Dancing with the stars...

A recap of Stage Festival ... 2006!

Day One: There was singing, dancing, acting, video productions, and general backstage pandemonium. I was impressed at times, shocked at moments, and my bum always hurt from sitting on the gym floor for hours at a time. But it was lovely.

Our act of "Urashima Taro" was quite the success. I would honestly have to say that it was the most elaborate. Students painted a beautiful backdrop to portray the ocean. All of them were dressed up in costumes. Some girls had cardboard fish around them, others were dressed as seaweed. We had a turtle with his underwear showing and some Power Ranger types with animal hats on. My part was short but memorable. I ran out with another teacher, Kei, and we kicked and punched Seiichiro the Turtle. I think I yelled "Son of a Testudine!" at the beginning, although it's all a bit of a blur. And then I started yelling "Peace and love! Peace and love!" because that's what they put on my T-shirt that I had to wear. Another kid, the hero of the story, tried to interrupt us and we took out our aggression on him. I thought the best part of our play was this one boy who dressed up as the underwater princess in a pink kimono-type outfit, makeup, and a wig. There was some real chemistry between our two stars on the stage. I thought it was going to be lame, I'll admit, when I saw the rehearsals... but those kids did an amazing job and had everyone laughing throughout.

Cross dressing, like our sea princess, was used in every single act. Boys dressing like girls apparently is universally the height of humor. I must say, some of them looked pretty good in their girl uniforms. At one point, a boy with a wig and a speedo on walked out during the fashion show and started pulling confetti out of his briefs. And threw it on people. Very disturbing.

I would have to say that the male sector is much more fun to watch... as seen on the videos. They really get into it and are highly entertaining. Some 2nd year boys made a video production which, although I couldn't really understand what they were saying, I found to be absolutely hilarious and creative. They even had outtakes. I don't think I've had them in class, but when they get to be 3rd years in March, I will. Can't wait!

Day Two:

Not quite as entertaining in the morning. I found it hard to pick a favorite group. I was a bit tired of the "dancing" and cross dressing by this point. In the afternoon, they announced the winners.... And my favorite boy group in the suits won. My homeroom got second though! Yessss!!! And the vice-principal makes kicking motions at me now thanks to my performance.

The afternoon also brought the talent show. We had some amazing mimes/dancers... I was seriously impressed. There were bands that gave me a headache and I had to ask another teacher if they were good or not since I don't know any of the music. There was a fashion show that spotlighted more skankiness although there was once again, an amazing display of creativity. The fashion show was actually controversial this year. Because of previous years clothing choices, there was originally a dress code, but the students appealed to the teachers and the dress code was made less strict. Maybe they should bring back the code... I'm not sure I should be seeing such sights at school.

After cleaning up, I was surprised to find out we were having a "moon viewing party" on the roof of the school. It had been cancelled earlier in the month. Since there isn't a full moon any more, the math teachers rigged up a spotlight to give ambiance. It wasn't bad to look at Mihama all lit up with the ferris wheel going around. We ate some yummy finger foods and grilled meat and then I started to hear my name during one of the speeches. "Rachel...speech." I thought they were kidding. They weren't. Thankfully, this time, I had a translator and each time she translated, I could think of more witty things to say. I had them rolling. Overall, the stage festival was memorable, if a bit long. And I'm glad to have Monday off.

Postscript: I found out that in the video of my favorite group with the suits, the guy in white is the homeroom teacher! Hilarious!

Some members of one class did a dance routine while the rest of the class did some graffiti. At the end they turned it around and showed the results. Not bad for 10 minutes...