Parents(400)

                In the world of show choir, moms and dads are the equivalent of superheroes, with super powers, and at times their own personal kryptonite. Now I’m not just talking about the moms and dads that drop kids off, although they are also very hero like. I’m talking about parents that sit through each practice, that fix the broken costumes, help set up the stage, heal a hurt student, all of this and more.

                Let us start with parents that are supporters, biological parents that is. Many people who accept a Grammy or Oscar thank their parents, this is the least they can do to express how thankful they should be. Parents are always there to be an emotional rock for their child. Their child could bring them any problem they are having, any problem at all and they make it better, or not so bad. They also know their childs health better then the child himself. Not to mention the financial stress performing arts puts on kids. Yet through all this they still support their child no matter what.

                Show Choir moms in my choir are simply called “Mama.” I don’t think there is a more fitting name for them, since our show choir is a family. They take care of getting information out, organizing committees, costumes, make up, hair choice, and little things here and there. This is a lot to put on just a few people. They come to our competitions, no matter how far away it is. They find lost items. They remind us to stay hydrated. They have two downfalls; their own children, and emotions. Although there are new kids every year the moms still get attached to the kids in the show choirs now so when they leave the moms of course feel sad.

                Dads! Dads are the muscle and technical brain to almost everything, not just show choir. They help set up the stage so we don’t go over our time. They also help tear down after the performance. And unlike moms they are back stage so they can help with costume changes zipping up girl’s dresses and pointing out boys untucked shirts.

                Without parents most show choirs would have no set, no costumes, no one to go to when someone gets hurt, and no emotional support.  Parents are the core of show choir and without them there would not be a good show. 

state(368)

Districts speech marks the beginning of speech season. I have explained what exactly speech is in an earlier blog, read here: http://performthosearts.blogspot.com/2013/11/speech-575.html District speech in Monticello Iowa is a day long event. And in this blog I will be taking you through a day in the life of district speech.  

It starts with waking up bright and early for a bus ride up to the school. When there, the whole group unloads everyone’s props and tables from the trailer after that its free reign until your category is up. When it is your coaches like to practice a few times before the actual performance. The “home room” is actually the gym at the school. Separate schools claim certain sections of the gym and unload all their personal items there. The performances, there for, are actually held in class rooms, the auditorium, the choir room, and band room.  Larger performances like choral reading and Readers Theater are held in the larger rooms like band and choir rooms. Smaller performances like ensemble acting and mime are held in normal class rooms. The one act play is held in the auditorium.

Performances go on in all rooms until about three o’clock. All during that time, in the gym, people post results from performances.

Performances get rated on a scale of one to four. One meaning they pass on state two and three meaning they don’t. Most performances get a one. Its about seventy percent get an one and thirty percent get a two. Not many people get threes because it basically means the content of their performance was offensive and a four means they broke the rules and they got disqualified. All performances get one rating from the judge except one act. They also get to have comments about their performance.

You can go watch any performance your heart desires. Most of the time I tend to stay to watch my own groups or groups that I have a connection with in some way but some of the time I go to the improve room. The improves at districts are normally either really very good or just generally bad. That’s why its entertaining to stay in that room.

Next stop, state. 

Pep band(340)

To pep band or not to pep band? That is the question. Although pep band has been around for years, there are some die hard sports fans that believe that having them play at half time or during touch downs is annoying and unnecessary. I believe that having a pep band makes whatever sport more entertaining and also pumps up the crowd and players. 

Before games some people have different rituals like cleaning their shoes, doing a pre game work out, or listening to music. Music tends to pump people up, and it gets endorphins moving. If it can do this before a game, why not during? Of course the music pep bands play isn’t rock and roll or anything like that but any sort of music can have an effect on a person.

Some people believe that it is distracting to have a band. I think that that statement is worng because there has never been a time when the band has caused someone to miss a game wining free throw or a 90 yard touchdown. Crowds make more noise than the band does. It part of the sportsman’s practice to deal with stress and distractions, so when people think that the band is distracting its basically saying that they do not have good players on their team.

Is it really necessary for the pep band to play the fight song after every touch down? No probably not. But people want to hear it. It gives the crowd a reason to be part of the game that they paid to get into and it gives the players a sense of pride knowing that they did something good.  Players are used to the band being there to support them, so if you suddenly take away all of them  the players probably would actually think “hey where did they all go” but they would register that the crowd is smaller and less loud then normal.

I think having a band to support and make noise for sports events is very important.

whats in your show choir bag?(495)

                “Do you have some bobby pins I could borrow?” someone says while holding her hair in position “Yeah sure check my bag.”

                “Does anyone have any hairspray?” Someone asks frantically, “Yeah get it from my bag over there!”

                So you forgot something while going to a show choir competition. Something vital, like hair spray or bobby pins, or make up. (Oh my) well have no fear your companions and classmates are here. Anything that you have misplaced I’m sure someone is bound to have one. But for now I thought I would share what I believe everyone should carry in their bags and things to have “just in case.”

                First, a water bottle. Staying hydrated while you’re eating unhealthy food and performing your heart out is a must.  Sweating could lead to de hydration, and performing two shows while not feeling well could result in some serious medical issues.

                Second, a change of clothes. Some show choirs dress up and in that case it would always be a good idea to have another pair of pants ready. Other show choirs wear jackets or tee shirts. Most of the time kids come in sweatpants and sweatshirts, anything to stay warm in these cold months, but after you get done performing under 1000 watt light bulbs and you are sweating all your make up off you might want something a little more summer like to wear. I suggest a pair of athletic shorts and a tee shirt. Then if you get cold after all the adrenaline is gone you can just layer up with those sweats.

                Third, make up. My show choir supplies make up for us but that might not be the case with all choirs. At the very least they don’t supply you with skin make up like cover up and concealer so you have to bring that yourself.  Some girls like to put it on even before going to the competition so as to not be seen without make up but I would still take it in case you start to break out or burn your forehead. (a personal experience of mine.) I would also bring my own eye liner and mascara and fake eyelashes because even if your choir provides that for you, you probably have better ones at home.

                Fourth, money. There is a lot to by at show choir competitions. From food to buttons to shirts, and everything costs money.

                Fifth, hair supplies. By know you know that show choirs need to look uniform and also have the same hairstyle, to do that hair style it might take half a can of hair spray and 50 bobby pins but you still have to do it. So I always bring a teasing brush, hair spray, bobby pins, and a straighter or curling iron. These few things are basics of show choir hair.

                With these things in your show choir bag you should be set for a full day of dancing and singing.0) 

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.