Chatting to Parkour, Dancing enthusiast Arne Janse Van Rensburg

Shall We Dance

Playhouse Opera: 5 – 13 September

Interview with Arne Janse Van Rensburg

Pic by Ben Franke ~ www.republicaupdate.com

 On meeting Arne Janse van Rensburg, a 20year old dancer in this year’s Shall We Dance, you look up to him straight away.

The tall smiling frame quietly stands next to you while watching the monster photoshoot unfold for the dance extravaganza. His dance instructor, Mark Wilson breaks the ice by informing me the gentle giant alongside me is a concert pianist and a parkour enthusiast.

Parkour I question and he explains, “Parkour is a freestyle discipline that allows you to move around mostly urban spaces in the most efficient manner possible. It is a combination of running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, and rolling. The world becomes your obstacle course and we revel in moving through it.”

“It is one of my many hobbies. Apart from building general health, fitness and strength, the art of parkour gives an immense feeling of freedom to move over obstacles at a high speed and with little effort. The benefits are countless, varying from building confidence to giving a hand in everyday life and simply being a lot of fun.”

Janse van Rensburg’s outdoor hobbies reveal that he is an avid surfer as well as an off-road cyclist, “I’ve considered dancing a hobby mostly. I've been playing piano since I was nine and mean to carry on with it. It's first on my priority list.”

Pic by Ben Franke ~ www.republicaupdate.com

“I'd like to travel the world playing smaller recitals in as many different countries as possible. I hope to be able to give Master Classes on my travels as well.”

Apart from doing some minor demos and competitions he hasn’t been on the stage for any major performances, but he is still young. “I don't think it's possible to pinpoint what makes me love playing piano, it's something that comes from the heart and thus difficult to describe. I can name some things I do 'consciously' enjoy though, which obviously starts with the music itself. I'm a big fan of nearly any music written before around 1900. I generally don't like modern music much even though I dance to it!”

Continuing, he states, “The complicated theory bordering mathematical genius behind old music completely fascinates me, the way composers turned theories into something that speaks to the heart in such a powerful way is something I can't quite fathom.”

Pic from x-move.net

“And figuring out those ideas and working them into my performance through practice is a huge amount of pleasure as well. Classical music is probably one of the best challenges for the mind, in that it's very enjoyable and satisfying on top of often being highly complicated, even for people who don't understand the theory, it's a universal language.”

Chatting about dancing, he claims, “My parents believe that dancing should be part of our education, for mental and social growth. Needless to say I was quite reluctant to go for the first time. Against everything I expected the lesson turned out good fun and before long dancing became one of the highlights of my week. 

“The first time I danced was rather awkward in more than one ways. Perhaps for a teenage boy the most daunting thing about dancing is the close contact with girls, and that combined with strange leg movements you've never done before can become a lot to get your mind around when first starting.” he says smiling.

“I'm an enthusiastic hobbyist. I've gone through many different hobbies in my life, most of which I took quite seriously at some stage. To name a few, I've spent time stargazing, doing archery, snake hunting, breeding snakes as well as rehabilitating and removing them from homes or gardens. I enjoy building 1700s trading ship models, and photography which has now almost evolved into profession.”

Pic by Ben Franke ~ www.republicaupdate.com

Getting called up for his second round of photos, concluding, he says, “I would love to go to Mongolia. Something about that country has had me intrigued for a long time. The other thing is I'd like to dedicate my life for the good of the planet in some way. It bothers me greatly how nonchalantly people treat the current state the planet is in. If there's something I can do to change that I'll do my best.”

Janse Van Rensburg will be taking to the stage for his first ever performance in Shall We Dance and walking away from him, I look up to this beautiful man more than when I started chatting to him. What a sensational, captivating individual and I am honoured to have met him.

Shall We Dance runs at the Playhouse Opera from 5 – 13 September and booking is through Computicket.

Pic from www.aion.mx

Lipton Challenge Cup It's A Wrap

Royal Natal Yacht Club

Lipton Challenge Cup

Simonstown: 24 – 29 August

The majestic historic cup stays in Cape Town.

Greg Davis and his team sailing on Co-Ordination from the Royal Cape Yacht Club have claimed the title of the Lipton Challenge Cup.

