[Dancerwoman]

(Original post by cornishscot)
Woohoo ! - congratulations (so they are dealing with both handover ceremonies simultaneously after all, interesting to know).

As I'm typing this, I live in such an untidy household that I still have the original paper number issued to me at the Flag Handover audition on the coffee table as I type. I just couldn't be bothered to bin it / file it. (I filed both of my Ceremonies Auditions bibs in a box file.)

It's strange though because the guy definitely told me last week that I was "Reserve". The only thing I can think of is that maybe someone else was made an offer and they had to decline.

The email was very vague in relation to rehearsal dates. What I found strange was this notification was via email - which I thought would be the tactic adopted for "Reserves". Nobody called me and no missed calls / messages on my mobile either.

[RocKeRG]

(Original post by phkrh)
I have had an e-mail with new, reduced, opening hours so no longer possible to go after next rehearsal as I had been planning to.

Latest UDAC hours are Mon-fri 10:00 - 17:00, Sat 10:00 - 15:00.

[Dancerwoman]

(Original post by RocKeRG)
Latest UDAC hours are Mon-fri 10:00 - 17:00, Sat 10:00 - 15:00.

Pity they're not open on Sundays Would have tied in quite nicely with my forthcoming rehearsals Oh well....trek to London here we go. If I weren't so brasic, I would take in some sightseeing whilst I'm there.

[Pinnerite]

(Original post by Dancerwoman)
Received email from Rio Handover.

I'm in!

Not too sure what to think actually because prior to opening it I was breathing a sigh of relief thinking it was the "Reserve" email that the guy told me about last week.

Not sure what to do now.

It's for Para Closing by the way.

Fantastic news Dancerwoman! Well done! I have just heard that the girl from my tap dancing group that I told about the Rio audition has been sent an email, copied to me, with a place in the BALLROOM cast for the paralympic closing ceremony! I don't know if she had a phone call cos she is in US at the mo. She auditioned on 13th pm I believe but had not done samba before.

[hutsulka]

(Original post by Dancerwoman)
As I'm typing this, I live in such an untidy household that I still have the original paper number issued to me at the Flag Handover audition on the coffee table as I type. I just couldn't be bothered to bin it / file it. (I filed both of my Ceremonies Auditions bibs in a box file.)

It's strange though because the guy definitely told me last week that I was "Reserve". The only thing I can think of is that maybe someone else was made an offer and they had to decline.

The email was very vague in relation to rehearsal dates. What I found strange was this notification was via email - which I thought would be the tactic adopted for "Reserves". Nobody called me and no missed calls / messages on my mobile either.

Yay you must be so happy that you got an offer! Congratulations

It is odd that this is totally the opposite of what they told you last week, but something gives me the impression that they might not have the most sophisticated contact list in the world. They called me up a couple of days after my audition and left a baffling message which made no sense to me, it later transpired that I simply shared the same first name as someone who was working for them and they got us mixed up! So, maybe the guy you spoke to just read the wrong thing, maybe there has been a promotion, maybe they are only just getting to the paras... who knows. But no matter, now you can Samba in front of the world!

My mum has stolen all my audition bib numbers and put them up in her bedroom I will have to nick them back.

[O Samba vai vencer]

Cornishscot speculates (about the Rio handover) that as someone chunky and pale-skinned,

(Original post by cornishscot)
I probably didn't have "the look" they were after either if the former is what they wanted. No proof of that of course, just my own speculation but, given that this is a show about Brazilian culture after all, then that theory adds up (in my mind at least).

I'm not sure that there is a Brazilian look. There are plenty of pale-skinned Brazilians - some very pale. Brazil is a uniao de tres racas por amor = a union of three "races" in love. (That's from a samba by Ze' Catimba and Niltinho: they mean European, African and Indigenous American.) This mixed ancestry results in a very wide variety of looks. Not to mention the many Brazilians who look like their Middle-Eastern or Japanese ancestors. This variety is one of the great things that that London and Rio have in common.

Most of the people at my Rio handover audition were beautiful: tall and tan and young and lovely *. (Not me - my strong point is enthusiasm rather than eye-candiness.) So I expect the Rio handover cast will be beautiful. But that won't necessarily reflect anything about casting preferences.

Congratulations, Dancerwoman!
---
* That's from "The Girl from Ipanema" by Vinicius de Morais, of course. The original Portuguese lyrics give an even better description of the average Rio handover auditioner:
Olha que coisa mais linda / Mais cheia de graça / É ela menina Que vem e que passa / Num doce balanço"
See, the most beautiful thing, the most graceful, is the girl who passes by with a sweet swaying."

[hutsulka]

(Original post by cornishscot)
The London Handover videos (availabile on YouTube) are worth watching again too - so stereotypical of Johnny foreigners' perspective of English life I thought with the umbrellas, queuing patiently in orderly lines for buses with a newspaper, drinking tea etc. etc. - all perfectly true in reality pretty much <ha ha> and so well executed with/without professionals in the field of play.

I think the handover got far more stick than it deserved, it was pretty good considering it was just a side show and limited to what they could do! And you wouldn't want to outshine your hosts, isn't it. The bus things was cute, and the dancing great. Some bits weren't for me (Beckham....) but it was hardly a national embarrassment.

