shoes(366)

Most girls, teenage girls at least, have worn high heels and know that they take some practice to just walk in; they take even more practice to dance a whole show choir show in, and look good doing it. The shoes that my school uses, for girls at least, for our prep show choirs are one inch, tan, character heels. Character just means they are plain heels no extra wow factor.

                Since they are not that tall they are pretty easy to dance in, they just take a while to get the foot noise to quiet down. Foot noise is obviously the sound shoes make when they are on the stage, when just dancing it is not a huge deal to pay attention to because the groups singing should cover it up but at times when the group is just walking, like to go to a costume change the foot noise can be something that gets on judges nerves and they can take off points for it.

                Like I said, though, the one inch heels are not that bad to control. At my school the varsity group uses two or two and a half inch heels and they are not forgiving, on the knees, feet, or the stage. They are quite painful to practice in but you need to or else you won’t be able to get through a whole show.

                Another problem with most shoes and stage for show choir is slipping, it is very simple for the shoes to not have traction and cause the wearer of the shoes to slip from one place to the other. There are a few different ways to fix that problem though.  One good idea is to put duct tape on the sole of the shoes; as long as it stays clean the tape will make the shoe less slippery, but it is very hard to keep it clean so I tend to make little grooves in it with my nails and that seems to help some.

                Another helpful thing to do is spray them with hair spray on the soles. The hair spray drays up and becomes sticky to help get a better grip of the stage.

Pre Awards(455)

There is a point in every show choir competition that all the groups kind of put from their minds the fact that they are surrounded by people who would like them to fail and have fun.

                Of course performing is fun  and most of the people watching you want to you to do a good job but there would still be those people from other schools criticizing every wrong note and noticing every time you do a move that’s not up to par. Even when hanging around in home rooms or watching shows you are surrounded by the air of competition. But the one point at every show choir competition when people can forget about that is the time before awards yet after all the performances.

                Performers and parents and show goers all make their way to either the gym or the auditorium, wherever that competition holds their awards, and wait while the judges and the announcers work on counting ballots and scores to see where all the groups stack up. From my experience this normally takes about 20-40 minutes.  People sit by their school there is sections of kids on the bleachers, usually you can tell by that they are wearing, where their color stop that where that certain school stops. During that time kids from all show choirs do a variety of things.

                One thing they do is have a dance party; such classics as The Cupid Shuffle (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMwcoaZNauQ) always get people up on the gym floor. This is no homecoming dance, people are weird at show choir so it’s much more like a, go up and move however you feel at that moment.  Sometimes, there are certain schools that have people that can do cool tricks like back flips and interesting dance moves, and sometimes there are dance offs or flip offs. Those are always fun but also very scary. Sometimes the crowds start cheers such as the “we’ve got spirit yes we do, we got spirit, how ‘bout you?” cheer, and the “rock the boat” cheer. It’s all good fun. Most of the time is taken by talking to peers around you and just sitting down because after a long day of performing and makeup and hair doing, people tend to be tired.

                Sometimes the results take longer to get than forty minutes and that’s when people get rowdy. They could take longer to get because the scores were very close, or because there was a problem with the calculations, or their electronics were not working.  Then you start hearing the “why is it taking so long” and “come on” the sounds of tired teenagers.

                 When they do come people get quieted down to listen to the suspenseful rankings and awards. 

Theme shows(423)

Just as fashion and lifestyle change so do fads with show choirs, with such things as jazz hands and sparkles. The newest “hot thing” is a general concept for a show, these shows are called themed shows. For my purpose I will be calling a show without a theme a “normal” show. Today, we are right on the brink of the break out hit; Theme! Some directors love them and some hate them. But it seems that the show choir world is slowly turning to favor a theme over the norm.

What exactly is the difference between a theme show and a normal show? Well I’m here to tell you! There is a world of difference. In a normal show there is normally four or five songs, two or three different costumes and a band. In a theme show this is about four or five songs, two or three different costumes and a band. Oh did I just repeat myself? The only real difference between the two kinds of shows is the theme itself. In a normal show the songs don’t have to do with each other at all, you could try to make faulty connections between them to help the show flow but in general they are all separate parts of one show. You might need to tap into a different emotion between two songs which could be a task in the middle of performing.

In a themed show however, the songs all connect together to make a show or just to keep the same track of mind. A few examples of a theme are war, or metamorphosis, or being a better you. Some directors choose to take a more theatrical approach to a theme show choosing themes like, Alice and Wonderland, Snow White, Cinderfella, I even saw a show about anime toys recently. In the more theatrical ones they normally have one or two big soloists who are the leads, they get to wear different costumes and have special dance parts sometimes. I’ve noticed that a big thing this year is to have the leads sing the ballad solo instead of just a random solo here or there.

