Fancy Free Cloggers
We've all had those shows. The ones where the audience is not particularly attentive and they don't seem to care that you showed up to dance.
My team recently performed at a group home. One of our dancers has close ties to this facility and she has really been wanting to put on a show for the residents and staff.
We set up in the dining area with an initial audience of: family members who came with us, a couple staff members, and a couple residents who are especially close to our dancer who organized the show (and I believe she physically retrieved them from their rooms).
At show time, staff rounded up a few more residents. Most didn't stay for our approximately 35-minute show. They watched 1 or 2 dances and left. The staff were great, cheering us on, especially clapping for the dancer they knew. One staff member was a great sport and joined us for a dance!
As our performance reached its end, I was telling myself the following:
1. We made our dancer very happy by coming there to perform.
2. Our newest clogger got some valuable show experience (this was only her 2nd clogging performance).
3. We possibly brightened a work shift for people working a tough job.
All of these are good enough reasons to put on a show, but I was bummed that none of the residents seemed to respond to us. Then, we took our final bow and Gina (not her real name) spoke up.
"Thank you for coming! Bless you all!" came a voice from the center of the room. I noticed this lady during our performance but she didn't seem to be enjoying it all that much. In fact, she left for a while and then returned during the show.
I went back to her seat to thank her and received a big hug, along with being blessed by Gina about 10 more times. In that moment, the effort to put on a show became totally worth it.
I donned my clogging shoes that evening thinking I was going to brighten someone's day, and instead, Gina absolutely made mine. Funny how things work out like that. Thank you, Gina.