especially the fact that they were barefoot!).
I had the pleasure of
being audience to Mangoma and Mutsa as they dueled on the Congas (Percussion)
and Drums respectively! It was LOUD, Chaotic and a fantastic Rock and Afro beat
fusion (Rumba). Restraining myself from standing and displaying my not-so-cool
dance moves was an effort indeed.
After the 10minute
interval the Convent Girls Junior Choir (cute as buttons) nearly brought me to
tears as they did the PG13 version of the ‘Can-Can’ “yes I can…of course you
can can!”. The Stripes, an acapella group from Prince Edward taught us in true American
style Spirituals to “take a walk in your neighbours shoes”.
Josh (remember the MC
with the cute a**), was back with a very well acted out Frank Sinatra song ‘I
love Paris’ right after, he started on his vote of thanks and I realized it was
nearly time to end the night (to my disappointment). In quick paced pursuit a harem
of beautiful young ladies Can-caned gymnastically and gracefully as they
displayed their bloomers and under skirts donned in the French flag colours.
The posters promised “kitschy fun…nostalgia…delicious
clichés up to your elbows”; and after all was said and done I agreed. Yes one
minute I was in a Le Chat Noir, watching Burlesque and
listening to Edith Piaf serenade my pants off and the next back home or so haphazardly
with Afro beat and locally harnessed talent in song and dance!
That
transition is most probably the point of La Francophonie week. Our cultural diversity
as a nation (Zimbabwe) highlighted which we often take for granted. A chance to
laugh at ourselves and with others, to long for and appreciate an era we not
ever lived once. An emotional rollercoaster minus the puke, that was the French
Cabaret for me.TSKC
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