Acapella(320)

                By now most people have probably heard of the latest craze of performing arts; acapella. Thanks to new shows like the sing-off and movies like pitch perfect acapella is now very very popular. The meaning of the word acapella, from Webster’s dictionary, is; without instrumental accompaniment.  Because it had no accompaniment vocalist need to be able to recreate sounds of instruments with their voices, such as a drum hit, a high hat, or even a tambourine. These people are known as beat boxers and vocal percussionists, they are normally men who can sing very low and keep time very well. Actually everyone needs to be able to keep time very well. There are large acapella groups like of twenty to twenty five people, and there are smaller groups. One of the best known smaller groups is called Pentatonix. They have 5 members, hence the Penta part of the name. There are acapella groups that are all men, or all women, or mixed.

Many schools have acapella groups, which is the premise of Pitch Perfect.  In Pitch Perfect they practice with an all girls group to compete at three different levels of competition. Their biggest rival is the all men group at their same school. Although I do find the singing and the movie in general very entertaining I do not think that this is much like real life at all.

One of the college acapella groups I know about is called BYU vocal point, standing for Brigham Young University. They are an all male group and very talented. They competed on the Sing Off against the above mentioned, Pentatonix.

My personal opinion about acapella is that it can be very interesting and beautiful type of music. I like to listen to many singers on YouTube in my spare time.

If you would like to listen to some acapella here are the links to some of my favorites;

https://www.youtube.com/user/PTXofficial

https://www.youtube.com/user/vocalpointbyu

Lifts(414)

            One of the moves you have to get used to early in show choir life is a lift. In the early stages of show choir (Like middle school, freshman choirs, or even elementary schools) they don’t normally choreograph in lifts because you are not experienced enough to do it safely. So you tend to see lifts in show choirs made up of older kids, like varsities, that are made up of mostly seniors..

            The most basic type of lift takes three counts. It has the girl standing in front of her partner. On whatever their first count is they bend their knees, also known as a prep, on the second count the girl jumps straight in the air, keeping her hands on the guys, which are around her waist, and her legs straight. Also on the second count the boy lifts, just as if he was picking something up (hence the name of the move) and put it down, and on the third count the girl lands. My choreographer makes it a point to tell us that girls should be able to do this kind of lift motion by themselves. The boy is just there for a little more air time.

            One lift that my choreographer particularly likes to add into dances is called a shoulder sit. It’s pretty self-explanatory, the end product would be the girl sitting on her partners shoulder. This is a little more difficult than the aforementioned lift because it involves staying in that position for a certain amount of counts, also our choreographer likes to make couples that do shoulder sits turn in a circle. It has the same beginning as a normal lift; bending your knees on the first count. But on the second count the girl tucks her feet into the boy’s side and, after establishing balance, she puts her hands up in a “v.” The boy would grab the girl’s waist on one and on two he pulls her up and re-grabs onto her legs to help her balance.

If you have a lift, or a lot of lifts, in a song it would probably be a good idea to like your partner, at least a little bit. If you don’t like them it may make the lift a bit awkward. You also have to rely on your partner to know when to start the lift, how long to hold it, and when to end it. They are also relying on you to remember the counts. 

Partners(400)

One aspect of show choir that you have to get used to early in your show choir life is, having a partner or multiple partners. There are some songs or dances  were the choreographer chooses to not have partners either because it’s a song where just the boys are singing or just the girls are singing or it just makes sense with the choreography they have made for the song. But the majority of the time you get to have someone there to hold your hand or hold your waist or at the very least stand shoulder to shoulder with you.

                There are some times when having a partner is very necessary, like during a love song. It would be quite odd having boys and girls on stage dancing with themselves singing about how they are so in love with another person. I actually find it easier to dance with a partner then without one. But it’s also very awkward when you don’t really know the person and you have to act like you are desperately in love with them. My advice would be to get to know them. No, they don’t have to become your new boyfriend or even a good friend but if you feel comfortable saying hello in the hallways then you can be perfectly compatible dance partners.

                Of course there are times when you get pared with the one person in the whole group that you don’t really get along with. There are a few ways to react to this, by telling them that you didn’t want to be partners and have a bad relationship the rest of the year, just don’t say anything and have an awkward relationship for the rest of the year, or you can suck it up and be nice to each other. I would suggest the ladder, but it isn’t always possible to do. In that case my advice is just don’t be mean to one another. You don’t have to be the nicest person ever but you also don’t have to be straight mean to them.

                The perfect partner would be one that hits all the right counts, is nice to you, is friends with you, is strong for lifts, and one that respects you, but these aspects are not always attainable in one,  single person because they are just that, a person, who makes mistakes just like everyone else.

singing 101(405)

Today, children, I will be teaching you the art of singing. No. I’m just kidding. But I will be telling you some essentials of producing good singing habits. If you get good singing habits and build a strong base you can work up from there and experiment with your voice to make all different kinds of singing. You would not classify opera and pop in the same category, now would you?

The first tip to know is to sing from your diaphragm not your chest. Your diaphragm in a muscle underneath your lungs it expands downward when you take a good breath in. to explain it to little kids terms; your tummy should go out when you breathe in. your shoulders should not move because that means you are breathing with your chest, instead of taking a “good low breath” ad my teacher would say. Sometimes laying flat on the floor helps with breathing with your diaphragm. That brings me to my point, sitting up straight. If you slouch while singing that gives your diaphragm less area to expand resulting in a shorter breath, which could make holding out a long note, or adding crescendo to a note difficult.

Every time you sing a vowel it adds a slightly different shape to your mouth but in general it should all generally look like an O.  This shape lets the sound come out and makes it sound tall. A lot of the time directors will change the vowel sound of a word to awh. Like in the word amazing, it wouldn’t be uh-mazing, it would be awh-mazing.

