Put on your Dancing Boots!

I suspect that my friends are a tad jealous of me. When you work in vibey Long Street, in an office filled with charming, fun-loving, dedicated professionals and your day is always unpredictable, who wouldn’t be? But I think the foremost reason is that I’m part of the team behind the biggest party Cape Town is yet to see. Carnival! Dancers! Minstrels! Drummers! OTT costumes! 2-Storey Floats! Can you say idyllic?

I’m the PR and Marketing person(ality) for the Cape Town Carnival, and I’m relishing it. We work hard, we play hard and most of the time the lines between work and play are blurred. This week was a prime example.

I was fortunate enough to see the birth of a future number one hit. The Cape Town Carnival theme song was recorded at the impressive Kaleidosound Studios and produced by Gabi Le Roux - he of Mandoza’s cross-over hit Nkalakatha. Watching Gabi compose and record the song is quite incredible. He approaches his task with a meticulous yet highly intuitive style. Something he was born to do, I’m convinced. I wonder what he would be like if we were back in the 16th century? I’m sure that he’d resemble the maniacal genius of Mozart. Love your style, Gabz!

The theme song is thoroughly feel-good (perfect for summer) - about Cape Town coming together through art, building those much needed bridges through culture and of course having fun at the carnival. Word of caution – you will dance.

t’s performed by local marvels that you might recognize but I’ll keep you all in suspense until it’s officially released. What I can tell you is that they’re brilliant at improvisation, stringing together acoustic versions of the theme song in merely seconds. Raw talent. My job for the day was to document all of this on film, which we’ll upload onto the website soon, so keep visiting

www.capetowncarnival.com. Also, check Facebook and Twitter (CTCarnival) regularly for updates on events leading up to the Carnival parade taking place 18-20 March 2010.