I kan dance! on Magical Arts Room and Sports

Georgia Kirkly

April 09, 2019 10:08 AM

Music Room - Teppenpaw Rehearsal by Georgia Kirkly

“Right everyone, thanks for coming,” Georgia smiled at the Teppenpaws who had volunteered for the concert. She had put up a notice giving the date and time of their first rehearsal, and asked for everyone to attend, even those who would have backstage jobs. The latter might not need to stay too long but she figured it was good for them to all get together and get an idea of what they were working with.

She took a deep breath, and twirled her little witch hat pendant from Zevalyn between her fingers, trying to tell herself that she belonged, up here, in charge, and that she felt ready. She felt excited, sure, and visions of the perfect Teppenpaw performance danced in her head. And there were times she felt like that was totally achievable. And there were times where she felt the combined resources of being a good singer, having had access to Google during Christmas break, and having the talking portraits now were not going to be enough. It felt like a bit of a mishmash, and she wasn’t sure she was the most organised person anyway, and what if they didn’t pull it off? The first rehearsal felt like it had taken forever to plan, meticulously going over everything with Eleonora (including some advice on not scaring people when Georgia had got particularly intense about how she felt about it all), and she had to hope it just got easier from here.

“Thanks everyone for volunteering, and for coming today. Today is going to be a lot of working out - we need to try a few things, and see how people fit into different places. And everyone might not be good at everything straight away, but that’s ok,” she explained, sounding rather like she had memorised ‘reassuring sentiments 101’ and was not totally convinced by them. “Because…. Because we’re working things out. It will get good though,” she added, with a degree of conviction that sounded like there might be an ‘or else’ on the end of it.

“So, based on the suggestions that were made last year, we’ve selected the following songs,” gesturing to a blackboard on which were listed the five pieces they were going to do - Stand By Me (Ben E. King), Count On Me (Bruno Mars), Umbrella (Rihanna), Invisible (Hunter Hayes), and Firework (Katy Perry). “These represent using ideas from everyone who came forward with suggestions,” she added, to make it clear that things had been chosen fairly.

“We’ve got the vocal scores for each song here,” she added, waving her wand, so that a stack of papers distributed themselves to the occupants of the room. More or less - some people might have needed to make a grab slightly above their head or to the side to catch theirs. The teachers always made that look so effortless…

“These songs might not be familiar to everyone here. The MARS room is capable of providing them on record, so if you want to come and listen to them at any point, you can. We have the records available today and the room seems to have set up some kind of… bubble zone thing so that you can’t hear them outside of that corner,” she gestured to where a jukebox rather like the one from the ball was situated, though in this case it only had a selection of five songs. It had taken some experimentation with the thought process to get the room to make what she wanted. She knew that computers and even ancient technology like CD players didn’t work in the magical school, so at first she had simply walked into the room thinking about having a way to play the records - there may well have been other equipment that would have done it, but she had seen the jukebox at the ball, so it wasn’t really surprising that the room settled on that for her. She had also tried to acquire headphones, but as hard as she imagined them, they would not appear - she guessed it was like the other Muggle tech; if a magical version didn’t exist, you couldn’t bring it to being in this room. So she had rephrased her thoughts to wanting a way for some people to listen to the music without disturbing others and that was when the bubble had appeared. “So if you’re not involved in a particular activity at any given time, you can go and listen.

“We’ve got two additional helpers today. Eleonora and some members of her band with be helping us to work out everyone’s vocal part,” she gestured to the portrait of an elegant black jazz singer behind her. Georgia had discovered her last year, and she had been her regular singing teacher ever since. Eleanora was more laid back and fun than some of the other portraits, and better suited to popular music. She believed in singing music for the fact that it brought you joy, though she still knew her stuff and gave Georgia plenty of constructive criticism. “She’s also recommended a friend to me,” she gestured to another portrait. The title simply read ‘The Traveling Musician’ and the slender looking man in the picture had several instruments hanging about his person. “One of the songs is mostly accompanied by the ukulele, and apparently the basics are pretty easy to learn, so anyone who wants to try those today can, and we’ll see whether we can pick up enough to make it work in the performance.” Georgia had originally thought that the idea of any of them learning to play a whole new instrument was clearly beyond the realms of possibility. However, she and The Traveling Musician had had a chat about that, and he had assured her that the ukulele was very simple and most people could get a pleasant enough tune out of it with only a little bit of practise. The room had helpfully provided her the tab for the song, and he had rated it as slightly above a beginner level (more than three chords and some of them a bit fiddly, plus quite a fast pace) but achievable - or worth attempting, at least. With this in mind, there were several ukuleles propped against the wall next to his painting. “People who play other instruments… Maybe talk to me after you’ve listened to the songs, and we can work out where your instrument might fit in.