During warm ups is a good time to practice vowel shape. Warming up before you sing is very helpful. If you warm up it will help you hit notes well just like a basketball player warms up before a game or practice. If you push yourself during warm ups it can help increase your vocal range, the range of notes you can hit well. But if you push yourself too much you might end up with a sore throat.

If you do get a sore throat or a cold some of the best remedies to get your throat back into tip top shape would be to drink tea with honey, have cough drops with you all the time, and drink soup. All of these things are warm and soothing to your throat.

That’s all for today children, class dismissed.

Cocoa and Carols (383)

 Cocoa and carols, yummy! To some people cocoa and carols sounds like maybe a church activity where they go from door step to door step singing off key, or maybe a heartwarming Christmas tradition between a family. But to me and my show choir family it’s another performance. My school invites kids in special choirs from a bunch of elementary schools and various middle schools to perform holiday songs on stage.  It gives these kids time to take a break from their show choir show, and think about something fun! Like Christmas!

Cocoa and Carols is nothing like our big show choir competition in February called “raise the roof” (a blog on that subject will come later.) There is not so much to prepare on our part. Of course we supply the cookies, so every student needed to bake three dozen, mine were m and m, and we have to figure out the skits we use to introduce groups but other than that there isn't much to think about. We also need to prepare what our show choirs are going to perform, but unlike that of the younger choirs we perform our competition show instead of a few Christmas songs.

Instead of wearing costumes, the younger kids perform in shirts that all look the same. Members of our choirs come on stage before they go on to introduce them and their teacher and their songs with a small skit they worked up. Then the kids stand on the stage or the risers in front of the stage and perform their holiday songs. After all the performances are done the kids sit in the audience and all the members of our choirs come on stage and sing “Rudolph the red nosed reindeer” but instead of using the words “nose,” “reindeer,” “glows,” “loved,” or “glee,” we use actions like putting your hands to your head to make antlers for reindeer, or pointing to your nose for nose. The kids get quite a kick out of this. We do it three times and the third time we go super fast. So fast that even some of our choir members mess up and say the words. Go on and try it, it’s harder than you would think.

These are my “Cocoa and carols” traditions.

"Please Shower" (415)

“Please, take a shower.” I’ve had to hear this sentence three or four times over the past few weeks. Not about me (I hope)! But about other people in my show choir. Weather you believe that show choir is a sport or just a physical activity you have to know that we sweat. We sweat a lot. Some people worse than others. And there are some that smell quite awful. Like B.O., bad breath, and like they haven’t showered in a few weeks, which, in some cases, might be. Ew, Gross!

            “Wow you smell great,” and “you smell yummy,” Are, in my opinion, some of the best compliments to get, although you probably won’t be getting any of those types of compliments after a six hour long practice.  There are some people who smell before practice though. Add six hours of sweating to that and you are left with someone you couldn’t pay me to smell.  

            Now these people may be perfectly nice people, with loads of talent, they just don’t know how to take a bath. Which literally stinks for their poor partner.

            So I have some tips to not smell so bad, in general. (Feel free to use these tips even if you don’t think you smell, they are just kind of common sense anyway.)

1.      Shower daily. This may seem like a dumb think to put on this list. You’re probably thinking “Well, duh. Who wouldn’t shower every day.” And I’m here to tell you; some people don’t.

2.      Use soap and sprays. The kind of soap isn’t important, as long as it takes dirt of your body and makes you smell better, that’s good soap. Sprays like perfumes and body mists help cover the smell, but you should start with a clean slate any way.

3.      Make using deodorant a habit. You should be using deodorant at least once a day, at the very least! There will be days when I put deodorant on like four times. When I wake up, during school, before show choir, and after show choir. Fun fact! Sometimes doctors say that if you sweat or smell a lot, you should put deodorant on before going to bed to let it sink into your glands.

4.      Change your underwear. Just one thing about underwear: that’s were all your “business” goes so change it.

If you fallow by these few rules you should be smelling clean in the time it takes for one shower, probably about 15-45 minutes, not a long time to get that compliment!

"Beauty" 562

Every society has its own interpretation of what is beautiful, and when you are singing and dancing on stage, in front of hundreds of people you want to be seen as beautiful as you can be even if it is dangerous to your health.  A few aspects of being pretty, today, include being tan, having long, non frizzy hair, being skinny, having long eyelashes, and having white teeth. These are not all someone would look at but they are a few aspects that people can change about themselves.  

Changing your eye lash length is probably the least dangerous on that list, because it isn’t an actual change. Fake eye lashes are used in my show choir at almost every opportunity, even I use them.  They are not harmful to your health unless you somehow poke your eye or get glue in your eye.

Whitening your teeth isn't particularly dangerous either. There are a few ways to whiten your teeth, by brushing with whitening tooth paste, with mouthwash, with whitening strips, or, if you are one to go tanning, some places have special teeth whitening treatments.  Whitening your teeth also does close to nothing to your health. I have heard that it can sometimes wear down the enamel on your teeth but so does coffee.

Having long, non frizzy hair is also not dangerous to your personal health but the heath of your hair is at risk. Hair is an inherited trait, whether it is red or blond or brown, frizzy or silky smooth, straight or curly. There are many styling tools that use heat that can be unhealthy for your hair, and during show choir season you have to use at least one to get the perfect hair style. When your hair starts to get unhealthy it starts to get stringy and grungy looking. Most hair stylists suggest getting a hair cut ever four to six months to keep it in tip top shape.  Another way to style hair is with teasing, also known as back combing; this is how to get that signature show choir poof but it also very bad for your hair because you are literally just tangling it into itself.

Being skinny is not bad for you if you are just naturally thin. It is unhealthy if you are skipping meals, or making yourself throw up to be thinner. Although these are extreme cases there is a large pressure to look your best because so many people will be watching you. If you do want to lose weight you should do it the healthy way, with a clean diet and exercise, when you’re in show choir exercise isn’t hard to come by!

