Shows nine and ten

Shows nine and ten were for the Paris branch of Centre Parcs . They charged 15 euros for the adults and 7 for the kids to attend the shows. People were amazed and since it was one of those stages where there was a stage elevated and a dance floor below, we could really make contact with the audience and see the delight on their faces. The only problem was me having a bad case of nausea during the first show which was likely connected to a large consumption of oysters the night before. Half way through the show I came back stage, dramatically fell on my hand and knees and proceeded to huff and puff like a women in labor, then burst into tears. It was one of those points when you don't know exactly what your crying about but i think it had something to do with the fact that i knew i was performing badly and there was nothing i could do about it. To add insult to my injury the boys seem to pick this particular moment to leave their sound/technical/camera ministries and come backstage and witness my humiliation. Nevertheless everyone showed great concern and after they suggested I sit out the rest of the show, my defiant spirit took over and great speeches started to replay in my mind about, the show must go on, its not over till its over, etc etc. So I made it through the rest of the show and at the end promptly went to the bathroom with a large bottle of water and a determined index finger, ready to discover my bulimic tendencies for the sake of the second show which was due to start in half and hour. The second show went well, one of my best performances. The girls said i smiled so big because i was so relieved to have a empty stomach. The first show had an attendance of 248 and the second of 180

Because it's Christmas

A tear froze, fallen from his eye

The tear shed, not mine nor thine

To the king of the manger cradle it belonged

The king who heavenly choir exalts in song

The purpose of his tear wasn't without reason

Every year, christmas brought near

The birthday stolen, the "X-mas" treason

To wipe away the sorrow we brought

To bring his grievance score to naught

Give him your all, your love in return

Sever him with passion, a fire that burns

shows six and seven

Show six was for six-hundred people inside a huge ten ( think the miami tabernacle ). We repented of praying for our white christmas after the temperatures dropped to minus two in the daytime, which meant it was somewhere near 4 degrees inside the tent. Its the oddest feeling to have your face burning with sweat and your toes still numb with cold. A Romans 8:28 though ( gosh im getting good at this ) was that pointe work couldn't be felt at all, big smiles through the ballet. Three hours after the first show ended we were supposed to be on stage performing again, so rush, pack and on to the theater which thankfully, was of more humane temperatures. I would like to apologize for any strange faces you may come across in this photo collection, apparently a smile doesn't always hide what your neurotransmitters are trying to relay

shows four and five

Shows four and five were in a theater that seated 160 people. At 12:30 on a Wednesday morning we started a dress rehearsal in the theater, stopped at 1:30 and started the show at 2:00. 3:30 the show ended which gave us half an hour to re-powder our noses and try to cool off before our second performance started at 4:00. Muscles have never cried out so much for relief, and it has been proven possible that your muscles get to a point where they just won't obey ( for all you who will use this as an excuse to wet the bed, bladder muscles don't count). Our cheeks were frozen into a permanent plastic barbie smile, so i've been allowing myself some serious frowning to equal out the equation. Here is the poster advertising our show. ( helpful translation hint: invest in a french dictionary )

Show 3

The third show was for a Center Parcs here in France. I would herby officially like to denounce GPS systems as ever being a modern improvement on the AA map book. Any half sane human would naturally rebel against a white Nokia telling you IN FRENCH! ( a warning in itself) to turn left and take that meter wide dirt tract with the sign " 3308.80 km to Timbuktu". But no, caution and common sense, which apparently wasn't so common was thrown to the sugar beet fields and we obeyed and followed. Every now and then we would pass another gasoline depleted car, all sad victims to their GPSs. Their owners lost in the surrounding woods, scavenging for chestnuts and if God granted them the gift of survival, a car charger. Nevertheless we made it there and back in one physical ( note the absence of the word "mental" ) piece

Show 2

Sunday afternoon we performed for all the motorbike police of Paris. The day before, we found out that they only wanted a half hour show. So Michael was locked in the basement for 3 hours with a computer, the original sound tract, and our sincere prayers whilst we girls went out and did what any good estrogen owning creatures would do in such a stressful situation, shopping! As it turned out they had their own light and sound technicians there, not such a romans 8:28 as they free show every costume change.

Show 1

We just performed our first show yesterday afternoon. Despite the group nausea we all partook of five minutes before the opening song, the show ran rather smoothly. The only problems encountered was me getting severe and sudden cases of dance dyslexia (doing all the right motions but just the wrong way around )through half the song, and the stage lights having a mind of their own to turn themselves off whenever they felt like it. There is however, a romans 8:28 as the lights tended to dim as soon as a spasm of dance dyslexia would take over, thus hiding my mistakes and letting me keep what is left of my dignity. So I will be working on my dancing, and Michael will be working on disciplining the lights so that by the time our next show rolls around on sunday, we will both be in somewhat working order.