More scandal.
So I was about to talk about saturday. Well in order for this to make sense I have to explain a little about comps. This is a Fred Astaire Comp. Meaning that all of us competing are Fred Astaire students and teachers. Now there are certain steps that Fred Astaire teaches. Depending on your level you are expected to know these certain steps. So I thought I knew the steps because here Drew, my former latin teacher, is teaching me steps. What I didn't know until about four days before the comp. was that he was teaching me from his former dance studio which was not Fred Astaire. So the day we are competing I was up at seven am trying to teach him the steps. I was teaching him. The only reason I knew the steps at all was because my very first teacher taught me both latin and smooth dancing (smooth-foxtrot, tango, and waltz). So needless to say I was unhappy. We finsihed dead last in every dance but one. I mean, I could have handled it if it was that I was terrible. Iw ould have said "Alright time to seriously train." And I would just close the damn studio every night. But no it wasn't me, it was this guy totally screwwed me. I found out Monday that the studio had been on him to train with one of the other teachers to learn the steps, but he kept blowing them off. Apparently they were not surprised (although they were surprised exactly how clueless he was), they said they reealized about a week before that things weren't going to go well but it was too late to switch me at that point. But it isn't over. See Drew kept telling me, "Oh we shall do well at our next comp. It's just we had to overcome insurmountable odds." And so I said "Uh, what insurmountable odds?" And he responded, "Well, I hurt my leg, I got sick, I got the design job, which we couldn't anticipate" And I didn't say it, but I was like "Uh so where does the we come in? Because all I here is You, I apparently had no insurmountable odds. And I'm not the professional. I mean if I'm paying for you to be at comp, I expect you to KNOW THE STEPS." So I was very unhappy because I figured this was the one and only competition that I would win a first place. Its easy to beat out the inexperienced, but the higher up the harder it is. Trust me I saw what I'll have to go up against in five years and I'm not looking forward to it. So I'm trying not to cry, but its really awful when you know you look like an idiot out there, even compared to other beginners. It was the thing I was the most afraid of. I mean, it was kind of like a show I did the last year I was an actor. It was an awful show. Let me say that againb it was an AWFUL show. It was, lord help me, a concept piece. (Whenever a director says concept to you treat it like a fire-stay close to the ground and GET OUT!!!) yes a concept piece of a play titled "Leonce and Lena" which was a political satire in the form of a fairy tale. (Oh yeah, feel the burn.) To make it even worse the actors didn't go off stage, but had to sit on the side on benches. So once I was done with my scene I had to sit there, feeling the silent rage of audience directed at me, and thinking "Oh G-d, I have to go back out there. Oh G-d, I can't believe. Oh lord, this is really awful. Ok it's only two more scenes and then I have to sit here again. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make someone pull the fire alarm. Let there be a fire. Ok five more lines and I have to go on. Oh I hate this scene. They hate this scene. Let's just skip to the end and all go home. Ok here I go."
So it was like that, sitting on the side lines waiting for them to call me so I could go up and make an ass of myself. But I couldn't get upset. I had to "shake it off." In acting this means shaking any negative feelings so that one can move on and get where one has to be in order to start the scene. The idea is there is always hope. If one keeps investing in the scene or the play, the audience may eventually join. With dancing the same principle applies, just because you mucked up the last 3, 7, 10, doesn't mean you can't still kick but on the next one. There is always hope. But it's tough. I had to admit I kept thinking "Ok time to go out there and come in last-AGAIN."
Ok I need to stop here. So at this point it's Saturday afternoon and I came in last in all but one of my latin divisions.
Tomorrow we shall move on to the rest of Saturday and then hopefully at some point we will be fully caught up.
At which point I can start discussiong the current beast dilemma and Max the wonder mutt.