6. Performance

When you try your hardest for something, and still don’t get it, it’s a reflex just to try harder. My name is Amberly Ondria and that is what I did.
In the spring of 2006 I applied to represent Vermont at the Eastern States Exposition with my horse. Unfortunately I did not get accepted, that fallowing summer I worked even harder and it paid off. This past spring of 2007 I applied again to go to Eastern States and I succeed. I have been riding for about nine years and I own my own horse “SPOTSIVNOTGOT” aka “Nebraska” that I board at Pond Hill Stables in Castleton Vermont.
On September 19, 2007 I packed up Nebraska and my friend Kayleigh McDonnell’s horse and we headed out for the three hour drive down to Springfield Massachusetts for the Eastern States Exposition. Eastern States, also known as “The Big E” is a fair held in Springfield MA, Participants come from ME, NH, VT, CT, MA, and RI. It is a fair that focuses on all the New England States, and part of that is every spring all 4-H’s from New England who are 14 and over can apply to go down with their horse. The application is based on your 4-H participation, your show records, an interview. So basically it is the best of the best that get to go down and compete.
When I arrived I did not know what to expect. The fair was so big and there was so much going on. Eventually after the trailer was all unloaded, the horses settled into, their stalls, all the exhibitors that had had arrived were brought to our dorms where we would stay for the next five days.

Limelight, limelight, I hate,
How I detest that word,
Performing is not my strongpoint,
While acting my brain goes to curd.

Past experiences have left me,
Not partial to singing or dance,
While I am in the spotlight,
I’ll seem as if in a trance.

If I’m around my close friends,
Performing can be a cinch,
If the crowd is unfamiliar,
You’ll find me to be in a pinch.

The heat of the lights blind my eyes
No longer can I run or hide
I am on stage for the world to see
Although I am trapped, I am also free
Free to express whats inside of me
All my thoughts and feeling I can let go
Creativity is able to flow
Simply standing, vulnerable to those who view
If only they knew
Speaking your truth is harder than you think
For some they don't even blink

like a deer in headlights
stuck, motionless and dumbfounded
what was i supposed to say?
i choking now in these brights
it feels like my head was just pounded
maybe i should have studied the other day
look to the side and listen close
she'll tell you the lines that you chose
you cant even remember its the littlest part
i just need to remember the start

By Jessi Pirkey
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 12

perform for me, World! do a trick
show me the covered sky with clouds so thick
I want to see the rain fall, I want to see a tree grow tall
perform for me one of your marvels
show me hail bigger than marbles
show me the sun behind the moon, let it be dark at noon
I would like to see the wind blowing a blast
show me a wave crash then crash then crash
against the sand
perform for me the shaping of land
make me a mountain with your entangled plates
let the stars awake early and the sun stay late
perform for me a rainbow and a tornado, too
show me the sky orange with sunset no longer blue
I want to see what you can do

My palms are sweaty
My inards won't stop rumbling
The lights blind my screaming mind
Hands shake as they pick up guitar
Once begun all flows effortlessly, beautifully
Music pours out of soul
Connection beyond words
Surrender to flow
Silence oh magical silence
Thunderous applause shakes me

I love to watch a performance
but it is something I fear to do
i cannot get on stage and perform
i am afraid
i am afraid of what they might say
that I may mess up
i haven't the confidence that i will do well
or that the people won't make fun
when i try
the words don't come out
what i am supposed to do does not happen
i prefer to watch people on stage
than to be on stage myself

The soptlight sends a beam of light
To the cracked wooden stage
Dusty air meanders through the glow,
Reflecting bits of light
And illuminating faces
Heart beats drum faster
Against the chest,
Blood rushes through the body
Palms sweaty and mind racing
The curtain opens.

School Play Chaos

By Casey Snyder
Rice High School, Grade 9

Just Music

By Misha Kydd
Mount Mansfield Union High School, Grade 9

She said we were supposed to move to the music; standing there in front of the class, a blissfully hopeful smile on her face as she waved her arms around in time to the beat. We all stared at her, insanely apprehensive.

She laughed at our doubtful faces and then swayed some more. The music dipped and swung in never-ending loops and swirls, weaving in and out of my mind like a half-recalled memory. It teased the edges of my consciousness, calling my attention to its less-than-graceful melody.

I didn’t like it. It was embarrassingly loud and showy, as though trying to overcompensate for something. It reminded me of a wobbling child, taking their first steps and then falling down in tears, then trying again, with help. I hate sappy stories like that.

Our insane teacher hemmed and hawed at us to focus on the piece. My mind tried to avoid its lilting harmony and instead became trapped inside its “Alice in Wonderland” inspired curves. It rose and fell, guiding my mood and turning my head with its jingle bell-reminiscent call.

I drifted on notes of glory, falling and rising again with gracious feeling. It was like being on a merry-go-round. Each rise of the horse sends you higher, and then turns you downward just as you reach to touch the ceiling.

