Rebelliousness

We have a substitute for health today, and the computer stuff isn 't working out somehow. He informed us, with regret, that we would have to do homework/play games for the rest of the period. DARN.

This weekend was dance festival. That means that for three days, it was a hairspray scented whirlwind of jittery nerves, stretching, Taco in a Bag and lipstick stained Pepsi cans. Bright lights and makeup melting onto faces, fake eyelashes and bobby pins.

I don't know why I like it so much, but I do.

Our recital is next weekend. The differences between festival and recital are simple: the annual Dance Festival is a competition. Other dance studios come, there are adjudicators and sessions and the electric, sparkling air of competitive feelings. But here, at least, the dancers aren't all the uptight, skinny b*tches other people may suspect. Lots of dancers from other towns are friends. I caught up with two friends I played ball with last year. It was really different, seeing Brianna and Shaelyn with slicked ponytails and lipstick other than ball uniforms.

Anyways, recital has two opposite charges. Only our town attends, and it only takes one night. Most people in the audience: families and friends, mainly: are relaxed and enjoying the show. However, since the dances are close together, that means that the dancers have that much less time to get ready. It's not so bad for me-- I only have three dances on stage this year. But some of my fanatical dancer friends may change their hair and costumes ten times! But since the atmosphere is generally much looser, if you have a curly ponytail while everyone else has a straight one, it doesn't matter much. Recital also gets videotaped, and everyone usually buys a copy to keep.

This year, I volunteered for the duty of the Power Point we put up. On a screen in the corner of the gym, we project the current dance with the dancers involved in it and any awards they have won. I don't mind typing and hoped I could spice it up a little.

In the end, I decided to use photography for two different things: some generic pictures in the background of the power point, and then the personalized pictures in a slide show to show during intermission, etc.

For the background pictures, I took stuff like a close up of pointe shoes, bobby pins scattered across a counter, heated hair appliances lined up, a carnation reflected in a mirror. I also decided to put my "Be Yourself" picture in, the one of my ballet group's leg warmers. I like that picture.

This weekend, I busied myself by essentially capturing every thing that went on in the dressing room. Since we host this, we get the largest room in the school--the library. I have people stretching, laughing, doing hair, practicing, or just hanging out. I probably took over 350 pictures over the course of a few days. People were about to put a restraining order on me and my relentless camera.

I had to delete lots, of course: many were blurry or didn't turn out. But I got some really, really cool pictures. Since this is a school computer, I dont' have them on here right now, but I will post them later.

The recital is next Sunday. I really don't have that much time!

I've already typed out all the groups for the Power Point, it's just a matter of putting them in order on the slides. That won't take long, and my friends are helping me anyways. It'll be fine.

I have approved 78 pictures for my slide show so far. Some I have edited, some I haven't. I also need to find some soundtrack to go behind it. These are the ones I've considered so far:

1. All About Soul Remix by Billy Joel
2. Dancing Queen by ABBA
3. Just Dance by Lady Gaga
4. Dancing Days by Led Zeppelin

The last one was my friend Kristy's suggestion. She's a die-hard Zeppelin fan.

I don't have enough pictures for four songs, I don't think, so I was thinking of maybe trimming the songs to get like a minute of each. That way you could get, like, the essence of the song without the whole thing. Plus, everyone's heard Dancing Queen. Many times.

I'm really excited about the slideshow. A couple of dance moms have suggested that I sell it on a DVD or something. That might be a good idea. I still have to make sure I've included everyone in it, though. I tried to get lots of shots of the younger kids this weekend, as well as the older kids. I still have the practices this week to get a few more pictures.

I really enjoy photography. I'm excited about how it will turn out.

I'm trying to prioritize my activities now. I've really been a lame blogger lately. I think I'm losing my status in Blogger World. I need to get back in the loop! Especially now that I'm finding I'm enjoying photography more and more. I need to get in on more of those blogs!

Hopefully back in the blogger life,

jckandy xoxo