My blog description states that my goal is to dance in the recital, and it looks like that will happen. I’m looking forward to it with a mixture of anxiety and excitement.
With less than three months to go, Miss K is getting serious about rehearsals. She sent out a firmly worded email to everyone who signed up to be in the recital, known as GBDAC (Give Belly Dance a Chance). Her message had three major points:
(1) Attendance becomes critical from now on. “Your fellow dancers will be relying on you to be there so that they can be sure of their spacing and so that I can be mindful of the overall look.”
(2) She will need to start calling individual corrections, “e.g., ‘Harriet, keep your arms up!’ I won’t be ugly….just direct and efficient. If you are going to have a problem with that, let me know now….”
(3) Trust her judgment when lining up dancers for a choreography. “I will make sure everyone gets a chance to be seen…but I also have to make sure that those who know the dance best and execute the steps cleanly are in critical places.” She added that it’s a big stage and everybody will be a star.
The last two points are apparently sensitive issues with some students. I was a little surprised about that.
For instance, about point No. 2 - I mean, don’t you expect some correction? She’s the teacher, and you’re the student, right? True, we are not used to being corrected by Miss K. She doesn’t take the time to make individual corrections during regular classes. She knows exactly what she’s going to cover, has the music ready, and barrels through class like a freight train. You just hang on for dear life. Barring someone collapsing onto the floor, which hasn’t happened yet (and if it did, that someone would probably be me), nothing slows down the class. I like that. We learn more, drill more, and it’s a great cardio workout. I’ve been in classes where the teacher goes around to every student to make adjustments, or she stands around deciding what to do next or looking for music, and a lot of time gets wasted.
About point No. 3 - I didn’t realize we had prima donnas in our midst. They must be among the advanced dancers. Those of us who are still on the bottom rungs of the belly dance ladder want to be as inconspicuous as possible. We’d all be in the back row if we could.
Miss K wrapped up her message with some inspirational cheerleading:
“Over the years, I have watched the attitudes of the public shift in our favor. While some will always question the art of belly dance, many have come to appreciate it. It is – I believe – because of well-rehearsed presentations like GBDAC that this has happened. So we’re going to have a blast!! AND we’re on an eternal mission!!
On with the show!!!”
No comments:
Post a Comment