By Robin Buford
The gym is filled to its capacity. Students walk around, laughing and goofing off with their friends when all of a sudden- booming music starts. Within seconds, everyone surrounds a stage in the center of the gymnasium watching as costumed classmates rush into their places and begin to dance. International Days performers spend so much time dedicating themselves to perfecting their dance, it’s only natural they would have fears about the outcome of their clubs performance.
LaQueishia Cummins, Div. 369, a new member of Native American Club, was overwhelmed with the excitement of being a part of International Days.
“I joined because they’re a new club. This was only their second year dancing, and I really wanted to be a part of International Days,” Cummins said.
Students may share different backgrounds, but it was clear that the costumes, music, food, fun and friends drew everyone to come celebrate this event together. However, International Days are not all fun and games. Clubs had to prepare as soon as they could in order for International Days to be a success. Students and staff put in many hours and hard work so that the rest of the school could enjoy themselves during the festivities.
“We had been practicing for a few months, daily after school until about 4:30pm-5:00pm and on weekends since February. I even set aside time at home to practice,” Cummins said.
Practicing was only half the battle. Performers had to have the right attitude and ability to stay on the ball so they would not mess up during actual International Days’ performances.
“I took everything very seriously, attended all practices, and whatever it took to do our best during International Days,” Cummins said. “Few members dropped out, but were replaced. Some just weren’t dedicated enough. However, I thought every club was working just as hard so we were doing the same.”
With practice comes perfection, but of course students did not want it to be all work, all the time. In the months of preparation for International Days, club members became very close and relied heavily on one another to do their part.
“The fun definitely outweighed difficulty of practicing, but I was always nervous about forgetting moves or messing up. We could have always used more practice but overall the club was ready,” Cummins said. “As a team we usually helped each other and not just depend on the president for assistance. No club is perfect,we sometimes fought, but overall we were all pretty close.”
With all the hustle and bustle of practicing and the excitement of International Days, important business such as the February 29th debt deadline slipped the minds of some unfortunate dancers. Complications arose for these students who did not consult the Budget Office about their debts before the 29th. Cummins as well as others were upset some members would be unable to dance due to the deadline.
Performing among hundreds of people is no easy task and nerves almost got the best of some performers.
“It’s not an audience’s place to judge. They should have came to support their peers hard work,” Cummins said. “If they weren’t in International Days they don’t understand our struggling efforts to practice and manage our other priorities. The best thing to do was to keeping going if someone were to mess up.”
Rochelle Smith, Div. 360, became one of the new members of Club BSA (Black Student Association).
“I joined the club because I loved that this was a place where specifically African Americans could show that there was something positive we could do,” Smith said.
Like many other clubs, BSA dancers practiced as much as possible so they could put on a great performance. Having practiced two to three times each week since December and everyday for the three weeks leading up to International Days, Smith believed her club members to be ready for International Days.
“I definitely thought we were ready if our nerves didn’t get the best of us,” Smith said.
Many students have said they’re expecting good feedback since everyone’s dance has improved a lot since previous years. Smith was anticipating the outcome of her club’s performance and hoped to give the audience a good show.
“I was hoping the audience would feed off our energy and appreciate the work we put in to entertain them. Hopefully the audience wasn’t rude because this was my first year dancing,” Smith said.
Debts’s deadline affected many of the clubs. Most members were disappointed that some of their friends wouldn’t be able to perform with them, also hoping that the decrease in dancers wouldn’t affect their overall performance.
“We had to rearrange spots at the last minute because some girls had to drop out because they couldn’t meet debt deadline. Hopefully it didn’t affect our performance too much,” Smith said. “Honestly I hope no one made any mistakes.”
Marisol Silva, Div. 380, of Korean Club, however, was terrified of making a mistake, whether it was noticeable or not.
“I was really scared of messing up. I would hate to have dropped my fan or forgotten a part of the dance,” Silva said. “Everyone had been working so hard I would hate to have ruin that.”
Although Silva was shaken up over the fear of making a mistake, her friends made the experience and practices much more enjoyable.
“We use to practice every Wednesday, but then just about everyday. The girls were getting used to the fans but I was afraid for the boys,” Silva said. “They had to learn tae kwon do for our performance. It was fun to watch them practice though, we all shared a few laughs.”
With all of the clubs working hard practicing, others became aware of the serious effort their peers put into International Days. Family and friends came out to support the performers, and with all the love and excitement roaring in the audience, the performers knew that there was really nothing to fear.
