Steppin' Up

Or out. Or is it--a step in time saves what was now? Anyway. This past week we were rehearsing for the March 7th show, and me and Carolyn are supposed to step on the downbeats for one of the songs. We're the percussion girls and they want us to look sharp and cool. Only problem is, is that as percussion girls we're supposed to be playing and looking sharp. I don't know about Carolyn, but my rhythms are hard to play even without the stepping. Plus I'm playing three different percussion instruments (at different times, thank goodness, but still). Also we're doing a different kind of stepping--more like dancing--Carolyn calls it the wedding step, since you go right foot right, left foot to right, then left foot left, right foot to left. This is different from my usual stomp stomp stomp that I have already spent so much time working on. So I was like, oh, I don't know if I can step like that, and not in time for the show next week, blah blah blah. But of course Janet wouln't let me get away with that and just blew all my excuses off, saying that I was coordinated enough and that she knew I could do it shut up. And you know what? I could, and it wasn't hard at all. I feel like I'm finally getting a base of skills under my belt, and that I can actually use one skill for one thing, and then apply it to another seemingly different thing. That's cool. Of course at first I have to resort to looking like an idiot, because I was saying out loud: step ah-ah, step ah-ah, step ah-ah-ah-ah! But oh well, I got it, real quick too. I guess I just need that inital shove.

Five days and counting. I'm not that stressed. This is a big deal. I've got my solos under my belt. Got the sequence down. Working on my gut-busting and on my projection. I recorded last week's run-through and took notes on all the things I wanted to work on, and have been reviewing them this week. I worked out a diagram of where my bachi are and when, and what drums I move and when, or with who. I'm actually kind of excited. A show! And the best part is that I'm taking a day off of work and boy do I need the vacation. This is gonna be fun!