ACTive Reporting - Cultures Crossing arrives in Derbyshire

Blog by Inna Schutts
#ACTCC8 @Bennetts LongEaton.   ​

On April 24 Cultures Crossing 8 came to Long Eaton in Derbyshire and brought colourful fireworks of artistic talent. Cozy and inviting Bennetts Hotel/Bar welcomed local and international performers from Beeston and Nottingham. 

The evening was filled with music, stories, and exploration of world culture. From African rhythmic drumming and poetry to Cuban energetic dancing, from Bollywood violin vibrant tunes to Venetian technique inspired mask making, to Mexican folk story telling - all these incredible talents gathered under one roof to amaze the audience. 

The first artist of the night was beautiful violinist Ursula Al-Mishari. She filled the room with sound of Bollywood - Middle Eastern inspired style music, which was so refreshing and quite different from what one would expect from ordinary violin performance! 

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Next was Stephen Jon, fascinating mask performer and mask maker. He not only entertained guests with his extraordinary characters but also shared different techniques and approaches to the time consuming and rather complicated process of mask making. 

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Two amazing ladies, Victoria Mponda (from Malawi) and Florette Fetgo (from Cameroon) brought a taste of African culture and mesmerised their audience with African drumming while reading poetry, two things I never thought could go so gracefully together! 

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When I thought that the evening could not get any more interesting, an amazing story teller Tim Ralphs came in front of the crowd to share a Mexican folk tale. His style and stage presence captivated everyone at once. Tim’s choice of the tale was fun and taught us an important lesson - wives are much smarter than husbands!!! 

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The last performance of the night was by Idalberto Alcada-Rodriguez, who danced from his heart and shared his love for Cuba by means of music and movement! He surprised everyone with his skilful machete performance integrated into graceful dance! In the end Idalberto gave a dance lesson which was not only for guests of the event, but even the Bennetts’ employees could not resist and got involved! People were fully enjoying themselves, dancing to the Cuban upbeat tune, some even got out of breath as the result. 
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The entire evening was a very successful cultural submersion full of electrifying performances! ​​​