Tanning is the only thing on this list that can be extremely dangerous to your health. We have all heard stories about people getting skin cancer from tanning beds. Now I don’t want to sound hypocritical because I have been tanning in a bed before and I am planning to go soon, but I also want people to know that I am doing it the safe way, only going once a week, and not for any amount of time that would be enough to burn my skin. It wouldn’t be that hard to be tan if show choir season were in the summer, but it is in the dead of winter and that means no sun.

Is show choir a sport? (467)

            In my high school career there has been one topic that, it seems, no one can agree upon; is show choir a sport or not? Even within my varsity show choir, Happiness Inc., there is some debate. I would have to agree with people who say that it isn’t a sport.  Now before I get shunned from my group I would also like to say that although I wouldn’t consider it a sport I think it should get just as much recognition as any other sport such as basketball or football.

            Okay, first I think sports like basketball are obvious sports because they are played against another team, head to head. The officials of the game also have to keep score. I don’t think that we should classify every athletic activity a sport though. Like doge ball, no one is going around clamming that as a sport except maybe extreme dodge ball players. It is most obviously a game, even though it can be very athletic and high energy. For this same reason I don’t think we should classify show choir as a sport. If you compared the energy levels and amount of hard work put into an activity show choir would probably be up there with football though. That’s not saying football players don’t try, the opposite actually, it is saying that show choir is just as athletic as football.  In practices we sweat, need water breaks, and do the same eight count dozens of times.

            Although I don’t classify show choir as a sport, more as an athletic activity, I still believe that is should still get a sport waver. At my school, sport wavers make it so you don’t have to take a gym. I believe that it should get a sport waver because we do more exercise in our show choir class than people do in gym classes. In gym they walk around the track a few times and then play a game or sit out of it. To me that sounds a lot more leisurely than performing a high energy, cardio working show for 25 minutes, or practicing that same performance for three hours. Another reason show choir should get sports wavers is because of golf. I’m not saying golf isn’t a sport but it’s not a work out. “But you have to walk from hole to hole, that’s a work out,” some golfers might say. Yes that’s an activity but the actual sport of golf isn’t very demanding. If golfers get sports wavers then the show choirs deserve them too.

            So all in all my stance is that show choir is not a sport, but a physical activity. It is more athletic than some of the activity’s that are now considered sports, and therefore should get the same respect as one.

 

 

Boys and Dance (400)

Last year, when I went to watch my friends dance recital, I was overcome by the adorableness of the younger kids’ dances, but I was also drawn to watch the boy dancers of all ages.  I was watching the boys because there were only a few of them in the whole show. The ratio of boys to girls was at least one to fifteen. The younger boys danced just as well as the little girls doing kick-ball-changes and turns when they were told. The older boys, all teenagers, were very good! They were better than some of their fellow, female dancers I believe.  This raised the question, why? Why are there so many less boy dancers?

Dance is generally looked upon as a “girly” activity. Generally ballerina decorations are hung in girls’ rooms and footballs and basketballs in the boys’.  I think this is because when parents look upon their young son they would like to see a great football player in his future, not a young man in tights. Even if they do think that it is “unmanly” to let their son dance they would be taking away an opportunity to make him a better football player.  Dance helps with flexibility and dexterity, which would help any athlete not just a football player. I think it is unfair that young boys do not have the great opportunities to be dancers.

Boys are built differently than girls; this can be a positive and negative attribute. Their hips specifically, are more functional for toe touch jumps, making it easier for boys to do.  They are also more muscular, which makes it harder to be graceful.   

If boys later in life feel like they want to pursue a career in dance or theater or performance, basic dance skills are necessary and advanced dance skills would be something to catch people’s attention. It would be better if they had attained these skills at a young age so they didn’t have to learn it later in life. Learning a new skill later in life is harder then when you are very young, “you can’t teach old dogs new tricks,” as some people say.

Dance class is also not just a learning situation but also a social one. Some people make lifelong friends at dance classes. Dance also gives you a way to express yourself which could keep some kids away from violence or rebellion. 

solos (270)

Solos are very scary times. In any performance there can be a solo. Band, choir, show choir, acting, dancing, color guard…all of them, they can all have solos. But I know for dance, as in dance team, and color guard solos are an actual performance of their own.

You cut any song you like so that is has no bad words and fits under two minutes. Then you write work to it. The writing work part is the most difficult part because I know that when I did my solo I just wanted to fill it up with random work that didn’t go with the big hit points of the the song, or with work that was so simple it was boring. At  my school it’s YOUR solo you can do with it what you want, write your own work and put in your own flare, but at some schools they have their color guard coach write their solos for them. Don’t get me wrong, in our guard friends help out and tell you to change a move her or there, and so do coaches but they don’t write the whole solo for you. In a way I kind of feel like that is cheating. 

After you write all the work you also get to pick out an outfit and a flag to perform with. You also get to choose your hair and makeup.

After you get everything ready the actual performance takes place. The call the number and the performer comes on and does her thing and after that two minutes she’s done. The awards come later that day.

Speech (575)

            Well speech season Is coming up and I think that’s it’s about time to explain this type of performance art, which might take a while because speech is actually not just standing at a podium, talking to a lot of people. There are all kinds of categories for acting and singing to being totally silent. 

            Ensemble acting is when a small group does a small play, their only props being a table and some chairs. They are not allowed to wear costumes but are expected to look nice. In one school you can have multiple ensembles doing different shows.

            Musical Theater is kind of like ensemble acting in the way that there is a small group of performers and they put on a show. In musical theater though they have very little lines to speak it is mostly the song they sing that keep the show going.

            Choral Reading is a little more difficult to explain. It is a bigger group of students, with more speaking and singing then ensemble acting and musical theater. The lines are spoke either as solo lines, duet, a small group within the larger group, or the whole ensemble speaks as one. The whole choral reading show can be fifteen minutes long. Now and then the ensemble sings songs that go with their theme.  They also put on a show, but with more of a mystery to it. They are allowed to wear costumes and have multiple props; they also have to have their script on stage with them.

