Pastor Dies After Snake He Was Handling Bit Him (link to story)
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Monday, February 10, 2014
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Put me in the show
Sorry to be so quiet. You will not believe my new time consuming interest that's taken me away from you. Imagine some trumpets and jazz hands when I say this: SHOW CHOIR.
I KNOW RIGHT?
Outside of Glee, I've had no experience with a show choir. When Olivia auditioned, I imagined a sort of Lawrence Welk-y kind of vibe and that's a real thing, but middle school show choirs run the gamut all the way from that end of the spectrum to rock show with fog machines (I am not kidding). It is an energetic, smelly, enterprise that requires every ounce of creativity and time available for the directors, choreographers and children. And lots of deodorant. Along with another mom, I'm in charge of snacks for the 57 kids who participate in Rome Middle School's show choir, Grand Illusion. They are hungry children and they are children who work.
So it turns out there's this whole culture (not in Georgia) surrounding show choir. There are entire PUBLIC SCHOOL auditoriums that have been built to honor the tradition of show choirs for high school and middle school kids just over in Alabama and Tennessee even. That seems crazy in itself to those of us who attend schools who only pretty much honor football and maybe band. In the last few weeks we've taken these kids to competitions where parents wear matching team shirts and choirs come from an actual legacy of support. In this culture it's not likely that you'll get beat up if you admit you sing and dance with your friends.
I've been completely enamored with the pageantry of this sparkly show life if you want to know the truth. If you've ever seen middle school boys dance, you'll know what I'm talking about when I say this community supports ALL it's children. Middle school boys (most of them) who are attracted to show choir are probably not the sort of middle school boys who are known for what the kids call SWAG. There are always a few who can really pull it off, but for the most part we are witnessing ON STAGE all the discomfort and awkwardness that goes along with being male in the 7th and 8th grade. Their effort, despite being self conscious, added to their distraction and amazement of having a REAL girl actually dance alongside them, lends itself to quite a spectacle. In other words, it's incredibly brave and perfect. Perfect because all that's wrong with them is completely accepted as right in this place. And that acceptance extends to our girls as well - the too skinny ones and the overweight ones who sing into the mirror and imagine being respected one day for the voice they have. We take the ones who aren't afraid to just close their eyes and trust the music. We take some divas and some who have 50 1st places coming their way in the next few years and a whole lot who may later say this was the best time of their lives. Gay, straight, shiny or not, we'll take you. If you look a little like Napoleon Dynamite, we will definitely take you. So if you can dance or sing or really even if you just would really like to dance and sing, we'll probably take you.
And when you see a whole auditorium filled with people who support all of these kinds of children, you can't help but fall for this culture. Our choir is no different (except that I love them more) than the others in that I notice all of them have the same cross section dynamic. Providing kids with an opportunity to shine is an endeavor I can get behind. At one point, all 2000 of us were waving our phones and arms singing along with an unusually soulful and gifted kid who, in all his awkwardness, has probably spent many a night thinking of what it would be like to have the admiration of a room full of people and show choir so willingly provided that reality. What a gift this community is to children who invest in music.
The reality of our little show-choir-that-could is this: In the 5 years since it's beginning we have received exactly $0 in support from our school and city administration. We all feel some envy when we enter schools who have an actual practice space or auditorium because it means someone valued their gifts. Our students audition for a coveted spot in Grand Illusion (the directors used to have to beg kids to join) and they come from the usual public school backgrounds - some wealthy, some not, some with parents who participate, some without, all different skin tones. For a lot of them, it's the first experience where they've been told their voice has value, that they have something like talent and that they are expected to do their part for the team. And boy do they want to rise to the occasion. Some of them beg rides because there's no one to get them and no one's going to be there when they get home. Some of them fight to keep grades up because they find family here and don't want to get suspended. Some of them will not hear a parent say, "I'm so proud of you." Our kids witness other groups who don't have to do a thousand bake sales and car washes to buy costumes. They see kids who can afford to pay their directors and who probably get to practice in front of actual mirrors. Their risers probably don't have to be nailed back together regularly. Our kids don't say anything, but I imagine they notice the difference between themselves and groups who don't have to work for every dime.
