The last week of rehearsing with our extracurricular classes flew by. I remember on Thursday we discussed how it seemed like we returned from our cultural enrichment trip just a couple days before. Though it had actually been four whole days. Once we returned each day was a blink. This week consisted of very repetitive rehearsal. It was necessary to really work out the issues in our individual performance groups that had to be fixed to make the kids performance-ready. I really loved the four-hour opportunity to drill the pieces of my choreography that the students had still not gotten down. Though, as much as i swore we needed every minute of the time, this allotted amount of time seemed to be more than my class could handle and even more time than I was able to effectively use. I had the largest individual class of all the extracurriculars (maybe besides the k-pop girls, I am not sure). Anyway, having such a large class, especially with so many boys was a happy little challenge I took on. I learned that this was an age where most kids have the attention span of three seconds. I could truly stop talking for three seconds and there’d be kids hanging off the ceiling, climbing on top of each other, and if neither of these then their phones would all be out instantly. Now, I can’t blame them TOO much because their school year had just ended, and they were finally able to bring phones to school. So I could understand slightly why they’d be have this way. Though, there were several occasions where I did have to raise my voice because some kids will just stare at your face when you tell them to do something and go right back to what they were doing.
As for the final performance. In retrospect, all I can say is WOW. Everything turned our really great. My kids truly did their job. I can say the same for the other extracurricular classes taught by the Duke students. We were all highly impressed and very proud. I am thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this 10thanniversary showcase hosted by number nine. They put together something really great. However, if you had asked me maybe an hour before the show how I felt my feelings would be a little different. If you were there at the television station prior to the show during rehearsal, you would’ve felt like you were in some reality tv show. Stress was high for the Duke students because there were expectations that we had based off of what we were told. Though, a lot of these were not provided during our dress rehearsal. For instance, lighting cues and backgrounds that we had spent significant amounts of time on were thrown right out the window for the first run of the show we had. It was not the mere lack of special effects and accommodation we asked for the was upsetting. It was the fact that we spent so much time on these things because we were told to and then they were not implemented. After the run of the show, the classes basically had to compete against each other for stage time to create some sort of lighting cue system for our programs. A lot of unfairness was displayed here as firstly, the sound and lighting crew treated the Duke students like we were all children. They listened minimally to us when we were in need of assistance. I thank Elizabeth for working so hard to communicate for us when we were in need. The sound guy did not even try to work with any of the students who didn’t speak Chinese, although we had people translating for us. This was just one of the many moments in China where people have treated me like I’m either useless or an object. Some people have so much to say about how much hospitality and courtesy there is here. But, most of these comments come from individual(s) who are much more racially and culturally connected to this place than some of us more foreign-looking participants on this program. I don’t love when people generalize one person’s generosity to ALL of China. Because from what I’ve seen, any sort of courtesy here is no different than how a guest would be treated anywhere at home. Though, this is just me talking from my own experience. It’s not the same for me as it is for other people. I DIGRESS!
To continue, I was not super happy that some classes got a significant amount of extra stage time while my and Tessa’s class were not allowed to touch the stage once more. To me, this was unacceptable. I don’t appreciate when teachers talk down to me or my fellow participants when we need some sort of assistance. I could only hope that in future years scheduling is gone about much differently. These words are not meant to shed any negative light, it is simply how I felt. I can say that the No.9 staff put an immense amount of work into this show, as did the Duke students. Everyone should really be proud of the final outcome. After the show we had a dinner with the principal and vice principal of the school, As well as some other members of the administration and teachers. I think this was a great idea because we could final just appreciate all of our hard work and just celebrate a job well done together.
Looking back, I could say I am happy with my contribution and the relationships I developed with my students. Naturally, there are still things I would change. However, I know that in years from now, I’ll look back on this experience and smile. My heart is so warm. I’ll never forget these two months.
