current favourites

It's been a hot minute since my last 'Current Favourites' so here is a wide variety of things I've been into recently.

Firstly this year  I have been getting back into the at home yoga practise thing. Sitting at my desk all day, is not doing wonders for me tbh. I have properly discovered Cat Meffan and her Heart openers and stretchy flows are the ideal tonic to combat this. Opening my body back out after being rather stationery and stiff in my normal working day.

Katie Jane Hughes, what a makeup inspiration she is. If you haven't heard of her where have you been. Her style of makeup is playful and colourful, yet what she does, doesn't take a really long time to look striking and editorial, unlike the typical insta-makeup. I am always intrigued to see what Katie will do next.

We've not had the best year of weather (apart from this weekend is looking pretty good), so I've been stuck in doors on my time off, therefore I've been playing Sims 2 more than I would like to admit. BUT to stop this time feeling totally unproductive I have been listening to quite a lot of Podcasts. I am pretty up to date with On The Line, which is Estee Lalonde's podcast. I particularly enjoyed 'Period Talk with Nikki and Leah' and 'A Deep Cleanse with Anjali Mahto'. Both of which I learnt to much and they were genuinely fascinating to listen to. Another favourite episode was Zanna Roberts Rassi on the Emma Guns Show talking beauty journalism and founding the brand Milk Makeup.

There's nothing quite like being late for a bandwagon is there, this very week I finally discovered Billie Eilish (I will really try not think about the fact she is 17) and her album When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go. Honestly I am listening to it about twice a day my picks, and the tracks stuck in my head are xanny and wish you were gay. If you haven't also joined the bandwagon, take a moment to go listen.

I finally watched Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake with my own eyes which is arguably one of the most influential ballets/pieces of dance from the 20th century. I was actually a little nervous to watch it knowing how many people adore it, and see Swan Lake over and over again.
Once the music started I could instantly tell why Bourne wanted to have his own take on the Tchaikovsky score. It is simply is simply stunning; powerful and dramatic, multilayered, tender and heart wrenching. It really does pull emotion out of all the notes within it. I wish I could travel back to 1996 and see the original audience's reaction, whilst the 2019 audience was completely engaged and captivated, I can't imagine seeing this groundbreaking piece of work then.
23 years later Swan Lake is still incredibly relevant. One of Bourne's inspirations for his adaptation was how the royals act in public, and can never truly be themselves, because of their duties. I think if we look to someone like the Duchess of Sussex, who completely had her own life, career and was extremely open with fans, how this has changed since becoming a member of the Royal family.
Also explored is the idea of masculinity with the choice of the male swans, showing the strength of these birds, rather than just the elegance. This of course leads onto the notion of the 'gay ballet'. I think audiences have become more intelligent, world views have changed. I think the show excellently handled the confusion and suppressing of questioning one's sexuality.

I could go on but to round up, I really enjoyed Swan Lake, and I hope we keep getting top quality dance visiting Norwich.