It was a rather non-eventful conclusion to the 2014 Lipton Challenge Cup that had 15 of South Africa’s top sailing teams participating in the one-design race. The final day in Simonstown was near breathless and the Race Officer pushed the start time to the latest possible opportunity waiting for the wind to fill as he tried to squeeze in a final race before the cut off time of 2pm but after two general recalls, the clock struck two and racing was abandoned in the tranquil conditions.

This year the weather gods gave the fleet six days of liquorice all-sorts. The sailors unfortunately managed only fifty percent of the races getting in three races of the six scheduled. Two days racing was called off due to the wind being too light and on Thursday racing was abandoned due to conditions being too hazardous with big seas and high winds hammering the Cape.

Davis managed two wins and a second over the three races. This is his tenth Lipton Challenge Cup victory flying the Royal Cape Yacht Club’s burgee.

Durban’s top finisher was the young team from the Royal Natal Yacht Club sailing on Orion B2G2. The skipper for the team Brennan Robinson said, “I am so impressed with everyone in our team. Trent on the stick handled so well, keeping us fast and low. The guys, Thokazani, Nqoba, Refeloa and the youngest on the team Michaela sailed out of their boats in the testing conditions, they never gave up the entire time.”

Commodore for the Royal Natal Yacht Club, Graham Rose stated proudly, “I think they did wonderfully well. We are all enormously proud of our team. They showed terrific sportsmanship on the water and they were a glowing example of decorum to the rest of the fleet.”

“Our team have shown that sailing is very much alive in Durban. The future of sailing is certainly going to be exciting with this talent coming through our ranks.”

The Royal Natal Yacht Club team are

Brennan Robinson (Captain): Trimmer

Trent Bingham: Helmsman

Thokozani Latha: Trimmer

Nqoba Mswazi: Bowman

Michaela Robinson: Tactics

Refeloa Zililo: Halyards

Final results

1 Co-Ordination (Royal Cape Yacht Club Greg Davis) 4points, 2 B&G (Zeekoe Vlei Yacht Club Daniel Agulhas) 7points, 3 Orion B2G2 (Royal Natal Yacht Club Brennan Robinson) 10points, 4 Intasure (False Bay Yacht Club Markus Progli) 13points, 5 LTC / Cab Technology SA (Hout Bay Yacht Club Theo Yon) 16points, 6 Southern Charter UCT Maverick (UCT YC, Chris Gough) 17points, 7 Point Yacht Club (PYC, Craig Millar) 18 points

Lipton Challenge Cup Day Five Race Four

Royal Natal Yacht Club

Lipton Challenge Cup

Day Five Race Four

It is a case of all or nothing today (Friday) for the Royal Natal Yacht Club’s sailors competing in the Lipton Challenge Cup down in Simonstown.

Racing was abandoned yesterday (Thursday) due to the extreme weathers hitting the Cape. Winds registering well over 30knots pelted the coastline, making sailing conditions to dangerous. One of the sailors from Knysna was treated for mild hyperthermia on Wednesday in the icy miserable weather.

This is the second race that was abandoned; the first race on Sunday never took place due to light conditions. The weather gods certainly have given South Africa’s top sailors a variety of extreme weathers, from light fluffy conditions to high winds, squalls and rain, and big seas.

Six points separate the top three boats as they head into the final day of racing in the most coveted sailing event in South Africa, the 105th Lipton Challenge Cup. The winner of the 2014 event will host next year’s race and at this stage the historic cup looks to be travelling to Cape Town.

For the leading Durban team, to win they will need Greg Davis sailing for the Royal Cape Yacht Club to have a disastrous race finishing towards the back of the fleet in eighth position or worse. They would also need to keep four boats between them and second placed Zeekoe Vlei Yacht Club’s B&G.

Surrounded by very dark clouds, the spirit was upbeat amongst the teams. Captain for the Royal Natal Yacht Club, Brennan Robinson said, “The Capies are tough to beat on their home waters and in the conditions that they're accustomed to. We knew it would be difficult but I am really impressed with our young team, they have given their all. The final day is going to be epic.”

The Rear Commodore for the Royal Natal Yacht Club, Rob Samways commented, “We are very proud of our team which is destined for greater heights over this three year campaign. They have sailed hard against some big names and shown Durban has some future stars knocking at the door of likes of veteran Davis.”

