Reflections on our Celebration of Dance

Prior to the show I had spent a month manically emailing the performers trying to sort everything out. I had dressing room plans, and running orders, and programme information littered across the desk. There were post it notes on every piece of paper, and probably even on myself in amongst my hopeless attempts to keep things neat in my show file. My shifts working at the studio flew by, because I was so occupied with rattling through my to do list. Therefore, when the day actually came it was incredibly humbling for me to see these spreadsheets and endless emails coming into fruition and culminating in a wonderful show for Yorkshire Cancer Research.

Show day finally arrives, and I’m cosied up on the prompt corner, bottle of water, some dark chocolate and the stage manager’s headset on, I happily sit there for hours while we tech every piece. This was the first time I’d truly worked backstage on a performance as I’m usually the one on stage. So, like those wonderful students who were performing for the first time, I was performing for the first time in the wings. Cuing the music and lights, and perfecting my stage whisper, I felt somewhat in my element backstage- maybe this is a sign?

The curtain is up, the first performers are ready and it’s time to dance. As the show progresses I feel myself swelling with pride at what we’ve managed to put together. Standing in the wings I can see the little smile that erupts from people’s faces when the adrenaline hits them. There is no feeling like performing, the sensation of having people watching you, gripped by what you are doing. And although I wasn’t dancing I could sense this through the performers and it was beautiful. I have tried to capture some moments from the wings that I would like to share with you all. This was my little show, glimpses of the stage and the dancing that occurred on it.

When I was taking the above photos they seemed like perfect snapshots of what was unfolding beside me. Looking back at them now, they seem quite obscured and fuzzy- the gloom of the wings peeking into the bright costumes and flashing lights of the stage. Fortunately we had the lovely Brian Slater taking photographs during the whole day so my woeful photography skills don’t matter so much. Here’s a few of my favourites:

As you can see from these few images, there were some beautiful moments that occurred on the night, and it was a privilege for me to help organise an event like this. Now we’re totting up the amount we’ve raised for Yorkshire Cancer Research and waiting for the DVD’s to be ready it seems like the night was an age away… but I can’t wait to start organising the next one if Katie will let me…