Everything Could Change

Posted on April 9, 2010 by lindaharley

After Thursday, everything could change.

jemima in front of the just dance dome in Edinburgh

Firstly, Jem has her audition with Doreen Bird College.  She quite likes Bird, having attended a course there last Easter and being awarded the certificate for Hardest Working Student. But just getting a place isn’t enough: without a Dance and Drama Award (DADA) there’s no way we could afford it.  Even with a DADA it would be tough – living costs in London are eye-wateringly expensive, and as this would be higher education, not further education, she wouldn’t be able to get a student loan.  So all costs have to be funded real time.  The plus side is that when she qualifies she wouldn’t have a student loan to pay off.

I still feel that at barely 17, which she’d be in September, she’s too young to go off to London on her own. And she’s quite amenable to waiting for another year.  Her bf has 2 more years to do at Uni here, and she could start her Diploma at Belfast Metropolitan College, which has a good reputation for dance, particularly contemporary.

At exactly the same time as her audition, Rog has a hospital appointment to look at his heart.  If you were making a movie of my life, you’d be doing cut-away shots between the both.  I know he’s very anxious about this, and what it might mean.  Though I do think that anyone really worried about their heart should have an incentive to stop smoking. Anyhoo, concerns about his future are making it awkward for us to discuss our  future.  Having lived apart now for nearly 4 months, I prefer it this way, so if I’m going to find somewhere new to live I’d really like to start planning that sooner rather than later.  Though I suppose it could wait till we find out the result of J’s audition.

And it’s no surprise that I’m writing this in  the middle of the  night!

Filed under: Dance, kids | Leave a comment »

Scary Musical

Posted on January 23, 2010 by lindaharley

Jem’s latest production was Scary Musical, an innuendo-laden spoof of High School Musical, with some hilarious pastiches of Fame, Grease, and Saturday Night Fever thrown in along the way.
a flier for scary musical

The lyrics are very clever – I particularly liked “It doesn’t have to be hard if we come together – if we all lend a hand, job done, we can pull it off….”

I’ll leave the choreography and …erm…actions to your imagination!

A very talented cast – I recgonised most of them from other MT4UTH and McMaster shows, and I thought to myself “Ah yes, the usual suspects”. And then I thought, yup, those are NI’s stars of tomorrow. And what a great bunch they all are. Remember my name!

Filed under: Dance, kids, Musicals | 2 Comments »

Guys and Dolls

Posted on November 28, 2009 by lindaharley

We’re in the eerie calm after the storm now that the week-long run of Guys and Dolls is over.  Jemima was playing Miss Adelaide, her first time in a principal role, and boy what a great role it was for her!  It completely suited her effervescent personality, and the songs were in a good range for her to sing.  The few weeks leading up to the show were hectic, mind, with me taxi-ing her back and forth.  But I remember the mantra I taught myself when the babes were young – make the most of every phase, and don’t dwell on the less pleasant aspects.  Because they grow up all too soon, and those happy moments will soon only be memories.

Matty and Jemima as Nathan and Adelaide

A letter from Adelaide's mother

So we’re making the most of our car time together.  We listen to a bit of Classic FM, to improve her listening skills which she needs to do for her Music GCSE, and we talk about the future.

Adelaide's Lament

She did her Grade 6 ballet in the same week as the show, and I was talking to her ballet teacher while she was in the exam room.  Previously she had encouraged me to persuade Jem not to go to London next year to dance college, but to stay and go to Belfast Met instead.  But when we were discussing her knock-em dead performance, we both agreed that we might reconsider.  I know like any mother, I will support her to the hilt in whatever is the best option for her future, but boy I’ll miss her when she’s gone.

mink

take back your mink

Sadly, we’ve just discovered that she’s too young to go for Lloyd Webber’s next search, which is for Dorothy.  Basically they can’t interrupt compulsory education.  Shame, cos she’d be the right type for that role, but there’ll be other chances.  She was quite sanguine about this, and is being very industrious about preparing for her GCSEs next year.  She’s also busy filling in application forms for the main dance schools that she’s keen on – Laine, Arts Ed, and Bird.  So no doubt we’ll be over to London a few times in the New Year!

Filed under: Dance, kids, Musicals | 3 Comments »

Just Dance

Posted on November 3, 2009 by lindaharley

Jemima was lucky enough recently to get through the first stage of auditions for Just Dance, a reality show to be shown on Sky 1 next year.  We flew to Edinburgh for the next round, unsure of what the format was going to be.  Turned out she had to perform in front of a live audience, complete with bright lights and scurrying camera crew, and be interviewed back stage.  The panel certainly had gravitas in the dancing world – Adam Garcia, Kimberly Pussycat Doll, and Ashley “Diversity” Banjo.  And they were being extremely strict – in the 5 or 6 hours we were there I saw them approve one dancer.  And no, it wasn’t our J.  She’d danced her little heart out – all winsome smiles and graceful limbs.  Her face lit up when Ashley asked her about the music, written for her by her boyfriend.  And all the judges’ comments were constructive and believable.  I was bursting with pride (yes again!) at her ability to cope unprepared with this tough ordeal, and to keep her chin up and keep smiling during the feedback.

Apologies for teh watermark on the video – having just upgraded my ‘puter to one using Windows 7, I’m rather disappointed that Movie Maker still doesn’t import mp4 or wav files, and so in order to capture Matty’s stunning music I had to use a free trial download.

Filed under: Dance, kids, Musicals, video | 2 Comments »

We’re going to need a bigger box…

Posted on September 9, 2009 by lindaharley

Jem had her first paid work in a theatre yesterday, at the preview of this year’s panto in the Grand Opera House. At first we thought she was just going to be a sort of stand-in dancer for some photo-shoots, but it was actual appearing on stage, with Dame May McFettridge, and included a stint as the back end of a dragon, which is obviously vital training for any budding thesp.

Jem with stars in her eyes

Jem with stars in her eyes

So today her picture was in most of the local papers, as well as this lovely publicity still on the Grand Opera House website. Honestly, if this is going to happen every time she goes to work I’m going to need a much bigger box in which to put all her photos, certificates, publicity, programmes…

Filed under: belfast, Dance | 1 Comment »

Godspell

Posted on August 20, 2009 by lindaharley

J has been working her little socks off for, well, most of the year really, towards MT4UTH’s production of Godspell. This was a bit different to the usual “Musical in a Weekend” projects that they do – firstly they had a whole 6 days to rehearse this one, and secondly, it was being staged in Belfast’s iconic Grand Opera House. J was particularly chuffed that she got her picture in some of the local papers, on the eve of her 16th birthday.

Jem leaping over cars in a single bound

Jem leaping over cars in a single bound

My sister and her family accompanied me, and we had seats in my favourite row at the front of the Upper Circle. We were in pretty good form as we’d been quaffing champagne all afternoon to celebrate her getting her PhD. <hic>

J really does shine when she dances! She was in the front row for most of the numbers, her big smile reaching right up to the Gods. Aly described her as looking as if what she was doing was just THE most wonderful thing she’d ever been asked to do.

She also made a very good plague 🙂

Filed under: belfast, Dance, Musicals | Leave a comment »

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