I love twilight. It feels like something magical could happen at this time of the day.
It's the sort of time where you find yourself drenched in beautiful light, imagining you could be anyone, whether it be a dapper gent or a twenties flapper, on her way to dance the night away. So it seems fitting that it was at twilight that Matt and I and our friends Becky and Evan set off to go and discover the magic that is Old Hall Gigs.
Old Hall Gigs are where an event put on by two girls, Sarah and Eva, who thought that the old halls around Wellington needed a bit of a spruce and some action. So, from time to time, they organise events where music, readings and art come together, along with Wellingtonian's in the know, resulting in a fabulous time for all.
The Old Hall Gig we went to was at the Wellington Swords Club in Brooklyn. Parking was easy and although we were running late and missed the picnic (we had to get Maccas on the way instead but you can't win all the time), we arrived at the ideal moment to capture a bit of the beauty of Welly's sunset.
Before us, the picnic-ers packed up on the old bowls lawn, heading inside the hall to discover what Old Hall Gigs had in store for us all.
Evan and Becky kept asking me what we were in for...the truth was, I couldn't have known how good the night would turn out...
We started out with a performance from two contemporary dancers. The piece was called IDEALE (An Ideal) by Loughlin Prior. It was breathtaking how they moved at such speed.
Next up was a swing class where we learnt the Charleston! This was held by Saran from Full Swing dance classes. It was hilarious seeing us all boogying down to the music. Matt kept trying to mouth at me that he didn't know what he was doing. "No one else does!" I mouthed back.
The event was BYO so we were able to relax and drink to ones heart's content (except for me because I was driving)...Which was perfect for the final part of the night.
The highlight of the evening was the Neo Hot Jive Orchestra, an incredible swing twenties's style Jazz band. Think 'The Great Gatsby' on speed!
At first, everyone was a bit shy. But by the end of the night, we were all up and dancing wildly. Matt even tried to lift me up in a 'Dirty Dancing' style hold - thank heavens no-one got any footage of that sorry attempt at choreography! It was so much fun though and we couldn't stop cracking up. We laughed and laughed and had such a great time, getting our Bertie Wooster dance moves on.
I couldn't help but think it was a shame that guys and gals don't really do this anymore. Don't get me wrong, I love technology and think Tinder is great (Matt and I met on Tinder - my first ever date on it actually) but there was something so special about a life band, no technology and just us and the music. Becky and Evan got into it too and we started competing with them as to who could pull off the best moves.
Another special highlight of the night was when no-one was dancing at one point for a musical number. The entire band got up and danced around the edges of the hall. It was hilarious! When I get married one day I hope these guys are still around. They are def on the invite list!
Overall, I couldn't recommend heading to an Old Hall Gigs highly enough. While there are no more for 2016, I will definitely be coming along to make a night of it at the next one in 2017. It is such a good use of under used venues in Wellington and a really good time.
I hope I see you there. What ho! Jolly good time! What fun! More champagne Jeeves. And where are my spats?
Surrealism at Te Papa is where it’s at this winter with these wonderful events…!