Tonight I was able to get to a movie. My 3rd of the season. This time last year I'm sure I had seen over 10 movies! On the other hand, I put in 6 hours doing library work today. Getting a dozen different copies of music out of over 160 folders, collating, checking for missing music, tying up the music, labeling and getting it put away is a long task. . . .even for three people. But the interesting thing is that I love library work! I worked in the music library at my college, and again at the National Music Camp at Interlochen back in my college days. My brain is so active and flying around all the time that I find sequential, step-wise tasks very restful. I love having a stack of work, going through the steps to accomplish it. . .no creativity required, and see the stack of work go down down down. It's so delightfully left-brained. It's the same reason I enjoy untangling yarn or string.
So that has been fun. . . . especially when I find an opening in my schedule and I'm not missing something else.
But I did go to the movie. A wonderful documentary called First Position. It was about an international dance competition where young people ages 9 - 17 compete for prizes, but more importantly, scholarships to prestigious dance schools and even contracts for dance companies. It followed about a half dozen different kids on their quest for these prizes. I knew nothing about this world and it was fascinating. I'm always interested in the kinds of interests/gifts that show up really early in a person's life. . . . so that they HAVE to pursue their dream, in spite of giving up their "childhood" and having a snowball's chance in hell of winning the prize.
But what made this screening even more enjoyable was the large number of youngsters who were obviously dancers (as evidenced by their running around the grounds in tights with their hair in buns) who had come to the show. As the dancers on the screen practiced and performed, the young dancers in the audience yelled and cheered for them. They knew what they were watching and what it took to get there.
I didn't expect to get a crash course in the life of a developing dancer. But I always love learning new stuff in unexpected ways! Such a delight.
In a not as delightful vein, the speakers this week are going to be top notch. But they will not have good news. National Geographic is sending a week's worth of experts to discuss water issues. They are complex and somewhat daunting. I'll be reporting these as the week goes on. But let's just hang on to "delightful" for one more day, shall we?
No comments:
Post a Comment