Southampton? Seriously? (A Dancer's Lament)
okay, so…southampton. yeah. that’s where i’ve been. the numbers you gave me? 2639996 and 1826964096… honestly, they’re just numbers now. they represent the sheer, overwhelming amount of coffee i’ve consumed trying to stay awake during rehearsals. i’m Elara, by the way, and i’m a dancer. touring with ‘Echoes of the Sun’ is… intense. We’re doing a run here before heading to Berlin, and let me tell you, Berlin can’t be worse than this.
this place… it’s…grey. like, aggressively grey. the light is awful. absolutely dreadful for any kind of mood lighting, which, as you can imagine, is a huge problem for a dance show. i spent a solid hour yesterday trying to find a decent spot to film a quick promo reel - something with a little bit of… anything. ended up near a shipping container. glamorous, right?
I just checked the weather - it’s currently 8.39 degrees Celsius, feels like 5.43. Humidity’s a killer, too - 93%. My hair is a disaster. The pressure is 993, sea level is 993, ground level is 989… who even needs to know that? I’m pretty sure the ground level is just… the ground. Anyway, it’s damp and dreary, which perfectly matches the vibe of this city.
Finding a decent coffee shop has been a mission. seriously. I heard that ‘The Coffee Lab’ on Oxford Street is supposed to be decent, but it’s always packed. I ended up at some place called ‘Brew & Bean’ - it was… fine. Just fine. I need caffeine, people. I need it like oxygen.
Rehearsals are brutal. The choreographer, Dimitri, is… intense. He wants ‘raw emotion’ and ‘visceral energy.’ I’m giving him everything I’ve got, but honestly, I’m running on fumes and instant noodles. Someone told me that the local theatre, the Mayflower, used to be a bingo hall. Which, somehow, feels incredibly fitting. Check out their website here: https://www.mayflower.org.uk/. Maybe go see a show after i’m gone, you’ll probably enjoy it more than i do.
We’re staying near the docks, which is… interesting. The smell of salt and diesel is a constant companion. If you get bored, Portsmouth and Winchester are just a short drive away. Winchester’s got that cathedral, apparently. I haven’t had the energy to go. I’m pretty sure I could sleep for a week straight.
I did manage to find a decent pub last night - ‘The Hobbit.’ Surprisingly, it wasn’t themed. Just a regular pub with a slightly odd name. The beer was good, though. That’s something, right? I’m trying to find some good reviews on Yelp for it, but it’s surprisingly hard to find anything beyond “it’s a pub.” https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=pubs&find_loc=Southampton%2C+England.
Honestly, I’m counting down the days until we leave. Berlin, here i come! I need sunshine and a decent latte. And maybe a choreographer who understands the concept of ‘rest.’
For more info on Southampton, you could check out the Visit Southampton website: https://www.visitsouthampton.co.uk/. But honestly, you’re probably better off just looking at pictures of somewhere else.
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