Saul Pierce
January 21, 2009 11:44 AM
[Abandoned Classroom] Pecari Solo Try-Outs by Saul Pierce
With some effort, Saul had rediscovered and arranged for the use of the room formerly known as the Divinations classroom for both the Concert Auditions and their rehearsals. It was hardly recognizable from the how it had looked under Professor Yuma's enchantments, but it was large enough for them to practice within the full stage dimensions. It also was warmer and firmer of ground than the Gardens and the Pitch, and lacked the through traffic of the Pecari Commons.All in all, Saul was quite pleased with the location.
And so the Pecari prefects and concert hopefuls had gathered here today for the solo auditions. The two only formal registrants were still Holly and Meredith, but Saul had left the invitation open for anyone who might have decided over midterms that being a solo performer in the concert was totally their thing.
"Alright, guys," Saul called out when it looked like everyone who was coming was already there. "This is the audition for Pecari's solo act in the concert. The soloist will have up to ten minutes to perform. Today, you've got five. You can go first." He nodded toward the nearest of the auditioners.
OOC:
Anyone wishing to try out can reply directly to this post. After your performance, the prefects can whisper to each other and take any down any notes they'd like to. After everyone goes, prefects will discuss the performances at length and reach a decision. Any complaints about the decision can be brought to us or Professor O'Leary.
Subthreads: Time to get things rolling...and leaping and such. by Meredith Lail with Holly Greer
[Prefect Discussion] by Saul Pierce
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[Abandoned Classroom] Pecari Solo Try-Outs
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Meredith Lail
January 23, 2009 12:47 PM
Time to get things rolling...and leaping and such. by Meredith Lail
OOC: To hear Meredith's song you can go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h79bU0zXiTs&feature=relatedBIC: While at home for midterm, Meredith had practiced the short routine for the solo audition until she could do the whole thing in her sleep. What started out as notes on the corners of parchment was now a well rehearsed mini performance. It wasn't long, but she tried to incorporate a few of her favorite moves and she showed it to Ms. Laura for critique. Meredith felt excited jitters from the moment she woke up on Sunday. She hadn't competed in gymnastics since beginning at Sonora and though it wasn't a gymnastics competition, it was still a small competition.
Mere arrived at the old Divination classroom with enough time for some small talk with her friends and last minute stretching. Her blonde hair was pulled back and out of her way and she was wearing one of her basic green leotards with tights. She relaced her black dance sneakers with the split sole that she chose over going barefoot so she could still move her feet, but they would be protected against landing on a hard floor. A knee brace was settled over her left knee just for precaution. Beside her was the green pouch with the new wand she got last year as well as a music player that her father charmed. She would have asked her brothers, but she didn't quite trust them not to pull something when she least expected.
When Saul gathered everyone's attention to begin, Mere waved her arm to go first and smiled when called on.
"My routine is only a minute and a half or so. I hope that's okay. I didn't know how much time I'd have." It didn't matter anymore. She would just have to do her best in the short time she gave herself, but she was confident. The less she had to remember, the more time she could devote to the audition routine. As a side thought she wondered how it could be adjusted to fit ten minutes. It seemed like a really long time.
Placing the music player outside of where she imagined the performance space to be, Meredith skipped to center "stage" and struck her beginning pose. Her right leg was propped in front of her, pointed toes on the ground. Left arm reached straight to the left with her wand in her grip while her right arm was dipped over her head. She flicked her wand with a quick incantation to start the music and tossed it out of her way.
Mere swayed to the jazzy bells that began the music, letting her arms mirror their previous positions. At the sudden cords that were struck a few second later, she made sharp, controlled movements with her arms and then spun in a full circle. It repeated and she dropped her arm one at a time and leaned back into a bridge, kicking her legs over for two back walkovers. She did a straddle jumped followed by a slower twirl and slid down into a split as the intro ended. So far so good, Meredith thought.
There was a short pause and then the music came back in, faster than before. Mere leaned forward and lifted herself into a handstand that led into a front walkover. She did a short dance ending in an aerial flip to the corner of the "stage" and steadied herself, keeping her eyes locked on her destination; the other corner. A new, more upbeat rhythm began and on queue, Meredith ran forward, the preparation for her handspring-aerial combination. There were plenty of those in the routine since it was her favorite thing to do. She stuck her landing with a minor stumble that she immediately covered with a focused, performing smile.
Another short dance routine peppered with leaps, spins and jumps like toe touches filled the exotic middle music. Part of what she liked about that song was how each section of music called for a different feel to the routine and she loved to appeal to it. She did a cartwheel to a corner and pulled her leg up to touch the back of her head with a wink, then kicked it out in time with the blast that ended the section of music and it returned to the upbeat pace.
Mere took just a few beats to set herself up for one of her harder moves that took the most time to get right and bounded forward again. She leaped into a round off that went straight into a back handspring ending in a belly landing. She quelled a proud grin and had rarely been so relieved to feel her stomach on the ground. She kicked her leg back and then twisted, posing briefly before continuing with a routine on the ground. A back roll into a handstand and walkover got her back on her feet at the end of the drum section. Another straddle jump began the finale. It was followed by three back walkovers and then she grabbed her leg and held it straight up with a performance smile for her final pose. The music ended.
