Cat stalking Danish

Yesterday was dress rehearsal for one campus’ concert. It’s a long day, but it went very well. I was given an authentic home made danish that was purchased by one of the families for me at the Danish Festival. She found out that part of my heritage is Danish, like herself, and generously thought of me! What a kind thing for her to do. Actually, many of the families in this group are kind, and I’ve been blessed to be a part of their children’s world.

You all may remember my likening my job to a cat herder? Yesterday, I watched something so that confirms that thought for me.

 It’s great to watch Da Boss at work. She’s very focused and intense on getting the music “just right”, but she’s always playful and kind with the children. Certainly dedicated to providing the best she can at any performance, she needs to coax and convey to her living instrument the sound she wants to produce. I recently read a book by Neil Peart, the drummer for the band “Rush”, that talked about how he gets into ‘the zone’ before a performance and his drive to make each performance the best he can. I know Da Boss has a similar mindset, but while Neil only has to use his body and his drum set, Da Boss has over 130 individual instruments she has to work with. It’s always awesome.

But I digress, although not by too far, because unless you understand this about Da Boss, you might not get why this whole scenario was interesting to me.

During rehearsal, we have the children on risers and most of them are all wearing the same color to indicate their group. One of the other members was conducting a piece and while the kids were singing, I see Da Boss go into prowl mode. Just like a cat that hears something scratching, her ear was attuned to something she wanted to ‘catch’. She hunched down and listened, creeping toward the group. With the children standing there, they reminded me of blades of grass and she was the cat on the hunt. Doubled over, she slipped in between the kids (she’s a tiny thing) and almost disappeared behind a row. On went the singing and soon, you could see her slowly stalking the row, looking for her prey. Like a cat  in the grass she continued to weave her way through rows until suddenly, she emerged from the group with a look that said she found what she was looking for.

This simply illustrates how serious she is about making sure the performance is the best it can be. Not simply for herself, but for the proper education of the singers and the enjoyment of the audience.

Today, we’ll see how it works out!