             Now Mimes. I think everyone knows what a mime is. The creepy people who wear white face paint and pretend to be trapped in a box on the streets of Paris right? No? Oh. Well in speech mime can be a group performance or a solo event. You have to act out a scene, either serious or funny, while not using any props or any words. Just facials and your body. You’re not allowed to have costumes, in fact our director makes us wear all black so we don’t distract from the performance.

            Now the competitions you take all these performances too,(I didn't talk about all of them by the way, if you would like to read more about the different categories click here, http://www.ihssa.org/) the first competition is called Districts. This competition is held in a high school, the gym is the “homeroom” for performers from all schools to warm up, or relax, or meet up with coaches. It is also where many props are stored. The performances take place in classrooms and the auditorium. There is one judge per room who will rate the performance. After districts if you get a one rating the performance will move on to state competition, held on a different day at a different high school. The premise is the same, the gym is the homeroom and the performances go on in class rooms. There are more judges per room and it is harder to get a one rating but if the performance does, and it gets recommended for it, it moves on to the highest competition; All State. All State is held at Iowa State University and the performers still have to perform in smaller spaces but they are bigger then class rooms. The top performance, chosen by one critic, is given the banner to hold on to for the rest of the year. The banner is the top prize from all state.  

Winter Guard (414)

If you have read my blog before you will see a lot of show choir, color guard and marching band, but there is also one activity that gets a lot less recognition; winter guard. Winter guard is just like color guard in the way that you dance some and spin flags and it’s a performance for people to watch. The differences are that there is no band any more, just a recorded track to play, they also perform on a big “floor” set in the middle of a gym. The winter guard performs just as the dance team would, like in a gym or arena to a short song, about a minute to two minutes long. At my school participants in winter guard have the choice of performing a solo at state or MA solo drill competition.  In their solo participants can wear and perform whatever they want as long as it abides by the set rules.

            I believe that winter guard doesn’t get as much recognition as it should. The people on the teams practice a lot, but if you ask any random student if they like it they might react with “What’s winter guard, bro?” Winter guard performs at some basketball games at half time. Basketball is not as big of a spectator sport as football games though so not as many people see it.

            Their performance starts with them and their helpers (coaches and parents) bringing out the mat and equipment. After everything is placed the announcer presents them and their performance starts. Judges give points for performance, technique, and overall presentation. They also take away points for moves not being together, bad technique, if you break the rules, etc. Some rules are pretty normal like, no curse words in the song, but some are odd like, no roller blades, no pole dancing and so on. Once the performance is over the performers pull their mat off the performance area and the next group would come up or the basketball game would restart.

            When we performed winter guard for the student body two years ago, you could say it wasn’t our best performance, we missed our beginning cue, no one was performing, and we were all nervous for our peers to be watching us.  Yet we still got a standing ovation. From this reaction I think that if people could see more of winter guard that they would enjoy it and then the performers would get more recognition for their hard work. 

Miley (266)

I just want to take a few moments to talk about a performer that EVERYONE has been talking about; Miley Cyrus. She was once the lovable Miley with long brown hair and a crooked front tooth, but she was also Hannah Montana, pop star.  In her younger years she appealed to a crowd much younger but as she grew up so did her music. People saw her starting to dress more provocatively and she even pole danced at the teen Choice Awards. (if you want to see that; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCpHGPnz1fI) when you compare those rebellious acts to her performances and music videos as of lately ,they look like child play.

                I may be a little late to comment on this, but I was just trying to get over the death of the innocence of my once favorite singer. Now Miley has short blond hair, and barely wears clothes.  In her music video for her single “We Can’t Stop” it shows Miley dancing around inappropriately, doing inappropriate things.  It really turned me off from listening to the rest of her songs because I thought the rest of them would just be party hard songs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrUvu1mlWco

                Then we come to her Video Music Award performance. Now I just hate this “performance”. I put that in air quotes because it was just bad.  Now maybe if her singing was on pitch it would be bearable but that wasn’t even good. Don’t get me wrong. I believe Miley is actually a talented singer, but being off pitch while barely wearing clothes, and gyrating in odd patterns do not a performance make.

                

characteristics (425)

Performers of any kind, dance, color guard, cheer, acting, show choir, and choir, have many different characteristics. Some are bold with their choices, some are on the shy side and tend not to say a lot, some are so outgoing they never stop talking, but all of them have to be dependable, consistent and trustworthy people to be involved in such activities.

Performers need to be dependable because a director can only do so much, unless you want him or her feeding you lines from behind stage or yelling out moves in the middle of a show. The performer is the only one who can make themselves learn what they have to and have it locked in their brain, leaving the director to make the whole ensemble come together. Another reason it is good for a performer to be dependable is because the director will depend on you for a lot of things like, being on time, having everything you need to work and being ready for the day. Some directors depend on their performers so much they will have them run practice for a while, or give them keys to go unlock a door.

Consistency is something very useful in the world of performing arts because Directors expect that if you did it once you will do it again exactly like the way you just did it. In practice if you ran a show three times and the first one was good, everyone hit their marks or hit that back bend at the right place, the second one was awful, no one knew their lines and everyone was off pitch, and the third one was amazing, even after the third one a director wouldn’t be very happy because none of those were the same performance. Consistency also deals with being on time and how often you show up to practice, a director loves people who are early and almost never skip.

Trustworthy kind of goes with dependable. A director has to be able to trust that you won’t take those keys and unlock every door in the building or if you’re running rehearsal, they have to trust that you will actually be going over lines or hit points not just sitting around on break. Directors also have to trust that you will get your work done, if you are supposed to have such and such lines memorized then they trust that you will by the time they tell you to. These three characteristics make a good performer but talent and hard work help too.

Stress(431)

Being a teenager is a hard job in itself, with the growing up, losing friends and loved ones, new emotions, and trying to be decently behaved in public. Not even mentioning school, or jobs, or family life, or extracurricular activities, or even friendships. Adults tend to ask a lot of teenagers now-a-days, but when does it become too much? I believe that it is good to push kids to be the best they can be, but if people push too hard it will cause stress and emotional damage to someone who is still learning to be a functional human being.

