While 2019 wizzed by, I managed to get up to quite a few things and get to visit, jam, fish and hang out with some of you. Here’s a few highlights.
The first trimester was spent in and around Sydney and filled with fishing on the Hawkesbury River, writing reviews and articles for various Sydney publications, reviewing Sydney Festival shows for Ruby TV and performing regular dinner/show concerts with the fabulous Ms Courtney Severini, as ‘La Chanteuse et la Claquettiste’.
May, bien sur, I hit the Croisette for the Festival de Cannes.
It’s such a privilege to be able to see films all day, attend press conferences, hang out with film friends from around the world, interview filmmakers and discuss projects, attend functions and eat delicious Mediterranean food in the gorgeous Riviera.
I got to see Elton John sing live, go to the Tarantino party and meet Leonardo Di Caprio (briefly!), catch up with friends and meet new ones from around the world and see some other great films both in competition and in the market screening (including ‘Alice’ directed by Josephine Mackerras and starring Emilie Piponnier that my friend Elise Mc Leod coached on).
The Algerian party on the beach was like being in heaven as I bumped into friends and colleagues I hadn’t seen in years or expected to see. Fabulous! It was nice to see the success of Mounia Meddour’s debut feature film Papicha- the story of a young gutsy fashion designer during the years of terrorism in Algeria (1990s).
We spent the last part of the festival hanging with the team from Les Miserables, the film that you must see that took out the Jury prize. I interviewed Abdelkader Hoggui (Kader) and Almamy Kanouté (AKA Barb Panther) for Ruby TV- on the beach (where else?!). Read it here (in French and English) on Ruby TV.
Instead of wizzing back to Paris, a few days in Grasse was the perfect way to cleanse the system after all the crowds with the most divine niche perfumeries, delicious French and Italian meals and a personal guided tour of the Fragonard Museum, the Notre Dame (with two original Rubens!) and meetings with two niche perfumers. Merci à Franck from the Tourism office! Will be back! If you are in the region, make sure to visit this quaint town full of petals and perfumes!
The Grasse trip was too short and there was too much traffic and movement in Paris for my state, so I took a spontaneous trip to Algiers with the intention to chill, eat and develop cultural projects.. but also randomly found myself as a social media scriptwriter for a Chinese telecommunications company! Deadlines became tight as the internet is cut for the entire country for hours every day during the high school exams to stop cheating (nuts) so the final draft was completed on a laptop in the back of a car passing security checks that made me feel like some type of undercover hacker! The shoot didn’t go ahead but the writing was fun and creative and I nearly got to work with a director I’ve been planning to for a while… next year inchallah! I did manage a couple of cleansing swims in the ocean however.
The death of my uncle prompted a hasty trip to the east of the country and while there was grieving, it was fabulous to reconnect with my paternal family, hang out with my cousins and see the next generation (almost) all grown up and gorgeous.
On the way back to the capital I stopped off at Constantine to see my friend Karima and her family and my buddy Mouni, a local theatre, film and tv actress who invited me to the watch rehearsals of the play she was starring in at at the national theatre. The theatre is incredible and my imagination came to life with all the stories and whispers in the nooks and crannies. It sits upon the site of an old cemetery and the basement was used as torture chambers during the war of independence which was chilling to visit. Luckily for me, one of the actresses was absent so I got to play her role and Mouni, the director and I were soon chatting about the possibilities of another production… inspired, I scribbled a script that I will either develop or keep in the top drawer…
While the theatre was inspiring, the dusty, summer heat of this inland city was overwhelming so I was happy to arrive in Algiers for…. the semi final of the African cup. Soccor is huge in Algeria and everyone was so proud of the team that go completely wild. It felt like independence when they won, the fireworks shot up and toddlers to old men danced on the streets. Next was the final and I managed to just get the last Yassir (the local uber) to a friend’s before the roads were blocked and joined in the festivities. There was joy on the streets and I ran around taking photos and witnessing the peaceful and flamboyant celebrations in the city centre.
This time I was being hosted by musician/producer Mehdi Djama and his gorgeous wife, the singer Meriem Hind Boutella. We got on immediately, I was booked to tap on their Tuesday jazz night in a Moroccan restaurant ,which was a lot of fun and afterwards I met some musicians from the Sahara who I had some wonderful spontaneous jam sessions with (and made me consider a trip to Taghit – this was programmed years ago for my TV show pilot/ep 1 but frustratingly cancelled on the way to the airport…). Hind and I were interviewed and did a quick song and dance on Canal Algerie.
