Cindy graduated from BYU in dance, so she knows all about choreographing from her classes (and she did an amazing job on her senior project last year). Having worked together for over 2 years while on the touring team at BYU, we all kind of follow the same process of learning dances and working together. It was a combination effort, and we included a lot of inside moves from previous dances, goofing around over the years, and just our fun personalities in the dance.
As the audition time came closer, we found it hard to work rehearsals in with our busy schedules, and we also found no empty slots during the audition days. So, one Saturday after having cleaned the church, we stayed and used the gym to finish half of the dance and make our audition video. Our audition video can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inSGvwkTEkQ Now, keep in mind, we finished choreographing THAT DAY! And all three of us waited anxiously to see if we were selected to be in the show. The next weekend we got the e-mail telling us we were. :)
The weeks went by, and we didn't rehearse...finally when we discovered we had one week before the show, we decided to buckle down and get to work. We got together, figured out our schedules, and made time to rehearse. I think Scottie sacrificed the most, he had all night rehearsals for the Christmas Castle show. The day of the show this was Scottie's schedule. Wednesday night rehearsal from 10pm-7am. Thursday we had to be at the venue from 7am-the end of the show (roughly 8:30). Then Scottie had Castle rehearsal from 10pm-7am. He didn't sleep for quite some time, but despite how tired he was, he was a good sport about it!
Cindy and I spent all of our Wednesday off making t-shirts for rehearsals the next day and for our VIP's. We were allowed 3 VIP's each, so we made sure we got all the important people there, and they looked good. The back of the shirts say "Magical Snagicals", (another inside joke with folk dance).
The day of the show we were at the venue in Disney's Hollywood Studios from 7am to 8:30pm. We weren't allowed to leave the park at all, and we had 2 rehearsals before the show, the first one tech, and the second was a run through of the show.
Cindy and I got to the venue in the morning and as we walked on stage I said to her, "This is just like PAC! Except, I don't have to run and tape the chords from the back of the theater to the stage!"
We felt like we had come home! All day long it was as if we were just doing another show with PAC, in another venue. Half the time I expected Ed to start yelling something for the whole team, or to look up and see Mattie and Katie dancing around on stage, or hear the band playing around on their instruments in the greenroom. However, there was all new people, and we spent our time talking to them, watching their talents, and encouraging everyone in their performance. It was kind of bizarre, a lot of the performers were nervous, but for the three of us, this was just another show.
As the show got closer we reminded each other that we just were glad to dance, and even though Scottie was in the competition to win it, I was just happy to be there with two of my best friends, performing on stage once again.
Dinner was provided for us before the show began. It was sitting out on a table and Cindy, Scottie and I stood and looked at it and I said, "Do either of you expect to have a blessing on this?" even though we all knew it wasn't going to happen. It was really weird when they said, "K, you guys can go ahead and eat." It was really bizarre.
We performed second to last. Me being the folk dance nerd I am, said we should do a little thought before we went on, and have a prayer and a warm up. We went outside and on Cindy's phone watched a tribute of President Hinckley on youtube. Afterwords I told them not to forget all we had learned while performing at BYU, and that was to share the light of Christ through our dance, to be happy and celebrate our lives and talents we had been give. We warmed up (included "Called to Serve), we prayed, and we had a cheer before going on, just like we have done over the past years.
It was so much fun to be on stage again. We milked it for all it was worth, and just enjoyed every second of it. Our VIP's were on the second row, being as loud as they could possibly be, giving us even more energy to perform.
When the judges scores had been tallied we went back out on the stage with the other performers. There were 4 trophies awarded: Best Singer, Best Instrumental, Best Dance, and Best Overall. As they gave out the trophies I just knew that if we didn't get the Best Dance, we'd get Best Overall. When the Best Dance award was given, Cindy and looked at each other and we both knew. They called our names for Best Overall and gave us the trophy! Our friends in the crowd went berserk! We were all so excited! Pictures were taken and congratulations and thank you's were exchanged. One of the emcee's came up to us and said he was impressed with our attitudes throughout the entire day. He said we were all so happy and full of fun both on and off stage. Little did he know, that's just how we do. :)
Here are some pictures form the night.
It was such a good night and so much fun all day. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to perform, and for the talents God has given and blessed me with. I'm especially grateful for the opportunity I had to be at BYU and to improve my talents, that I could go out and share them with two of my best friends at Disney World! I hope for the opportunity to do so again in the future. Most of all, I hope that we were good examples of our church and of our University.
I got an e-mail a few days later from one of the girls in charge of putting the whole thing together. In it she said, "Congrats again! ... Our whole team also wants to thank you three for being such fun to work with and so supportive of our mediocre dancing skills all day. We really did appreciate it and were genuinely happy when you were chosen as the winners." (the four of them did a little dance at the end, with some moves I'll be acquiring in my future dancing life.)
It was so much fun and I was so happy to just be on stage again! What a blessing dance can be, I just love it!
What a fun dance! Looks like you are having a great time in Florida Tesh!
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