Overcoming Technical Difficulties

This past weekend was Grace Dance Academy's performance of their production "Creation". Costumes were finished, programs were made, the students had worked hard and gotten lectured about still not being on the right counts (even though the performance was the next day!!). Everything seemed to pull together last minute at dress rehearsal. Everything felt finished, and the dancers looked polished, all of the lecturing and hard work had paid off, and as teachers we couldn't be more proud or excited to open our show!!

An excited cast, and an eager audience, the curtain opened...and that is when we experience our first technical difficulty of the evening. Our slide show that so elegantly started a story that the dancers would finish through movement froze, and instead of a slide show the audience saw a gray box. (Not very exciting). Quickly the curtain closed! And shortly after the curtain reopened! Everything back on track!! The slides worked, and the show opened with a beautiful performance by GDA's Ensemble dancers.

However, that was not the end of the technical difficulties! During the second dance, dancers were on stage, dancing wonderfully and on the right counts (they were the once who were given a lecture during tech) when all of a sudden their music just stopped right in the middle of their dance!!! They froze, and didn't know what to do! We called them off stage, and tried to proceed with the rest of he show. But music was still being an issue, the next song didn't want to play and instead music from the second act began playing!! WHY?!?!?! Meanwhile the young dancers from the previous dance (the dance whose music cut out on them) were back stage crying upset (as they should be) about not even getting to perform a dance they had worked so hard to get right!

I know that dancers and other behind the scenes people began praying for the Holy Spirit to cover the show and prevent any other interruptions, and from that point on the rest of the show went (for the most part) smoothly. After the entire production, the dance that never finished came back on stage for a not-quite-encore encore...they did beautifully!!

To quote one of our audience members to our director: "It WAS amazing. The girls were amazing, you and all the other teachers are amazing and God was amazing, but we already knew that. My husband can't stop telling everyone he talks to today about how gorgeous the dancing was, how beautiful the message and what a wonderful tribute to the studio this must have been. He is not one to go on and on about dance, but he said he teared up several times last night watching all those girls dance for our Lord. Thank you for all your efforts. My family was all very impressed!"

Here our a few picture that I took at our flawless dress rehearsal.




Me and two of my students after the performance.

Creation!

If you live in or within driving distance of the Bay Area, I invite you to come see Grace Dance Academy's FIRST full length performance "Creation"! You will get to see some of my students, my choreography, and my costume designing skills all on stage at one time...how exciting is that!!!

For more info visit the Facebook event page or visit Grace Dance Academy's website Tickets can be ordered in advance or purchased at the door.

I hope many of you can come!!

Scandal

So I am sure everyone has heard and is still hearing about the sex scandals in the Catholic Church. It is true that there were some pretty bad things that have happened, it is a reminder to all people that no matter the person in authority or what kind of position held by a man, they are still just that, a man...a human.

I think that what happened was horrible. The sexual abuse, and the covering up/protecting the offender. I think that that should never have happened and should never happen again. However, I am aware of some other cases of sexual abuse (not in the catholic church) where the offender is still free. Relieved of his duties, but not arrested and not under house arrest. I don't know if the people are waiting for the "right" time to prosecute or if the people who came forwarded requested that he not be turned in, in either case there is a person who committed the same type of crime and is yet being "protected" or hushed up. Again I don't think this is right, I just think it is an example that this whole hushing up thing is not unique to the Catholic Church's situation.

Additionally, I find it interesting that the media has put the Catholic Church in such a spotlight when in "2009, [only] six credible allegations of abuse concerning people who are minors were reported to the U.S. bishops -- in a church with 65 million members." While at the same time youth who are in detention centers are also sexually abused. "Nationwide about 12 percent of youths held in state-run, privately run, or local facilities reported some type of sexual victimization" One center is reported to have had over 34% of its youth sexually abused in the last year, and that is just ONE center in the last year! Why aren't these centers as well as others who have high sexual abuse rates being criticized and investigated as intensely as the Catholic Church is? In comparison the Catholic Church's rates are minute; 6 out of 65 million members versus 4 out of 11.

To read more and learn about the history of sexual abuse in the Catholic church, as well as read some statistics of sexual abuse (priests vs other religious leaders vs men in general) read this article by Dr. Thomas Plante is a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Spirituality and Health Institute at Santa Clara University as well as an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine