Shut up and Dance! (with me)
This is the year I decided to shake it up a little. I love my day job...even with its annoyances it is by far the best it has ever been. But the personal activities side of things had gotten stale. I always know that it's time to stop doing something when I start dreading doing it. I was coming back angry and frustrated by orchestra rehearsals. I did not want to leave home to go to board meetings - nor did I want to prepare for any of them. Bad board member! I don't like working with board members like me! But, my board work was too much like my day job, and unlike the day job, I wasn't getting paid, which, lets be honest, makes it more fun.
Fun, yes, that's what I was looking for. So, I wrapped up my board duties and finished my assigned projects. I notified my orchestra I was going on sabbatical. Then I jumped into a musical theater audition, something I hadn't done since grad school. I went in without having done much singing, or any dancing for a couple of decades, and then I experienced the rush of getting a callback for a part! The excitement was short lived, as someone who was much more skilled got it, but I ultimately got to be part of the ensemble. I rode my bike to rehearsals and felt like a kid again. I went out for beers with the cast and crew weekly and made friends with people in my community who I had never met before.
And then as we were about to go into the performance week I found myself getting mad at myself for pulling out of the tap portion of the dance audition (I've only tapped once, disastrously, in 9th grade). It turned out that the biggest, baddest, best number of the whole musical featured the tap dancers. I also learned that several of my cast mates had never tapped before either, but they figured it was worth a try, Suddenly I realized I was the only one who had held myself back, and for what reason? Now I was relegated to only one, instead of two or three costume changes. I still enjoyed the experience immensely, but from here on out, I decided I would always try anything that is offered at an audition, even if I did it badly.
After the musical, I started looking around for other creative activities to do with a little less commitment time but would be helpful in future auditions, and I impulsively signed up for not one, but two dance classes - one basic tap, the other a musical theater class. First I had to buy my shoes. I got a little giddy when the ballet-pink boxes arrived and suddenly I had a dance shoe collection: character, jazz and real tap shoes!
I liked the tap dance class a lot -it was just what I was looking for; the language of the style, a breakdown of all the elements, and putting together an entire routine. I then felt guilty about leaving the family and going to a second class that week, but the minute I stepped into the musical theater class, with its high ceilings and famous music that I grew up with, I felt so at home and happy! I learned I can do a pretty good job of morphing into different styles and putting together movements. I learned I really liked dancing in the style of Bob Fosse (awkwardly sexy!) and Jerome Robbins (power ballet!).
What does this have to do with travel? Well, I think it is a form of it, traveling a new path and leaving old, more well-known and well-worn ones in search of new feelings, new experiences, growth and new connections. Going to these dance classes makes me feel like I did when I was a kid and you just got to play and have fun. Yes, there is hard work involved, but it doesn't feel like work.
It also provides more opportunities to experience when things don't work out. The missed speaking role. The botched step or sequence. The audition where you are not picked. I recently answered an open casting call for extras in a Chicago dance troupe who was coming to Madison. I had a number on! I had to dance with chairs, other audition candidates, and I made up my own dance sequence based on my writing. I definitely felt it, but whatever I conveyed wasn't right, because I was one of the few who weren't picked. It was disappointing, but it didn't change the experience of putting it out there in the world to see where it goes.
Where does this go next? Likely to a ballet and singing class next semester, then auditioning for another musical. After that, who knows?! It's about the journey, right?
Fun, yes, that's what I was looking for. So, I wrapped up my board duties and finished my assigned projects. I notified my orchestra I was going on sabbatical. Then I jumped into a musical theater audition, something I hadn't done since grad school. I went in without having done much singing, or any dancing for a couple of decades, and then I experienced the rush of getting a callback for a part! The excitement was short lived, as someone who was much more skilled got it, but I ultimately got to be part of the ensemble. I rode my bike to rehearsals and felt like a kid again. I went out for beers with the cast and crew weekly and made friends with people in my community who I had never met before.
And then as we were about to go into the performance week I found myself getting mad at myself for pulling out of the tap portion of the dance audition (I've only tapped once, disastrously, in 9th grade). It turned out that the biggest, baddest, best number of the whole musical featured the tap dancers. I also learned that several of my cast mates had never tapped before either, but they figured it was worth a try, Suddenly I realized I was the only one who had held myself back, and for what reason? Now I was relegated to only one, instead of two or three costume changes. I still enjoyed the experience immensely, but from here on out, I decided I would always try anything that is offered at an audition, even if I did it badly.
After the musical, I started looking around for other creative activities to do with a little less commitment time but would be helpful in future auditions, and I impulsively signed up for not one, but two dance classes - one basic tap, the other a musical theater class. First I had to buy my shoes. I got a little giddy when the ballet-pink boxes arrived and suddenly I had a dance shoe collection: character, jazz and real tap shoes!
 |
| I love that the boxes were ballet slipper pink |
I liked the tap dance class a lot -it was just what I was looking for; the language of the style, a breakdown of all the elements, and putting together an entire routine. I then felt guilty about leaving the family and going to a second class that week, but the minute I stepped into the musical theater class, with its high ceilings and famous music that I grew up with, I felt so at home and happy! I learned I can do a pretty good job of morphing into different styles and putting together movements. I learned I really liked dancing in the style of Bob Fosse (awkwardly sexy!) and Jerome Robbins (power ballet!).
What does this have to do with travel? Well, I think it is a form of it, traveling a new path and leaving old, more well-known and well-worn ones in search of new feelings, new experiences, growth and new connections. Going to these dance classes makes me feel like I did when I was a kid and you just got to play and have fun. Yes, there is hard work involved, but it doesn't feel like work.
It also provides more opportunities to experience when things don't work out. The missed speaking role. The botched step or sequence. The audition where you are not picked. I recently answered an open casting call for extras in a Chicago dance troupe who was coming to Madison. I had a number on! I had to dance with chairs, other audition candidates, and I made up my own dance sequence based on my writing. I definitely felt it, but whatever I conveyed wasn't right, because I was one of the few who weren't picked. It was disappointing, but it didn't change the experience of putting it out there in the world to see where it goes.
Where does this go next? Likely to a ballet and singing class next semester, then auditioning for another musical. After that, who knows?! It's about the journey, right?
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