(no subject)
Dec. 23rd, 2017 08:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckThe choir concert ran about two hours. We got there later than we meant to because of Scott needing to shower. We'd hoped he could manage it before he took Cordelia her dinner, but the cleaning lady wasn't done in the bathroom when Scott needed to start in order to squeeze it in. We were still a good ten minutes before they took the lights down in the auditorium.
Cordelia's choir was first. That's the kids who are taking choir to find out if they like it and/or to get that particular graduation requirement out of the way. They did five or six songs with both classes together; then each of the two classes did a song. Cordelia's class has no tenors or basses; the other class does.
The second choir to perform was, I think, the one that's going to Austria some time between now and the end of the school year. They were wearing gender neutral, matching attire, and it became obvious pretty quickly that the gender neutral part was deliberate. Their set was called 'Coming Out.' I had a brief moment of worry that the teacher/choir director would get fired before I remembered that it's been thirty years since I was in high school. Also, this is Ann Arbor rather than a tiny village (we had three stoplights! All the drivers' ed classes from nearby schools came to our village to practice dealing with stoplights).
They gave flowers to the woman who had made their jackets and trousers. She sewed all of those during the two weeks before the concert and, as the kids noted, doesn't even have a child in the choir.
Scott's parents were a little taken aback by what they considered 'unusual subject matter.' They didn't go so far as to say 'inappropriate,' for which I was grateful. They're both 75-ish and conservative, and they probably said unpleasant things about it when they were in their car on the way home, but that comment was all either of them said in public.
The third choir did a bunch of songs on a theme of motherhood. All of the members wore skirts and, from the sound, were all altos and sopranos. I have no idea how they identified, so I'm not going to say 'were all women.' The choir director asked, at the beginning of the year, that students and parents not make assumptions about that sort of thing. I think I mentioned that at the time because it surprised me in a happy way. It won't make being a queer teen all that much easier, but it makes me hope for actual support for those kids from the school, you know?
The fourth and last choir sang songs on a theme of suicide prevention, including some spoken bits about why they didn't kill themselves or why they wanted to. I don't know if those bits were true for the individuals speaking or if they were assigned/scripted as being typical, and I'm not sure which way I hope on that. The statements were pretty naked. Each person who spoke ended up with at least two other members of the choir coming up to stand silently with them.
Scott and I both cried during that number (fortunately, I had tissues in my coat pocket). I also cried during bits of the Coming Out set. I don't know if Scott did or not.
That fourth choir is called the A Capella Choir, and they were the only one of the three that had accompaniment for all of their songs. I was wondering if I'd remembered the meaning of 'a capella' incorrectly. Cordelia says not; she's a little bit offended (in a very 14 year old way) about them calling themselves A Capella while having drums, piano, and violin for their songs.
We all got to bed later than usual. Friday morning, I managed to keep myself going through Cordelia's dermatology appointment but more or less fell over as soon as I got home after. I tried to nap but couldn't actually sleep. I went to bed about 8 p.m. and slept until 1 a.m. Then I was awake until around 4 a.m. then slept for another two or three hours.
I didn't use the Flonase last night. I took a sudafed and a claritin instead. So far, my sinuses aren't freaking out about the change and actually feel better than they did this time yesterday.
Cordelia's choir was first. That's the kids who are taking choir to find out if they like it and/or to get that particular graduation requirement out of the way. They did five or six songs with both classes together; then each of the two classes did a song. Cordelia's class has no tenors or basses; the other class does.
The second choir to perform was, I think, the one that's going to Austria some time between now and the end of the school year. They were wearing gender neutral, matching attire, and it became obvious pretty quickly that the gender neutral part was deliberate. Their set was called 'Coming Out.' I had a brief moment of worry that the teacher/choir director would get fired before I remembered that it's been thirty years since I was in high school. Also, this is Ann Arbor rather than a tiny village (we had three stoplights! All the drivers' ed classes from nearby schools came to our village to practice dealing with stoplights).
They gave flowers to the woman who had made their jackets and trousers. She sewed all of those during the two weeks before the concert and, as the kids noted, doesn't even have a child in the choir.
Scott's parents were a little taken aback by what they considered 'unusual subject matter.' They didn't go so far as to say 'inappropriate,' for which I was grateful. They're both 75-ish and conservative, and they probably said unpleasant things about it when they were in their car on the way home, but that comment was all either of them said in public.
The third choir did a bunch of songs on a theme of motherhood. All of the members wore skirts and, from the sound, were all altos and sopranos. I have no idea how they identified, so I'm not going to say 'were all women.' The choir director asked, at the beginning of the year, that students and parents not make assumptions about that sort of thing. I think I mentioned that at the time because it surprised me in a happy way. It won't make being a queer teen all that much easier, but it makes me hope for actual support for those kids from the school, you know?
The fourth and last choir sang songs on a theme of suicide prevention, including some spoken bits about why they didn't kill themselves or why they wanted to. I don't know if those bits were true for the individuals speaking or if they were assigned/scripted as being typical, and I'm not sure which way I hope on that. The statements were pretty naked. Each person who spoke ended up with at least two other members of the choir coming up to stand silently with them.
Scott and I both cried during that number (fortunately, I had tissues in my coat pocket). I also cried during bits of the Coming Out set. I don't know if Scott did or not.
That fourth choir is called the A Capella Choir, and they were the only one of the three that had accompaniment for all of their songs. I was wondering if I'd remembered the meaning of 'a capella' incorrectly. Cordelia says not; she's a little bit offended (in a very 14 year old way) about them calling themselves A Capella while having drums, piano, and violin for their songs.
We all got to bed later than usual. Friday morning, I managed to keep myself going through Cordelia's dermatology appointment but more or less fell over as soon as I got home after. I tried to nap but couldn't actually sleep. I went to bed about 8 p.m. and slept until 1 a.m. Then I was awake until around 4 a.m. then slept for another two or three hours.
I didn't use the Flonase last night. I took a sudafed and a claritin instead. So far, my sinuses aren't freaking out about the change and actually feel better than they did this time yesterday.
no subject
Date: 2017-12-24 02:41 am (UTC)That's good news.
no subject
Date: 2017-12-25 01:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-12-25 12:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-12-25 01:46 am (UTC)The general skew toward accepting and supporting differences has been one of the reasons we've stayed in Ann Arbor.
no subject
Date: 2017-12-28 10:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-01-01 11:08 pm (UTC)I spent my middle school and high school years in a small town (population of town: 3600) in southwest Michigan after living in Ann Arbor for my elementary school years, so I've got some idea how that can be. I had the advantage of being cis, het, and white, but most kids thought I talked funny (clear enunciation was either snobbery or a British accent) and dressed weird.
My mother and stepfather still try to convince me that moving to that small town gave me advantages over staying in Ann Arbor. I'm not sure if it quite gets to gaslighting levels (because it almost never comes up) but-- seriously?
It was the sort of area where you could run a dead rat as the Republican candidate and have it win. Repeatedly.
no subject
Date: 2018-01-02 02:31 am (UTC)I think we have some dead rats currently masquerading as Republican politicians down here. *sigh*