Richard Alston Dance Company

Richard Alston Dance Company

Tonight we went to a contemporary dance performance at Wimbledon Theatre. Despite the theatre being very close to our home, we hardly ever go there. Partly it’s because the shows don’t often interest us, but also it’s just sometimes too easy to overlook what’s on your doorstep. I have only been there twice before, once to see a Doctor Who play starring Jon Pertwee, and another time to see the Rocky Horror Show.

I found out about the show from my friend Penny, who had seen the same tour in Poole. The Richard Alston Dance Company have a repertoire of pieces set to classical and contemporary music, by composers such as Prokofiev, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. I always thoroughly enjoy contemporary dance shows and hopefully I will be going to more than usual this year, having bought a membership for Sadlers Wells. The tour (which is going on until June) features different pieces on different nights. On our night we were lucky enough to see “Roughcut”, which is performed to Steve Reich’s “Electric Counterpoint”, my favourite composition of his. This was the highlight of the show, with the dance beautifully responding to the unfolding layers of the music, with changes in key and phase following alterations in dance pace and movement style.

It was really good to go and see something locally, and as it was a Friday, both of us having an early finish from work, we had time for food beforehand at our new favourite local restaurant Casa Nostra.

I will definitely be keeping a closer eye on what is coming up at Wimbledon Theatre, if nothing else the ticket prices are certainly more attractive than the West End.

Box Hill

Juniper Bottom

Today was our first country walk of the year, which took place at Box Hill. This is a favourite walking area as it’s easy to get to by train, and there are various routes you can take.We started with lunch at a pub called the Stepping Stones, very near Westhumble station. This is a very good place which welcomes walkers as long as you take off any muddy boots. Ours were not muddy at all as we hadn’t done anything yet. They have a varied lunch menu including plenty of vegetarian choices. On Sundays they do a roast, and even offer a veggie version which is a giant Yorkshire pudding with roast potatoes and veg with gravy inside. Today was Saturday so I had a veggie lasagne and Julie had cauliflower cheese.

We then started to make our way up Box Hill using a route we hadn’t tried before via a wooded valley called Juniper Bottom. It was quite a gentle ascent at first, with the end bit getting a bit steeper. The weather was perfect, some sunshine but not too warm. The views were great from the top of the hill. It always makes me laugh going there because when I was younger my parents used to literally drag me up there as I sulked and moaned the whole way. Once I kicked my shoe off so it bounced quite a way down the hill, thinking the whole family would have to abandon the activity. But instead I was made to go and retrieve it and then walk back, and then complete the walk up the hill. I sulked for England that day.

Things couldn’t be more different now, I love to go for country walks. It’s cheap fun, and it’s good exercise. Although, I only enjoy it in good weather. So I’m not that hardcore really. But if it’s dry I can do a 10 mile walk quite happily.

We didn’t do anywhere near 10 miles today though, it was more like 5. It should have been a bit more but I went a bit wrong with the map and we ended up cutting it short and ended up in Dorking. You can see the route we took here.

To explore Box Hill, take a train to Westhumble station, and use an Ordnance Survey Explorer map to follow the public footpaths (marked in green). Check the contours though, some routes up the hill are very steep and are better suited for on the way down!