ArstFest - The Review
Loved it? Missed it? Don't worry, we'll take a look back at the highlights of ArtsFest 2006 for you.
The festival kicked off with an informal Chamber Music Concert in a cosy fairy-light-decorated MDH, which provided us with a medley of popular favourites by Wind Band and Contraband and numerous chamber groups, as well as some more thought provoking pieces by Contemporary Music Soc.
Jazz and Rock gig night featured several up and coming bands playing different genres of music. It was a real eye-opener for this reviewer, who'd never seen rock violin before...definitely a night at the union worth coming back to!
A new feature this year was the busking in Sherfield and Tanaka - aiming to promote Artsfest and raise money for charity. A variety of acts were on display: alongside the ever popular classical performers, we saw Simran the Magician dazzling with sublime card tricks, Capoeira transforming Tanaka into the backstreets of Brazil, MT Soc performing musical favourites, and a Céilidh put on by Imperial's very own Barn Dance band!
Whilst various insane activities were taking place downstairs throughout the week, the Blyth Gallery featured exhibitions by Leosoc, Photosoc and Origamisoc, with a spectacular array of artwork, wonderfully curated by Mindy Lee.
Wednesday saw the return of the dance workshop, suitably named the `Dance Marathon'! A chance for everyone to try out contemporary dance, ballet, martial arts, break dancing and cha-cha-cha, it drew about 70 participants who danced, kicked and twisted their way through three and a half hours of activities. Several complaints of sore muscles were heard afterwards!
The evening then took a more serious tone, as the C-R-Y Charity Concert (in memory of Cecilia Barriga), featuring the heavyweights of IC music: Brass Dectet, IC Choir, and the Symphony Orchestra. It aimed to raise awareness of Cardic Risk in the Young, a charity dedicated to diagnosing and treating heart disease which claims 8 young lives a week.
Jazz Big Band night at dBs was its usual spectacular self, with Big Band performing to capacity crowds, and impressing the audience with its hearty instrumental solos and renditions of classics such as `Come fly with me' and `I get a kick outta you'.
The Finalé Concert was a fitting climax to the incredibly successful week. Starting off with Sinfonietta performing extracts from Shostakovich's 12th Symphony `The 1917 Revolution' and featuring some extraordinary kicking from Capoeira, it moved swiftly onto several dazzling and challenging dances by Dance Company and DanceSport.
The second half opened with some energetic and playing from String Ensemble, before Medic's Choir wowed the audience and got them singing `The way you look tonight' and `The bare necessities'. Chinese Wu Shu then delivered a heart-stopping performance with their routines, complete with swords and spears. Artsfest concluded with Big Band delivering more show-stoppers to an ecstatic audience, before everyone headed over to dB's for the Artsfest After Party.
All in all, 23 societies were involved in Artsfest 2006, with some 500 performers and over 1000 participants and spectators in our main events - not to mention all those who enjoyed the busking! Thanks to all who were there, the festival raised £580 for CR-Y as well as plenty of awareness.
