...approximately 40 children, ages 12-14, 30 or so of them female, milling around in a small-ish area. Now, imagine having to get those 30 female teens (or almost teens) into dresses that THEY had responsibility of making sure, previously, were on the correct hanger with their names on them. That's how my evening began last night. My daughter had a choir concert. Normally it's a non-issue. We go, we listen, we enjoy seeing all the kids improving throughout the year, we go home. Last night's though, was their BIG show. Full concert choir, girls choir, boys choir, and show choir. I'm not sure how their director does it on a regular basis!
The show choir had contest a few weeks back and it was the first time they'd actually worn their dresses. After contest they were instructed to make sure they'd put their dresses back on THEIR hanger and their shoes back in the box that had THEIR name on it. Last night we pulled everything out just as they'd put it away. An experiment in following directions, if you will. It actually went rather well. We only had 2 dresses mixed up, though it did make for some amusement when one girl came out with her dress hanging off her and another came out with one on that was obviously too small. At contest their bra straps had been pinned to the straps of their dresses but this night we weren't going to have time to unpin them all so their director and I went around the room tightening bra straps to keep them hidden. There were just a few we still had to pin and a couple of quick adjustments to dresses made with pins. They would have just 6-7 minutes to get out of their dresses and back into their "street clothes" for the rest of the concert. Challenging!!
The shoes were a totally different subject! The girls started rifling through the large tote that held the boxes and many, many girls were saying they couldn't find their shoes. I took all the boxes out of the tote, set them on end with names facing up, and instructed them to put the boxes with their stuff so we could keep them separated. Apparently some couldn't recognized their own names. I couldn't help but laugh. Oh, and there was a missing tie for the boys...I think that was finally found. And we had one girl who thought she was using anti-static spray on her dress when it was actually hairspray. Fun times!
I enjoyed the first part of the show. The kids are really starting to improve in tone and control. It's beginning to become pleasant, actually. Any of you who've lived through the elementary concerts know what I mean! As the show choir got to the end of their set, I rushed (along with a couple other parents) back into the room to keep time for the girls to get changed, unpin those who needed it, and in general keep them moving. Seven minutes to teenage girls is TOTALLY different than what a clock says. After shooing out the last couple stragglers, we rushed back into the audience to enjoy the rest of the show. I was surprised at how well these girls policed themselves and each other, helped each other out, and in general got along. I'm sad that their show choir season is over. I love seeing my daughter and all the other girls dressed up in their sparkly red dresses and the boys in shiny silver dress shirts and ties. I love watching them gain confidence as they learn the dance steps, learn the songs, and finally get to put them together.
This does not end the work for my daughter, though. ((Unapologetic brag-time!) She's been selected by the director to go to state honor choir. It's the highest honor in the public schools for their band and choir students. It's the best of the best. They (she's in the treble choir) will be performing 5 songs. She has less than a month to learn the songs to as close to perfection as she can without practicing them during regular choir class at school. She now uses her study halls to practice. I'm incredibly proud of her. She just thought to ask me the other day if I'd gone to honor choir. She knows I spent a great deal of my time in school in all kinds of choirs. Show choir (though we called it swing choir), treble, full, acapella...even did a solo once. But, no, I was never selected for honor choir. She's already one-upping her mom.
I love it!
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