And the rest of the story is this - 5 years ago Grand Illusion took last place in competitions against those schools, but for whatever reason they went back. Their directors tell them, "We are proud of your best," so they are not afraid of losing. We've been happy with 3rd place and with 2nd too (or as Olivia cheerfully and sincerely calls it, "Best Loser"). By last year they'd had a taste of 1st place and this year they brought every bit of energy they had, every bit of belief they had in their own abilities and the abilities of their friends, every bit of talent to the stage because the last frontier was right in front of them. The team that comes from the show choir dynasty of sorts was in their sights. The team who, although very talented, reeks with entitlement and mocks them and sneers when they walk by was in their sights. Our last competition scores gave the kids a fighting chance against them and our kids know that with some work, giants with a 14 year title reign can sometimes be toppled. Sometimes, and thank God because sometimes, in show choir, the kids who work the hardest win.
God, I wish you'd seen their faces. I wish you'd seen their joy. Grand Illusion, The Diamond Classic 2014 Grand Champions, danced and sang and cried until 2 a.m. and are beside themselves today. They earned that.
These wonderful kids, who may or may not have tons of opportunity just handed to them in life, learned something that is invaluable, I think. When you want something, work harder than the other guy. If the judges give criticism this week, go home and work harder for the next show. If the choreographer of another team mocks your dancing on youtube, don't be distracted, just work harder. If the opposition sneers at you, you must work harder.
I couldn't be prouder of how they've worked and that means I'm going to work harder for them. Here's a link to my new gofundme site: http://www.gofundme.com/5gcoxg. I'm going to get them risers. I'm going to get them sound equipment that doesn't short out and I'm going to get them some mirrors. Maybe they'll let me be in the show one day! I'd love it if you'd join me.
I KNOW RIGHT?
Outside of Glee, I've had no experience with a show choir. When Olivia auditioned, I imagined a sort of Lawrence Welk-y kind of vibe and that's a real thing, but middle school show choirs run the gamut all the way from that end of the spectrum to rock show with fog machines (I am not kidding). It is an energetic, smelly, enterprise that requires every ounce of creativity and time available for the directors, choreographers and children. And lots of deodorant. Along with another mom, I'm in charge of snacks for the 57 kids who participate in Rome Middle School's show choir, Grand Illusion. They are hungry children and they are children who work.
So it turns out there's this whole culture (not in Georgia) surrounding show choir. There are entire PUBLIC SCHOOL auditoriums that have been built to honor the tradition of show choirs for high school and middle school kids just over in Alabama and Tennessee even. That seems crazy in itself to those of us who attend schools who only pretty much honor football and maybe band. In the last few weeks we've taken these kids to competitions where parents wear matching team shirts and choirs come from an actual legacy of support. In this culture it's not likely that you'll get beat up if you admit you sing and dance with your friends.
I've been completely enamored with the pageantry of this sparkly show life if you want to know the truth. If you've ever seen middle school boys dance, you'll know what I'm talking about when I say this community supports ALL it's children. Middle school boys (most of them) who are attracted to show choir are probably not the sort of middle school boys who are known for what the kids call SWAG. There are always a few who can really pull it off, but for the most part we are witnessing ON STAGE all the discomfort and awkwardness that goes along with being male in the 7th and 8th grade. Their effort, despite being self conscious, added to their distraction and amazement of having a REAL girl actually dance alongside them, lends itself to quite a spectacle. In other words, it's incredibly brave and perfect. Perfect because all that's wrong with them is completely accepted as right in this place. And that acceptance extends to our girls as well - the too skinny ones and the overweight ones who sing into the mirror and imagine being respected one day for the voice they have. We take the ones who aren't afraid to just close their eyes and trust the music. We take some divas and some who have 50 1st places coming their way in the next few years and a whole lot who may later say this was the best time of their lives. Gay, straight, shiny or not, we'll take you. If you look a little like Napoleon Dynamite, we will definitely take you. So if you can dance or sing or really even if you just would really like to dance and sing, we'll probably take you.
