And The Show Goes On
June 26, 2006
We have had a fabulous, if tiring, weekend. Friday was our big show, Saturday night held two different parties, and Sunday was a relaxing family day.
Our show was a fifties style variety show called, “Rock Around the Clock.” The kids sang and danced and did a few skits. It was very entertaining. The club was packed, the kids were stoked, and the audience demanded an encore. We performed Bill Hailey’s “Rock Around the Clock”, Hank Williams’ “Kaw-Liga”, and we even had an appearance by Elvis Presley who sang “Hound Dog”. The pre-schoolers sang “Down by the Bay” and the after school ballet class performed a piece from “The Nutcracker”. All of the musical pieces were interspersed with skits taken from Free to be You and Me. We also had a version of Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First?”
Carrie directed and choreographed the whole thing. I taught the kids the songs and took care of the technical details. I also acted as the emcee. Amy prepared most of the art work, while Ellen (the club manager) prepared sets and helped with costumes. We had an area of the club set up as a museum of work that the kids had done throughout the year as well. It was an incredible collaborative effort. Everybody was a bit nervous. Now it is over and we can breathe a collective sigh of relief…until next year that is.
Needless to say Friday was a late night. Zachary was up promptly at 6:30 the next morning though. It was my turn to get up. We spent a sluggish morning, finally managing to get outside after Momma got up. Saturday night was a big party for the ladies at the Sahel (Sadiola) Club. The woman who has been here the longest (eight years) is leaving so they had a big to do for her. Meanwhile, in Yatela, there was a going away party for a fellow named Geoff, so many of the men headed there for the evening. Zachary stayed with Mohammed. When I arrived home at 2:15, Carrie was still out. This is particularly funny considering that Sunday was her day to get up with Z and he got up promptly at…that’s right…6:30! Needless to say, the day was spent resting and recuperating; breakfast at the club, swimming in the afternoon, dinner at the club, then home for bed.
In eleven days we will be in a hotel in Bamako, ready to fly home. We can hardly wait. This week we have arranged for a tour of the pit with the students. Saturday our friend David from Kayes will come out for the weekend. In the meantime we will bide our time and try not to get on each other’s nerves.
MJR
We have had a fabulous, if tiring, weekend. Friday was our big show, Saturday night held two different parties, and Sunday was a relaxing family day.
Our show was a fifties style variety show called, “Rock Around the Clock.” The kids sang and danced and did a few skits. It was very entertaining. The club was packed, the kids were stoked, and the audience demanded an encore. We performed Bill Hailey’s “Rock Around the Clock”, Hank Williams’ “Kaw-Liga”, and we even had an appearance by Elvis Presley who sang “Hound Dog”. The pre-schoolers sang “Down by the Bay” and the after school ballet class performed a piece from “The Nutcracker”. All of the musical pieces were interspersed with skits taken from Free to be You and Me. We also had a version of Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First?”
Carrie directed and choreographed the whole thing. I taught the kids the songs and took care of the technical details. I also acted as the emcee. Amy prepared most of the art work, while Ellen (the club manager) prepared sets and helped with costumes. We had an area of the club set up as a museum of work that the kids had done throughout the year as well. It was an incredible collaborative effort. Everybody was a bit nervous. Now it is over and we can breathe a collective sigh of relief…until next year that is.
Needless to say Friday was a late night. Zachary was up promptly at 6:30 the next morning though. It was my turn to get up. We spent a sluggish morning, finally managing to get outside after Momma got up. Saturday night was a big party for the ladies at the Sahel (Sadiola) Club. The woman who has been here the longest (eight years) is leaving so they had a big to do for her. Meanwhile, in Yatela, there was a going away party for a fellow named Geoff, so many of the men headed there for the evening. Zachary stayed with Mohammed. When I arrived home at 2:15, Carrie was still out. This is particularly funny considering that Sunday was her day to get up with Z and he got up promptly at…that’s right…6:30! Needless to say, the day was spent resting and recuperating; breakfast at the club, swimming in the afternoon, dinner at the club, then home for bed.
In eleven days we will be in a hotel in Bamako, ready to fly home. We can hardly wait. This week we have arranged for a tour of the pit with the students. Saturday our friend David from Kayes will come out for the weekend. In the meantime we will bide our time and try not to get on each other’s nerves.
MJR
posted by Bronx to Timbuktu at 2:51 PM
1 Comments:
That looks like an amazing production! I love Free to Be You and Me. I got it for the boys on dvd and told them I remembered it from when I was a child. :) Well not the dvd part. :)
So where will you be while your in the states? How long to you have before you have to be back? I was glad to read in a previous post about a friend of Carrie's coming to join you all there. That will be really nice. Happy Summer you guys.
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