Kibo - The Wrap-up! Part 2

If you don't know what the Kibo concert was all about or you don't live in Winnipeg here's a some background. I know this might be boring some people (sorry), so this is the last post on the subject, then I'll get on with my life.

On Saturday, rehearsals began at 10:00am and ran through until late afternoon. I arrived at the Theatre around 10:30am and drank as much coffee as I could before practicing our piece. The finale rehearsal ran smoothly despite many changes and add-ons on how to finish the finale. The whole show seemed so surreal, I never felt any panic or nervousness, but instead an almost serene feeling. I guess this was in part because our piece was so close to the beginning and it didn't have time to let the anxiety build. It sure felt nice that I didn't have to stage manage or worry about other performers.

One of my favourite parts of the evening was the intermission, I went out to the lobby to see if there was anyone I knew that came to watch. Apart from the usual family, I spoke to my ex-prof from University, artist Ivan Eyre, he was shocked to see me on stage. Not only is Ivan one of Canada's most well-known artists, he's a great person, teacher and very humble. I also briefly spoke to a few of my sister's friend's, Kathy and Tannis, as well as a bunch of customers' from the store I work at. After the intermission, Shayna and I grabbed some drinks and returned to the balcony to take in the second half of the show.

After the concert, the performers were invited to the Japanese-Canadian Cultural Centre for some Chinese food and drink. When I say drink, I don't mean beer or wine but Sake! This was a great way to wind down after a long tiring day, I of course resisted the urge to indulge too much (the weather was a little rough that night), but instead enjoyed blasking in our brief triumph. While the Taiko performers noisily chugged Sake, I sipped Coke's and enjoyed catching up with my pal Sumi, from the Aurora Dance group.

As I said yesterday, the show went off pretty much without a glitch, it would have been nicer to have a full house, but at least we had the opportunity to perform in the grand Pantages Playhouse Theatre. The big stage, the blinding lights and the crystal clear sound could become addictive for a performer, I had never appeared on a stage larger than the West End Cultural Centre (unless you count grade 8 band at the Centennial Concert Hall), and I would welcome the opportunity to do something like this again. It was fun, but it's time to move on to the next project.
The photos on stage are from the rehearsal in the afternoon, while the group photos were taken before and after the show.