“Okay… If you already know your vocal part, go stand in the relevant spot,” she gestured to where there were floating banners designating sopranos, altos and so on, “If you want to be involved in singing but don’t know it, try a couple of parts and see what feels comfortable. We’re going to start with some general voice warm ups and then work through the first song to try to get an idea of everyone’s ability and vocal range. Kir’s going to help us by being on the piano for that. After that, we’ll have a play with the ukuleles.”

OOC - welcome to Teppenpaw rehearsal! This is open to anyone who wants to join in with the concert, even if you didn’t post at the meeting. People may join at any stage, it will be assumed they’ve been involved along the way, and they will be mentioned as participating in the performance. If you would like your character to have a more specific role than ‘participating’ (e.g. a vocal, dance or instrumental solo or lead) you will need to contribute to rehearsal threads in a way that shows their skills and the roles they would be capable of taking on.

I’ve tried to make it so there are lots of things your character can do here, and I see this working more like a class thread than a group thread. For example, you can post your character going off to listen to the records, trying a uke or whatever. Whilst Georgia wouldn’t tolerate much chit-chat whilst they’re working, you can also assume there are small breaks if you’d prefer to get something social out of it. You’re welcome to write for either portrait.

For anyone who wants some technical information on how to play the ukulele, you can find a tutorial for the song they’re doing here As someone who a) plays the ukulele and b) is not really musical, I believe it’s pretty realistic that they would be able to get something together in the time available.

A playlist of the songs they’re doing is available here.

Subthreads:

I kan dance! by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen with Dorian

Ukulele 101 by Zara Jackson

13 Georgia Kirkly Music Room - Teppenpaw Rehearsal 346 Georgia Kirkly 1 5

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

April 11, 2019 6:07 PM

I kan dance! by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

Johana Leonie was at a bit of a loss, but it was the good sort that made you feel like interesting things were happening and you were part of them and it was going to be okay. She thought that it would probably be a bit like what dandelion fluffies felt when they went flying through the air; I don't know what's happening, but I know it's going to be awesome. So when Georgia listed off songs and said a bunch of words that only sort of mostly made sense, Johana Leonie wasn't worried. She also wasn't going to sing.

As heavy as her accent was and as little as she knew about any of the songs chosen, she didn't quite feel like that would be a good use of her skills. Still, she was interested in the practice and took one of the sheets that sort of bounced around in the air above her, waiting for her attention. It would be helpful to figure out syllables and stuff maybe?

She wasn't entirely sure how best to go about using the skills she did have, though, and settled on standing near the portrait of Eleanora (a proper German name she could pronounce quite happily), and waiting for someone to approach with something for her to do.

"I dance," she told the portrait, who nodded with some understanding. "Und I play die Flöte-- ah, the flute."

Eleanora nodded again and smiled. Johana Leonie decided that she liked the woman quite a bit, and thought it would be nice if everyone talked as little and said as much. Of course, the woman would undoubtedly talk more when there was more to talk about.

When another Teppenpaw approached, and not one of the ones who was looking sick or too focused or anything like that, Johana Leonie smiled warmly and held her flute, clutched in one hand, aloft. "What do I do?" she asked.

22 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen I kan dance! 1432 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen 0 5

Dorian

April 11, 2019 8:24 PM

That might have to wait by Dorian

Dorian was excited for the first concert rehearsal. He was glad the poster had specified everyone should come, as he definitely wanted to but might have felt a bit odd showing up unless specifically instructed, seeing as he wasn’t sure there was much for him to do at this stage.

