In the last 24 hours I have been to Dancing practices for 2 different performances I am in.
One is for the Mikado that I'm in with G&S, the other is for the school feast day where the staff do an item.
The school one is pretty relaxed. We're not supposed to be very co-ordinated because it is then less funny for the students. Seriously. There was going to be a staff Jazz Band. We'd been practising The Baby Elephant song, but apparently we were too good so we weren't allowed to perform. Seriously. We were told that it would make the students feel bad about their performances so they wouldn't want to perform. So much for rolemodelling that it is good to practise and work at somehting until you are good at it!
The G&S one bugs me. Partly cause we started it at like 9.30pm at night. Hardly when people are most alert. It also bugs me, like most non-dance performance dances bug me in that it is all a bit slack. The timing for our singing must be precise, our consonents must be clear and crisp, but our movements can be floppy and wishy-washy and *that* is fine. Grr. I realise it isn't a dance show, but they could actually nominate a choreographer or even just someone to drill the people in the dance. The director has decided on the moves and the timing but he just does not have the time to make us practise until we get it right. However, we could practise it while he is running through readings or whatever with the leads. It's my dancing snobbery showing.
I took part in my first formal dance lesson at age 4 when I did character Ballet in St Theresa's School Hall. In our first production I was a blackbird, as in 4 and 20 blackbirds. It was all nursery rhymes, but I don't think there was even close to 24 of up. I remember the preparation, the outfits (little black leotards with hoods and beaks up above our heads), getting the shoes (being told to put damp newspaper in them and warm them in the oven to stetch them in case they were a bit small) and the actual performance.
We were supposed to all do a turn to the right, I turned to the left, knew I'd made a mistake and continued. After the performance a woman came over to talk to Mum and said that I'd had the biggest smile of all of the class. I was embarrassed and said how I'd made a mistake, but she said that I was still good and more than made up for it by smiling.
Later on in my teens a different dancing teacher was telling the class off for not smiling enough and I protested that I was. She agreed and said that none of the girls from my family (3 of us) ever had to be told to smile. We are performers. We know about energy and attitude and arms. If you have those things, even if you make a mistake, you will look good. If you make your mistake properly, no-one will notice. If you don't have those things, you'll look unfinished and unpolished. I have come in on the day of a dance performance with people who have already practised it a few times. I am shown it by the choreographer who is also dancing. After the show, I was asked if I was the choreographer, because I appeared to do it and know it the best! I dance convincingly ;)
In other news. Comments may or may not be working. Please comment or attempt to comment. I was touched by Buzzandhums comment on my last post. Maybe I should write more about science and music. I'll see.
Point of fashion: Seafoam lilacs
Current Obsession: less than 2 weeks to go.