I saw some of those who danced at the London handover in a show called Some Like it Hip Hop last year, they are truly awe-inspiring dancers. In fact some of them inspired me to take up dance

[hutsulka]

(Original post by O Samba vai vencer)
Cornishscot speculates (about the Rio handover) that as someone chunky and pale-skinned,


I'm not sure that there is a Brazilian look. There are plenty of pale-skinned Brazilians - some very pale. Brazil is a uniao de tres racas por amor = a union of three "races" in love. (That's from a samba by Ze' Catimba and Niltinho: they mean European, African and Indigenous American.) This mixed ancestry results in a very wide variety of looks. Not to mention the many Brazilians who look like their Middle-Eastern or Japanese ancestors. This variety is one of the great things that that London and Rio have in common.

Most of the people at my Rio handover audition were beautiful: tall and tan and young and lovely *. (Not me - my strong point is enthusiasm rather than eye-candiness.) So I expect the Rio handover cast will be beautiful. But that won't necessarily reflect anything about casting preferences.

Congratulations, Dancerwoman![/I]

I went to lovely Rio this year and saw cariocas of all manner of looks/ethnicities, from blonde and Scandinavian looking, to African looking, and everything in between. It felt more diverse than London even!

[Bignic12]

Dancerwoman........

Brilliant news must be thrilled

[cornishscot]

(Original post by Dancerwoman)
Pity they're not open on Sundays Would have tied in quite nicely with my forthcoming rehearsals Oh well....trek to London here we go. If I weren't so brasic, I would take in some sightseeing whilst I'm there.

A lot of London sightseeing type attractions are free so maybe there's something there you could see?

National Portrait gallery has a "Road to the Olympics" exhibition on sometime soon (if not already started) so how about that for starters?

[cornishscot]

(Original post by hutsulka)
I went to lovely Rio this year and saw cariocas of all manner of looks/ethnicities, from blonde and Scandinavian looking, to African looking, and everything in between. It felt more diverse than London even!

Interesting to know - I was just basing my previous assessment on the mix of ethnicities and passports (quite a few Brazilian funnily enough) I noted at the Handover Auditions I was helping out with admin. at, that's all. Far more latino and black skinned people than pasty white folks like myself I felt.

Not that I have a problem with that.......... given the actual culture that part of the show will represent Brazilian culture in all its forms - didn't stop me auditioning too did it?

What bothered me more were some comments made by another helper re. the 2 samba schools being so heavily represented (as if they were in political combat with each other to see how many got through from theirs) and basically implying that if you were not as experienced at Samba as she seemed to be or were not connected with either of these groups then you basically had no chance of getting any further, even with production (which, of course, she was an expert at).

May have got the wrong end of the stick though but this was what I understood her sub-text to be but we'll see on the night who did/didn't get through and what kind of performance they put on shan't we?

[cornishscot]

(Original post by O Samba vai vencer)

Most of the people at my Rio handover audition were beautiful: tall and tan and young and lovely *. (Not me - my strong point is enthusiasm rather than eye-candiness.) So I expect the Rio handover cast will be beautiful. But that won't necessarily reflect anything about casting preferences.

We'll see and congratulations to all of them that have got through - no real problems with that at all although it would have been nice to have the experience of that type of show too. Such a friendly group of people putting it all together, in the main anyway.

[Drummit]

(Original post by Pinnerite)
It looks as if Tap East is the preferred meeting place for Sunday at 1.15ish or whenever we get there from our rehearsals. I may have missed some - in which case apologies- but I have the following people on my list, although other TSRs are welcome to join us on the day.

Flakeydom, absOn + 2 , commonliner, drumbeat, Mum of Students, Kit-Yan, Olympian, Quark999, RocKerG, Drummit and EllieAtWHL and Pinnerite.

The pub is on the lower ground floor at the far end of the shopping centre and near Waitrose. http://uk.westfield.com/shop/stores/...retailer=45390
"This brewery-pub offers a great selection of bottled beers with nearly 150 names to choose from, pale ale, stouts and experimental beers brewed on site as well as traditional pub food. 17 draught beers are offered straight from the keg and beers from around globe are constantly updated and rotated. Customers are even able to see the brewery from the bar."

Perhaps Flakeydom who has been there can advise on where at Tap East we should meet?

I am not sure we need any form of identification? I know at least half of you and probably everyone knows at least one other person? but I might give my pink Pinnerite T-shirt an airing in any case. Mum of Students and I cannot stay long but it will be great to meet up however short, although I shall be envious of you with those beers as I cannot drink alcohol for medical reasons.


Any comments/ more meetees?

I shall probably be there too.

[Pinnerite]

(Original post by Olympian)
Not sure if anyone is looking for accomodation near the stadium, but there is a new travelodge (Excel) opened 14 mins DLR ride away with good prices, I have just booked 22 Jul for £29 and 23, 24, 25 & 26 for £35.75 per night.

Hope this is of some help to someone. There are cheaper nights available on other dates, but I am booked in elsewhere for those dates.

