Our local community–the Malvern area–had a variety evening tonight to raise funds for some young people to travel to the North Island. The local Darfield recreation hall was converted into a concert hall, and by looks of things there are 600-800 people here (the population of Darfield is about 4000 people, so there’s a large proportion of them here tonight). Four of my boys are in the instrumental item, playing their violins. There’s no judges here; just a lot of parents and children. I imagine that if Mr Brogan were here, he’d have video gear and media bloggers for Africa, but tonight it’s just me and my BlackBerry and my poor quality 2MB camera.

(The sound system left something to be desired)

Brian opened the proceedings. He welcomed and thanked everyone for coming. He commended the Jump Jam coaches for getting their teams into the national competition. (Applause all around). He extended thanks also to the local businesses who extended support and funding.

Three young ladies formed the MC crew for the evening.

First up was the Junior Jump Jam group, doing “Reach”. Oops. Sound system wouldn’t behave, so they left the stage. The tap dancers came on instead. They danced to a song going through the alphabet.

Then an older foursome came up, and they danced to “Leroy Brown”. They performed a great act.

(New CD player brought in and installed. Hope is restored!)

The Jump Jam junior group came back. They danced “Reach for the Stars” (high energy, but the music needed to be about 10x as loud).

The MCs came back, and announced a ballet item by Carrie.

Ted is 5 years old, and he’s on for a tap dancing item. Incredible. The crowd erupted in applause when he was done (“fabulous” one lady behind me said).

The Darfield High Schoiol Kapa Haka group was on next. This is a Maori culture group. This kind of war dance would be done before a battle; if it wasn’t enough to put the fear of the Maori in you, their weapons soon would. It received a good clap, and a few giggles from the little kids (“we’re not scared”).

The MC told the audience to get ready for participation in “Jump Jam Butterfly”. Although spot prices were on offer, few accepted. Another high energy dance, but the music was far too soft 😦

The Hororata Tae Kwon Do club performed next. The teacher gave an introduction to the sport, and some of the history. It takes five years of training to get to black belt. The class went through some of their movements. They also showed some of their self-defense movements. I’m glad I was just watching! The groups train Monday, Tuesday and Friday.

(Third CD player of the evening was brought in)

Robyn has a dance for us as the next item. Robyn is about 16 or 17. Great poise and balance.

(The battery on my camera is almost flat, and I need to save some space for the boys.)

Charlotte came on to sing “Bad Hair Day”. She was about 8 or 9. Good work.

The Kapa Haka group came back. The leader asked for lots of little children to go up and join in. About 20 took up the offer. They sang “You put your right hand in … ” in Maori. The second song was “Flick the Little Engine” in Maori, in a series of let’s sing this faster than last time. The final contribution was a Maori song.

(Fourth CD player of the evening brought in. This time it’s a laptop – a Windows variety. Will we need a Mac or will this represent salvation?)

Now it’s the Malvern School of Music, with four of my boys playing violin (wow, we supplied 40% of the violinists!) We’ve been here for 90 minutes now; no wonder the boys–particularly Dani–look tired! They played 6 or 7 pieces, starting off with pieces that everyone could play, then going on to the harder renditions.

Time to head home, but there’s probably another 2 hours yet on the agenda. The last event of the evening looks interesting–gunge a teacher (the students get to vote for who).