“There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

Sunday, October 07, 2012

Anglo Dances -- Bailamos!

At the Colegio Anglo Colombiano, the month of September in bach (secondary school) is dedicated to Dances. Homework is put on hold, students stay up till 1am rehearsing and fall asleep in class, and it all culminates in a house competition in three parts. The lower bach compete in a National Dance competition, and middle bach compete in an International Dance competition (this year's theme was Latin countries). They bring in professional choreographers and pay a fortune in costumes. Stage decoration was finally banned a few years ago because the cost just got too great!

However, the dance that everyone really wants to see is the Modern Dances. With the moves, lighting, costumes and all aspects coordinated by the senior students, it is a culmination of their school life, and life depends on it. Tantrums, stress, practices, no-show dancers, and everything else to manage, each dance is around 15-20 minutes long, occurs in several parts according to themes. They often have 5 or 6 costume changes in the 15 minutes and it is an impressive show!

Last year, myself and a few other teachers were coaxed into participating in one small part of Rodney's dance. Can't say I liked the costume much, or the pressure to attend every single practice no matter where or what time, so this year I was more than happy to be just a spectator.

I managed to record all of the dances this year and have copied the links to the shows below. Unfortunately, my camera was not intended for extended recording and the battery died before the first dance was even half over, which meant that the recordings were mostly on my phone, which while they gave some cool effects, did not have the highest stability or quality. In order of performance: Beatty, Hood, Rodney, Nelson. Winning order were Beatty, Nelson, Rodney and Hood.

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