Circus Show!

Circus show today! And no, I don't mean our show was a circus act. We were surrounded by many many talented young performers (school-age, mostly) who put on wonderful, jaw-dropping acts. Stilt-walkers, acrobats, trapeze artists, lion dancers and more. And most of them weren't even in high school! I can't even do a pull up, but a pair of girls were doing work on a trapeze that would leave you in tears.

I have a lot to learn about stage-stuff. Terminology, mostly. The one thing that I do know about stage is that if you don't know what you're supposed to be doing or where you're going, then get the #@^! out of the way and ask the right person. Yesterday as we were doing tech stuff, the director guy asked me to move my drum downstage, and I was like, oh my god what is he asking me to do? I turned over to Janet and frantically whispered, which way is downstage? And she told me. This morning Bean was telling me that Janet told her that story, but if it was Bean, Janet probably would have let her suffer. I guess I'm pretty lucky. Not that it's an excuse to be lazy, because I need to learn that basic stage language, and because I'd really like to get good at this kind of stuff. Janet can walk into a tech like we did yesterday and know her way around even though none of us knew what they wanted exactly. Plus, it's in my blood. My Dad used to teach stagecraft, and my little brother pretty much ran the technical aspect of the theater program in high school. He'd be up in the catwalks and in the booth running things. I'm very impressed. I can do it. I have to say that one of the most important things that my Dad has taught us is to use our ingenuity. His thing is to take what you've got and just work it. I was always amazed when I'd be packing up my stuff to go home for the summer in college, and he'd be able to fit all my junk into the car. Or last summer when I was in downtown LA for the taiko conference I was trying to go home, but got all turned around and went off the map my Dad had laid out for me (it was great--he actually drove with me to LA and showed me which streets went where, then he took the bus home while I went to STI) and then I was like, OK, I'm off the map, but I've got loads of common sense, so I used that and I found the freeway--the right freeway--because there are like a million different freeways down there. And I was so proud of myself because I was like, ok, I've got nothing to go on but the common sense my parents have worked so hard on instilling me my whole life, and look where it got me! Back home to them! I'm off the subject now, but I really wanted to let you know how awesome my parents have been to me.

The show was great folks. It was a packed house in a really big auditorium. I don't think I've ever played anywhere as big as that before. We played Mokuyobi and I am very happy with my solo. Imagine that. Happy.

Taiko practice is postponed for the month of October, but that's gonna give me a chance to work on my own stuff. I need to start running again, and I have to work on those Okinawan clacker things (sanba, I think they're called) and maybe chekere, and maybe some art stuff, and now I'm a little inspired to try to work on my pull-ups. It's an exciting time. I'm loving this.