Circus Panic

On stage in the light of flashbulbs

Saturday night’s performance was a blast. Was it rehearsal perfect? Not at all. Did that matter? Not at all.

I jumped around backstage while D and Mix did their gorgeous mini hoop routine (video here). Then I bounced onto the stage, did my thing and it was over before I had time to be scared. I spent the rest of the night dancing, smiling, laughing, and applauding the other amazing performers.

Watching the video of my part (the first 90 seconds of this video) is weird. I ended up changing the choreography on the fly and my brain was in overdrive trying to compensate. Oddly though, my body was in charge and just made it work. So watching the video is like observing both sides of a split personality, There I did this with the hoop, but I was imagining the next move and trying to keep my arms activated. And there I was wondering if I would hit the ceiling - just before I did hit the ceiling.

The original dance involved a lot more clowning around with a naughty hoop. But with the lighting lower than expected, you couldn’t see me looking mad or confused or scared by the hoop’s antics. So I skipped the rehearsed clowning and just sort of hooped with big gestures and lots of smiles. It ended up too repetitive, but the crowd hooted and the energy stayed high for Deanne’s next number. It was a success.

It is especially interesting that this performance happened when it did. This week I started doing The Artist’s Way (again after a 12 year break) with a group of people. In week one, you are supposed to list some “imaginary lives” that you would like to have lived. The day before Deanne asked me to perform, I listed my imaginary lives: architect, circus performer, costume designer, astronaut, explorer. How satisfying to get to experience circus performer and costume designer!

Posted by kuri at January 26, 2010 11:10 AM