Solo Spot #1

So last Sunday I was designated as the last solo in a simple Matsuri song we're going to perform in March. The show is moderately a big deal--if you're a taiko player, then you know that playing a gig at some community college is nothing new, but we decided to make it a big deal for us, since we need to work on getting a repertoire together and having a solid set of songs, and since March is a good goal to try to get our act together, we think it's a big deal. So anyway, I get the last solo, which is kind of a big deal (for me, anyways), since the last solo kind of seals things and is the finale solo. It's actually kind of an honor. Janet usually gets last solo, and for her to give it up to me--that's gotta mean something. I mean, yes, giving up the last solo to a newbie at a community college event is not so big, but to me--well it's something new to work toward. I mean, at the last place I played taiko at, only one person had last solo, and it was always that last person, and to even dream of having that position was a wild fantasy. But here I am, in that spot, and now I feel like I've got this new responsibility--this new honor and it's wonderful and a bit stressful too. I mean, I had a set solo for Matsuri for that school show last September, but this--this is something new. I need something spectacular. I need movement. I need cool riffs. I'll be working on this. I will. Wow.

Also, we've got a lot to work on in the next--what--6 weeks. And oh god, solos. Lots of them. And take a look at the notes for a new version of a song:

And then the really hard song that we have yet to get through flawlessly. And a solo for that song that I really never truly love my solo for. And then percussion (chekere, people--and guess what--bell and clave!). And also we're composing a song (as we speak!) that we need to get everyone up to speed on.

But am I complaining? No way.

And guess what? I've been toying with the idea of enrolling (for free--what wonderful perks) in a "Dance Production and Lighting Design" class at work. Stage managing, sound boards, lighting design, equipment usage--all this I will learn, if I can figure out the paperwork and can commit to it once a week for a semester. Semester ends in May. It's already almost February. The only catch is that we've probably got to put on the Dance-Major Thesis shows in April. No biggie, right? That's what I'm telling myself. I've already got a notebook picked out. I realized last weekend that I needed to remember how to be a student, since I threw out all my student-skills when I gleefully graduated from the MFA program. No more underlining. No more notebooks. But eh, it all comes back to you. The only difference is that I'm so enthusiastic about the course. I just hope that I won't be one of those annoying students who ask all kinds of questions. But hey--that's what education is all about, right? You don't realize all that till you're graduated I guess. We'll see though. The paperwork has to go through and I just hope the class doesn't fill up. Might be nice to be surrounded by geeky types like myself for a change.

Until then, it's solos, people. Great, wonderful, song-closing solos. And stuff.