The Music, the Spotlight, the People,

First of all, this entry isn't fine-tuned or combed through enough. The title doesn't quite match, the pictures aren't in, I haven't spell-checked, and for heavens sake it's not in ~*~technicolor~*~. It's quite embarrassing!

But I promised myself I'd never let two Monday Holiday Updates bookcase each other, even if I have a week full of APs, stress, and whatever other excuses I have between them. So, perhaps you can come back in a few days and see a presentable entry for the Fine Arts Festival.

District 204 and likewise Waubonsie put together a festival every year to celebrate the artistic endeavors of their students. It's absolutely thrilling to go through Waubonsie on that one Saturday in May...the walls are lined with the best art from the elementary schools; those normal off-green bricks completely covered with mosaics of bright colors from the imaginations of children absolutely unparalleled otherwise. There are teenagers in the atrium, painting the faces of children so that even more child-approved color is running around the school.

There are beautiful gowns, the finest of furniture, and other stunning "this-kid-is-in-high-school" kind of pieces dotted between make-shift performance halls and would-be art galleries. In the field house, where normally kids are getting smacked with dodgeballs or trying to avoid playing basketball, the rushing sounds of orchestras fill the air, giving an ambiance unparalleled for those who are looking at the high school or middle school art. There are even some "preforming artists"...luckily nothing Beuys would appreciate- just talented kids at their easels.

And that music that I just barely mentioned...that's something that nobody could speak a word of Fine Arts Festival without thinking about. In every place that the school has a lot of convenient chairs; the auditorium for choirs, the field house for orchestras, the wood gym for bands, and the cafeteria for small ensembles (and snacks); there's music. All day long...without break...just rehearsals and performances and rehearsals and performances. And the very best part about these performances? You won't see them anywhere else all year. Coming to a Fine Arts Festival performance is a little bit like seeing David Archuleta sing on stage with Donny Osmond- they might have a little in common, enough that such a combination isn't completely ridiculous, but you'll never see that age group or style difference preforming together under normal circumstances.

The musical groups get together with the parallel music group from a different age or different school, and the different directors help lead them together. For weeks, these students prepare the music the way their director likes it in their own school, and then on this one Saturday, they get together and meld perfectly into the rest of the group. I LOVE this Saturday, guys, and I LOVE how this music works. It's inspired work of genius, really.

The elementary schools all combine in a choir for their feeder middle school, realizing what power they'll have once they get just a few years older. The middle school choirs join with varying Waubonsie choirs , and they realize what talent they're going to blossom into.

I remember being on the younger side of the equation, and those emotions are exactly what I felt. It was exciting. May is the time when kids start to look to next year, and for those about to move up schools, Fine Arts Festival is honestly one of those times that they're most likely to feel prepared to join their fellow students in what they love.

I know that the main complaint about Fine Arts Festival is the crowds, the impossible (and I do mean impossible) parking, and the noise...but it's kind of unrealistic to expect anything else. Almost every child in half of the district has a performance, a piece of artwork, or a friend in something on this day, and when we all come together to celebrate each other, that's a LOT of people. But those strangers you're rubbing shoulders with, that kid from the elementary school across the city or that little girl from a middle school you only see as sports competition, they could be in your high school class. You're building kinship with complete strangers over the most powerful medium for kinship that exists on a secular level- art.

So perhaps I should have better spent this entry explaining all the pieces I got into the festival, both that I've previously talked about, and haven't mentioned at all. Or maybe I should have been detailing my choral experience singing songs that I haven't sung since 8th grade, and how I still think we did better three years ago.

But to me, Fine Arts Festival is only a little about what I contributed. If it was just The Alaina and Her Friends Show, I really don't think I'd like it that much. Certainly not as much as I love this crazy, ridiculous, hectic, messed-up Saturday in May. Besides, as I experienced with Prism, I seem incapable of describing an annual experience just straight-up as what I personally did. This, I think, is much more fun.

Title can be found in "There's No Business Like Showbusiness" in Annie, Get Your Gun!