The weather looks to remain chilly in Simonstown with no rain predicted but still a bit of breeze around to make the conclusion of the 2014 Lipton Challenge Cup a humdinger of note.

Leader board
1 Co-Ordination (Royal Cape Yacht Club Greg Davis) 4points, 2 B&G (Zeekoe Vlei Yacht Club Daniel Agulhas) 7points, 3 Orion B2G2 (Royal Natal Yacht Club Brennan Robinson) 10points, 4 Intasure (False Bay Yacht Club Markus Progli) 13points, 5 LTC / Cab Technology SA (Hout Bay Yacht Club Theo Yon) 16points, 6 Southern Charter UCT Maverick (UCT YC, Chris Gough) 17, 7 Point Yacht Club (PYC, Craig Millar) 18

ENDS

The British Midlands

The British Midlands

There is something utterly charming about meandering around old parts of England or the Oxfordshire countryside in this case.

A whirlwind trip around a small slice of heaven had us reciting children’s nursery rhymes, pondering Oliver Cromwell’s decisions in the Globe Room, quoting J.R.R. Tolkien while enjoying a locally brewed pint and whispering around great knights.

Our trip started in the magnificent City of Dreaming Spires, Oxford. After a scenic trip up from the north of London, my British friends, Derek Bezuidenhout and Ange Knight, and I left our mode of transport in a handy park-and-ride in the suburbs and jumped on a double decker bus Oxford-bound.

For over 800 years, home to royalty and scholars, it is now a bustling vibrant cosmopolitan town. We made good use of the Hop-On, Hop-Off bus starting our tour at the first stop on the tour, at the actual bus and train station. Oxford is truly beautiful, steeped both in history and spires I loved the medieval and gothic influence with gargoyles sitting high above street level. Small, snug, ancient, overgrown cemeteries lying forgotten alongside busy student buildings – confirming how the contrasting old and new in Oxford were living harmoniously together.

The University is the oldest in the English-speaking world with bold buildings boasting their ancient roots. We snuck into St John’s College catching a glimpse of the impressive lifestyle offered, you were indeed lucky to study here.

Time in Oxford, when not admiring the architecture, was spent wandering around Britain’s first public museum, the Ashmolean. Shuffling along with an engaging young group of children we discovered collections spanning civilisations of both east and west. Several wings hosted ancient ceramics, pre-Dynastic Egyptian material, Raphael drawings and an impressive collection of modern day Chinese art.

Our exploring interval was enjoyed at 17^th Century pub, The Eagle and The Child. Made famous by literary greats J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis who were part of the Inklings Writers Group, the wordsmiths used to congregate in the small narrow building debating and bouncing off ideas about their current writings.

Walking off lunch we meandered around passing the Bodleian Library, Radcliffe Observatory, the Sheldonian Theatre, the Divinity School, Radcliffe Camera, Keble College, Town Hall and other postcard models. I absolutely loved the Bridge of Sighs or the Hertford Bridge, an enclosed skyway leading from one building to another with dainty stained glass windows on both sides inviting light into it.

Our next appointment was High Tea at The Old Parsonage. Tea was a rich and filling affair of home-made scones, jam and clotted cream accompanied by a delicious jasmine tea. After a smidgen more exploring we decided that we needed to head off to our accommodation in Banbury. Home for the night was the Treetops Guest House. Checking in, we met the owners and their delightfully chubby Jack Russell Arthur.

Continuing the theme of fine dining, dinner was on the outskirts of Banbury at The White Horse. Under new ownership the meal was world class. Our table of five guests including our hosts Sandra and Len from the Guest House were all extremely impressed with our meals. The presentation, the wholesome tasty portions and the excellent delicious puddings impressed the diverse crowd.

The evening concluded with a pint at the oldest and greatest pub in Banbury, Ye Olde Reine Deer Inn or so the sign outside the establishment claimed. The golden brew was from a local craftsman, Hook Norton and our night cap was a delicious type of moonshine described as a dessert fruit wine. They come in an array of flavours: Strawberry; Cherry; Damson; Elderberry; Peach; Blackberry; Sloe and black beer and raisin. I opted for a sample of the black beer and raisin which tasted completely moreish.

