Hello from Sydney, this is Alexandria English. On our very last night in Sydney, it was very much a girls night out. Eleven girls out of the group washed the sand out of their hair and got ready for our last night out on the town. We had gotten up bright and early to get tickets to the must see show at the Sydney Opera House, Stomp as performed by the Lost and Found Orchestra. It was an amazing spectacle. With 50 plus performers and a choir joining in at the end, it was a perfectly synchronized event. Everything on stage had a purpose and was made out of random materials. The trumpets were road cones, drums were huge plastic containers, and the chimes were made out of pipes. Through the event they swung from the ceiling, used waterglasses as a background for a symphonic melody and entranced the audience. Stomp was performed in the large auditorium in the Opera house and is stunning. The construction of the room made the sounds from the performance resonate perfectly through my ears.

Not only were we blessed to see Stomp performed but only a few nights earlier we watched an interesting show called The Beast of Taylor Mac. It was a hilarious story of a man who does stage performances as a drag queen. His play consisted of small songs and stories about his life and current affairs. With a wardrobe that represented “The War On Terror”, you know it was good. He sang songs about Vice President Cheney’s wife and her risqué novel, as well as a song called “If you see something, say something”, which described what would happen if you were to leave your bag unattended in an airport. Although he had us falling out of our chairs, he touched us with songs of how he has been hurt in the past for who he is. Very much a touching perspective in an alternate side of life we don’t normally see.

Both of these performances were incredible. Giving myself and the group a new perspective on the arts as well as being able to say that we watched two performances at the Sydney Opera House! Our last night concluded with a fireworks show outside of the building bringing one of the girls to tears, making it one of the most memorable moments on this amazing journey. I feel so fortunate in having these experiences and opening my eyes to so many new things. Hopefully one thing we all learned was to be able to dance to the sound of our own beat.

--Alexandria English