I attended a tribute to the gnawa master Benaissa who had recently passed away which was held in the the Villa Abdelkatif.
I got to join the very cool Sadek ‘Democratoz’ a and his band on stage for a little tap during the finale. Here’s my article in Get Lost magazine of my first meeting with Sadek.
During all this, my book The Art Lover’s Guide to Paris, which is now in bookshops globally and available online here!
I made this little video about it with one of my regular partners in crime, the talented photographer/videographer Olivia Rutherford, who also featured in the book.
Back in Belleville, Paris, I came down with a bad case of the blues after a few spooky experiences, and thankfully Pacino and my close friends in Paris and around the world pulled me through while letting me harp on until I was less fragile. Merci!
To get over it, I accepted another commission to write The Architecture Lover’s Guide to Paris and plunged in headfirst. Thankfully while climbing to panoramic views, photographing stained glass canopies, interviewing architects, exploring covered passages and drinking hot chocolates with tour guides, designing walking tours and cramming in libraries, I forgot about my summer woes and re-found my inspiration. And suddenly it was Autumn.
I launched The Art Lover’s Guide to Paris at La Colonie, thanks to Kader Attia and his family (Kader also featues in the book) and had a great turn out and fabulous evening. Thanks to all who came and thanks to Vee Speers (star photographer who is in the book for taking this great video memoire! 59 Rivoli artist Edar Olguin painted live at the event and DJ Bullet had us dancing till late!
A fun signing was also done at featured artist James Purpura’s gallery/studio at the central Paris artist studios, 59 Rivoli (and we got in some extra signed copies that you can grab if in Paris!- 2nd floor and ask for James!).
I was also a features guest on Olivier Gee’s live talk show at the Australian Ambassador’s apartment in Paris and got to chat about the book and meet some great people.
The year wouldn’t be complete of course without a tap clip and despite the weather we shot at night in Jaurès with Jussi Lindroos, Mbango Baer and Gilles Gicheron, filmed by Olivia Rutherford.
This was out last one:
Le Shuffle Pont (a capella clip from Le Shuffle Project & Jussi Lindroos)
A splash of tap in Paris with Mbango Baer, Ruby Boukabou and guest Jussi Lindroos. Images- Olivia Rutherford, edit- Zulma Rouge, assistant- Magali Billaut 🙂
Posted by Le Shuffle Project on Tuesday, September 11, 2018
We performed a Paris concert featuring Japanese tapper Natsuo Shimizu, French tappers Fredericks Ngo Kii and Mbango Baer, Australian double bassist Gerard McFadden and had several jams with our Paris Tap Crew.
I caught up with singer/tapper from Singapore Alexandra (studio jam and hot coffee by the fireplace!) took class with Roxane and saw the fabulous Tamango!
We all spent December walking around Paris due to train strikes- I literally had to walk over the ring road and back to Paris after editing the clip- then flew to the UAE for some sun, beach, music and chill.
Put up by Rove Dubai Marina hotel (review here) then by the neighbour of singer/DJ Simonne Cooper (thanks Glenn, thanks Emma, thanks Simonne)…
I got to see my friend Amir Sharara Dj, met a fantastic hand pan musician to chat about projects or an interview for next year, dined with the fabulous Dei, had a terrific life coaching session with Yasser Abbas and finally managed to make it for a jog and a swim in Abu Dhabi and a visit to the Louvre and dinner by the water with new friends.
A ‘quick’ trip to Australia was for Christmas with family and then back to change planes to plan 2020 mid air.
If you’ve managed to read till here, thanks for your interest and I look forward to jamming, travelling, entertaining, dining or hearing from some of you in various locations in 2020. I hope you’ve learnt things, appreciated people, been encourages, conquered fears, been excited and broken barriers and enjoyed chilling out this year and continue to do so.
Let’s rain dance for Australia and hope for a solution for the strikes in France, smooth upgrade of system in Algeria and appreciate nature around the world. Let’s transform any past traumatic experiences into colourful anecdotes for a rainy day. Let’s be kind, healthy and happy.
Stay tuned on Ruby TV and Instagram should you desire and Happy New Year!
International Arts & Travel reporter and principal of RUBY TV. 