My wagon is draggin’
I am sick with a vengeance, and have to be stoic! I have to be on the risers for all this rehearsal AKA. "drill and kill". I’m up and down off of the risers as if I have pogo sticks attached to my feet.
I thought I was ok, felt great through breakfast and until lunch, about a half hour after lunch, I was in full-blown attack. It must be some sort of a bug, it can’t be something I ate and last as long as this.
Getting through this day has been a real challenge.
I wish I could explain what these rehearsals are like, but you really have to live them to understand. Essentially we will sing a phrase and then be stopped and instructed as to how to sing each note, where to place it in our head, how to make it accurate, how to add texture, then we will sing that one phrase over and over until the coach likes the sound.
We do this all day, for the two competition songs.
Some of the rehearsal was worthwhile. This coach (the one I hate) is very big on technical aspects and she actually managed to make sense to me this time. My problem is that I am just not a left-brained person, I'm so right brained that some of the technical stuff sounds like a foreign language.
You'd think after twenty years in the organization I'd be better with the lingo.
It gets to be really draining, especially when we start working on the uptune and have to add the choreography. It takes a huge amount of energy and stamina.
I don’t seem to have much of either anymore!
By dinnertime we all looked like limp rags. We were all sitting in the banquet room and not a single person looked as if they could keep their head up! Dinner was something I didn’t bother to eat much of, as I still felt awful.
After dinner we had another hour and a half of rehearsal and then had to get into costume to perform a variety of parodies. I was ready for the last round up.
I got through the parody (which I took part in under protest), and managed to sit through all the others, then I took off for bed.
Everyone else was planning to party; they were dancing, drinking, playing trivia games, and having I grand time.
I was locked in the bathroom.
I was asleep by eleven o’clock. I woke up when Dee got in at about 2 a.m. Normally I would have been up and having fun.
This was a sign to everyone that I really must have been feeling awful. I’m never one to miss out on a good time!
Listening to: the chorus sing the same two songs over, and over and over….
Reading: The Pilot’s Wife Anita Shreve and Letter from New York Helene Hanff
Weather: who knows? I’m trapped in a hotel!
Trivia: How many stripes were on the American Flag in 1818 before Congress passed the law setting the number at 13?
The American flag had fifteen stripes as of 1818, having been increased to include Kentucky and Vermont. Realizing the potential problems inherent in adding a stripe as well as a star each time a new state entered the union, the number was reduced to 13 as of July 4, 1818. It was felt to be a symbolic measure representing the original 13 colonies which went on to form the union.
Cool word: bravura [adj. & n. brah-VYU-rah]
When you go to see a show, you hope that the actors will give a bravura performance. This word refers to a self-assured, brilliant showing. Example: "The singer's bravura display captivated the audience." Upon seeing an artist's bravura efforts you may be inclined to shout out bravo, the Italian word for excellent from which bravura was derived. The use of both words in English can be traced to the late 18th century. While the noun can refer to any brilliant skill, it is most often used in the context of an artistic performance. Near synonyms include virtuosity, dash, brilliance, spirit, vigor and daring. Bravura is not always good, though. Its negative sense refers to something done with a showy manner or someone taking unnecessary action to make their performance appear more exciting or clever.
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