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Published: June 23rd 2008
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Everyone gets into the spirit
Local people learned drumming, applied face paints and danced in the streets. 20 June: HOTEL ESPRIT in Halle is advertised as small three-star with pub/restaurant below. I walk through a small roof top garden to get to unit #7, a small, cozy, bright room with single bed, desk, TV, and well-stocked bookshelf (German, of course). Being on the other side of the deck in what looks like an addition constructed above the restaurant's storage area, gives me added privacy. However, there isn't a phone, fridge or microwave oven as I had in Estonia, and the internet capability it had advertised doesn't exist. "The buildings down the street all have WiFi, but not here; even our business is on dial-up internet," is all the explanation I get.
This town was rocking with the pulsating rhythms of African, Asian and Latin American percussion last night. Theater der Welt got its official start with processions representing musical groups from those parts of the world winding their way through the narrow streets of Halle, bringing traffic -- including trams -- to a standstill as they converged from three different directions on the central Marktplatz (market square) where a troupe from northern India performed on a large temporary band shell set up for festival events. The slogan
Drums of Africa
One of three processions making its way to the market square before the official opening of "Theater der Welt." for this festival is "Komm! Ins Offene" (Come into the Open), a phrase coined by German philosopher Friedrich Hölderlin.
Later, people and bands invaded a huge round brick shell of what remains of a gigantic old natural gas tank at the edge of town. The city and gas company refurbished it as a roofless industrial monument and "architectural-artistic intervention" and the structure and its surrounding landscape are now used for light and sound creations. Inside, standing on the dirt floor, one feels like a musical gladiator in an amphitheatre.
On my walk home late that night the entire town seemed to be celebrating another sports event. After midnight the pubs were still full of patrons flush with the German soccer team's 3:2 win over Portugal in the European Cup quarter-finale, and people drove around in cars with their national flag fluttering from windows, honking horns.
21 June: This part of the country -- both Rostock and Halle are located in the former East Germany -- is different from the (West) Germany of my youth. People in public life are so much more accommodating and friendly than I remember even on two trips I made to this country
Opening party
After the parade people crowd into the old Gasometer waiting for the drummers from West Africa, Korea and Brazil to arrive. in 1970 and 1988. Taxi and bus drivers, post office clerks, transit and restaurant workers, and of course information centre personnel... none of them makes you feel as if the world owes them something or that they're doing you a favour. To the contrary, they seem to appreciate every small gesture of kindness and politeness. People in general seem more open, willing to start conversations or at least respond to my questions in more than merely monosylabic fashion. Perhaps it has something to do with the spirit of celebration that imbues this city, but I don't think one can write it off to that phenomenon entirely, for I've had this happen in widely different settings, including cultural events such as yesterday's multi-media show at cathedral square, sitting down for a snack in a pub today, or simply asking for directions. People are just so darn friendly and open!
23 June: Wish me a happy birthday! Further to my claim how friendly everyone is here: Day before yesterday I was watching "The People", an outdoor multi-media projection show playing on the stone walls of the Domplatz (cathedral square) and got invited for a chat at a historic pub afterwards. Yesterday,
Around the world in 80 minutes
Fictional story of a 15th century traveller from Halle circumnavigating the globe is accompanied by the Halle State Orchestra performing compositions from the many countries along the way, here on the outside stage in Market Square. while attending a lecture and art installation I got talking to someone who promptly volunteered to take me by car to Giebichenstein, the northern part of the city, which has a castle overlooking the Saale River. Today I was introduced to a Tai Chi teacher who shares two things with me -- my last name and birthday! Immediately I got invited to a birthday party to be held on Sunday! And so it goes...
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