Senior Showcase Spurt.

School was school, and that is that (well, in regards to Hermitage anyway). Today, in dance, we had to present a collage that we created to display our ideas, themes, and concepts for our senior showcase pieces. Well, I started to explain the basis for my piece, and was quickly halted by my teacher. She wanted me to sum it all up in one sentence, and I just could not do it. I asked her if she wanted me to go through my collage so that maybe it would make more sense, but she wasn't interested. Instead, she played the role of devil's advocate and found a flaw in what seemed like all of my ideas. She reduced my costuming ideas to that of cliche stereotypes. She knew that wasn't what I was going for, but she was convinced that that's what the audience would take from it. I felt like nothing that I said or did was right. I didn't realize how personal my choreography was to me until I cracked under the opposition and started crying in front of everyone. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised... I felt as though my piece was being belittled; harshly judged. And I'm putting my emotions out there; it's a small part of me. Well, after that conversation, I was less than enthused about my after-school rehearsal to work on my dance with Sarah (my dancer). I was able to pull it together, though, and we went over what we had so far and made a few additions/alterations. I have about two minutes of choreography now! I'm two-thirds of the way there! During the rehearsal, my teacher came back out and asked to see what I had. Sarah and I showed it, and I was surprised by Mrs. Fink's feedback: "I really like it." "The choreography is fantastic." "I like what you're doing; keep with it." I told her how thankful I was, and I told her how I felt like everything I did was viewed as wrong. What she said struck me in an interesting way. She said, "You're challenging me with your psychological ideas, and I'm challenging you because you deserve to be challenged." Maybe my message is better expressed through my movement than it is through my words. And whether or not the audience understands my intended message, I just want for them to feel something! Emotions register different for everyone, and I just really want people to be impacted; to look at the piece and be able to relate to the scenario in one way or another. Oh, I'm starting to wonder if my tangents make sense anymore. I feel like my words run together like mush...

TPQ: What makes people be "at a loss for words?" I mean, we are equipped with capable brains and some sort of knowledge base. Do moments of shock, anger, frustration, stress, sadness, etc. cause our minds to draw a literal blank? How do all of your thoughts simply dissolve temporarily? Perhaps it's the result of rapidly changing your mindset... Opinions?