The Last Rehearsal

elemental is just a week away, and the last proper rehearsal for polishing just ended an hour ago. so from now till the real show on tues at the adc where people are actually paying to watch a dance show, there will be only one technical run and one full dress rehearsal for which the full cast can logically be present.

it is not that the organisers of the show or the various performing groups are not putting in enough effort. in fact, a senior told me that we actually had more practices this year compared to last year (are you serious?) . it is just me feeling insecure with the liberal way by which things are run. i feel uncomfortable when there is too much room for spontaneities. it is perhaps the lack of faith in people to do the right/ necessary things when they could give all the reasons to not know what to do. it is perhaps the unconcious belitiling assumption that many will not take the initiative to find out what to do. it is perhaps the result of being under the ruthless rein of the jc cca system, which had seeded in me an urge for iron-fist control.

but the people here, in my dance group at least, are different from those i encountered before. again and again, they have proved that my secret apprehension is plain superfluous. these people join dance because they have the passion for dance and performance, even among them who are complete novices in dance. when we came back for the first rehearsal after six weeks of absolute holiday ( there is no such thing in hc dance hitherto! ), the people actually remember the choreography, despite complaining about not practising much on their own over the hols! they actually care enough to even think of practising by themselves!

i admire our choreographer's faith in people's ability. she lives by the motto "if you say you can't, you won't. you can." when i first talked to her about my interest in joining her piece, she told me all she wanted is commitment. she neither held any auditions to select people for her piece, nor did she do blocking according to the abilities of the dancers. all were treated fairly and equal because she thinks we all can achieve the same. how great an encouragement this is for people who love dance but never had the opportunity to dance, just because they are not good enough!

she is fantastic when it comes to working under pressure. there were several crises since we began rehearsals for the piece. any of them could have driven an ordinary choreographer mad. once, a handful of people who said they would be in the piece decided to change their minds after they learnt the choreography. then, there were difficulties finding venues for rehearsals, such that the already pitiful number of rehearsal sessions became uncertain. a few days ago, we thought we would be missing a dancer because she had to be in poland for an award presentation ceremony organised for her by a university during the period of the show. and just yesterday, a fellow dancer had an accident and could barely get out of bed without help, which means she cannot perform! poor choreographer had to think of ways to cover her absence in the very last rehearsal! but she did not blow up, which is very professional. put it simply, she is C-O-O-L.

i am keeping my fingers crossed that things will turn out alright for all six nights next week. i have never done performances in five consecutive nights before. the closest was just two. and even then i was drained, like every bit of energy in me was squeezed out, after the adrenaline rush wore off. really hope all of us have the strength to juggle work and performance to last for the week. and from what we did for rehearsal just now, i think the show is going to be exciting =)