Magazine

An Uncommon Experience in the Musical Camp
David Li

I’m a member of Singing Hearts Children’s Choir. I’ve taken part in the musical camp jointly heldby Singing Hearts Children’s Choir and CYT twice. I love the camp very much.Here is my story in the camp.
After a two-day audition, each of us got the role that fit us the most. I got Mufasa, Simba’s father, as well as the King of Pride Rock. I was very glad to get this role because I’m quite experienced with this kind of character. I played Sultan in Aladdinlast time. These two characters are both kings. The only difference is Mufasa has more strength and wisdom than Sultan.
The rehearsal went smooth. The main characters worked hard on the script, while the others were practicing singing and dancing. I memorized all my lines in a few days, and took down notes on my script. I asked the director for some details to improve my acting skills. I helped others to practice their lines as well.
However, things didn’t go well all the time. When I watched the director demonstrating the difficult dance moves during the dance rehearsal in Aladdin last time, I lost my confidence and refused to dance ever since. Whenever it was the time to practice dancing, I always tripped myself, even if the movements were so simple.The students were used to this way of mine. The teachers tried everything to stop me from thinking "I can't dance", but I didn't listen.
This fear kept growing and hit the peak when I heard that I would be in the group dancing for HakunaMatataand Can You Feel the Love Tonight. After the director showed us the dance of HakunaMatata for the first time, I gave up. I thought it was so hard to learn. I tried to figure out a way to get myself away from the dance.Suddenly, a crazy idea jumped right into my head: hit the wall to get injured. My plan seemed to work. The teachers let me sit by the walls after I had hit one of the wooden walls for about twenty times literally. I was allowed to stay out of the dance. As I was feeling satisfied, I saw a tiny piece of disappointment and helplessness in the director’s eyes. I felt guilty for what I’ve done. I didn't do anything while the others were working hard on their dance moves. I don’t deserve the right of running away from dancing, I thought. I slowly changed my attitude.
I decided not to be this way anymore.I was glad to hear that I would be dancing in the curtain call with all the other lions. Even I couldn’t dance in HakunaMatataanymore; I danced hard to fix my mistakes. However, I couldn't keep up with the others.
A few days later, we went through the curtain call with the music all together. I failed to perform my dance moves fitting to the beat. After the rehearsal, I thought of my position in the dance show: the very first line. If I make a single mistake, the audience will notice right away. The whole show would be ruined! With that kind of fear, I ran off with tears. Our dance teacher came to me and asked me why I cried. After hearing my story, he told me his story at my age when he attended a dance class. He was scared. The other students laughed at him the whole time. Instead of giving up, he practiced very hard. Even when the others were playing, he danced. That’s why he is now a good dancer. I was greatly encouraged.
With the encouragement from my dance teacher, I worked harder and harder. He eventually redesigned the dance moves of our group. The movements were more difficult than our first ones. Since the time was limited, he kept us practicing even after short lunch break every day. Some students in my group were a little unpleased with the arrangement, but I didn’t complain about it. I thought it was a great time for us to fix our own problems. After a few days of practicing at the camp and at my house, I was surprised to hear the compliment from the director. She said I was improving. I was glad to know that the director wasn’t giving up on me, neither so would I!
At last, it was the time for the show. I stood behind the curtain with great excitement: I can finally show my family members my improvement in dancing! The curtain rose, I took a deep breath, and then walked straight ahead onto the stage. I remembered the details the director told me and did the best acting as I could. I left the stage after my parts. I tried to calm myself down to give a better performance later. I thought of my dance teacher’s words again. They were echoing in my head. The clearest words I could hear were“to be confident”. I took a deep breath once more.
Soon, it was time for the curtain call. I got on stage, and then put my giant crown on one of the rocks behind. I clapped with the beat, trying to get the best feeling of dancing. The number of the groups ahead was growing less, and we kept moving forward. I got nervous. But, when the time came for us, I just danced like it was just a rehearsal. I never expect it to be so easy. Perhaps self-confidence works at last.
After the curtain call, the director held a Camp Awards. To my surprise, I was luckily awarded “The Leaping Frog”, which means the most improved. I was too excited to utter any remarks of appreciation. I just heard the director calling out my name. I made all of the teachers and my family proud. Now I know how important it is to be confident.
I’m sure many of us could learn something at the camp. As for me, I not only enjoyed the singing, dancing and acting but also learned the spirit of being equal, team-working and being grateful to those who helped me. Above all of these, the most valuable one is being confident. I believe that I’ll learn more in the future.

2013/9/30

[Back]