And when you see a whole auditorium filled with people who support all of these kinds of children, you can't help but fall for this culture. Our choir is no different (except that I love them more) than the others in that I notice all of them have the same cross section dynamic. Providing kids with an opportunity to shine is an endeavor I can get behind. At one point, all 2000 of us were waving our phones and arms singing along with an unusually soulful and gifted kid who, in all his awkwardness, has probably spent many a night thinking of what it would be like to have the admiration of a room full of people and show choir so willingly provided that reality. What a gift this community is to children who invest in music.
The reality of our little show-choir-that-could is this: In the 5 years since it's beginning we have received exactly $0 in support from our school and city administration. We all feel some envy when we enter schools who have an actual practice space or auditorium because it means someone valued their gifts. Our students audition for a coveted spot in Grand Illusion (the directors used to have to beg kids to join) and they come from the usual public school backgrounds - some wealthy, some not, some with parents who participate, some without, all different skin tones. For a lot of them, it's the first experience where they've been told their voice has value, that they have something like talent and that they are expected to do their part for the team. And boy do they want to rise to the occasion. Some of them beg rides because there's no one to get them and no one's going to be there when they get home. Some of them fight to keep grades up because they find family here and don't want to get suspended. Some of them will not hear a parent say, "I'm so proud of you." Our kids witness other groups who don't have to do a thousand bake sales and car washes to buy costumes. They see kids who can afford to pay their directors and who probably get to practice in front of actual mirrors. Their risers probably don't have to be nailed back together regularly. Our kids don't say anything, but I imagine they notice the difference between themselves and groups who don't have to work for every dime.
And the rest of the story is this - 5 years ago Grand Illusion took last place in competitions against those schools, but for whatever reason they went back. Their directors tell them, "We are proud of your best," so they are not afraid of losing. We've been happy with 3rd place and with 2nd too (or as Olivia cheerfully and sincerely calls it, "Best Loser"). By last year they'd had a taste of 1st place and this year they brought every bit of energy they had, every bit of belief they had in their own abilities and the abilities of their friends, every bit of talent to the stage because the last frontier was right in front of them. The team that comes from the show choir dynasty of sorts was in their sights. The team who, although very talented, reeks with entitlement and mocks them and sneers when they walk by was in their sights. Our last competition scores gave the kids a fighting chance against them and our kids know that with some work, giants with a 14 year title reign can sometimes be toppled. Sometimes, and thank God because sometimes, in show choir, the kids who work the hardest win.
God, I wish you'd seen their faces. I wish you'd seen their joy. Grand Illusion, The Diamond Classic 2014 Grand Champions, danced and sang and cried until 2 a.m. and are beside themselves today. They earned that.
These wonderful kids, who may or may not have tons of opportunity just handed to them in life, learned something that is invaluable, I think. When you want something, work harder than the other guy. If the judges give criticism this week, go home and work harder for the next show. If the choreographer of another team mocks your dancing on youtube, don't be distracted, just work harder. If the opposition sneers at you, you must work harder.
I couldn't be prouder of how they've worked and that means I'm going to work harder for them. Here's a link to my new gofundme site: http://www.gofundme.com/5gcoxg. I'm going to get them risers. I'm going to get them sound equipment that doesn't short out and I'm going to get them some mirrors. Maybe they'll let me be in the show one day! I'd love it if you'd join me.
 |
| Grand Illusion is under the direction of Mrs. Susan Campbell and Mr. Brian Sikes and their choreography is by Ms. Amanda Dewitt Photo by GI member, Nigel Dublin |
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