So this week has been a busy week... Mostly because I partook in two pretty big performance events at HNU. On Wednesday, I choreographed/performed in the opening dance of an English talent show. Then, on Sunday, I was a judge for the school's biggest English singing competition (that means singing English songs, by the way). Needless to say, this has probably been one of the most entertaining weeks of my time here in China.
So, about three weeks ago I was approached by two of my students who asked me to choreograph/participate in this opening dance number. They told me I could do whatever kind of dance I wanted, and that I could choose as many students to participate as I wanted... pretty much their only requirements for me were that (1) the dance was entertaining and (2) it lasted about 5 minutes long (which is actually pretty long, by the way). Of course, I agreed to do it!
And so, I decided since this was for a big talent show showcasing English language and culture, that we should perform some sort of English dance... or better yet: Irish Dance! So, I pulled out the few Irish dance steps I remember, chose an awesome song from River Dance and rounded up 16 Chinese "dancers" and choreographed a semi-traditional (but mostly not, because most of the dance came from my own mind) céilí dance. We had a lot of fun learning and practicing the dance.
As the performance date approached, a few of the leading teachers asked me about appropriate costume (since the school would arrange it). So, I told them that ideally just some plain, maybe colored dresses with LONG SLEEVES and short skirts would do. And also, black tights and black dance shoes. I even showed them pictures on the internet - multiple pictures. I felt pretty safe assuming that they'd be able to find something similar.
Little did I know...
So, Wednesday (performance day) comes along and I head backstage to see our costumes for the first time. I walk into a room full of my dancers (girls) wearing bright red, fully sequined, spaghetti-strap dresses with fringe at the bottom... fringe! They looked like little flapper girls. Not to mention these dresses were made for toothpicks - they were so short that they didn't even cover some of the girls' bottoms! I'm not sure when "plain, long-sleeved dresses" turned into "red, glittery, burlesque outfits," but at least everyone had black tights on.
So then it was time to see my dress. The teachers had wanted me to wear something different ("You are the star of the show!") so I assumed I would just get a different color or something... I was wrong again! They present me with a strapless, sequined, silver and gold dress with a poofy, black, ruffled skirt. STRAPLESS! Have you ever seen Irish dancing?!? It's all jumping! NOTHING STRAPLESS WOULD HAVE A CHANCE AT STAYING UP! However, I am a genius and I brought a black, long-sleeved shirt for just this kind of emergency! So, I gave in and wore the strapless beast, but with my black, long sleeves underneath.
And we are ready to perform...
Haha, just kidding. Did you really think the wardrobe mess would end so soon? You clearly have not been to China... nothing here is simple.
As I mentioned before, I had 16 student dancers. Only 15 of them were girls, which left one boy: Mitch. Mitch was MIA during the above wardrobe incidents, but never fear, I found him. And do you know what they had him wearing? Don't worry - he wasn't wearing the same things as the girls... And by that I mean, he wasn't wearing a red sequined, spaghetti-strap flapper dress. No, he was wearing a GOLD sequined, spaghetti-strap flapper dress. Oh, AND black tights. YES, dear readers, someone decided it was okay for there to be a cross-dresser as a part of the performance. (And I am so sorry I didn't get a picture)
Thank goodness I had enough time to find him a white, button-up shirt and black pants instead... I could handle the flapper costumes; I could handle the strapless dress; but I could not handle a drag queen as part of our dance (not that I have anything against drag queens - I love them! But, there is definitely a time and a place).
So, after getting past the shock and horror of the costumes, we managed to put on a pretty good show. In fact, there was a poll on the school's website asking the audience which performance they liked best, and our Irish dance won! How exciting, right!?!?
Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I would totally do it again... except next time, I'll be there when they order the costumes.
I'll be sure to tell you about the singing competition soon! But now, I've got to do some grading.
Happy dancing everyone!
Olivia
PS. Look at that last picture... notice anything else wrong with the costumes?
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