On arrival, with very low light, I could hardly make out the hunched forms on the floor supposedly asleep. They were the musicians playing sloths, and when the time came they slowly got up and began to use the goblets filled with varying amounts of water to play celestial sounds. But this was just the beginning. Slowly, one by one, they rose from the space on the floor and each one crawled individually to take their place at various instruments on the makeshift stage.
Xylophones , timpani, piano accordion, scratching LPs, and also using voice, their performance lasting about forty minutes was exceptional, it was so creative I was stunned. All of them were totally immersed in their roles as sloths playing perhaps a 'Middle Earth' type of music. And it sounded wonderful!
'Only in New Zealand', I said to myself, and at the end of their act I was happy to congratulate the leader, a young Maori girl who was totally modest and even self-effacing in accepting my warm praise.
Really, Wellington has a bright future with these young people who will eventually take the artistic helm. Viva la musica!
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