Well, my friend and I performed in our school talent show this past Friday! It was really exciting- I never thought I'd get the nerve to SING in front of my school!

For our talent show, there aren't any awards given, but we do perform twice- once for ninth and tenth graders, and once for eleventh and twelfth graders. My friend and I are both in twelfth grade, so we were really excited for that performance- there were a lot of singers in our show, but people were probably surprised to see my friend and I up there, as we've never made it into our school's musicals.

The first performance, we were so scared. We were also not told that there wouldn't be a skit before our number, just an intro for us. So we're waiting backstage for this skit to start and they start opening the curtain. We're in a frenzy- "Why are they opening the curtain?" "Should we go out?" "Where are the mics?"

I had been hoping we could use body mics so we could do our blocking, but a) it wouldn't have been fair, and b) our school's tech system (and the peoplerunning it) are so unreliable that it would just be better not to complicate things. Unfortunately, I hate using hand mics. I prefer having a body mic or just relying on my own projection- hand mics are so unpredictable... and these did not fail us. We went out onstage and were instructed to tap the mic to make sure they were actually working. Then we began our number- and the mics were SO LOUD! I guess that's better than too quiet, but I was inthe audience for the later half of the show, and they were really loud. We had cut out the blocking of our routine because a) the mic cords would get tangled and one of them wasn't very long and b) my friend was terrified (she's never performed onstage before) and just wanted to sing. I figured since I had pushed her into doing the "dearest darlingest" intro, I wasn't going to push anymore. I think we really needed that blocking, though.

At one point, which you'll see in the video, I decided I was going to move a tiny bit, just a few steps, and took the mic off its stand at a really weird time. Then I realised I couldn't move, being in such a weird place onstage, and the mic was so loud that I had to hold it down to my waist so as to not blow anyone's eardrums. This show was definitely not the best place to find out exactly how much I've improved, volume-wise, this year.

So the video is from the first performance, but I think the second performance was better. We had gotten all of our nerves out and were just excited to perform for our peers. Also, we had been told that the audience could hear the singing voices, but not the piano. When I heard this, I nudged my friend and gave her a discreet thumbs-up; oiur pianist couldn't play that song, and when she played chords, it sounded like she was playing a ballad while we sang our song.

Our second performance went really well, and I felt good about it. I'm really happy that we were able to do this, considering how many adjustments had to be made for us to even audition. Here's the link to the video (I'm the one on the right in the white dress):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeMHaQFxXO8

I had another performance yesterday, as well, for my Triple Threats dance class. First, though, let me explain a little about this class. Last year was the first year for it, and the music teacher was just amazing. He worked well with kids (our class ages ranged from 10-17), had a great voice, and didn't treat us like we were stupid- though we played the occasional acting game, the weekly classes were very much like rehearsals, which I loved. The younger kids, however, who were not as serious, hated this class. They wanted games games games all the time. I don't think this is because they were younger- when i was their age, I liked the same rehearsal process I like now. However, sometimes their lack of dedication irked me. One girl even said, "Why do we have to rehearse this AGAIN? We learned it once, we already know it."

So our teacher had planned to come back this year- I took his summer class and worked on The Secret Garden with him and he told me what he panned for us to sing... and then he never came back. We don't know where he went. This was very sad, since he was a great teacher, and weird because he had panned to come back. So this year, we got a new teacher, a girl this time. She's nice, she studied opera in college, she has three young kids, so she should be good with us, too, right? Well, this year, they began a little kids' TT, for ages 6-11... and I swear there's no difference in how she runs that class and our class of 12-18 year olds. We are doing Work This Out from HSM2 for our recital... not the best, but much better than what she was going to have us do... but we would only run the number once and then play games the rest of the class time. Ugh! I am not a fan of acting games... occasionally, they're fine, but I just want to rehearse the number.

Unfortunately, not many other people are of this opinion. The kids who hated it last year are having a great time. They hated the seriousness of last year's class and love to fool around during the games. They seem to forget that we have a performance this month and we don't need to play "emotional monologue" for the fifty millionth time. Additionally, when I tell them I liked last year's class better, they always say, "You just liked it because you got a really good solo and got the best costume." Well, it's true that I did get a pretty decent solo, but it wasn't the best one. And yeah, I got a great costume... because it was the only one that fit me. Those tiny girls would have been swimming in my costume!

So anyway, we had been scheduled to perform at a senior center yesterday. So I left at a good time, but realised that I might need my cd, so I had to turn around and get it. Then I hit every single red light possible, and then had to drive trough a town that only allows 35 mph... and enforces it. Finally, I got there and realised that she never told us what building we were performing in- and there were about five. I tried to home center first- locked. Finally, me and few of my classmates decided to try the fanciest looking one. Luckily, we were right. We ran up the stairs where the performace was being held. When we got there, my friend informed me that I was performing my solo (we had seven solo performances) right after our group number. I had to change from a chef's outfit into a dress with seemingly no time. So I put the dress on underneath. It was falling down, so I didn't do the routine very well.

I was already really flustered for cutting it so close and having no time to change, so my solo suffered. I think I did okay, but why would she have done that? She knew I had to change. I was really mad, frustrated, and annoyed- at the class, at the teacher, at some of my classmates, and at myself- so much that, when my mom took me andy sister to Friendly's afterwards and she asked about the performance, I started crying. I've been so frustrated this whole year because I expected this year to be amazing- we were supposed to be working with a teacher who was great, and who knew our strengths and weaknesses and had great songs picked out... I'll be glad when this class is over.