            At school I’m busy from 7 am until 3 pm. 8 hours of just absorbing new information, each night I would say I have a few hours of homework, probably about three hours. And after school I have practice for show choir, which isn’t that bad now, because it is preseason practice, but once we hit the competition season it will be chaotic. I feel bad for people in cross country or swimming because a lot of the time two practices will overlap and they would have to go one to the next. And of course jobs. After school jobs are great but they just add another activity that you need to fit into a schedule. With all this time taken up where do you put hanging out with friends or spending time with family?

            I believe that one of the reasons people who work a lot, or people who are super busy get more stressed out, and tent to have anxiety, is because they don’t have time to just talk with their friends or tell their parents or siblings about their day. Because of this lack of communication there can be conflicts in homes, causing more stress then before.

            A good friend of mine told me she had a conversation with her vocal teacher about just this subject. Her vocal teacher, Mrs. Elliot, had told her that in today’s society there is too much pressure put on kids to pick the right college, hang out with the right friends, join all sorts of clubs, and get a job. Mrs. Elliot said that when she was a teenager they let you be kids. I’ve read before that teenage students today have the same stress levels as psych ward patients did in 1950. And I totally believe it. It seems to me that in the 50s kids worried more about what poodle skirt they were going to wear then what college they were going to attend. Read more about stress here: http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2011/01/its_not_the_job_market.html

 

directors

                There is a large variety of directors in performing arts, and with that comes a large variety of relationships students and actors have with their directors. Many of these relationships are good but some can be not so good. I think that these relationships depend on two characteristics. How nice or mean the director is to the students and if their group wins or puts of a good performance or if they don’t.

                First there is the student director who is very helpful but sadly gets over looked when it comes to directors. I think that relationships with student directors are tricky because in school and in everyday life they are your equal and you have to treat them as such, but when you’re the actor and he/she is the student director he/she suddenly has more authority then you and that is hard for a teenager to understand and respect.

                Then there are directors that are rude to the kids and don’t put on good shows. By “rude to the kids” I mean during practice. Don’t get me wrong. They could be the nicest person when you talk to them one on one, but during practice all they do is call out mistakes and say that nothing is ever good enough. Students dislike these types of directors because a lot of the time directors that are rude don’t produce good shows because the kids just feel belittled.

                The second kind of rude directors are the ones that are rude in rehearsal, call out people singularly, nothing is ever good enough, but they win and put on good shows. Performers feel like they can put up with this type of director because winning is the payoff.

                Its always nice to get a nice director. It is also nice to win.  There is one kind of director that is so nice, he makes rehearsals fun, he never gets mad at the kids, and he never wins. That is a big letdown for the performers because he never would have told them what they were doing wrong because he is too nice.

                Personally I think a rude director that wins is preferable over a nice director who doesn’t.

                Last but not least is the nice director who puts on a good show. These directors are the most likeable because they make practices a good time  but get down to business when they need to and they create a good show.  So the performers are happy a lot of the time and it would be just a generally good environment to be in. 

dance moms

“Dance Moms” is a reality TV show about seven little girls, around the ages of 6 to 9, who dance at Abby Lee Miller’s dance company.  Abby Lee is the owner and choreographer of this competition dance team. Each week the girls learn a new group dance and some of them are given solos, duets, or trios. While the show fallows the girls learning and practicing their dances it also fallows the mothers of the girls and the drama that happened between them, thus the name “dance moms.”

All of the drama stems from one central area, that area is Abby Lee herself. She is very picky about how the girls dance and she isn’t afraid to express it, she shows favoritism to Maddie, one of the girls, because Abby believes she is a more talented dancer then the other girls.  In one of the episodes she gives Maddie and another one of the girls the same dance solo just to show that Maddie could do it better.

This show is what I like to call, my guilty pleasure. The way Abby treats the young dancers and their mothers is just horrible. She nitpicks at everything the girls do, which makes then better dancers but at the same time makes their childhood horrible. When she treats the girls this way it makes me feel bad that I even support her show and Dance Company, but the show it so addicting! Once you start watching you just can’t stop watching.  It doesn’t help that the dances that they do are so beautiful and well performed.  

Rejection

Rejection is something everyone has to deal with at some point in life, whether it be asking a girl or guy to prom, baseball tryouts, or even in performing arts. When a show only has twenty people in the cast and eighty five people show up to auditions someone is going to get let down.  

            There are many different reactions to not seeing your name on the list you so wish it was on. Some people get awfully angry and spend the rest of their life in a fit of hot rage. “Why not me?! I was so perfect for that roll!” Maybe they just get extremely sad, and go cry in a corner, silently. Another way people coup with rejection is to put themselves back out there, say “I know what I did wrong, and I will do better next time,” and then be on their merry way off to the next audition. Now I think the best way to deal with this blow is to do all of the aforementioned options!

 Now let’s begin at the time when you don’t see your name on the list. Your heart drops, and you feel the tears swell up. That’s fine! Be sad. There is a reason you wanted to be in that play/musical. And after the sadness you will probably be mad. Mad directly at the director. He did not pick you! It is his fault you are depressed! And then after a day or two, or less depending on your rebound rate, of quiet fuming you could get the courage and go talk to that director about why you didn’t make it in, what you can work on, and how you could still be involved.

            Every single director will tell you the same thing, if you go and talk to them; “It was a hard decision. There was just so many talented people.” It’s basically the page one on “How to Be a Director.” Which is most likely true. They don’t just put people in that they want. They go by talent, it may seem unfair to someone who didn’t make it in, but to those who deserve it, they understand.  Now no matter how upset about not making it in you are, being involved is a good thing! It may be hard to just help behind the stage with lights or costumes but it’s good to be there as much as possible, getting your name and face in their brain.

