Last night, my singles' ward (a branch of our church for non-married members) had a cultural event/talent show. We were split into groups and each group provided a dish from the country they were assigned, as well as preparing a presentation. My group decided to put together a skit using four well-known Disney love songs as a parody of the dating situation at our university.
The last song in our skit was "Once Upon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty, which is based off the garland waltz from Act I of Tchaikovsky's score. Certain members of the group remembered that I am a ballerina, and managed to talk me into performing a solo for that section of our skit.
Our group leader promised to cut the music and get me a copy in plenty of time for me to choreograph my piece. I don't know what his definition of "plenty of time" is, but it certainly isn't mine. He handed me the CD an hour before we were supposed to perform.
Luckily, I was already familiar with the song and had a rough idea of what I was going to do. What they hadn't told me was that there would be two parts to our skit: the original songs and an Alvin-and-the-Chipmunks version. So I had to throw together two pieces of varying tempos in less than an hour in the hall outside the gymnasium. On-stage improvisation? Definitely.
I now have a whole new respect for those dancers who can go onstage, hear a piece of music for the first time, and dance. Thank you to all my teachers over the years who taught me how to feel the music and go with it, however unwilling I was at the time.
I encourage everyone to try this. Pick a piece of music and just dance to it. Do whatever you feel like and don't worry about technique or steps. Just move. Rather liberating, isn't it?
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