Dispatches from the road

This music festival is kind of a drag, but I'm getting close to the half way point, and still making the best of it. We are doing good things for the community, however, since I don't think there is a very active music scene in southern Illinois. I did a master class for some students who had an incredibly rapt attention span, and so far, that's the surprising highlight of the festival. There were just three of them, and one of them referred to the other two as "river rats," apparently a derogatory term for anyone who lives in one of the many small towns that line the "River" down here. I enjoyed passing on some valuable insights onto these "river rats," and one of them was just staring at me the entire time with the most intense look I've experienced in a master class. It felt good to help these kids out.

Last night, we did Sleeping Beauty with the local children's ballet company. I felt like I was in one of Garrison Keillor's stories of small town America describing the townspeople putting on a Christmas pageant. Lot's of funny stories to tell and share, and interesting personalities. But one person in particular stands out from the rest, the girl who was my favorite dancer.

There was a group of girl dancers that did a few scenes together, and I'd say they ranged in age from nine to ten years old. All of them were tiny, diminutive things, except for one who was practically twice the size of her counterparts. She was a big girl, both in girth and in height, but you could tell she couldn't have been happier than being up on stage, dancing her little heart out. There was nothing self conscious about her at all, even though for everyone in the audience, she definitely stood out from the crowd. I was happy for her, and happy that she bravely went ahead and danced with her friends, ignoring any hint of self consciousness or embarrassment at being her size. I would observe her from time to time, during rehearsal, skipping around the auditorium with her other friends, and she seemed to be the happiest kid there. During the performance, she simply beamed.

I hope her father told her she was the prettiest girl on stage.