Play time Poppy

Play Time Poppy is a children’s theater activity at all of my city’s local high schools. They put on one play time poppy show per year per school for young children. They have put on shows such as “The Cat in The Hat,” The Little Mermaid,” and “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” plus many more. This organization has been putting on fun plays and musicals for kids for 62 years! The show includes a lot of audience participation and yelling and singing and just a lot of fun!

            Play time poppy’s mascot is an ear of Corn; her name is play time poppy. When you’re a kid and you go to one of their magical shows she sings in the beginning about where she was born and who she is. The kids really dig it.

The thing I find so cool about play time poppy is that its been around for so long.  I remember going to it as a kid and I auditioned for it just last week, its such an odd feeling. I remember as a kid, the show being so magical and getting to meet the people after and knowing they were such big stars( because of course I thought they were their characters) was a great experience and I think its really great that kids can still get the experience now!

           

Costumes, Hair, Makeup

From eighth grade on I have been in acting and in show choir. Two totally different things, but they both have a few things in common; make up, hair, and costuming. Obviously I do not mean that all of those are the same for each activity.

            Make up for show choir must be dramatic. At my school we use black, grey, and white for eye shadow, bright red for lips, and pink for the cheeks. That doesn’t sound horrible, but when you spend an hour trying to get it just perfect, just to sweat it all off… that kind of stinks. Literally. Hair has to be big. Because, as my director from freshman year, Mr. Muters, said, “You will look bald from the stage.” Of course that’s not true. It just looks like you have really thin hair.  So the poofs and curls are very nice to have. And last, costumes. Show choir costumes are a mixture of gross looking, adorable, prom dress, and versatile. If they aren’t sparkly they won’t catch the judge’s eyes but at the same time they can’t be a dress made of sparkles.  They also have to give the feeling of the songs being performed. For example we sang “Set Fire to the Rain” by Adele last year and our dresses were red and orange thus creating us, the fire.  Dressing changes are hard to do when you only get half a minute to get all the sparkled clothes off and fresh, new sparkled clothes back on again, so dresses must be easy for quick changes too.

            Make up for acting and plays can very. If a teenager was casted as a teenager his or her make up wouldn’t take as long to do as a toad or a witch, they would simply have to express their features more. Ring the eyes with black and blush the cheeks. You have to make your features able to be seen from far away. Now if someone was casted as a frog his or her make up would take longer because there is more to do. They would have to green their whole face and add details. Costumes are also harder for plays because they need to express a certain character. So there is a very, very, broad range of costumes. Hair has the same problem as the costumes; they depend on the character.

            In a variety of arts there will be a variety of details but having to do hair and makeup will always be a trail.

Glee

Glee is a lovable comedy show about to enter its 5^th season. It fallows a high school show choir in Ohio through the year, it also is about the kids in that show choir and their lives as “normal” teenage kids, although to me I don’t find any of their situations “normal” with a handicapped person, teen pregnancy, gays, and lesbians all thrown in one. But who am I to judge what’s normal and what’s not?

Like I said Glee is all based around one show choir. But the differences in the show and show choir in real life vary quite a bit.

In the show they spend their class periods singing any upbeat, new, or popular song they want without the consent of their teacher, Will Schuester, and without any practice before hand, which is pretty miraculous if you ask me.  Their accompanist also just somehow knows what to play perfectly when they say “hit it.”  Actually in one episode where the piano player got fired he was going on a rant about how hard it was to work with “spoiled kids who point at you and say hit it” and how “het just expect him to know what song to play perfectly.” From one competition to the next, state, regional, national’s etcetera, their set list changes, as do their costumes and dance moves.

Now for a show all about show choir it couldn’t portray show choir to the non in-the-loop world more wrong! None of those things happen! At least not where I’m from. As a group we work on specific hit points on one move for hours upon hours, one song for days and days, and a whole show for months and months! We don’t perform random songs from the radio for each other and we don’t have a piano player who just knows every song there has ever been.  People spend late nights putting together our costumes for us and we perform at more than three competitions.

So when my hair dresser askes me “what activities are you in?” and I reply with “Show choir” with a big smile on my face and she reply’s with “Oh like Glee?” I will simply say “No. Not really,” because Glee is not like real show choir at all. 

Inspiration

There is inspiration all around us and when you are in performing arts you need to be inspired in many ways. You need to be inspired to just get out of bed in the morning when you are tired, to do the best you can on stage, to look the best you can, and to feel the best you can. I have learned that there are two different types of inspiration, inner inspiration and outer inspiration. The majority of good athletes have inner inspiration. They strive to be the best they can be. It’s the same with singers, actors, and performers.

You can also be inspired from the outside like if you see or hear something that is just so amazing that you need to be able to do it, or, as many teenagers would know, parents can be exceedingly motivating, with the threat of diminished allowance and less time out with friends, but it is inspirational just the same.

It tends to be that the people who try harder every day to be better every day are the ones succeed the most. That’s not to say that the other inspiration can’t do well. They definitely can., and have. In fact I would classify myself as a person who needs an extra push. Most of the time inspirational speeches help that.

Before show choir, before a show, before surgery…okay so I’m not one hundred percent sure on the surgery one…but for the others, there is always time for inspirational speeches by directors or leaders and I think it is those, extra little, pushed that make people do their best and leave everything they have on the playing field.

Healthy Living

When you are performing you want to look physically fit, like you have a lot of energy, and over all healthy. The only way to look healthy is to be healthy.  Eat healthy food, drink non-sugary drinks, exercise, and get a lot of sleep.  I’ve been trying lately to be healthier throughout my life and here are my tips on how to do that.

Read don’t watch TV. When you watch television it sort of reminds me of a movie theater, at least more so then reading a book, so of course I want a snack because you always get on in theaters. When you read a book your brain is absorbed in what it is saying instead of what your stomach is saying

                Start little and work your way up. Start with not snacking after 8 o’clock pm. Then work to only snacking on vegetables, then maybe only one bad thing for you per day, like a chocolate bar or a few pieces of candy. It won’t seem like such a big jump then.

