On Sunday we did our first demo, during the 50th annual Pennridge Gallery of the Arts. I was very proud watching everyone perform to the best of their ability, or close to it. It is the role of any teacher to bring out the best in each student. We developed and practiced this performance for close to two months, and all the hard work evidently paid off.
With all the rain we’ve had in recent weeks, it seemed a small miracle that we even got to to perform at all. But Sunday dawned sunny and hot, the only fine day in a long string of rainy weather both before and after the festival day. At performance time the thermometer was in the mid-80s and humidity probably close to 70%. The whole show was out in the bright sun and so was the place where members sat while waiting to perform. The children did a great job, never complaining and doing exactly as we practiced or better.
Thanks to everyone who helped to move things across the street from the dojo to the parking lot, and back afterwards. We initially set the mats up so that that the black side of most of them was up, but these became too hot to stand on, so just before the demo started we had to switch all of those to red-side-up. Thanks to the parents who did other volunteer activities, including passing out our promotional postcards to festival-goers. Special thanks to Alan, who designed the vinyl banner that we put up behind the performance area, and to Allen, who photographed the event. Also thanks to my instructors, Shihans Flournoy and Trotta, for attending and lending their support.
We are already slated to perform next year at the 51st annual Pennridge Gallery of the Arts, September 15, 2019. The time is TBD and so is the exact spot. We might ask for a time and place where there will be a bit more shade next time. In any case, we have lots of time to come up with something even more exciting than this one. To see more photos of the event, head over to the Gallery page.
