Relieved and Content!!

The end of the week brings with it a wave of relief and contentment! Last evening, we premiered our third work for film, "Kitchen Table" after much worry over if it would be finished in time, or not. The rest of the work needed to put the finishing touches on the film were completed only two days before the screening, but everything turned out just right in the end. Both Mackenzie and Laura were in town to help me with the event. Mackenzie, lending her dancerly skills, while Laura offered her voice. Such fun we had! We presented to an intimate audience of about fifty people, all of whom seemed to enjoy the contents of the evening. From the presentation of the films, to the inclusion of the music, to the glorious cake and Mr. Potato Head making during the reception, everything was absolutely charming!

I think I was most happy to see so many familiar faces in the audience last night, who have made it out to the last few events we have had in town. I love knowing that there are people out there who truly want us to succeed! In addition, there were some whom I know, but have never attended an event of mine, like my colleagues at High Point U, as well as some of my students, and there were even a few faces I had never seen before. I feel like things are finally beginning to roll! I remember just a year and a half ago, when I gave a performance for only one, and how hurt and deflated I felt at my failure to build an audience in my own community. Since then, we have had a rash of amazing events, none of which have been empty!

I had a triumph last evening, too! Laura and I had agreed that I would sing one of the songs with her during the evening. I was beyond nervous, as the thought of singing in front of people is terrifying to me! But, I sang our little song without a hitch, for the most part. Robert (my husband) said he could hear in my voice that I was nervous, and one of the audience members asked if this was my first vocal performance during the Q & A, which leads me to believe that the audience could tell, too. However off it may have sounded, Laura was so gracious and supportive, and having Mackenzie dancing around on stage near me made it all ok. I know that next time I get up to sing, it won't be nearly as nerve racking, and perhaps, I might be able to breathe a little next time!

After the success of last evening, I am so excited to send this film out on the film festival circuit!

Film premiere aside, the week has also consisted of some activity for the NC Dance Festival, on which Mackenzie and I are dancing this season. Our activities this week involved some outreach to some high school students at Weaver Academy in Greensboro. Weaver is an arts magnet school, and I have taught master classes there before for NCDF 2007, so I just knew I would enjoy myself this time around.

On Tuesday, I gave a class for a lovely group of ninth and tenth graders of varying levels. Mrs. Brenner, their teacher said she was looking forward to watching how they interact with another teacher, and how they would take to someone else's movement. They did great! I felt like I really challenged them, but they rose to the occasion with smiles on their faces.

The next morning (after a very late night of delayed flight arrival) Mackenzie and I performed for a full auditorium of students at Weaver. We shared the show with Autumn Mist Belk, who teaches at NC State U and has a company called Code F.A.D., and Lauren Kearns, who teaches at Elon University and directs her company, Kearns Dance project. The performance was interesting. I had forgotten how ruckus high school students are! I was also reminded that most high school auditoriums are pretty interesting places, technically speaking. The sound is what ultimately did us in. Though the dancing went well, we could not hear our music on stage, the EQ was totally off and during Autumn's piece, the sound dropped out completely! However, I thought of this technical issue to be a good opportunity to speak to the students about the realities of live performance! The Q & A session was really great. I was glad to know that the students were engaged, even with the sound issues. There were some fabulous questions asked, and the students had many more questions and comments for us in passing post performance!

All in all, a wonderful week. Battling a ridiculous cold, but I'm sure I will feel better soon. I plan to take it easy this weekend. No dancing. A little teaching, but nothing heavy. Lots of writing...MFA packets are due Monday!!

~Cara