Two Days,14 Hours of Rehearsal, One Hour of Performace, One Camera, Tons of Pictures

It's official, if I'm in a room full of mirrors I will make a load of goofy faces while photo punking my friends.

Saturday rehearsal was intense. By 3pm my head was spinning with moves to practice at home. I could barely think, barely dance, as I was so spent!

As with any show that's about to be put on there are lots, and I mean LOTS of last minute changes. Sometimes due to practicality, sometimes due to drama. We had both of those happen this weekend. I won't go into details, but, if you're dying to know you can email me (addy in my blogger profile) and I'll tell ya. The above picture is of the dancers and my instructor, K.t, working on cheorography at rehearsal. The next day this amazing cheography, along with other cheography, was thrown out. I was really, really bummed about this- but, as they say the show must go on.

As I mentioned in previous posts wigs get involved in Irish dance. We didn't wear the wigs the entire performance, but, we did for two dances! In fact we all got our wigs and dresses on in a matter of minutes- two for me! K.t's trying to show us how she's going to make this old, and I mean old, pony tail wig work as a bun wig. Believe it or not she pulled it off (thanks to a little help from Dawn).

But before the fun with the wigs we had to look glamorous with our real hair so K.t, being the multi-talented instuctor that she is, did our hair. We all had teased, 'boofed' hair as Dawn called it. K.t also helped with make-up. I wear make-up but it's never very thick, so naturally getting dolled up for the stage was a little out of my range.

All smiles.

See? Buffed hair all around! And great eye make-up for the stage. This is before I put on the red lipstick. I NEVER put on red lipstick as it just doesn't fit my pasty white state. However, add a spray tan, some eyeliner and look out I can rock red lipstick!

K.t and her hubby who graciously stood on stage to play the part of a British soldier.

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The performance went pretty well considering we had only two rehearsals! One of those rehearsals btw was the dress rehearsal. Oh and when you throw together three music groups, narrators, a story teller, three 'soldiers', and three dance groups you need more rehearsal time! Little things! The story teller came in too early and thus there wasn't enough time for some of our dancers to get their hardshoes on. So only three out of seven dancers were able to get on stage! Ah well, c'est la vie as they say. The audience didn't really notice and at least the second half of the show went on without a hitch.

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I didn't dance too bad during the performance which was very exciting for me, not to mention a HUGE relief! Rehearsal didn't go well with me as I was confused and mixing up all of my steps. Oh did I mention this is the first time I've had to dance through hardshoe steps- one of those hardshoe steps I learned in a day!?! Despite all the drama and confusion performing in a real theater (though a small one) at a performing arts center was amazing. Something I will always remember!

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Okay and now for what you all have been waiting for..........

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Wait for it.......

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ME IN A WIG!!!!

Not as burnette as I thought I would be. Turns out this wig is the wrong color for my friend. It is pretty light for her hair color, so,she was happy to lend it to me. In case you were wondering, she wore one of K.t's old wigs as their hair color is very similiar. So here I am ladies and gents, I threw on an older style solo dress and donned a wig (yes done in two minutes) all in the name of a performance. Not going to lie, I was really hot in all that. Apparently the newer solo dresses are lighter and cooler a fact I hope to experience personally one day...but I digress.

That wig was really fun to bounce [jump] around in! Though to be honest, I think I may get a bun wig for competitions, tends to give a more 'mature' elegant look to most. What do you think?

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That my dear friends, in a choppy nutshell, was my entire weekend. Nearly fourteen hours of dance, rehearsal, and preparations. I am still tired today and still utilizing the ice pack for some sore spots. However it was fun and we were rewarded with a fantastic post-performance party at a friends house. I really feel lucky to be able to have had such an amazing opportunity and to have it with some amazing dancers and friends!