Ye Olde Reine Deer Inn was believed to be the local for the famous Oliver Cromwell. The room at the back, the Globe Room is believed to have been his headquarters and was an interesting visit with the dark and dominating wood panelling surrounding you.

The next morning on our way out of Banbury we stopped at the famous statue. Admiring the fine lady sitting proudly on her white horse at the main traffic circle in Banbury, we tried to remember the correct order of the nursery rhyme.

Our travels took us south-west towards Bloxham. On a whim, our navigator Derek turned off the beaten track to the lovely old brewery of Hook Norton. The previous evening we have been sampling his fine beers and ales. The local brewery was renowned for causing a traffic jam on delivery days as he used the traditional method of horse and cart to drop off his produce at the various pubs spotted around the area.

Back on the road, we meandered to the Rollrights located on the border of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire. Not as famous as Stonehenge but just as magnificent, the three megalithic monuments known as the King’s Men stone circle, the King Stone and the Whispering Knights are scattered amongst the rolling hills which were alive with yellow patchworks of rape seed.

Try as you might, if you attempt to count the individual stones of King’s Men Stone Circle, you will never get the same figure three times. We attempted and on our second tally gave up as our figures didn’t correspond.

The next stop was a light lunch in the village of Moreton-in-Marsh at the gorgeous Manor House Hotel. This fine establishment built in 1539 was the venue for my hosts wedding reception, so was a special place to stop with them.

The weather in the Cotswolds was gorgeous and all of the quaint villages that we drove through or stopped at were abuzz with Brits enjoying the glorious weather. In Bourton-on-the-Water, we appreciated a creamy soft-serve overlooking the river that flowed through the village. A sight that made the pit stop quite fitting was an eccentric man driving a beautiful old Bentley that looked similar to a six cylinder 1926 model.

Our final stop was at the affluent town of Cirencester best-known for its wool. The main street around the historic church and town hall was draped with cheerful bunting. The beautiful old church, St John the Baptist is the only remaining medieval building in the area to have survived the Saxons, the weathered old building was a sight to behold, quite a contrast to the surrounding newer buildings. The statues and monuments all slowly disappearing as the stone gets eroded.

Back in Rickmansworth, I loved the time we had in the Midlands. The memories of the special little nooks we discovered shall be treasured, a truly special place in the United Kingdom.

Lipton Challenge Cup Day Four Race Three

Royal Natal Yacht Club
Lipton Challenge Cup
Day Four Race Three

Hefty sea conditions saw the fleet work hard in the third race of the Lipton Challenge Cup down in Simonstown yesterday (Wednesday) with Greg Davis sailing for the Royal Cape Yacht Club on Co-Ordination notching up his second victory.

The crème-de-la-crème of South African sailors were expecting testing conditions with the SA Weather Service issuing warnings on Tuesday about the two fronts hitting the Cape. Racing got underway promptly at midday with the wind gusting at around 25knots and slowly increased to the 30knot mark as they sailed on a windward / leeward or sausage course.

 Royal Natal Yacht Club’s Brennan Robinson commented, “The wind came through much stronger than expected, with frequent rain squalls rolling down the course. It became a very physical game, and with some resilience we clung onto third place.”

Davis had an impressive day on the water handling the heavy conditions well. On rounding the first mark, he had already worked a five boat length lead on Daniel Agulhas’ B&G. Third around was Hout Bay Yacht Club’s Theo Yon and Durban’s very own Orion B2G2 in fourth.

Overall second placed Zeekoe Vlei had a cracker of a start but spent majority of the race playing tag with Davis and crew. They managed to get a sniff of a lead on the second lap but Davis regained it on the leeward leg and took the win a minute ahead of Agulhas on B&G.

Durban’s Mr Consistent, Brennan Robinson and his team flying the Royal Natal Yacht Club’s burgee claimed their second third place in the competition after a tiring race. Again the crew were the first KZN boat to cross the line.

“The Capies are tough to beat on their home waters and in the conditions that they're accustomed to. Shortly after the start we found ourselves in third place which we consolidated on and pushed through to the finish'

Defending champs, False Bay Yacht Club’s Markus Progli had a tough day at the office; they took a gamble and went left on the course on the first leeward leg with the remainder of the fleet sailing to the right. The gamble didn’t pay off for the defending champs and they spent most of the race playing catch up. Then on the final leg heading up to the finish, their main halyards failed and they limped to the finish under only jib power.

