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... but they can dance?
Dec. 19th, 2024 15:07I enjoyed watching Glee back in the day, at least for a little while, before the melodrama became too much for me. I loved all of the a cappella music getting mainstream attention and awareness, and as an inveterate choirgirl and lover of all series' musical episodes, getting an entire series dedicated to such? Hell yeah.
That being said, the performances on Glee and the level of dance talent and coordination they were expected to display? While singing? Utterly bemusing to me. In my then-twenty-plus years of singing in choirs, whether a cappella, orchestral, or church music, even when singing more pop-y songs? We didn't *dance*. The most complex choreo I ever had to worry about was "processing into the church holdingLIVE FIRE a candle" or "rearranging ourselves into an arc."
Oakland Symphony Chorus is ... a little different, heh, despite being an orchestral chorus. We have several African songs in our repertoire, with simple accompanying line dances. (They have to be simple, given the percent of choiristers with physical limitations and even more decades of "SING NOT DANCE" under their belts than me ;) )
So we had two songs with planned choreo for our holiday concert this past Sunday - the African Noel, which we did last year, so at least it was review for many of us; and Donna Summer's Last Dance as the concert finale, because the theme for this year's concert was The Queens of Disco. A coordinated routine for African Noel, relatively simple two-step for Last Dance. Out of five songs total that we were singing (out of 17 for the entire show), that wasn't much, right?
... we ended up spontaneously dancing on the risers to five additional disco songs because engaging the audience. (I'm So Excited, Celebration, Love Sensation, You Make Me Feel, and I Will Survive.) It was an education for the high school choir that joined us this year about rolling with the punches. Every time it happened, I turned to them and went, "Surprise!" Because, well.
It also meant my watch decided I was "working out," and I got some kind of badge for "longest amount of time working out in one day," ROFL. If a tree falls in the forest, and it wasn't wearing a fitness tracker, did it actually happen, or did the observation need to have occurred by a third party?
All of this dancing did mean that for the first time in ages, we'd memorized a bulk of the music well enough that we sang without scores - obviously none for the two official dance pieces, but I and other old-timers didn't bother picking up our music for the Hallelujah Chorus, and we probably could have done the same for Let Us Break Bread Together, since we literally open every holiday concert with it. Which meant a lot better eye contact with the conductors! I get the feeling we're going to be seeing more of this, especially since our next concert isn't for awhile.
That being said, the performances on Glee and the level of dance talent and coordination they were expected to display? While singing? Utterly bemusing to me. In my then-twenty-plus years of singing in choirs, whether a cappella, orchestral, or church music, even when singing more pop-y songs? We didn't *dance*. The most complex choreo I ever had to worry about was "processing into the church holding
Oakland Symphony Chorus is ... a little different, heh, despite being an orchestral chorus. We have several African songs in our repertoire, with simple accompanying line dances. (They have to be simple, given the percent of choiristers with physical limitations and even more decades of "SING NOT DANCE" under their belts than me ;) )
So we had two songs with planned choreo for our holiday concert this past Sunday - the African Noel, which we did last year, so at least it was review for many of us; and Donna Summer's Last Dance as the concert finale, because the theme for this year's concert was The Queens of Disco. A coordinated routine for African Noel, relatively simple two-step for Last Dance. Out of five songs total that we were singing (out of 17 for the entire show), that wasn't much, right?
... we ended up spontaneously dancing on the risers to five additional disco songs because engaging the audience. (I'm So Excited, Celebration, Love Sensation, You Make Me Feel, and I Will Survive.) It was an education for the high school choir that joined us this year about rolling with the punches. Every time it happened, I turned to them and went, "Surprise!" Because, well.
It also meant my watch decided I was "working out," and I got some kind of badge for "longest amount of time working out in one day," ROFL. If a tree falls in the forest, and it wasn't wearing a fitness tracker, did it actually happen, or did the observation need to have occurred by a third party?
All of this dancing did mean that for the first time in ages, we'd memorized a bulk of the music well enough that we sang without scores - obviously none for the two official dance pieces, but I and other old-timers didn't bother picking up our music for the Hallelujah Chorus, and we probably could have done the same for Let Us Break Bread Together, since we literally open every holiday concert with it. Which meant a lot better eye contact with the conductors! I get the feeling we're going to be seeing more of this, especially since our next concert isn't for awhile.