Personally I don’t particularly like the theatrical themed shows because it takes away interest from the good vocals and dancing of the group and puts it on one person. I do like having a theme though, it just seems to make the show go smoother, and I know personally performing one is a lot more fun and easier to connect my emotions to. 

hell week(332)

At my school we have a special name for the week before our first show choir competition; Hell Week. We call it this because it can be very stressful at times, but it is to prepare us for the tiring day of show choir, singing, and dancing we have a head. Although we start learning our show in the middle of july we don’t have it anywhere near finished and competition ready by this time of the year that’s why we have hell week, to give us a few hours of extra practice before going into the metaphoric ring.

                The main issue I have with hell week is that is very very stressful, there is stress from homework, and school work, and the fact that you have a competition in a week, and you need to keep your body in top physical condition for that competition.  It’s a lot of stuff for one person to take in, to handle the stress it is a good idea to not procrastinate on homework or work to be done, also getting work done in class would be a very good idea.

                Another problem of hell week is that practices are lengthened which means less sleep for the performers, tech crew, and really anyone involved in the show in any way. Also being at school for a longer amount of time takes away time to do homework so you would have to stay up even later to get that done. Plus being a growing teenager takes a lot of energy away from you to start with.

                You may have noticed that when you spend a lot of time with a certain person or group of people they tend to get on your nerves, well people in show choir tend to spend a lot of time together, so you can probably guess that arguments can break out. People talking, doing the wrong move, or even singing a wrong note can hit the right nerve to make someone super mad. 

Hair Do's (515)

                It has come to the beginning of show choir season folks! That means getting to see all your opponents’ shows and costumes and, interestingly enough, their hair. One of the things show choir judges judge on is how uniform everyone looks, that means everyone has to have the same hair, although with the new fad of the themed show that seems not to be the case, but I will talk about that in a different blog. This can be trying for some people if the hair style the director chose is straight and your hair is naturally really curly, or vise versa, it might take you about three hours to do your hair but you have to, it kind of stinks but in the end it has a great outcome. So I just wanted to share some of my tips with you.

                First and foremost, do not dye your hair any unnatural color. By unnatural I mean purple, or green, or any other then some sort of blond, brown, or red. I know that it is a new fad and that it can look pretty great but on stage it would look very odd. Now I do not mean that if you are a natural brunette that you shouldn’t dye your hair bright blond, hey if you want to do that go for it!

                If it looks weird up close fix it. When I first started show choir I did the hair styles because that is how they told me too, looking back on it I’m thinking, “What in the world was I thinking?” You shouldn’t just do the hair because they told you to, yes everything does have to be uniform, but that doesn’t mean it all has to be exactly the same. Everyone has different hair, think, thin, short, long. I do suggest that if you do have short hair you grow it out, it will make the process of doing hair so much easier. At my school we have to sign a waiver saying that we will not cut our hair drastically.

                Don’t overdo bobby pins, do over do hair spray. This one will be short. Do not use too many bobby pins, yes it is a good idea to secure your hair but if you have upwards of fifty bobby pins in your pretty little head, I think you should just re do the do. A show choir girl’s best friend is hairspray.  Keep those fly away’s down and your hair locked down tight.

                One last thing, show choir is known for its poofs and honestly I love them. They look good from on stage, but some girls have a hard time deciding when their poof is high enough, and they just keep going, and going, and going. A pretty good rule is three fingers high, I believe that looks good on stage any less and it looks too small. But of course it’s not up for me to decide. I’m just saying I have seen some crazy big poofs, (seriously it was about the size of the girls head.)

you have to have confidence. (410)

If you are in show choir, you automatically have to have confidence for a good show, at least a little bit. On a scale of one to ten, one being no confidence at all, not even wanting to leave your room, and ten being, Victoria’s Secret models or people that streak at NFL football games, because let’s be honest, they have to have some guts to do that, you have to be at least a 7 to do everything we do in show choir. Higher than average, but you don’t have to be crazy out there.

First of all you have to be confident with your self and your body. A lot of the time, when we have costume changes we change with other people, sometimes all of the same sex, sometimes its mixed gender back stage and normally you don’t have enough time to make sure no one is looking at you  while you change.  I mean obviously you will be wearing under garments and girls normally wear spanks under their tights for a bit more innocence but its still just like being in a swim suit in front of a lot of people.

Another reason you have to have a lot of confidence is the fact that no matter where youre performing there will always be someone’s eyes on you. Maybe a judge and maybe not, but someone will be so you have to know what you’re doing and be confident in it. There will also be times when you make mistakes, once I fell down in the middle of a song, can you say embarrassing? You can imagine that the feeling after something like that would be to want to run off stage or hide, but you have to be confident enough to get back up and get right back into the dance, knowing full well that tons of people probably just saw you face plant.

One thing that I know I had trouble with when I first started show choir was partner dancing. What? A boy? He has to grab my waist? Oh my gosh this is awkward.  We have to be how close? Ew he is sweating. But you have to make it look like you have chemistry with this guy who could be your best friend or even a total stranger. You still have to have confidence that even if you feel weird you are doing the right move and so is your partner. 

