Sixth session in South Melbourne

03.09.08

Out of all our sessions at the South Melbourne centre so far, I'd have to arrive at the assessment that this was by far the most productive. Everyone worked tirelessly and without complaint which makes me increasingly confident that we'll definitely have a full performance ready in no time.

As we walked in at 4:40, Betty was waiting by the little lolly stall which she had set up to raise money for something, but the details escape me now. I bought a bag of snakes from her which she charged $2 because "they have more sugar in them" (???).

We officially began our evening of rehearsals by institutionally singing some of the warm up songs, and then after that- it was straight to business.

Myf pulled out some of the 'red & black' costumes that she had stored away which she thought may be appropriate for the Piaf segment. Anna, Ashlee, Emma and I sorted through it and found a few numbers which we'll certainly use, such as a red ol' time hooker-looking ensemble which Anna wore for the rest of the evening (over her regular clothes, of course).

Us 'dancers' were all concerned with getting the choreography that accompanies "Brian's Song" down-pat for last week we suffered from a few hiccups in terms of memorising the moves and keeping in time with the music. These mishaps still occurred this time round, but we managed to iron out most of the creases through intense practice. The singers did there very best to stay in tune, and they did very well considering that there are some irregular-attendances who don't show up to every rehearsal- I know that the dancers suffer a bit because of this same issue. Some time during the rehearsals, I glanced over at the singers and noticed that they were sporting some truly heinous show hats and I thought "Eeek! I hope that they are not the hats that Myf plans on using!". Luckily they were just for rehearsal purposes. Fffeew!

The "Mum" routine was performed quite similarly to last week. My criticism about this piece is that I feel that it adopts a lay-out and sound-scape of over-lapping permutations of the term "mother" which reminds me of a Year 9 exercise. Having said that, I think that the City Voices clan do wonderfully and I am especially surprised at Kate's efforts for I had unfortunately stuffed her in the 'minimal responsibility' box because she is a Down Syndrome. I recall Myf commenting that she is a "strong performer", but I honestly thought that she was just being polite: I now she what she means.

The 'Lover's Dance' was then recited very well except for the fact that Ashlee winded herself and injured her rib by accidentally thrusting herself into Olivia's shoulder. Anna B's song underwent a slight make-over by removing the piano accompaniment which stripped to back to a cappella. I think that this version is a major improvement, and works much more cohesively with the dance routine.

Around this time, we realised that 7:00 had arrived though it only felt like we had been working for half-an-hour. The reality of the amount of work we had accomplished, and it's consequence upon me finally took hold when I sat in the car because I was then hit by a tsunami of fatigue. When you're focused and driven, you tell your body to shut up, but when you get a moments rest- it all avalanches over you. This is why I don't like breaks.

KISSES!