We visited two events – the World Children's Day celebration at Ta' Qali, and the San Anton School Christmas Market. In both cases, we performed one of the dance numbers from Panto, gave out leaflets, smiled at small children and generally promoted the show (Panto at MFCC! Bigger and better! Parking no problem!).
We started off by mustering at the clubhouse to change into our costumes and go through the routine one last time (although I think it is more or less second nature by now). The MADC very kindly laid on a coach for us to travel in, to save hassle with parking multiple cars at each destination, and we promptly began calling it the Tour Bus (a feeling much enhanced when the Chairperson handed around Panto posters and masking tape for us to fill the windows with!). Filing onto it felt a bit surreal because as another chorus member put it, it was like being back in school again and going on an outing.
We set off in high spirits, singing Panto songs and improvising on football cheers. One of our number used to be an air steward so he gave us the safety speech over the coach's PA system, and our new MADC chairperson acted as tour guide, pointing out the traffic camera, orange tree and other features of the Attard main road.
To make absolutely certain we wouldn't be late, we actually arrived in Ta' Qali quite early. We didn't need to change or do make-up because we'd already done all that back at the clubhouse, so we used to time to walk around and mingle with all the families out for the day, and distribute leaflets. After an impromptu dance session next to the DJ (gathered quite a crowd!) we headed back to the amphitheatre.
The facilities there were surprisingly good – several toilets, showers even, and lots of lockers to stash our stuff in. The stage was a bit challenging though – our dance routine had been choreographed for three or four entrances and we only had two – two very narrow ones at the top of garigores! There wasn't anywhere to leave our shoes and socks (we were performing barefoot) or anything else for that matter. We lined the stairwell with our footwear, and I stuffed my spectacles into one of my shoes and hoped fervently that no-one would step on them.
In this particular routine, I kick everything off by going out there by myself, and then the stage sort of explodes with colour as everyone else comes on. We carefully arranged ourselves on the stairs in order of entrance, with me at the front of the line on our side of the stage. When I heard my cue (well actually I didn't hear my cue because it's hard to hear it out-of-doors but anyway) I step-ball-change'd my way onto the stage – and promptly fell over because I hadn't realised that there was a step DOWN onto the stage... well I managed to recover with just a stumble so it worked out all right.
The rest of the routine is a bit of a blur – when you're on stage it's as though everything condenses, your world consists of the familiar moves and your body takes over on autopilot. Your mind gets to focus on the two big things – one is smiling, and the other is making sure you get to where you need to be! Actually at one point my smile turned into giggles because of the big fixed grin on the face of my dance partner, who knows full well that on stage you smile, smile, smile, but that was OK too.
We had been worried about dancing barefoot on the outdoor stage, but it was OK – there wasn't any sharp debris on the ground. The only thing we really didn't like was being out on such a cold and windy day (gusts up to 28 km/hour!) in Panto costumes which are designed for visibility but most definitely not to protect the wearer from the elements. During the actual dancing we're too busy moving to feel cold, but right before and right after were rather... chilly. Talk about suffering for your art.
The casts of the two other big Christmas shows who will be our main competition for audiences were also there to perform at Children's Day, but since they were scheduled quite some time before and after us, I didn't get to see their numbers. I'm told by someone who was there for all three performances that our was the best, but then again my source is admittedly biased in our favour *grin*. Still, encouraging to hear!
After Ta' Qali, we headed off to San Anton School, which was a completely different experience. This time we were indoors (yay!) but we were dancing in a very, very small space surrounded on three sides by onlookers pressing in and on the fourth by a big display including breakable *meep* items. There wasn't enough space to do all our moves but we improvised and danced very close to each other. At one point I was supposed to circle around my dance partner but he quickly warned me that there wasn't much space behind him – I realised that in order to do the move, I'd have to wade through the display... so I spun around on the spot instead.
On the way back home, we were a subdued lot, worn out from the afternoon's excitement, but it was a good kind of subdued - we performed well in both venues although the conditions were less than ideal, and I think we enjoyed the experience.
Back at the clubrooms, we piled out and the chorus members went off to change while the cast who hadn't been in costume prepared tea and coffee and went out to get pizza and pastizzi for everyone. We sat on chairs, benches and stools that had been pulled into a rough oval, surrounded by scenery, sipping our hot drinks and soft drinks, and it was then that I had a real feeling of camaraderie. Everyone had tried very hard, everyone had done well, and we had performed as a team, both those of us on stage and those who helped get us there.
So, final verdict, a good afternoon.
Tomorrow starts the final push up to opening night which is just under four weeks away. The frequency and duration of rehearsals have been increased, and we are all dreading production week, but performing today has provided some encouragement because we saw what happens as a result of our hard work in the rehearsals.
Roll on tomorrow...
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