Most of the company was genuinely gracious to me and very kind and welcoming. I was attached to this particular project specifically as Felix’s right-hand-man and the only flyman. Which I was completely stoked about. Not to mention the fact that there wasn’t that much in the flyloft and my jobs were limited to opening and closing the main curtain, and flying in and out the three drops, a disco ball, the “Dance A-Cross” sign, and the strings of Christmas lights that we’ve dubbed “Cher lights”. Easy as pie. …Ish.
I was taken by how this particular dance company interacted and worked with others, including myself. I wasn’t used to anyone genuinely appreciating the help of others, let alone me as a stagehand. Perhaps the kindness came from the ideas behind the company itself.
Dance A-Cross was founded, or so Felix has told me, by a dance instructor who wanted to start up an extra curricular activity at her church. She opened up a dance school based on and out of said church and it boomed. When she started she had maybe 50 students, or so Felix suggested, and when she came to HSP this year, she had about 400.
The two shows (to accommodate everyone) again went off without a hitch, at least on my end. I was very surprised though. None of the set, nor any of the drops, nor any of the costumes had glitter. The dancers’ make-up had glitter, but I wasn’t planning on rubbing their make-up all over me. And yet, again in my stagehanding blacks, I found at the end of the show, I was covered in glitter. It’s out to get me, I swear it.
Despite my ongoing (apparently) war with glitter, I walked away from that show like I had never walked away from any show before. Like I said, everyone of them, save two, were completely gracious and kind and welcoming and genuinely appreciative. Never mind that the only two were the owners’ daughters, but everyone else was kind, including the owner.
Rarely do I feel appreciated in the work that I do, and I’m not in it for that. When I am appreciated, though, it feels great. And I have to say that I walked away from my brief experience with Dance A-Cross refreshed and renewed in my goals in the theatrical arts. I also walked away having learned a ridiculous game called “Ninja”, and I think I walked away with one of the best things this world has to offer…
But that is another story.
Until next time, my faithful readers, please, save yourselves. The glitter will find you too. …It’s relentless.
-ACS
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