Results(423)

                    Show choir, to me is not all about winning. It's about getting up in front of tons of people, performing my little butt off , making great memories with my fellow members, and growing as a person. But I have to admit, winning doesn't hurt.
                    This weekend our freshman and prep show choir competed at Prairie High School. They both seemed to be in a good position for the very first competition of the show choir season. They had sharp choreography and good vocals. Of course there are things that need some practice time in each show. But competition is not just based on how well they do by them selves, but also by how well their competitors are prepared. And after seeing some of their competitors I still thought our prep had a good chance at first or second. Last year they went undefeated and I know many of them wanted to do the same this year.
                    After all the wonderful performances we waited in the gym to find out who won. We waited...and waited....and waited. It turns out we waited for an hour and a half because the judges had technical difficulties. After all that wait we learned that our freshman got first place and our prep got third, which was kind of a shock but it sparks the idea for this blog; how to deal with results, whether bad or good.
                    I would first like to start off by saying that winning is not everything, just as I mentioned before.
                    Okay let's start with worse case senerio, what do you do if you get 7th out of 7 groups? I'll tell you what you do. You accept the ward graciously. You do not act shocked, or insulted or anything. Other groups should applaud you just the same. That basically goes for all spots your particular group considers a "low" ranking. Then your group should go back to rehearsal and work hard to fix the things the critic judge told you after your show.  They shouldn't go around talking bad about other groups. It's bad etiquette.
                    After the announcer tells everyone who the second place winner is, everyone will know who the first place winner is because of process of deduction. But that doesn't mean the second place winner shouldn't get their own recognition. That means the winners should be gracious and give the second place winner their applause and not cheer that they one. They cam cheer after the announcer says they are the winner but not before that.
                   
         
                   

Funding(390)

Schools decreasing funding for arts and performing arts is a very common premise of movies and TV shows, the lead actor or actress would be greatly affected by this lack of money and get right on trying to save their beloved program with a, just crazy enough to work plane and quirky situations they get themselves into, such as someone being stuck in a tuba. These movies and shows are light hearted and in the end of course they get all their funding back and can restart their lives just as before. The unfortunate fact is that this situation of school officials taking away the Arts and Performing Arts budget is actually happening right now in many schools all across the nation.

            My school wasn’t affected as much as some schools. Basically we just had to do some extra fundraising to pay for our costumes for show choir. A lot of schools do not have as much money as we do to start with anyway. Some schools don’t have any art programs or any music programs either. And I think that that is such a sad thing because learning about, and making art is more than just listening to some lecture and putting some paint on a canvas.

            Art can help you express yourself, weather through photography, painting, dancing, drawing, or singing. If kids express themselves through art there is less of a chance of them becoming angry, and thus becoming violent. Without a way to express themselves students could also become sad and depressed. Which would lead to a bad school environment.

            Students also like extracurricular activities because it gives them a mental break from math…science…social studies…language…language, in a different language… all these classes require thinking inside the box and they have a structured lesson plan. I know, that kids can express themselves through written word like in Language arts classes, but most of the time it’s about learning the structure of a periodic sentence or listening the teacher talk about an essay they just read. It’s not so much about giving the students a chance to write their thoughts on paper just to get them out of their heads.

            This is why people should help and support performing arts and the arts in schools, it also why the school board shouldn’t take away funding from hard working kids. 

dealing with competition(427)

Dealing with competition in any form can be difficult. Other people can be ruthless and mean and spread rumors every which way.  Now In head to head sports you can be so mad you literally tackle the guy that you believe has started the rumor, or are your competition. Which is a perfectly fine way to deal with it; let it fuel you.  In show choir and other competitive performing arts we need to be a little more creative.

As you probably would have guessed, tackling someone on stage is a very frowned upon by coaches and many members of the audience. But so is talking about other show choirs badly.  My director makes it a point each year to tell us that we represent not only ourselves but also our show choir and our high school. That doesn’t stop people and performers from other schools from talking bad about us though. They may say things like they don’t like our costumes or that they thought we didn’t sing a certain part right. And when you hear that it is kind of like a blow to the chest, because you have been working your butt off to make a great performance, and all they noticed were the bad things. This is where the competitive nature comes in. You want to turn around and look that guy in the eyes and say “Listen here bud, that was a great performance.” And maybe add a few choice words. But, you can’t. It would reflect badly, and that’s how to get more fuel to the fire.

A way to deal with competition for show choir is to put one hundred percent of your energy into your performance. More than likely there would be a moody or dark song that one could act totally mad at the world, and use the competition to drive that anger. But how do you use anger, during a happy song? Well, I’ll tell you! You obviously can’t let that emotion show on your face, or it would ruin that whole song, which would just make you even angrier, which might ruin another song; it is a cruel cycle really. Well using anger in a happy song just takes a little bit of thought. First, you think how angry they made you, then you think about how good it would feel to get a score better than their group, then you think about how to do that, and then you realize that you have to at least act totally happy to win. And there you go.