                Exercise when possible.  Now if you’re super busy like me, right now you’re probably like “ha-ha no” and I would totally understand. I’m just saying that in this day and age, with food companies putting what they are, into what you eat, there is no way you will be the 100 percent best you can be while not exercising.

                Sleep. Praise the Lord for sleep! And it being healthy for you! That’s not half bad either! http://www.sleepfoundation.org/article/sleep-topics/teens-and-sleep the national sleep foundation says teenagers need 9 hours and 25 minutes of sleep, which I know I don’t get. If you get enough sleep you will wake up refreshed and ready to start the day, Maybe with a little exercise?

Time management

Time management is a very good skill to have when you’re a teenager in high school because you need to be able to be in school, do homework, have good grades, be in extracurricular activities, hold down a job, have time for the social aspect of it, and let’s not forget sleeping! Wow. Wow is right.  For me those extra activities are performing arts, so it takes up quite a bit of time, actually a majority of it. Most of my friends in show choir and I would say that during competition season we spend most of our time at school or at a competition.  So I just have a few hints and tips about good time managing.

                Tip #1.) Be organized. If you have to run around trying to find something that you swear you left right on the counter you’re going to be late and therefore not very successful in what you were trying to do!

                Tip # 2.) Don’t stress too much. Most of the time people have so much stress over things they cannot control and once you learn you can’t control it you learn not to stress out about it.

                Tip # 3.) It’s okay to have a little bit of stress. it makes it so you get things done quickly.

                Tip #4.)  Don’t lie to yourself about how much time you have. You could always say “oh I can just double up on that later.” But why not do it now!

Now I have to confess something….I have been somewhat of a hypocrite while writing this because  when I do have a lot of things going on I do get stressed, So badly that I cry.  Most of the time I’m not very organized, my room is a great example of that right now.

                So who am I to be telling other people how to manage their time? Well I also wanted to make it known that I’m actually pretty good and everything I do. So being organized and all that jazz is good and it helps a lot when you can be but you can also do well just going with the flow.

Irondale

Irondale high school. New Brighton, Minnesota. The Marching Knights. They have one good Marching Band show. And when I say show I mean show. I mean I was excited by what they were doing and how perfectly they were doing it. Their Marching Band is almost nothing like ours. Besides the fact that they march and play instruments.

Let’s start with the first time I saw them. It was at their own competition, at their own high school. Their show that year was zombies. Now I had to watch from the away side so I got to see behind a giant wall they brought out…let me repeat that, Giant Wall they brought out on field. Their color guard hid their flags behind it and they, themselves hid behind it also. I don’t really remember much about their show two years ago. Just that is was amazing, about zombies, and the whole band turned into zombies. At the end I remember a few of the band members got to take over the drum major ladder and he jumped off. That was a very scary moment because we, my fellow spectators and I, had no clue if he was meant to do that! We thought he could actually be dying! But no. he meant to jump off a ten foot high ladder.

                And now this year, Irondale’s show is “GRIMM stories.” As in stories from the Grimm forest…How cool is that? They have trees on the field and their color guard is dressed as little red riding hood. The two male color guard members are dressed as wolves! Its just generally awesome, in my opinion! Their big trick this year was having a guard member throw other members flags from the top of a ladder, as they were dancing. And while doing all that, they still stayed in step.

                In my neck of the woods show choir is the big thing. Show choir is what its all about, marching band is…not. I cannot help but think how odd it would be to have a marching band that is looked on as good, and entertaining. It’s like show choir and band switch places. Just an odd thought. Read more about Irondale Bands here: http://www.irondalebands.org/

Small Actors

“There are no small parts, only small actors” is a very famous quote said by Constantin Stanislavski. That quote is said, sometimes, to make people feel better if, say, they got a

“small part.” By that I mean a part that isn’t a lead, maybe someone who doesn’t have a speaking role at all, or even someone didn’t get the solo they desperately wanted. Basically everything that isn’t the super star of a play because that is generally what people aim to get.

            My opinion about this quote is that it’s so untrue! Speaking as someone who has had one minor lead role in middle school, but has tried out for every musical/ play that she could, I think that it is just a false quote. There are too small parts, Constaintin! If someone doesn’t have a direct effect on the plot, I would call that a small part.  Trust me; I’ve had many of them. Including but not limited to; chorus, chorus, and towns people.

            Actually I think the exact opposite! There are small parts, but no small actors. I think that if you gather maybe 15 plays, with 10 characters each, that is 150 parts to cast.  If there were really actors specifically meant to have small parts, then a director wouldn’t be able to picture them in any one of those 30 or 40 lead roles. Now if you look at it the other way, there are 120 small roles. I mean, yes some people might not want a big role but that’s not saying they couldn’t do it if they were cast as one. What I am saying, though, is they could also be so much bigger!

            So here is my own quote about acting; “there are small parts, and also versatile actors.” Maybe that s not the best way to word it, maybe I’ll think of a different way soon. What I’m trying to say from that quote is that; there are small parts and lead parts and of course the one that everyone wants is the large one but if you can be a versatile actor or actress you should be able to play both.

Spring Awakening

In the world of acting there are a lot of controversial plays and musicals. Now, until I was about thirteen I had not been exposed to many. I really wasn’t exposed to anything controversial except for world tragedies such as September 11. My exposure changed when I went to see “Spring Awakening” for the first time that fall at Simpson College. (Read more about Theater at Simpson: http://simpson.edu/theatre/.) My cousin, Caleb, was in it. That’s why we were going as a family. I saw it again just last summer and I could actually watch it this time instead of sitting there horrified that I was watching a show with this type content.  

            For those of you who are not too into acting and plays, who don’t know every word of every play by heart, it basically touches on every sad part of being a teenager. (http://www.springawakening.com/) The sadness, the nostalgia, the anger, the rebellion, and yes even the sexuality. Like I said it’s kind of controversial.

