Rehearsals

I really should make a separate post for each rehearsal we had, but since many of them were quite short and they were all pretty close together, I think it makes more sense to combine them into one post.

In a whirlwind of a week and a half and 4 rehearsals, we managed to learn 6 songs, stage the show, and  run the whole 20-minute show a few times. Probably the most helpful factor here was that the students all learned their spoken lines in class, so we could focus rehearsal on the singing. We talked a lot about the emotion that we wanted to convey in each song: anticipation and mystery in "Follow the Drinking Gourd," excitement and nervousness in "Freedom Train," and celebration in "Fifty Nifty United States." These kids are amazingly insightful and it was fantastic to hear them share what they thought each of these songs was about.

I learned a lot about management during these rehearsals as well. The first few rehearsals, I was thrilled that so many student were raising their hands to contribute to the discussion and to share thoughts. However, I soon realized that taking so many student comments was eating up all of our rehearsal time. I talked to Mrs. Hamilton about this concern and she commented that I don't need to take all of their comments. For some reason, this had never occurred to me before. However, at the next rehearsal I tried her suggestion. When I started to summarize our objectives for the rehearsal and hands started shooting up, I simply stated, "I'm not taking comments right now. If you have something to tell me, you can tell me individually after rehearsal." This was so empowering to me as a teacher! Since it was a general statement, not directed at any student, nobody's feelings were hurt. I was able to maintain control of the pacing of the rehearsal, and it meant more to the students when the floor was opened for discussion.

Overall, I was amazed at how quickly the students learned the music. They still occasionally slipped back into the shout-singing they had been doing when I first came, but every time I reminded them to listen, keep their lip corners in and stand up straight, their sound instantly improved. I could tell that they were so excited to perform and that they wanted to do well.