Throwback Thursday

Backyard Betty posing for the camera.

Last month I was at the Chicago Repertory Ballet performance (great show, Wade Schaaf’s The Rite of Spring was awesome!) and a pre-show song jogged my memory.

Peaches & Herb’s Shake Your Groove Thing was my first solo. An acro-jazz combo with some hips, a few turns and lots of flips and sass, the piece was right up my alley. While excited, the news that I was to perform it not only at my studio’s recital but at the local mall, threw me into a state.

My hopes that no one would be at the mall on a Saturday were dashed as the crowd gathered before the show. Gulp! My nerves (which became infamous in later years) were getting the best of me. First rule when you’re nervous before a performance? Go over your steps. I knew the steps. I just didn’t necessarily want to do them in front of all these people…in the day light…on stage at the center the mall!

Ok, I thought, I can do this. I can do this in my sleep. What do I need to do? 1. Point your feet. 2. Don’t flip into the brick wall. 3. Don’t fall into the water moat at the front of the stage. 4. Smile. Crap, don’t forget to smile. Obviously I made it through, since I wasn’t shamed into hiding. But it was close.