The overnight leader board juggled a bit with Davis and Agulhas retaining their first and second positions. Royal Natal Yacht Club’s Robinson is six points behind Davis and Craig Millar, the other Durban entry sailing for Point Yacht Club dropped a place to seventh position.

With the three compulsory Lipton courses done, the final two days will be challenging for all as they try to out-sail Davis who has won the cup nine times and he looks to have a comfortable lead at the moment but things can change with one single wrong decision out on the water.
Results

Race Three
1 Co-Ordination (Royal Cape Yacht Club Greg Davis), 2 B&G (Zeekoe Vlei Yacht Club Daniel Agulhas), 3 Orion B2G2 (Royal Natal Yacht Club Brennan Robinson), 4 Southern Charter UCT Maverick (UCT Yacht Club Chris Gough), 5 LTC / Cab Technology SA (Hout Bay Yacht Club Theo Yon), 6 Intasure (False Bay Yacht Club Markus Progli), 7 Point Yacht Club (Point Yacht Club Craig Millar)

Leader board
1 Co-Ordination (Royal Cape Yacht Club Greg Davis) 4points, 2 B&G (Zeekoe Vlei Yacht Club Daniel Agulhas) 7points, 3 Orion B2G2 (Royal Natal Yacht Club Brennan Robinson) 10points, 4 Intasure (False Bay Yacht Club Markus Progli) 13points, 5 LTC / Cab Technology SA (Hout Bay Yacht Club Theo Yon) 16points, 6 Southern Charter UCT Maverick (UCT YC, Chris Gough) 17, 7 Point Yacht Club (PYC, Craig Millar) 18

ENDS

A wander around Washington DC

USA

Washington

Epic adventurer, Ralf Dominick who sailed around the world and recently travelled to Antarctica strongly suggested to me a stopover in Washington DC and following his advice, I did just that spending six days in the capital.

Dominick had spent a month in Washington living on his boat so he got to know the town extremely well. Home for me for the duration of the stay was in the historic district of LeDroit Park a short metro ride from majority of the sights.

As one of the first suburbs of Washington, LeDroit Park was developed and marketed as a ‘romantic’ neighbourhood with narrow tree-lined streets that bore the same names as the trees that shaded them. The colourful neighbourhood had a very distinct architecture with Victorian mansions co-existing with row houses that were all elegantly and brightly painted. My accommodation was terrible but the suburb certainly was fabulous and the local pub was well worth a stop, called the Boundary Stone Public House, it served great food and offered an array of locally brewed beers all on tap. A pint of DC Brau was certainly a memorable craft.

Every night after catching the last train out, wandering home I strolled past the century old Howard Theater and every night the red carpet was dressing up the pavement with limousines lining up outside waiting for their guests. The events changed nightly at the busy theatre from a glitzy CD launch by a famous hip-hop artist, to an awards evening to a rap artist concert. They were all by invite only and posters of a theatre performance being advertised was weeks away.

Each day I would venture into Washington, exploring the well-known sights. The capital for me was very monotone. All the sights, the buildings and monuments felt like it was one colour; marble-white certainly dominated the colour chart. But saying this, there was an air of excitement being in this ‘famous’ city.

I trawled the city stopping at all the main tourist attractions, saying hi to the massive statues of Jefferson and Lincoln, cruising around the manicured grounds on Capitol Hill, wandering past the heavily-secured small building of the White House, gazing heavenwards up at the Washington Monument that was under repairs from an earthquake in 2011 and pondered the meaning of war as I wandered through various war memorials dotted around the city.

The city was immaculate, with an almost Singaporean approach to litter, these was hardly any! Breaking up the monotone colour scheme were the cheerful Cherry Blossom trees. I had missed the Cherry Blossom Festival by a week but the tail end of the blooms was still a delightful treat. The daffodils were blooming marvellous, every single street had rainbow displays, if they were in pots, flowerbeds or planted neatly around traffic circles they certainly made a jolly impact.

