the_literary_spider (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_literary_spider) wrote2012-06-22 09:39 pm
the_literary_spider) wrote2012-06-22 09:39 pm
Entry tags:
Rock Challenge!
Hello All,
So, you know that small indie *cough*worldwide*cough* dance/theatrical competition that is Rock Challenge? Well my school competed yesterday, and we won! This means we now are the bearers of the oh-so-modest title "Open Northern Champions". Hear that? I'm a CHAMPION! All that aside, it's not the winning I remember, as that was bittersweet, but the dancing and the meeting people.
The rehearsals were glory. In between running to the dressing room for hair and make-up, and our own practicing, all we did was watch the other schools. One did a awe-inspiring Disney with a twist piece, with an amazing gymnast and a tear-jerking soundtrack, while what must have been the most adorable primary school ever did a whimsical take on the "Art gallery at midnight" concept. Their was also a beautiful dance called Postcards From Heaven, which hovered between wistful and melancholy in a way that tore at the soul. Cancer Research was credited in the most harrowing thing I've ever seen, a piece about a promising young dancer thrown into uncertainty by cancer, who fought (and won) her mental demons as well as her illness in a teary but life-affirming climax. There were many other schools, I could go on forever, and all of them were absolutely wonderful performers, as well as people.
Dancers are such characters. Just like Youtubers, Theatre-Kids and Fandom members, they're like an entirely different species. You can accidentally use someones can of glitter hairspray, and then the next minute you'll be leaning on them discussing your fave musicals like old friends. Or you can tell a group to "break a leg" and then after the show you can all cluster around the speakers in the dark, sprawled on the floor next to complete strangers who feel like family, holding hands and chanting and screaming like nothing else exists. You can meet people, compliment their accent and then feel genuinely upset when you have to leave the hugging, laughing and singing behind, because you felt so caught up in the lovely vibes, That's what happened to me.
Our school won, but when we were all sat in that circle in the dark we exchanged hopes and assurances that the other would win. When it was announced, they didn't cheer for us, they cheered WITH us, and hugged us and said how much we deserved it. In truth, we were upset they didn't win, as we thought they did. They were all such lovely people, bound to us by a love of the last minute "Hairspray and bobby pins fix everything" atmosphere and the will to keep dancing. I remember winning, but THAT I will cherish forever. Its times like that that make all the aching and bleeding and fatigue worth it...
Eight-Leggedly Yours,
The Literary Spider
So, you know that small indie *cough*worldwide*cough* dance/theatrical competition that is Rock Challenge? Well my school competed yesterday, and we won! This means we now are the bearers of the oh-so-modest title "Open Northern Champions". Hear that? I'm a CHAMPION! All that aside, it's not the winning I remember, as that was bittersweet, but the dancing and the meeting people.
The rehearsals were glory. In between running to the dressing room for hair and make-up, and our own practicing, all we did was watch the other schools. One did a awe-inspiring Disney with a twist piece, with an amazing gymnast and a tear-jerking soundtrack, while what must have been the most adorable primary school ever did a whimsical take on the "Art gallery at midnight" concept. Their was also a beautiful dance called Postcards From Heaven, which hovered between wistful and melancholy in a way that tore at the soul. Cancer Research was credited in the most harrowing thing I've ever seen, a piece about a promising young dancer thrown into uncertainty by cancer, who fought (and won) her mental demons as well as her illness in a teary but life-affirming climax. There were many other schools, I could go on forever, and all of them were absolutely wonderful performers, as well as people.
Dancers are such characters. Just like Youtubers, Theatre-Kids and Fandom members, they're like an entirely different species. You can accidentally use someones can of glitter hairspray, and then the next minute you'll be leaning on them discussing your fave musicals like old friends. Or you can tell a group to "break a leg" and then after the show you can all cluster around the speakers in the dark, sprawled on the floor next to complete strangers who feel like family, holding hands and chanting and screaming like nothing else exists. You can meet people, compliment their accent and then feel genuinely upset when you have to leave the hugging, laughing and singing behind, because you felt so caught up in the lovely vibes, That's what happened to me.
Our school won, but when we were all sat in that circle in the dark we exchanged hopes and assurances that the other would win. When it was announced, they didn't cheer for us, they cheered WITH us, and hugged us and said how much we deserved it. In truth, we were upset they didn't win, as we thought they did. They were all such lovely people, bound to us by a love of the last minute "Hairspray and bobby pins fix everything" atmosphere and the will to keep dancing. I remember winning, but THAT I will cherish forever. Its times like that that make all the aching and bleeding and fatigue worth it...
Eight-Leggedly Yours,
The Literary Spider