Wednesday, 30 December 2009
@ 11:19:00 pm
Hello earthlings!
We had an unofficial meeting today from 7.55am - 5pm. The whole meeting was dedicated to Secondary1 Orientation Campfire Trial.
At 7.55am, we fell in and reported strength. Sadly, not everyone turned up today .. again! This caused the PLs to urge us PSes to persuade our patrol members to come. They also said that Guides, including every other CCA, should come before tuition and project work. It was only if we had a valid reason that we could be excused from any meeting.
Next, we changed out of our pinafores and split into our various components. Once again, Item was short of members and Natalie was pissed. I think she was on the verge of killing people. Haha. Kidding. Anyway, we had until 12.55 to get everything ready before lunch time arrived so everyone set to work immediately! :) During this whole preparation period, Item rehearsed non stop under the guidance of YA, Natalie and Amanda. It was quite tough but very worthwhile as we could improve on our mistakes and thus make the show a much enjoyable one.
We started off by practicing our lines and perfecting our dance steps before moving on to full dress rehearsal at the outdoor stage. We wanted to move because Natalie felt it was better to expose us to the feeling of performing on stage. We stayed there for awhile before proceeding to the Hall. However, things got quite bad there as the Badminton players were occupying it as well so that meant we had to perform in front of them! (Equals to Lifelong Humiliation). Luckily, Natalie allowed us to speak softly but she didn't spare us from the dance though. After a few, rehearsals, we finally took a break and started talking about our 'life experiences'. ;D It was very intriguing. Haha.
In the end, time flew so fast as we were having a good time laughing that we could only have time to do 1 last rehearsal. But we had already practiced so hard so 1 last rehearsal was good enough. Soon, it was time to fall in to get dismissed for lunch. Lunchbreak was 45 minutes. Natalie told the Item girls to eat our fill as we were going to carry down the Podium from the Band Room to use as our stage.
Lunchtime ended in a jiffy and we fell in again to continue our preparations, This time, we had until 2.30pm before the trial would start. From here onwards, the Item girls were going to be working out. Firstly, we split into 2 groups. Each group took turns to move out 1 podium, push it to the lift, push it out, and carry it to the parade square. After awhile, we decided to swap roles. 1 group would be in charge of transporting the podiums down while the other group would be in charge of transporting it to the parade square. The process was really laborious! Then, the Firepitters needed help to light their bonfire so I used a lighter to light the kerosene-soaked cloth so that they could light the fire. Following that, Wei Jing carried the pole to the zinc sheet which was strewn with sand to let the other Firepitters extinguish it.
Soon, we had to get back to doing our Item stuff so we went back to the Podium. We planned how the stage should be placed and put it accordingly, with the help of the Backdroppers. However, IT STARTED TO RAIN! So we had to carry the podiums back into the corridor and help the Structure girls untie their structure, keep the poles and lashings. By the time we were done, it stopped raining so we had to carry the podium out and place it according to plan again. We were able to squeeze some rehearsal time before it started to rain again. This time, we went to the Den with Amanda to get the dry sheets to cover the podium as we were tired of carrying it back into the corridor and having to carry it out again. When we were done, it stopped raining! Oh, how I hate the rain! So we folded the dry sheets and kept them in the corridor and wasted no precious time by rehearsing immediately.
In the meantime, the others were practicing Campfire songs at the corridor before moving out to the Parade Square to watch us rehearse. Soon, 5pm came and it was time to fall in to be dismissed. Announcements were made and consent forms for the Orientation Campfire were given out by the PSes. Everybody could go except Item girls as they had to help carry back the Podium.
Ok. This is the end of my post. I feel like I took a long time to write this. Haha.
I hate the rain, Melissa! :)
Monday, 28 December 2009
@ 2:39:00 pm
Hi!
It's been a long time since i've last posted on this blog. 38 days to be exact. :O Well, we had an unofficial meeting today from 7.55am - 1pm.
At 7.55am, we fell in and reported strength. Unfortunately, not everyone could be present, despite efforts to persuade them to come for this meeting as they had other commitments. After that, we were given 3min to change out of our pinafores. Then, we fell back in again and were told to split into our different components later. For Item, 2 girls did not turn up so that meant we might have difficulty rehearsing.
Everyone had until 11.30am to get ready for the 'Campfire Trial 1'. Item spent the whole morning rehearsing, both non-full dress and full dress. Natalie and Amanda sat in to look at our performances for awhile before leaving. However, the PLs' absence did not mean 'slacking time'. Nataile instructed us to rehearse the performance 3 times, without stoppages. Which meant the dance-and-song item had to flow smoothly with the skit, just like a real performance. Following that, we had to do a full dress rehearsal 3 times too. We practiced really hard and finally when we were done, we took a break. Whilst doing that, Amanda popped by to check on us and found us sitting and she felt we were slacking! Oh no! :0 So we continued practicing until it was time for the trial.
At 11.30pm, we fell in and the PLs wanted non-understudies to report progress for each component. Soon, the trial bagan. Unfortunately, it started to drizzle so the Structure girls had to quickly untie their structure and keep the poles and the Firepitters had to keep their zinc sheet, firewood, sand and bricks too. After awhile, it stopped drizzling. It was then that we were able to continue with the trial. By then, it was 12pm. The emcees were Cheryl and Joycelyn. They started with campfire songs. Soon, it was time for our performance but we were all nervous as the seniors were present! Joey, Tristina and Eunice Lee! :0 (and Charis was still suffering from nervousness!) Haha. Poor girl. :(
When the trial ended, we fell in but the Item girls soon had to fall out. This was because Natalie and Amanda wanted to give us their feedback on our performance. In addition, the seniors also wanted to give us their feedback. Here is what the PLs and seniors said:
1. We must look more enthusiastic.
2. Our actions must have more 'life'.
3. Even if we're sick of doing this, we still have to give it our best shot.
4. Smile when you should be smiling during the performance.
5. We should put in more effort and do it well as it will pay off during the real event.
6. We must sing loudly during the song-and-dance item
Such were the feedback given. As you can see, there was no positive feedback so this only meant that we put up a lousy performance, to be blunt. To make things worse, the seniors found out that we had not even tried performing on the real stage. This made them really worried as they said performing on ground level and on the stage is a totally different thing. :( So, on the next meeting, we have to try performing on the real stage. While we were receiving our feedback, the rest were practicing some of the campfire songs as they also did not sound enthusiastic.
Soon, 1pm came and we fell in. Announcements were made and we were then dismissed.
Yep. I've come to the end of our meeting. So, TTFN!
Today is a sleepy day, Melissa! :)
SiYing; Chomel; Katrina; Meenatchi; Safila; Krystal; Christine; Siti; Rukaiya; Kalyani
Qarissa (YA)(not in picture); Sherwynn; Nicole (not in picture); Caitlin; Charmaine; Vanessa; Amanda; Claudia; Michelle