Episodes was two days of complete craziness! And I was lucky enough to experience both sides of the whole process.
Thursday I was thrown into the world of being a runner, having been in shows before and seeing what the runners do during the performance i thought it would be good fun and pretty easy. I got half right.. Runners have a tough time!
It was my job to make sure everything went smoothly, so making sure the groups were in the right place, on time and quiet! Which during a show with 13 youth groups is a challenge. But we had a great team and managed to run a smooth show and the day went really well. Also the highlight of this night was a message played backstage with ten minutes till the start, "10 minutes till curtain up, we are now entering PERFORMANCE MODE!" okay it wasn't the highlight but as i heard this i saw the stage manager, lighting technician and sound technician look at each other then continue to drink there coffees, I think me and Rachel might be simple minded to find this amusing! The real highlight was to watch as all the hard work put in throughout the day made for an excellent show.
Friday was a mixture of a day for me. I started the morning as i had thursday, running around all other the Playhouse and having a good chat with the stage door receptionist about the "good old days" and shows we had been in, I don't really know how i can talk about the good old days being 18.. But then i had to give my well practised responsibilities to Matthew who arrived and genuinely looked scared at what he was about to get into, and went into "PERFORMANCE MODE!" as i was also performing this night with Clout Youth Dance the company i am in. This was a strange turn around as i couldn't stop myself being a runner and helping the others like i had been for the last day, but i managed and focused on my dance side.
As we were one of the last groups to tech we decided to get straight into costume and make up, which is always fun as we have some great costumes! So there was me walking around the Playhouse with my newly cut 1940s style hair, a white and mucky face and some green overalls, a look I'm hoping will take off world wide.
During the dress I got to see some great pieces of work and actually rest instead of running around like the night before. Our run went really well and we got some great feed back from other groups although they could only see us from the side as they were waiting for the finale.
Being the last act in the show we had to wait in college street till the second half and something that Clout are getting famous for is the amount of food we take anywhere and our ability to turn a dance studio into a picnic! All the food was healthy of course, we were getting ready to go on stage… While here i was dragged back into work mode by Adele and filmed some of the performers answering some questions on episodes, and i witnessed a handstand competition which turned very competitive and i think i saw Ian from Retina give himself a free pass straight into the final, fair? I wouldn't question him :D
On to the actual performance at last! After stretching in the corridor, this was pretty impressive and there is a picture of us all with are legs up the wall in splits (i say splits but i was way off) we all rushed through to the side of the stage and watched eagerly as Ecdc finished their performance. This was our first time showing our new piece 'Hang Fire' to an audience, so if you were at the Playhouse you saw a World Premier! The performance was great! it ran really smoothly and nothing went wrong, well i lost balance on a move i had done a million times before and got a little carried away in my solo so i was a bit late for a music cue but I cant be perfect all the time:) And as i said before we were the closing act and this meant there was the rest of the performers in the wings for the finale, which can be a little off putting when you are staying in character and have to walk directly towards them so i thought i would freak one of them out by starring them down, sorry who ever that was! With our dramatic end to the piece (I wont spoil it if your coming to U.Dance) we got a great reaction from the crowd and it made all our hard work worth it.
I had a great two days at Episodes2011 and am really sad I wont be part of it next year. I hope i haven't put anyone off helping at episodes as its a great experience and for me its helped to show the hard work that is involved to put on a event like this and truly respect the people who do this for dancers, actors and musicians alike.
I hope you all come along to U.Dance on the 27th March at the Leicester Curve, and see all the great groups involved, including Clout as i can't wait to perform 'Hang Fire' again
Ben Eagles
Events and Promotion Trainee, Dancer and worlds best runner! (i feel..)
No comments:
Post a Comment