Mere stayed as she was for a few seconds holding back the urge to squeeze her eyes shut so her head would stop swimming. Poor spotting made her feel dizzy and she was too lax about it by the end. She broke her stance to bow, her breath coming heavier than when she started. When she looked back up, the professional smile that was expected of performers was replaced by her usual beaming. She skipped aside to retrieve her music player and let the next performer have the "stage."
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Time to get things rolling...and leaping and such.
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Holly Greer
January 23, 2009 3:43 PM
Stepping up and singing out by Holly Greer
As Holly watched the fifth year do her gymnastics routine, she was glad Saul had already talked to her about possibly being a princess in the group act if she didn't get the solo part. It made her inevitable loss easier to handle. Meredith was really good and Holly didn't think she could really match that routine.When it was the music ended and Meredith left the performance area, Holly waited for Saul to indicate she could begin and then took a spot at center stage. She dragged along a desk with a variety of different objects on it.
It had taken a long time to decide what to do for her solo. She had listed a variety of talents in her concert sign-up, but they didn't all mesh very well and the indoor room wasn't exactly conducive to broom aerobatics.
Eventually, she had decided to sing, with a bit choreography to show she had a bit of dancing talent as well. After a lot more consideration and going through her many Disney soundtracks, she had finally decided on a song. She already knew all the lyrics, which made that part easy, plus she thought it might showcase some dancing and acting ability, too.
Holly waved a hand over her desk full of collected props, and sang without musical accompaniment, "Look at this stuff. Isn't it neat? Wouldn't you think my collection's complete? Wouldn't you think I'm the girl," she picked up a fork and held it close to her heart as she did a pirouette and a gliding step away from the desk, "the girl who has everything?"
Her voice was on pitch and carried the tune well enough, but it was by no means professional or spectacular. She'd taken enough voice lessons that she wasn't embarrassing herself, but she had never for a moment imagined she had a future in performance arts. It was fun, though, and her smile was bright and hardly required any acting at all as she held her arms up and continued to make slow turns in place, as if she were in Ariel's secret hidden treasure cave and encompassing all of the mermaid's collected goodies.
"Look at this trove, treasures untold, how many wonders can one cavern hold? Looking around here, you'd think," she spun back to face the three prefects, grinned and shrugged her shoulder, "Sure, she's got everything." Holly had watched The Little Mermaid often and fanatically enough that she had the tonal qualities and Ariel's expression down exactly. Even her choreography mirrored Ariel's actions as closely as possible, given that Holly had legs and wasn't swimming around in a large underwater cavern.
Returning to the table, she picked up a pen and a can opener, "I've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty." She put those down and picked up her wand and an inkpot, "I've got whozits and whatzits galore. You want thingamabobs?" She shook a small bag of marbles. "I've got twenty. But who cares?" She sighed. "No big deal." She took a step away from the desk and sang out more strongly than before, "I want more."
"I want to be where the people are," her singing turned wistful, as repeated exposure to the Disney DVD unlocked her mother's normally latent acting ability for this one song. "I want to see, I want to see them dancing," Holly danced and spun, "walking around on those - what do you call them? - feet."
"Flipping you fins you don't get too far," Holly sadly shook her head and flapped her left foot. "Legs are required for jumping, dancing, strolling along on the - what's the word? - street."
She returned to the desk, and pressed her hands down onto its surface as she looked up toward the ceiling, imagining it was the surface of the sea above her. "Up where they walk, up where they run, up where they play all day in the sun. Wandering free, I wish I could be, part of that world!"
Holly looked back down, looking at Connor, who happened to be the prefect her eyes fell on first, "What would I give, if I could live, out of these waters? What would I pay, to spend a day, warm on the sand? I bet on land, they understand, they don't reprimand their daughters. Bright young women. Sick of swimmin'." She took another deep breath in preparation for another louder line, "Ready to stand."
She broke eye contact with Connor and began another twirl. "I'm ready to know what the people know. Ask my questions, and get some answers. What's a fire, and why does it - what's the word? - burn? When's it my turn? Wouldn't I love, love to explore that shore up above, out of the sea, wish I could be, part of that world!" As with a few other times throughout the song, she ran short on breath before Ariel had, so the last note was not sustained as long as it was supposed to be, but overall, Holly thought she did a passable job. She gave a bow the the prefects, to Meredith, and to everyone else who was there.
She dragged the desk back with her as she left the 'stage' again.\r\n\r\n
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Stepping up and singing out
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Saul Pierce
February 02, 2009 1:49 PM
[Prefect Discussion] by Saul Pierce
Both acts had been impressive. He'd heard tell of Meredith's abilities, but he had never actually seen it and he was really glad he'd gotten the chance. She was really good. Some of those moves had to defy the law of gravity.So was Holly. She done the song without accompaniment, which he knew was really hard. Even his family had trouble pulling off voice solos. Plus, she'd remembered the words flawlessly (so far as he could tell, but he wasn't really familiar with the song) which boded well for a large role in the group act. And her acting was strong and committed, too, which was very promising.
When they both finished, Saul leaned in toward the other two prefects. "Okay, Simon just told me that soloists can be in the group act, too, so we don't have to automatically disqualify Holly because we need her there. But I'm still leaning towards Meredith, though, cuz I think we can give Holly a huge part in the other one after seeing this today. She's got singing and acting. And, y'know, Meredith is a tumbling fiend."
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