It's finally over....the long practices, the yelling, the frustration.....it's all over. Competition has come and gone. I thought this would never come. I thought I would never wake up from my nightmare.....lol....ok....so it wasn't really that bad. I mean, I did actually have fun. We travelled to Houston, where the La Joya Jewelettes made history..... We competed at our very first MA competition. If anyone knows anything about dance competitions then you probably know that MA is one of the hardest. I had never been. I have been to Power Dance, American Dance Drill, even Showmakers, but this takes the cake. I'm talking about rich, super teams, 5'10 amazon tall white women, costumes that probably cost more than me, and that's just the start of it. In total there were 2 gyms, 1 auditorium, 2 dressing rooms per team, 2 entrances, a cafe, vendors who were selling Coach and Fendi bags [not real by the way....thanks Marty :) ], an MA store (where Directors get a discount), and practice space. Out of 360 soloist, 65 were in our High school category alone. 9 were to dance at the finals where, unlike ADT, they start at 0. Our little Mexican team did very well. We took home a Sweepstakes trophy for both Team and Officers, an outstanding award for our Military, and a Choreography award for our Kick. One out of our 4 soloists made it to the finals where she made La Joya proud. She came in 2nd runner up. Some thought that we would come home with nothing. I had higher hopes so I was a bit disappointed when we didn't get much at the beginning for our ensemble, but felt better after the Choreography award was called out. If you read previous blogs, you will notice that the kick was mine :) "thank you, thank you".....OK if you can't boast in your blog then when can you?
The trip started out pretty rocky. We stayed late the night before having a dress rehearsal. I didn't get home till late. I still had to burn music and pack. I procrastinated and decided to go to Wal-Mart for whatever I might need. It's a good thing I went because I found a 14 baby blue pins to put on our hideous ensemble dresses and a label maker program for the cd's that I was to burn (hey we might as well look professional) The CD's came out great and the pins did add to the costume, along with the help of Manny's creative touch. I packed and went to bed around 1:30. I set my alarm, but swear it didn't go off. The only reason I woke up at 4:30 was because Terri called me and asked for video tapes. I would have missed the bus. I bought a portable DVD player so I grabbed DVD's and was on my way. I forgot a blanket and a pillow, and it was freezing. Luckily we went up in a Charter Bus so it wasn't so bad, we had heat. The Bus Driver's name was Mr. Garza and thank goodness he spoke English. I guess I was expecting the usual school district bus driver....lost and unable to communicate with me. But he wasn't...he knew his way around, and was knowledgeable about the weather, and traffic conditions, and even construction on certain streets and highways. He did his homework and was very nice. He even showed us pictures of his daughters. We shopped at the Galleria, which I have never been to. I must go back and ice skate. I didn't shop much...and when I did it wasn't for me ...it was for the girls. We checked in to the hotel and ordered pizza. Then it was time for practice. After an exhausting night, Manny and I decided we needed super glue for the next day. We were supposed to put tiny ant-sized rhinestones on the outside of the girls eyes, and the only way they would stay on was to put them on with super glue. Bad idea. We went to bed around 2:00 because we stayed up to fix the ensemble dresses.
The next day was the longest day of my life. We woke up at 5:30. We got the girls on the bus and headed to the competition. We were a little late and our officers had to pay by having to rush to gym 2 for their Jazz dance. They were shook up about the performance, but didn't have time to worry about it, they needed to focus on the next dance. The Lyrical was next. It went OK.....then the Ensemble. One of our girls forgot her bloomers at the hotel. Luckily her mom was there to save the day by picking them up for her...but not so lucky with trying to find the competition. She didn't make it and our girl performed with black shorts underneath her see-through baby blue dress. Still no time to fret, more dances to come. Next was the Team Jazz, our weakest piece. The team actually surprised me. They looked clean, and it was the best I had ever seen them perform. I still saw mistakes, don't get me wrong, but I was pleased. After Team Jazz, was Team Military, our strongest one. It was the nicest costume and cleanest piece. The girls were awesome. Now for Team Kick, our last of the team category. I was a little stressed about this one because the girls had not had time to practice like they did for the other pieces. They were going out cold turkey and every time they do that they mess up. Not to mention the flips were at least someone usually falls on their booty. You can just imagine my anxiety. They did mess up, but it wasn't so bad. It wasn't very obvious. Only trained eyes could tell. You could tell some girls gave it their all. I was once again pleased. Almost over. Modern would sum up our Officer category. This was the best. It seemed as if we got better as the day progressed. I took the team - our soloist to pick up Whataburger. I made them eat in the bus because I wanted to get back in time to cheer on our solos. We made a pit stop to pick up pine cones. Some of the girls have never been out of the Valley, and the pine cones along with the squirrels were the highlights of their day. Our solos started at 6:00. Solo finals started at 8:45 and awards started at 10:00. We didn't get to the hotel until 11:30. I snuggled into my warm bed only to be woken up by girls knocking on our door. Turns out that some girls used the super glue we bought to put the rhinestones in their hair. 10 rhinestones to be exact. To make a long story short, some girls ended up with small round bald spots. (Didn't want to forget my brief onset with the super glue earlier that day....I super glued a girls eye shut....I know!....but all is well, she can open her eye....hey at least it wasn't as bad as Manny spilling Acetone in another girls eye.)
OK so I didn't go to sleep early that night either. I miss sleep. It was so nice. The next day, we went to First Colony Mall. It was less expensive than the Galleria, and here I finally got to shop for myself. I slept a little on the bus, thanks to Terri's sister who let me borrow a pillow and blanket(she lives in Houston). We even got home earlier than we thought.
I was so anxious to sleep in my own bed, but as soon as I put my feet in ...I felt something damp.....turns out my kitties were in my room while I was away, and decided to leave me a pee present. The drama never stops! I had just bought new sheets the weekend before, so it wasn't so bad. I washed everything that night and put it out to dry.
At school, the students have to take the TAKS test. FUN FUN FUN!
Now that I have time to breathe and write, I will keep you posted!
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