Post-Circus Reflections

Wow. What a night!
I’ve got a few things to say, but first, my family’s thoughts: They loved it. They thought it was well done and enjoyed every one of the performances. Both my mother and my grandparents thought Paula was entertaining and informative, and her narratives answered a lot of their questions about what was going on and what Aerial Dance was about. My grandpa said, and I quote: “The performances were amazing, but they danced so fast that I couldn’t figure out how they stayed on the pole.” It’s magic…. just kidding. I do believe they’re coming back next year, so that’s exciting :). When we finally sat down to talk about it later that night, they had all sorts of questions about all the different aerial apparatuses and how one manages to stay on there. Once again… we are magical people  🙂 .
My heart-pounding hand-shaking nervousness didn’t kick in until I went back for the final prep during Meegan’s solo. The worst part is that wait, right before you go on! Nothing I do gets rid of that pounding heart– it’s pounding now as I re-live the moment! The aerial rig came off the stage, and it was go time. I took off my glasses ( my secret to seeing nothing but what’s on the stage :)) and went up to test the pole. The lights were so bright that, even if I had my glasses on, I couldn’t have seen past maaaaaybe the first row. This wasn’t a bad thing, in my opinion, because seeing the crowd can sometimes be the most nerve-wracking part!


 
 
 
I’m pretty happy with how my routine went. I actually added my handstand dismount during the dress rehearsals, so I was pumped that I pulled it off. I was almost too high to reach down! It took me a moment longer to get down and reach for my hat to get over for the next part.
 
 
 
 
 
I made it down in time, and then managed to stub two toes when I did the “scuff” motion, or whatever the kids are calling it these days. After that, once my hat was on and I’m pointing and asking Annie if she’s OK, my hair is COMPLETELY covering my face… oops. I just cracked up and kept going. What else can you do? 🙂 I missed a few cues at the end, but I got on the pole when I was supposed to for the final pose. I call that a win. I had some folks tell me that I did a good job at, in my words, “hamming it up for the audience.” I don’t remember doing that on purpose. It could be the natural reaction to a pole performance, but according to my family, I am a natural ham. Hey, if I can’t dance, I can at least entertain! 🙂

Even though I’m pretty happy with it, I still have a nagging feeling that I could have done better. I didn’t prep as much as I should have this year for the routine. I KNOW I should have attended more practices, because I had a few things that could have been perfected. I was working a lot more this year, so that limited when I could practice. I didn’t pseudo-run it at home like I’ve done in years past, with my imaginary pole, and that tends to help me. Rather than get frustrated by what went wrong, I’m going to stick it in my back pocket as lessons I’ve learned. Next year, yes next year, I’ll practice more and start earlier. If I seriously want my dancing to meet my standards, I’ve got to put the work in to get it there. No pain, no gain :).
I am proud of each and every person who performed. Whether it’s the first show you’ve ever done, or your’re an AD show veteran, it still takes guts. You put your everything into that performance! It paid off ladies, everyone LOVED it. I can’t wait to see what happens next year!