Showtime!

What a busy but fantastic day!

After the stressful trip yesterday, this one was far more relaxed. My class are taking part in a competition for the county "Surrey School's Got Talent", showcasing their Ballroom Dancing that I've been teaching them all year. We had a lot of stress getting ready, with a very short time frame, trouble with ordering costumes etc, but it all came together today!

We had to go there for 1pm for a rehearsal, so that meant their lunch needed to start at 11:30am! It was a gorgeous and boiling hot day, and they were all in good spirits. We had a 2o minute trip on a lovely air-conditioned coach- much quicker than yesterday. They were a bit lively when we got there, but that was to be expected, given the magnitude of the day.

It took place at G-Live, a very new venue in Guildford. I've never been before, but the building was gorgeous, with lots of glass. We were met by one of the organisers who led us to a room to wait. It was beautiful, with a stage curtain and a wood floor- I wasn't sure if we were performing there or not.

They took us through to the stage, and it was in a huge, brand new auditorium. I was excited for them, and I think they were excited too. We watched from the sound engineer's box at the very top as we had to give them some instructions about the music, and it was fab to see them on stage.

After that we had to stay there for another two hours until the coach could pick us up again. All 30 and the five of us were penned into the gorgeous, air-conditioned room! We did the girls hair, all 13 of them, and surprisingly it took most of that time to make 13 slick buns! We had a snack and drink, a quick play and group ohoto outside, and then it was time to go.

By the time we got back at 4pm, I literally had time to go home and get ready, and then left at 5:30pm to go back again. I drove with three friends, and we arrived at 6:15pm. A lot of the children were already there with their parents, and they looked absolutely fantastic in their costumes! We got them all back together into the room, and had only one tense person as the last child hadn't arrived by 7pm!

We did lipstick, played games, and generally tried to keep them calm as we had to wait as we were on just before the interval. They were all nervous but excited as we walked them to the stage. When one of the children came out to introduce our act, there was an audible gasp of "aah!"! Well, we were the youngest children there ;-)

We watched from the wings of the stage rather than in the audience, so although I didn't see it from the front, it actually gave me a better view, especially for filming it. They were fab!

They came off buzzing, and you could see by their faces how proud they were! As they walked off, the emcee asked me to follow him, which I reluctantly did, to the front of the stage....

All of a sudden I was standing there in front of everybody, blinded by the lights waiting to hear the judges feedback! Talk about bunny in the headlights! It was really positive, and they couldn't believe they learned all those steps, etc.

After that we had a break, and did the usual toilet run. Lots of group photos ensued, and there were so many lovely comments, including one from a man from Surrey Arts.

We had to go and watch the second half, and the evening was getting on. It was 9:30pm, and I looked around at the rows of excited chit-chat and some slumped in their seats. I was mindful of trying to keep them awake for the results!

When results time finally came, they all had to go on stage. They were giving out 1st, 2nd and 3rd for each age division, plus and overall, and I was sure we would get something! But alas, we did not! Very disappointing, but nobody cried or got upset, they all got a certificate and had an amazing experience that I'm sure they won't forget anytime soon. It was quarter to 10 when we left, and we told them not to come to school until 10am tomorrow :-) The parent s were so pleased, and we received some lovely feedback. They also thought we should have won!

I am just so proud of them all! Performing on a stage is an amazing feeling. And to think in September they couldn't do any of this! It just shows that anything is possible :-)