Walls in France: Le spectacle

I now know why the end of the year dance production is called a ‘spectacle’ in France….because it is spectacular!! At least, Lucie and Kathleen’s was…After weeks of preparation and practice, their show was last Saturday night at the Salle de Fete in Plan d’Orgon. The girls had to report to the stage at 4pm and spent the afternoon with their fellow dancers getting made-up and rehearsing for the big event. Since the event did not start until 9pm (Yes-9pm! I assume the plan is for people to have dinner before the event, but it does make for a long evening!), Bucky and I had a leisurely dinner and then went to pick up Caroline and Salome, the girls’ guests for the evening. We had assigned seats (which was nice because I didn’t have to fret about getting seats. It is unusual to have assigned seats for such an event in Provence because everything is very laid back here!) with a perfect view of the stage.

The first part of the show was dedicated to the “class dances” where each class did their number dressed in their usual dance uniform. The girls who had participated in the concours during the year (including Kathleen) also performed their solos. Kathleen even did a tap number thanks to help from her former tap instructor, Janet Meister, in South Carolina! Kathleen’s French dance instructor, Kathelyn, knew that my Kathleen loved tap and she wanted her to have a chance to shop off her tapping talents. So, Kathleen picked out a song from iTunes, we emailed the music to Miss Janet, and she choreographed the dance. She sent the dance to us on email, I translated it into French and Kathleen and Kathelyn worked together to perfect it. And that is how a tap dance was made long distance! You’ve gotta love technology AND the commitment to dance!!

The second half of the spectacle was made up of all of the dancers from Kat’s Studio and took place “under the sea.” The stage was transformed into the bottom of the ocean with rocks and shells and creatures from the deep including a shark, a jellyfish, an octopus (Lucie!) and lots of beautiful fish. The costumes were exquisite – all hand made for each dancer by Kathelyn’s mom, Elyane. All of the dancers stayed on stage throughout the second part of the show and swayed or moved as their creatures would move under water as different groups of dancers took center stage to display what they had learned during the year. Lucie, as a golden octopus, showed off her jazz skills in a few funky numbers with her friends. As a beautiful orange and red fish, Kathleen danced throughout the second half doing jazz, ballet and point. She counted the number of dances she was in during the evening and it came to a whopping 17 dances! It really was an impressive show of talent and dedication. Kathelyn Martini, the girls’ dance instructor, obviously put much thought and effort into choreographing the show and presented us with a spectacular production! Brava!!