The Smithsonian Institutions were great. I spent fat too much time exploring through the sculpture gardens, the National Air and Space Museum, National Museum of Natural History, National Art Gallery, African American History and Culture Museum, African Art Museum, United States Botanical Gardens and the information building nestled in The Castle – the only building in the vicinity that was brick coloured and not the antique colour of marble white.

The African Art Museum was interesting but I far more enjoyed the underground warren of art-clad corridors that took you into a maze of other gallery spaces. I landed up in the Arthur M Sackler Gallery and I relished the two exhibitions there, Chigusa and the Art of Tea a flavourful and insightful exhibition of the origins and traditions of tea in China and the Kiyochika: Master of the Night. This late 19^th century Japanese artist Kobayashi Kiyochika paintings reflected the transformations of modernity around Tokyo before and after the great fire that wiped out the city.

My American culinary adventures went along the lines of when in Rome, do what the Roman’s do – this included a lunch at a MacDonalds where I sampled a Big Mac burger. After a full morning exploring through the National Museum of the American Indian, I dined out on a Native inspired menu. I sampled a delicious Wild Rice and Watercress salad accompanied by a snap pea and lotus root salad drizzled with aged sherry vinaigrette.

A moving highlight was spending time at the Pentagon’s 911 memorial. With all the conspiracy theories flying around about the tragic day, visiting this simple memorial on an un-crowded Sunday was still heartfelt. Over a decade on, the injured side of the Pentagon was still a construction sight with the beeps of construction vehicles interrupting the peaceful surroundings. 

A glistening black marble wall carved with the names of the people that lost their lives that day shadowed by a proud American flag wafting about, greeted visitors. To the right was a barren park with a few young trees starting their ascent in the hopes of shading the memorial. A knee high wall cupped the park and every couple of meters on top of the wall was a sign with a year engraved. Travelling across the floor of the park was a line that came up to meet the timeline spotted along the boundary. The timeline on the wall indicated the year that the 911 victims were born; the timeline began at 1998 and ended at 1930.

Rising out of the gravel, between the lines were a number of diving boards that looked out of place without a massive shimmering turquoise pool. On closer inspection, each statue had a small serenity pool situated directly under the overhang. At night, lights shone up through the water illuminating the statues in an eerie but beautiful manner.

The 184 diving boards shot off in two directions in a somewhat sporadic order. Chatting to a Pentagon Policeman that was lurking at the entrance to the park, he explained that the statues jutting towards the Pentagon were the lives lost on the plane and the statues facing away were in the Pentagon at the time of the impact.

Another encounter with a kind police officer happened at a deserted Metro station in the city late one evening. The young officer accompanied by a beautiful black Labrador was sweeping the area looking for anything out of the ordinary. Leo the Labrador and his partner worked for the bomb unit and Leo had recently returned from spending two years in Afghanistan. He was working the quieter late shift as he had just graduated from six months in rehab after all the action he had seen. A sad reality of war that this poor Labrador had been a part of.

A couple of evenings in DC were spent at the annual Filmfest DC. Being a frequent Durban International Film Fest goer, it was great to see how other cities put on festivals. Filmfest DC should be commended for its successful weeklong flurry of films. The venues were cleverly married up to the films that it was showing. I watched a French feature film, Gare du Nord at the French Embassy and a Danish thrilling who-dunnit, The Keeper of Lost Causes at a historic old theatre that had been converted into movie houses. All the staff at the fest were cheerful, engaging and helpful.

Most days before heading back to my accommodation to change into evening attire, I would take a breather from the overload of sightseeing. The famous patch of lawn stretching from Capitol Hill to the Washington Monument was a healthy shade of green and it became a hive of activity when everyone knocked off from work. The activities on the lawns were adorned with various mixed leagues ranging from American Football to soccer to softball and even a strict class of boot camp. Sitting on the benches people watching, a steady stream of runners and dog walkers would hustle past, dodging strolling tourists. Majority of the Capitol workers certainly were in peak fitness condition, in contrast to the lumpy tourists wandering around. 

Watching the sunset over the Capitol, the city of DC started to twinkle under lights, I got to see the magnificent sights under darkness. Certainly a memorable sight.

DC was fascinating, a wonderful adventure, I am glad that I got to explore the powerhouse of the Western world. Will I rush back there again? I would have to say it is a case of been there, done that and didn’t fancy acquiring the T-shirt.