Creative Caffeine

by Celia Falkenberg

Christmas has always held a touch of magic for me. As a child I watched the Nutcracker and carried the image of floating ballerinas into every December that followed. This year I met a real one. A prima ballerina named Katya Kinski. She became an unexpected teacher of both Pilates and creativity.

The course arrived as a complete surprise. It was a chance invitation and an extraordinary gift. Her studio in Camps Bay, Cape Town looks over a blue, generous ocean. It all felt like stepping into a dream. I arrived expecting discipline and technical correction. I left with new muscles, new ideas and a wonderful sense of play.

Katya is the real thing. Trained at the elite Perm State Ballet College before joining the Russian State Ballet, Moscow. She has performed on some of the world's most renowned staged and danced principal roles in Swan Lake, Giselle and Anna Karenina. She carries precision in every movement, balanced by an easy smile and a wicked sense of humour. A...

A search that unearthed a surprise

“Arggghhh!” The farmer clenched his fists and cried out in frustration. He’d lost a hammer in his field and was wasting precious time looking for it. Not that the hammer itself was so precious but it was solid enough to do damage to his machinery should it be ridden over. When he rang up a friend with a metal detector, neither of them were aware of the turn the day would take.

The friend set off into the field and began to scan the ground. After some time, the alarm sounded and he started to dig, thinking that he had uncovered the hammer. Instead, he pulled up an ancient gold coin. Wha? More digging. More coins and some jewellery. Flummoxed and thrilled in equal measure, he called the farmer and they dug together. They could not believe their eyes. Could it true? Was this real? What they had unearthed was a true treasure trove!

This is the true story of farmer Peter Whatling and his friend Eric Lawes. In 1992 they found what is now known as the Hon...