Today has been the strangest day of my life.
I'm in the middle of three days of workshops run by the Young Americans who are a non-profit organisation consisting of ridiculously talented Americans of ages 19-23 who are teaching us singing, dancing and acting.
Basically, today they performed The Circle Of Life from The Lion King and then we learnt it. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen. I must have been to about 30 West End musicals and this was better than any of the ones I've seen before. The passion was just unbelievable, it was so emotional. Lots of people cried just because it was so moving, you could tell how much they love what they're doing and the thought they put into their performances is just mind-blowing. So then we had to learn it. Well put it like this, by the end of the run through the majority of the YA's and us students were in tears. I can't explain it. The Lion King rehearsals and performances took up about 2 hours and I can't really remember anything that happened. But I can remember how I felt. It was as if my subconcious took over and pushed my concious away. I really can't put into words what that felt like. Out of body is the best description I can think of. All I can say is that it was the most moving experience of my life. I always feel a bit tearful during musicals just because I love them so much but this was something else. The fact that one song and dance had such an impact on 150 people simultaneously, so much that most were crying and some sobbing hysterically for no obvious reason just absolutely outstands me. I never realised how much of an outlet musical theatre is until now. All the barriers were broken down. No one was self-concious or worrying about letting go and showing their emotions. Boys, girls, teachers and students alike were all just completely comfortable in releasing emotion in a way that is usually seen as "shameful", "embarrassing" or "childish", and that is totally breathtaking. I've never felt like that before and I don't think I ever will again.
What made the day even odder was that after this we just had a massive dance in the sports hall. This room in my school is associated with boredom and torture, yet I can safely say those 15 minutes of dancing were probably the best of my life. I'm the most paranoid dancer you'll ever meet, but all that left me and we just went crazy. We danced on our own in front of everyone and it was just the best feeling of freedom ever. I never thought I'd get that out of dance. But it was just so fun. And to go from feeling absolutely emotional, fragile and vulnerable to feeling confident and excited in the span of a few hours is just indescribable. They were the two most extreme senses of the emotions I've ever felt, and to feel them both in such a short space of time is just ridiculous, special and once in a lifetime.
I feel emotionally drained but really priviledged that I've experienced this. What I thought would be three days of song and dance and constant jokes has turned into a life-changing experience. It's altered my whole outlook and just listening to the YA's talk about their experiences and hearing their advice and stories is just such an impact. They're all so grateful and willing to share and it's incredible because they have such different lives to us despite being around the same age.
I genuinely do feel honoured to have been part of this because it has affected me more than I can say. I've learnt so, so much.
So that is a brief summary of Friday 6th March 2009. It has, without a doubt, been the most unbelievable day of my life and I'm going to sleep tonight a different person to who I was when I woke up this morning. I wish a blog can do today justice, but it's one of those things you have to experience to believe. And I know I'm so lucky to have got to experience it because there's no way I'd be able to get my head around or properly appreciate this just hearing it from someone else's point of view.
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