Afrika! Afrika! An opening night review

I joined Kate Middleton at the premier of Afrika! Afrika! on Thursday. To infer i was actually by her side would be wrong. But the intimacy of the O2 tented structure in the round meant that sight-lines of the princess-in-waiting were, unfortunately as clear as the view of a whooping Vanessa Feltz. At least the set-up made you feel like you were right on top of some of the most gasp inducing circus i have ever witnessed.

I had only a limited number of expectations from a two-hour celebration of African culture and dance. I correctly anticipated traditional tribal dancing, my fears were realized by a couple of Lion King-type moments of performers dressed as jungle animals and I smiled a knowing smile at the hypnotic bowl, plate and even table spinning, which brought to life the vibrancy and colour of African life.

What i didn't expect was an phenomenal choreographed basket-ball scene on unicycles that steals the second half of the show, a juggler who juggles, but with the balls bouncing back off the floor and two contortionists that actually caused my fellow audience members to hide behind their fingers. The male version eases the audience into his dislocated discipline by squeezing himself through a tennis racket. His female counterpart however proves that if your spine is actually formed from rubber, you can bend into the most stomach churning shapes and still wave to the fans. My host voiced what everyone else was thinking: "What would happen if she got stuck?". My reply must have been one that was echoing around the auditorium: "How do you even discover you can do that?!"

There were a minority of moments during the show that were designed to appeal to the more populist Afro-American interest. The basketball routines and the dance-school Fame induced acrobatic break-dancing left me impressed and in awe. The Broadway tap-dancer on the back of a pink Chevvy performing to a group of building site workers just left me confused and bewildered. But the majority of the 100 performers from 20 African nations brought delirium, gasps and rapturous applause from all tiers including the royal box. If you enjoy the unexpected to wow you, this is a must see. It's Cirque de Africa on the Greenwich peninsula.