Can-Can Dancers Ready to Shake the SkirtsI got indirect permission to leave early since I'm working graduation on Saturday afternoon. We don't get paid any more, and we can't check out early -- thanks to Chancery & computers -- so I don't feel guilty. When I got to the studio, Hope had everything packed, but we did a final check just in case -- I haven't forgotten the time we left the Faust scarves at the studio, and I had to drive cross-town to get them. We packed the car (Yes, women in performing arts must be strong like bull!); we had help at the church getting the huge costume buckets inside, then started setting up the dressing room ... and the first moms & girls showed up early! As the company and class girls filtered in, we had more and more to do -- the music had to be cued (on an I-pod, no less!); girls' hair & make-up needed doing. (Several moms watched because they want to do their daughters' hair next year.) Hope's costume needed longer elastic straps ... just the fiddly bits to bring a show together ... Steph was able to step in and build costumes since I got laid low this spring. Otherwise, to quote Hope, "We would've had a bunch of nekkid dancers on stage!"
To my surprise, my mom showed up during set barre. Years ago, when Madame toured with the Ballet Russe, the company developed a quick method of warming up the muscles ... and all of us afterwards learned the movements as "set barre." The music never changes; I did the same steps to the same music when I was a little dancer in elementary school ... I noticed that the "littles" from St. Bernard's wanted to follow Hope, but they couldn't see her -- and Hope was concentrating (as she should) on warming up for a performance. So, I kicked off my ballet flats and started doing plies where the girls could see me. I had to check Hope every so often to remember the sequence ... and I know I didn't do it perfectly. Well, the girls responded with more enthusiasm than accuracy. Who cares? They were dancers, like the company girls on the front stage. Briana, our wanna be diva, asked, "What made you an expert?" I leaned down and said, "I started dancing ballet when I was 3 years old." I didn't add that I had quit dancing for over 25 years.
The performance itself went smoothly, once we got the music squared away ... Never work with unfamiliar technology during a performance! Luckily, Steph had a back-up file that didn't shuffle or shift among the files; the tech wanted to find a hole and hide ... If Hope & the dancers weren't upset, then she needs to calm down ... The "littles" had to wait for applause -- I'm not sure whether their music was messed up or not ... But, oh, being the "gatekeeper" for those girls was not fun! They wanted to peek at the audience and whisper (and 8 girls in a small corridor get loud) ... but for most of them it was their first performance. I noticed that some parents brought flowers for their little dancers. Hope's brother Jesse came through with an adapted hornpipe/ step dance to "If I Only Had a Brain." We finished with "Can-Can" ... I started the clapping (and whooping). At dress rehearsal, the littles and their moms had seen how loud we could get in order to encourage the dancers to high kick, do splits, and shake those skirts. It was a raucous, fun finish to the show.
After the show, I saw 2 Russian Orthodox priests in the audience ... or maybe 1 R.O. and 1 R.C. I suspect that the pastor came around to see what his church was hosting. They seemed pleased with the results ... and we got donations for the company AND the church. Hope got to advertise for the studio's classes -- and the classes at St. Bernard's for 2011-2. So, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, we created a work of art from a potential disappointment.
Next Show -- A-Kon at the Dallas Sheraton Hotel
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