If you are searching for nights, check indvidual nights as if you search for example 22 and 23 Jul, it will come up at the more expensive of the two. The get those rates, i had to make two bookings, one for 22 and one for the other nights.

The excel Travelodge doesn’t always show up on their search thing as it is brand new so here is a link to it http://www.travelodge.co.uk/hotels/5...on-Excel-hotel

Thanks for this! I had already a couple nights booked at the Premier Inn in Westfield itself for late night/early morning combinations but I have now booked some fully flexible tickets for £49 at the travelodge for some days of our final week and will cancel one or more of them when I know the exact starting TBAS. The saver (non-changeable) rate is presently £39.50 for all nights excluding the Saturday before ( flexible only at £72) and the BIG DAY itself. Still some problems with the website which sometimes pretends that travelodge excel does not exist but there are rooms available still!

[Olympian]

(Original post by Pinnerite)
Thanks for this! I had already a couple nights booked at the Premier Inn in Westfield itself for late night/early morning combinations but I have now booked some fully flexible tickets for £49 at the travelodge for some days of our final week and will cancel one or more of them when I know the exact starting TBAS. The saver (non-changeable) rate is presently £39.50 for all nights excluding the Saturday before ( flexible only at £72) and the BIG DAY itself. Still some problems with the website which sometimes pretends that travelodge excel does not exist but there are rooms available still!

You're welcome. yes it looks as though the rates have gone up by a fiver on each of the days i booked. the 22 is available at £35.75, but would have to be booked sepertaley to the other nights or it puts them all at the higher rate. Its a bit weird that it dosnt always show the excel travelodge sometimes, it was only luck i found it. Thats why i thought i had better post a direct link to it.

[Olympian]

Congratulations to all those who have got through, those that are on reserve lists or are still waiting, keep hoping and you just never know what will happen

[hutsulka]

(Original post by cornishscot)
Interesting to know - I was just basing my previous assessment on the mix of ethnicities and passports (quite a few Brazilian funnily enough) I noted at the Handover Auditions I was helping out with admin. at, that's all. Far more latino and black skinned people than pasty white folks like myself I felt.

Not that I have a problem with that.......... given the actual culture that part of the show will represent Brazilian culture in all its forms - didn't stop me auditioning too did it?

I think your observation re auditions matched mine, a lot of people had look which to be honest was what would have come to my mind as a stereotype immediately when someone said "Rio de Janeiro" to me before I went there! When I was in the city I was surprised at the mix. I knew that Brazil is a country of mixed races but I didn't expect to see it that much. Whether it translates into the casting remains yet to be seen I suppose. I often got mistaken for a local in Brazil, but didn't get picked for the handover so it didn't help me lol

[granta]

(Original post by Mandy_Panda)
If anyone has a 1.30 start this Sunday, ropey and I were talking of going for a cheeky pre rehearsal mojito in Westfield if anyone fancies it.

I would love to join you if I can get there in time from something else I'm doing in the morning. Do you have a mojito place in mind?!
Keep seeing you from afar but there get a chance to wade through all the people to get to you. Last night was amazing wasn't it!!

[hutsulka]

(Original post by cornishscot)
National Portrait gallery has a "Road to the Olympics" exhibition on sometime soon (if not already started) so how about that for starters?

Thanks for the heads up, I had no idea about this and will definitely check it out! http://roadto2012.npg.org.uk/about/a...e-road-to-2012 looks like 19 July - 23 September

You have a point, there are plenty of Olympic related things on for anyone who has to make a special trip just to get their pass but would like to make a day of it, it would be a shame to travel all the way to the delightful depths of East London for nothing else. I picked up the guide to the 2012 festival today, well worth a look. Or you can do what I am planning and just do a sightseeing tour of things like the Olympic Rings in St Pancras and Tower Bridge. I dragged my friend on a trip to Stratford just to see the Olympic Park from the outside. I am such a loser.

[Terpsikhore]

Re: Rio Handover demographics - funny how different the audition groups seem from each other. Cornishscot mentioned seeing lots of people of latin/black origin, and there's been lots of talk of young, slim, beautiful women everywhere.

For what it's worth, my audition group was mostly white, mostly female, and mostly 'of a certain age'. We were even chatting with the ladies taking the photos and measurements about what a motley crew we were, and as a size 10 20-something, I actually had the mickey taken out of me for being the minority!

Some LSS players, but also some from community groups. The only common factor really was experience. Certainly every person there was very comfortable with samba - which they obviously expected, as it was very much 'get instrument, ready - go!' - no need for explanation of hand signals or showing people what they were supposed to be playing. Apart from the UK Samba Association mailing list I don't know where else the handover was advertised, so I don't know if there were any applicants who'd never played samba before. But at least in my group, there were no beginners - in fact I felt severely outclassed by everyone around me.

I've just done some quick maths and of everyone I know who has a place in the bateria, the average age is about 45, heights range from 5'0 to 6'2, and we're all decidedly Anglo Saxon. Intrigued to see now whether we represent the norm, or the odd ones out!

Sorry for the ramble. Just think it's really interesting how people can end up with such vastly different impressions of a common experience.