I should be in bed, but the damage has already been done. Hopefully my students will forgive me tomorrow. I just survived my first rehearsal of Brigadoon. Anyone who has performed with community musical theater will understand what that means. The cast, crew, and musicians can all be amazingly talented, and the first day of tech week is always a nightmare. The good news: technically, tech (ha ha) week starts Sunday, so I’m one-up on the other half of the orchestra that didn’t show for our “optional” rehearsal.
It’s never, ever fair to judge a show on the first run through. Actors are still missing marks, forgetting lines, and we lowly musicians are all sight reading (for the most part). So, it all resembles a bit of a train wreck. I did walk away tonight, though, with a reasonably warm feeling. The cast is great (and appreciative – always a wonderful thing when you’re not getting paid). No, my issue has less to do with the production and more with the actual show itself. I was hesitant to sign up because I was afraid of the content, and I have been proven correct. My rigid RSCDS stick-up-my-butt training is finally surfacing. Between the composer’s interpretation of a “reel” – which floats between 2/4 and 6/8 – and some of the glimpses of what passed for Highland arms and what I think was meant to be a country dance circle, I’m going to have a hard time biting my tongue during this run. And I absolutely don’t blame the choreographer (much, anyway), because he or she had less than authentic music to try to devise several visually interesting dance numbers with people who vary in dance experience from not much to 20 years of ballet. So, kudos to whoever they are.
Here’s my complaint (finally): Does authenticity not matter anymore? Did the composer ever set foot in a Highland games to hear what a reel actually sounded like (or look at a transcript of one)? Does anyone realize that Highland dancing is a predominantly solo style of dancing, and while it looks flashy, is not traditionally done in groups of people?
When people learn that I teach Scottish Country Dance, 99% have the same initial response: they either throw their arms up in a (usually awful) parody of Highland arms and hop around, or do some sort of funky tap thing that’s meant to imitate Irish hard shoe. If you read this, and you are one of those people, break yourself of this habit right now. It’s incredibly annoying and you look like and idiot. I think everyone should try SCD; it’s loads of fun and a great social activity, but there are not a lot of great examples out there as to WHAT SCD is. Brigadoon certainly isn’t one; if you’re lucky your local Highland games will have a few performing groups. RSCDS branches around the world are dealing with problems of dwindling and aging memberhips; I am facing a class of kids tomorrow, and if I have six I call it a good day. I think a real world solution to many of these problems is to funnel more money into the education goal of the society, and I mean educating the public, particularly that outside of the UK. We do not get SCD in school, and Riverdance is the first thing that pops into any American’s head when they hear Celtic music (just for the record, Riverdance is an Irish dance troupe). This “education” however, needs to not be in the form of some fuddy-duddy video on how to do the perfect pas de Basque. Show something fun…go to a bunch of branch parties or balls and show people having FUN – where they aren’t necessarily caring about footwork, or that everyone’s outfit matches. They are dancing for the sheer joy of it.
Update: After working on my part a little, I fell to the realization that what I assumed to be part of the “reel” (the number is titled “Sword Dance and Reel”) and was in 6/8 was actually intended to be a strathspey. In 6/8! No! No! No!