I jerked out of the coils of the lyrical snake with a start and tried vainly to clear my mind of the last remnants of its taunting noise. It was futile. The waves of music caught me up again, and I resisted the urge to weave along.

Somewhere in the distance, figures were waltzing with sweeping dresses and robes. They drifted gracefully and then comically, falling in one moment, ascending speedily in the next. My eyes stared blankly ahead, but my mind gazed, startled, in front of me, wondering at the crowd of dancers who enacted this elaborate play before me.

Performance

By Matt Eaton
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

Performance is key.
Performance is necassary for life.
Performance is what we need to be better than someone else.
Better your performance and win.
Never lose.
Never give up.
Always try your best.
Better your performance.

Greg Goedewaagen Another World
10/24/07

Swaying with the motion,
of the beat of rock n roll.
Gone in caverns of emotion,
from the music of which springs my heart and soul.

And while the sounds of the amplifiers
are echoing in my head,
faces watch, ears listen, minds hopefully think
about the things I am saying, and the things I that have said.

Beneath Stage Lights

By Amy Dunki-Jacobs
Champlain Valley Union High School, Grade 10

Standing at the edge of the curtain,
My nerves are such a mess.
I double-check my character shoes,
My mind’s in a state of distress.

The clapping of the audience
Is roaring in my ears.
Nothing can prepare you for this,
Not even eleven years.

The curtain slowly opens

Thrill and Excitement
Worlds away yet so close to crowds
Power to intrigue

The limelight… ooh, just thinking about it
gives me butterflies.
Just like the time I had to stand in front of the class and had to
present my book project.
Everybody stared at me and made me feel
like a slab of meat and that they were the vultures-
ready to attack.

Lights focused on me
I can’t wait for this to be over
My legs wobble like jelly
Everyone stares at me
Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to the talent show!
I swallow a gulp
Got to be perfect
Has it ended yet?
Thank God it’s over!

Prompt: Performances
Deadline: October 24, 2007
Teacher: Mary Muroski
The Curtain
By Claire Dillenbeck
Grade: 6th

The Curtain

My heart is pounding
My hands are sweating
My nerves tingle from my nose down to my toes
So many judging eyes
Am I going to fail myself?
No, think positive!
You know this
Think grace.
I hit the box of my toe shoes against the backstage floor
I edge myself into the blinding lights
5, 6, 7, 8
I live for this moment!
Dance is my life!

The seconds are slipping
My memory is dripping
With lines I’ve practiced a thousand times.

Each move rehearsed
Hoping it’s not a night I’m cursed
I try with all my might: was it go stage left or stage right?

The murmurs of the crowd
Are restless and loud
My heart rate pounds loud enough to drown out the sound

The curtains are drawn
I stand like a faun

Envy,
Pure envy,
Those voices,
Paintings,
Acting,
Music,
Showcased for all to see,
But where is mine?
It will come,
Soon it will surface and shine for you to see,
And it will be your turn to envy me,
My talents that are just mine and my ideas,
Not influences by you or anyone else,
Just mine,
You will see,
Soon,
I promise

Up On Stage
By Jessica Hella
Grade 7
Charlotte Central School

Spotlight, excitement
Red curtain begins to rise
All eyes are on me

Long hours spent preparing for the big day
Repeating the lines again and again
And again, until I finally get it right
Wrong, do it again, better this time
Practicing endlessly on the one line
Wrong, do it again, better this time
Hours and hours practice makes perfect
Wrong, do it again, better this time
Wrong, wrong, wrong, times up
Opening night and I still don't have it

I am the worst person to be put on stage, if I’m told I have to do something I get butterflies in my stomach. I’m not very loud; being loud is helpful for presenting. I hate to present because if you mess up everyone sees it and all eyes are on you. If you think about messing up than you will most likely make a mistake.

Under the spotlight, I almost go insane. What makes me the most nervous before going onstage is the clapping coming from the audience for the act before mine. Just the idea of saying a single word, or performing a single step, can influence the mental drama the mind creates. It’s tough to perform, but it’s tougher to think, memorize, and do.

The spotlight meets my face as I walk onto the lawn
Guests of short, fat, pointy men look intently on
Props of summer lay about imbedded in the grass
Footsteps on the meadow seem to echo as I pass
The show is on, the present leaves, I'm proud of what i do
The earth has thrown me flowers as I pluck them, one or two

One of the few things in life that I hate to do is to do presentations. I hate that feeling of getting in the lime light and just standing there in front of everyone and then knowing I have to discuss something. I would much rather be the person who did all the work who is behind the scenes. I get very nervous that I’m going to screw up because I have to know everything perfectly.

Performing on stage
It is hard to entertain
Puts pressure on anyone

Will they like me?
Will they laugh?
Why should I perform for them?
They’re not my friends.
They don’t appreciate this.
I know my friends.
They would love a performance.
I would gladly one to them.
they would not laugh.

In the Limelight

By Gavin Millay
Rice Memorial High School, Grade 9