Art Deco Weekend in
Napier has rolled around and (yet again), it was the best ever. This was the 25th anniversary and the weekend was full of fun and laughter with
friends and the weather never has disappointed us, which makes things even
better. We are all extremely vain and
loved the fact that there was a photo of us all from a past art deco weekend in the
local newspaper. Also there were lots of
chances to pose for photos on the street when poor unsuspecting cruise ship
visitors asked us if they could take our picture. (They must have wondered whether they had
entered a time warp; some of them looked slightly bewildered.)
We went to the opening
ball in Hastings
on Thursday, where we danced away the night.
Two Red Hot Jazz Babies polishing their Charleston moves
On Friday the “boys” played golf and the “girls” had their own event,
which included shopping shopping and more shopping with a little bit of lunch
thrown in for good measure. (We needed to keep our strength up for a bit more shopping afterwards.)
The Queen Of
The South has moved to Napier now (we are all very jealous) and we had a chance
to inspect her new office and see all the improvements she and her King have
made to their new home.
On Friday night
there was a new event, a “Speakeasy” at The Old Church. What a beautiful venue that is. When we arrived it was still light and we all
sat in the garden and enjoyed the last of the sunshine and looked at the beautiful gardens. Inside is a most impressive chandelier which hangs in the centre of the church.
There was dinner and dancing to a band and we
all resolved (once again) to do better with our dance techniques for next year.
At the Gatsby picnic there was music in the soundshell with dancing
on the grass in front of the stage, and an aerial display by vintage planes.
A most dashing fellow and expert swing dancer to boot
A highlight was the movie we attended, Madam Satan. What an extraordinary piece of cinema it was. It was made in 1930 and most of the action took place on a dirigible where the
host was holding a lavish masquerade ball.
The eponymous Madam Satan is a devoted wife whose husband is unfaithful
and she resolves to win him back by attending in disguise and seducing
him. A most strange and extraordinary
movie and it had some great lines. When
the partygoers are forced to abandon the dirigible during an electrical storm they plunge to the earth in
parachutes. The techniques for filming
these scenes were obviously much more primitive in 1930 and it made for some
hilarity in the audience as the poor unfortunates descended jerkily to earth.
One thing which gave
me a thrill was the set of finger waves I had done at Shine hairdressers. The young man who did them was very patient –
it takes a surprisingly long time for them to dry and he diligently checked
from time to time to see if they were ready.
The end result was even better than I had hoped, and I have to admit that I slept
in a disposable shower cap to preserve the waves overnight! The next morning I sported a not altogether fetching red mark across my forehead from the elastic. If you are ever in Napier for art deco
weekend and want to treat yourself, make sure to visit him because he is a
veritable master of the art of finger waving and very careful and gentle. My tea there even came in a pretty bone
china cup with matching saucer to complete the deco experience!
But now sadly it is back to the real world, though there are lots of costume possibilities to mull over for next time. Luckily as soon as one art deco weekend is over the preparations can commence for the next one, and we are never without inspiration.
