I know, late again! This week got away from me a bit. I had time to write on Wednesday morning, but it got squeezed out by some paper shuffling I had to do for my dance agent.
Since then I've been doing a more than a few hours for Admiral at various locations. Yesterday I was at the Victoria and Albert Museum from 8am till 20:30. It was a loooonnnnggg day but they fed me well, and I even scored a free beer at the end of the day. Next week is also very full of work. I'm going to be working at the London Eye for the whole week, entertaining kids for Halloween while in a costume. I'm getting paid extra for this job which will make it worth my while. The agency has also agreed to give me a pay rise. It's not going to be much, like an extra 50p an hour, but it will help.
Once I'm through next week I'm planning on backing off on the agency work for a bit and doing more classes so I'm ready for the English Youth Ballet audition on the 9th. Hopefully, I'll be able to hunt up a couple of more auditions as well.
Last Saturday, I did a very interesting job for Admiral. I was told that a job was on offer that was outside of London. My agent, Julia, couldn't tell me who it was going to be for, very hush hush. However, it was 9 paid hours, they were going to bus us out there and feed us so I accepted the job. I wasn't completely surprised when we arrived at Saint Hill for the International Association of Scientologists' (IAS) 26th Anniversary Patrons Ball as Julia had dropped some pretty big hints. What did surprise me was the size of the event. 1800 guests, 500+ staff all held in a venue that was basically a massive rented temporary tent/shed that looked like it was decked out for the Oscars. These guys obviously have money, and go out of their way to impress. It turns out that they have this event every year and the organizers have had a lot of practice at making it work. So even though the event was huge, it was really well run. Serving 1800 guests a three course meal all at the same time is a logistical nightmare, but these guys made it look easy. It was actually a really easy night for me. My table was tucked away in a back corner, and only had six people out of twelve. I spent most of the night waiting around and only ended up working for about four hours.
There were speeches and 'awards' at the on the night, but we were not allowed in when that was happening. Tom Cruise was apparently there as well, but I didn't see him. So I can't say that I know any deep secrets about the scienctologists, but it did make me curious.
I did some searching on the web afterwards, and while I tried to keep an open mind, I found there was plenty out there to justify the scepticism that surrounds the organization. It is a baby of a religion at only 26 years old. It was founded by the L. Ron Hubbard who is now is practically worshipped by the group. They claim that he was the first person to "scientifically isolate, measure and describe the human spirit," Hubbard however has no reputation in the scientific community that verifies his work or findings. The religion's members work towards rediscovering their 'true immortal self' through a series of counseling courses called 'audits'. These courses are made available to members who make specific donations to the organization. In these audits members are attempting to free themselves of the limiting effects of negative painful or traumatic events in their past. One of the controversial believes that they hold is that the practice of psychology is dangerous, abusive and should be abolished. The IAS also has a reputation for fervently pursing critics of the religion with legal action.
That's just a basic outline of the religion. From my experience of their ball, I have to say that the thing did sink of lots of people showing off money and power. I have no proof, but that is what my gut told me. The colours for the event were blue and gold, colours of money and peace. Everyone was done up in their finest clothes and looking very grand which is strange for a religion that places such an emphasis on helping people. To be a guest to the event you had to pay and though I don't know how much, I'm sure you'll find that it was a shockingly high price. The seating was arranged in tiers with those towards the front being very VIP and the back for the common folk. Perhaps the most telling thing was this quote from their program. "A meaningful donation to the IAS is not merely a legacy for which you will always be remembered, it's also you future. For we indeed work in eternity and no one is going anywhere until this job is done." Honestly, the whole thing felt really shallow and fake; like being at Disneyland without the fun characters cool rides.
On to a much lighter subject, I went and saw Wicked on Thursday night and was really impressed with the show. It was fun, cool, well sung, well written and eye-catching production. I was obviously sitting up in the gods but still enjoyed the show immensely. I was surprised at the amount of dancing that was in the show. Usually these shows have only token dance sequences, but this one had lots of dance going on all the time. It was all rather contemporary style movement which worked very well with the production and a welcome change to the endless stream of jazz that you see. Eye popping sets, design, and theatrical tricks make this a visual feast. Everything from the monkeys on Red Bull (it gives you wings,) to the witch defying gravity is really well executed. But at the core of all this razzle dazzle is the script that is one of the best I've seen. It puts a real spin on your understanding of Oz and demonstrates how the line between good and evil is often very blurred. Definitely go and see this if you ever get the chance.
Well this has turned into a bit of a novel. I have to go and do some house hunting now because I have to move out at the end of this week. Hopefully I'll be back on Wednesday.
Rodney Cuthbertson
DreamChaser
