By carlyfisher4
This week introduced us to yet another American phenomenon as Sunday night marked the 2015 Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. Having never watched the game in its entirety (or, if I’m being honest, watching the football part at all), I was excited to experience it amongst those passionate for the teams and the sport in general. Wanting the ‘real’ American experience, we decided to head to a local sports bar to watch the game amongst hard-core fans, desperate for a Patriots win! We headed off to bar three hours before the game began as we were told we would need that amount of time, so we settled in, got comfy and enjoyed trying to figure out as much as we good about the game before kick off time thanks to our waiter’s knowledge and google. Whilst waiting for the game we also watched the Puppy Bowl – a definite highlight of the evening – it was so so cute!
Finally, the broadcast began with the pre-game interviews, spurring on the crowd within the bar and exciting them to begin their cheering. Every time any player or coach from the Patriots was so much as mentioned, the crowd went wild, leaving no question as to who the crowd favorite was. With the same enthusiasm the Seahawks were booed endlessly by the crowd, something I just couldn’t bring myself to participate in.
As a massive Idina Menzel fan, the real highlight of the event in my opinion was the national anthem – especially because she was absolutely amazing, as always! And then finally, after hours of anticipation, the game began following the coin toss and introduction of all team members. The crowd’s enthusiasm did not die down for even a second and it was really exciting seeing people so excited and proud of their team.
Wanting to experience the super bowl in a variety of ways, I left the others at the bar to head back to E street to meet up with my roommates and their friends for a pizza and Super Bowl watching evening. As well as the game, here I watched Katy Perry’s half time act (which, in my opinion, left a lot to be desired!) and enjoyed learning some of the rules of football from those in attendance.
For the final quarter of the game the exchange crew rejoined to watch the win together and celebrate the victory of the team we had only found out we were rooting for that morning. Despite having not known the Patriots before that day, the victory was still sweet and our excitement was palpable (mainly because we had real Patriots fans amongst us).
Whilst sport games are not really my thing, this particular evening of sport watching was a lot of fun and definitely gave me a taste of the enthusiasm, pride and dedication that people have towards their favorite football teams. Maybe Ill even watch the game again next year back at home in Australia…or maybe, I’ll go back to just sticking to the half time act 🙂 .
This week I also went to the Kennedy Centre to enjoy a dance performance by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Company – a group that I have wanted to see for years since taking classes at their institution a few years back in New York and learning about their work and artistic beliefs. Having not been to the Kennedy Centre since around 2008, I was very excited to be back in the beautiful centre surrounded by history and a celebration of the arts. It really is a gorgeous theatre and I am already excited to go back to enjoy more performances there (for example Gigi which I am going to next week!).
The Company performed four different pieces, each artistically so different that the talent of both the choreographers and dancers was truly mesmerizing. The first piece was based on the Civil Rights movement and in particular, celebrated the achievements, the courage and the importance of Odetta Holmes – ‘the Queen of American folk music’ as declared by MLK Jnr. This piece was really beautiful and truly demonstrated the significance of her contribution both to the American music scene, and more importantly, to the American Civil Rights efforts. Following ‘Odetta’ was a beautiful ballet piece entitled ‘After the Rain’ which really highlighted the incredible discipline and strength of these dancers through challenging yet breathtaking choreography. The artistry demonstrated in the third piece ‘caught’ was mind-blowing as not only the dancer (who was phenomenal and easily one of the strongest male dancers I have ever seen) but also the lighting designer (what a genius!) created a piece unlike anything I have ever seen before. Finally, the crem-de-la-crem of Alvin Ailey’s works, ‘Revelations’ concluded the evening with a piece of theatre I have been waiting years to see and was not in the slightest bit disappointed by – the entire performance was sensational and it was an absolutely brilliant way to spend a Tuesday night. If the Alvin Ailey company is performing ever in a city that you are in, I would highly recommend snatching up the best ticket you can get and going to witness their incredible talents and grace on stage.
All in all, it’s been another wonderful week here only to be topped off by what I am sure will be a fantastic weekend as a few of the exchange students and I head up to New York City for the weekend. Broadway, I’m coming for you!
Until next time…