So here it is, the final curtain call, the finale so to speak. After an intense week of training this is what we were working for. The Friday night performance. But before we go there I have just read over my last 4 days worth of blogs, and its interesting to see how much my confidence has built in such a short time. At the beginning of the week I was out of my depth, now I am swimming as beautifully as a swan. Ok maybe not a swan, that may be a bit too majestic.... maybe just a duck or something. But either way I am not drowning like I was on Monday thats for sure.
I was also distinctly worried that I wasn't connecting with the course tutors on the first couple of days, but that really changed as the week went on. Both were very supportive, and I would really relish the chance to work with them again. Becky in particular was fantastic, she spent time with whoever needed it and was always happy to stay behind for a few minutes if you needed to run over some dance moves and Vicky was always there to support us in our solo songs. So what about the group? I had said that it was lacking warmth and didn't gel all that well. Even this changed tonight, there were a couple of exceptions, but we found ourselves working as a group, supporting one another and bonding how a group should. We had become a unit rather than a series of individuals on the same course, and that is something which makes such a difference, especially in a final performance.
So needless to say before the class had even started I was feeling a lot better than I was at the beginning of the week. We were to have one dress rehearsal then it was the performance in front of a small audience. By now everything should be slick and very much ready for the dress rehearsal, well it wasn't.... things were messy, and all of a sudden we had all become very nervous again. In under 30 minutes we would be performing the final show. I used this time to help that guy in front of me i've talked about previously in "One" get his steps right. With a little guidance and one on one he started to pull things together well. I think I was a bit harsh on him in the last two blogs, but thats frustration for you I guess. I was just hoping this would be enough to make a difference.
So its show time, and we start with "All That Jazz". I hate to admit it but whilst at the beginning of the week I described this dance as rather boring, but I love it now, I even like the song. I pulled this off faultlessly, as did the group. It was smooth, it was elegant it was outright sexy, just how its meant to be. We couldn't have asked for a better start. We would now move into our solo pieces, mine (which was in fact a collaboration with two course late starters rather than a solo) was three quarters the way down the bill so it would in fact be after our first group song "Seasons Of Love". This all went rather well too. In the dress rehearsal, we were all out of place and failed to deliver the song in the way we should have. But as a group we heeded Vicky and Becky's advice, and delivered the goods.
So far so good, but then came "No One But You", the song I was singing with two others. I have to be honest in every run through I had been left kicking myself because I wasn't happy. Everyone accuses me of setting the bar too high, but I set it that high because I know its what I am capable of. With this said whilst I knew singing was a weakness, but I still had to set the standard I wanted to achieve over and above what I had so far delivered. Ok, we were by no means the best of the individual performances (that goes to Jess with Good Morning Baltimore), but boy did we do well. We had far exceeded anything we had delivered before, by a long shot. This wasn't our best performance by a margin, it was our best performance to date by a mile... you have no idea how good this felt. Also there was another great feeling I had actually sung solo in front of an audience, something I feared doing. So it shows if nothing else had come of this week at least my confidence had improved. The reality was however this week I had learned more than I had in a long time. The applause at the end felt genuine and I felt good. Surly this was going too well?
So to bring the show to a close we had our last group song "You'll Never Walk Alone", we had pretty much nailed this song from day one so there were no fears here. This just left us with our finale piece "One", you know that one that always ended a mess? It had all gone too well so far, surly this is where it all goes tits up? Surprisingly not, ok there were small errors from people, but nothing overly noticeable. Remember that guy in front of me? I couldn't criticise him one bit, he delivered, as did I, well as did everyone. We truly finished the performance on a high!
What a show... what a week!!! I don't think anyone let the group down, so what better way to finish it off than with a few photo's, and a few drinks. I actually missed my last train home, and instead had to get one to a neighbouring town, from where I would have to walk. I got home at 3.20am, and had to be up little after 6 for work. But that vibe from the show made all these sleepless nights and the 5 mile walk so worthwhile. Had you have asked me on Monday I would have said this course would have been a waste of time and indeed money. Ask me now and I will happily say its been amazing, great course tutors, a great group and an amazing show to top it all off!
So anyway thats another course done and dusted, so I guess I will continue telling you about the last course I was involved with next time I write. Until then keep reading, and leave some comments! You guys have been slacking off!
G xxx
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