            Now, I just wanted to give my opinion on this play/musical. From the mature, art loving side of me: I think it is very well written and both times I saw it, it was acted wonderfully. I think it does truly express the emotions of how it feels to be a teenager in today’s society even though it was set and written in late nineteenth century Germany.

            Okay. Now from the immature, adolescent in me: It just made me so sad! Not to mention you can only take so many sexual connotations when your mother is to your left and your father to your right. Honestly, sometimes I still jam out to the rock music in it, because who doesn’t love a good jam session once in a while, right? It is just such a sad musical!

            My cousin played Moritz Stiefel. Spoiler Alert! He kills himself. Although I loved seeing my cousin acting it was weird seeing him carry around his own head!

            I can’t tell you if I like the show or not, because I don’t really know, myself! I think the content is just depressing and only portrays the sad parts about being a teenager. I also think that, at least the times I’ve seen it, it was entertaining and captivating to the audience. So basically what I’m saying is; I will never take my kids to go see it but I would definitely go see it again.

Comparison

In the performing arts world people tend to compare themselves to one another. How that girl has an amazing alto voice and mine is weaker, or, he is such an amazing hip hop dancer, or even, her hair is so much prettier then mine. The littlest details can cause jealousy and bad feelings to generally nice people. Now I would be lying if I said I was never jealous of people, because I do not believe I am the absolute, unmatched, most talented person out there, and if you do, hey props, man. Other people definitely do not feel the same way about themselves, including me.

            I think people feel this way because they only see one side of that “better” person.  They know their own flaws and weaknesses and what they  need to work on, maybe singing louder or getting their acting skills up to par. While they compare themselves to somebody who needs dancing lessons but is an amazing singer or someone who is a great actress but isn’t the prettiest. People compare their good traits and bad traits to someone’s good traits and are left feeling down about themselves.

            Ways to overcome this, speaking from personal experience are not always easy. The best way, in my opinion, is to just set goals and work hard to achieve them. One of my favorite quotes is “Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard.”  Tim Notke. I like this quote because it’s so true. If someone is talented and knows it, they tend to not do anything to further them and eventually their talent is over looked and gets boring. When someone works hard and has, maybe, half of the talent the previously mentioned someone has then they will make that talent grow and grow. They will keep getting better, maybe a slow rate but they will get there. It’s kind of like starting a race at different places, the more talented person closer to the finish line then the less talented person. Then after the gun shot or checkered flag the more talented person just stands there, twiddling his or her thumbs. While the “less talented” person runs like a maniac at the goal.

            Another way to get over being jealous of someone else’s talent is to become friends with them! Once you realize that they are not perfect you will be able to accept that about yourself too. Also enjoy that persons talent! Maybe they got a lead in a play that you really wanted. Are you going to let that ruin the entire play for you? No! If you got a smaller role you are going to rock that part and enjoy the rest from the wings!

            Really everybody has different talents. You cannot compare two totally different people. If you both love to sing then sing, in key or not. If you love to dance then you both dance until your muscles are sore and you have blisters on your feet. People need to realize their own talents.

Oh no

Have you ever had those “oh no” moments? When you elbow that glass of water onto your dates dress, or when you drop your brand new galaxy s4 smart phone on the side walk and when you pick it up the screen is shattered? Oh and that last example actually happened, sadly, to yours truly. That is exactly like the feeling of being behind the stage of almost all performing arts. Maybe not so sad but just as hectic. Before or during every performance something is bound to go wrong. Whether it be something as simple as; forgetting black socks, or something as bad as; the lead lost her voice. The show must go on.

 Now I have done marching band for three years, but for some reason this year has been the most stressful. Perhaps it’s because I am a senior and therefore have more pressure put on me, or maybe it’s because I feel the need to have everything under my control. Whatever it is, it’s very prominent right now, with only our second performance soon and our first competition on Saturday. I cannot speak much for the band, although I think they are in the same boat, the color guard is not prepared. It makes me nervous that we have to go on field with some girls who don’t know the work and some who don’t know their right foot from there left. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying I don’t like them as a person or anything bad, I’m simply saying I don’t like being unprepared. So when it comes to those “oh no” moments I’m not the best person to talk to.

 “Oh no, I dropped my flag.” “Oh no, I missed that set.” “Oh no, what do you want me to do about it?” Just keep going. I only say that because I don’t think I am the cause of “oh no’s” most of the time. I admit I have had my fair share of mishaps but they are not so often that people would think I cannot stand on my own two legs!

Weather I like it or not those moments are basically unavoidable. Someone will step off on the wrong foot and someone is going to hit their head with their flag. All I can is help and then wait for the next person to say “oh no!” 

Start Of The Season

When other people think of fall they think of Halloween, or football, or leaves changing, but when I think of it, I think “Marching Band.” Actually I think of mid-season marching band. Pre-season starts in the summer, in the 100 degree heat. We work our butts off for four months to get one show. Then it’s done. The bus rides, the practices, everything is just done. Which is an odd thought. When you spend eleven plus hours a week doing something then you quit cold turkey, it’s odd. Anyway, I’m actually in the color guard. Not so much the band, but we are considered part of it. Like I said it’s about mid-season right now and we have our show almost halfway done. We have scooped out the others and seen what competition we have in store. And I am excited! If you think of the year as a roller coaster this would be the part when you’re chugging up the incline and you look down, your stomach does a flop, and your brain releases the adrenaline. Our jackets and shirts that say color guard all over them have just arrived and it’s always fun to see all of your section or your guard wearing the same thing at two in the morning when you get back from a competition. Also you can’t forget the joy of forgetting your hair ties at home, or running out of bobby pins on the bus. This is my last year of color guard, unless I decide to do it in college, and I’m so sad about that. Senior year is really a “year of lasts.” No matter how much I get frustrated with them my guard is MY guard. It’s a family away from family. I cannot wait for this roller coaster of a year.