The final day of the festival had the Wadaiko kids a little on hedge. At 7 am, the President had declared it sunny enough for us to perform outside, but it was still a touch on the gray side by the time we started setting up. The other groups seemed to be in better spirits, though, so we moved all the instruments, equipment, and curtains, then went about the yard calling to potential guests and making a huge ruckus. It was great! But by the time we got back to home base, it had started to drizzle!! Everyone rushed to the drums, which would be ruined by the rain. We threw blankets, coats, and jackets on all the taiko and wooden stands. “Oh, great,” everyone was saying, “what if this doesn’t stop in time for the performance?” But the weather did clear and, trust me on this one, no one was more excited than the President, who started jumping up and down on the hill.
The concert was a great success and we had people stretched far and wide, past the back of the stage just to listen to us. We had the largest audience out of any group at the festival! And it was no surprise why the upperclassmen had been so particular about our practices. When I was talking to other students later that day, they were telling me how huge the Wadaiko reputation was, so I could see why we couldn’t allow any major mistakes. I was focusing too much on my responsibility during the concert, that I didn’t notice who was in the audience. Apparently, everyone I knew was there at one point or another (even my house parents, Kaji-san!). During the next few days, I got so many compliments and more respect now that everyone knew that I was a taiko member.
After we cleaned up and stored all of the equipment, I had to dash over and prepare for Soul Run’s final performance which would be that night on the main stage. We met up, changed clothes, practices the dances and kata a few times, and even dressed our male president in a traditional fisherman’s wrap to add to the coolness of his costume. Haha, I have to admit though, it looked a lot like a body cast, and he said it was very hard to breathe in at first.
The festival organizers moved us out onto the side stage pretty early, and it was confusing to know when to go one because we were in the very middle of the finale. Before I went on, some of the Yearbookers even came up to me and told me they'd be around during the show to sell hot chocolate. It was a good idea because the night was starting to get chilly. Once we finally took the stage (I mean, grass) it looked really cool, because we were under the spotlights and right up in front of the audience! Many of the other Soul Run kids were gathered and cheered us on from dead center, so when I looked up, I saw a mess of red, purple, and shining light (from cameras and spot lights). My knee was kind of hurting by this point, because I had dislocated it again (great job, Alexandra) the weekend before, but my mother had sent and Ace-bandage which saved the day! It was such a rush to be with them and dance Souran Bushi together. I got to be in the very middle, right behind the two club presidents when we performed. Between having the other 11 up there dancing with all they had and our fellow members sitting right in front of us, shouting along with the song, I was in some sort of dream world. Everything was buzzing with life, even when we moved onto the different parts of the show. Dancing Para Para even felt intense! It is so sad that I'll never get to have this feeling again, but maybe I can somehow share it once I get back home. My school has an East Asian Festival once a year, and maybe I can make a Soul Run group to perform then, too.
Later, Derek and I made our way back to Dialogue House where the Wadaiko freshman were making presents for the upperclassmen. We helped them out for a while, then ducked upstairs to change into our Halloween outfits for Wadaiko's nomihodai that night (see previous post).
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