He listened carefully to Georgia’s introductory speech, which mainly seemed focussed on the performance aspect, specifically singing. Still, he definitely needed to be familiar with how all the songs sounded, and how the performers would be moving in order to add effects and dress the set and… whatever it was exactly he was going to do. He wasn’t sure which of those was more his calling yet, just that he was going to make it all look even prettier. And that wasn’t something random, it was an art to have things that fitted with the mood and the meaning of the songs and that enhanced them.

It seemed likely that the most productive use of his time would be to listen to the songs and get a feel for each one. He was about to make his way over to the booth, when he noticed Johana Leonie hanging off to one side, clutching a flute. He suspected she had taken in a lot less of the information than he had, and diverted from his path to the booth to make sure she was alright.

“First is singing. You do not want to do any?” he confirmed. Once this had been ascertained, he continued, “You can come listen to songs with me. Maybe none have a flute part right now, but you can see which is a good song for flute style,” he summarised the relevant bits of Georgia’s speech for her.

“It is ok if I take her to do listening?” he checked with Kir, who was nearby and somehow less frightening than Georgia in spite of being so ridiculously big - they had lived on the same corridor for years and Kir had not accidentally stepped on him or tried to hunt him as prey, so was presumably quite tame in spite of his alarming height. “If you need instrument people, you will come and get her?” This received a nod, so Dorian smiled at the first year, indicating the booth, should she want to take him up on his offer.

OOC - not god-modding as I am also Kir’s author

13 Dorian That might have to wait 1401 Dorian 0 5

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

April 12, 2019 1:23 AM

I kan wait! by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

When Dorian approached, Johana Leonie thought he might've been an angel in disguise. She might've told him so if she knew how to, or if it wasn't totally weird. The fact that he sort of just made things happen was the biggest thing that meant so much to her, because she couldn't do it all by herself and it was exhausting to keep trying to.

Johana Leonie agreed that she did not want to sing and listened to the rest of what he said with greater comprehension than she would've expected for herself, which was a good sign. She wasn't totally sure what "flute style" meant. She knew what the words were, but not exactly what it meant in this sense.

Satisfied that she would be gotten if she was needed and confident that she didn't have to worry too much to try to overhear all the English that might be relevant while also trying to focus on other things.

Johana Leonie followed Dorian to the booth he indicated and was surprised to find that she could hear the music. Well, it was probably the music. She had no way of knowing whether this was actually the right music, but figured Georgia wouldn't have put the wrong music in. She felt a bit like she did when she walked around with some of the older boys in her village when she was with Dorian; he seemed vaguely interested in chatting with her, but in a protective way which was nice. It was good to feel like she didn't have to put so much effort into everything because someone else was looking out for her too.

"You do the help for looking, right?" she asked. She looked down, a little embarrassed. "Would I am in the Konzert, would you have sparkles for me?"

22 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen I kan wait! 1432 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen 0 5

Dorian

April 12, 2019 7:44 AM

You are good by Dorian

Dorian held open the door to the little bubble-booth, and followed Johana Leonie inside, taking a seat next to her. He was a little surprised by her initial question, assuming she meant would he help her identify places her flute would fit into the performance. He wasn’t sure he’d be very good at that, but he was perfectly willing to try and be helpful. He was fairly sure floaty things suited a flute. However, she then clarified her question, revealing that she was talking about how he would help with how things looked.

“Yes,” he assured her with a smile. He had actually not really considered costumes yet, and was not sure whether this was part of his job. He would probably have to check. But he did not want to answer with a ‘maybe’ and let her doubt the presence of sparkles, so he sought to confirm this most basic and important fact first. “Many sparkles for everyone. But I do not know if I do clothes or… other things. Decorating. Extra magic. But it will be pretty,” that much, he could promise.

“You will be in it,” he also assured her, taking the conditional she had used to be an indication of uncertainty.

He consulted the panel of the jukebox, and found they were on the first song. Perhaps it had simply started when they had entered…

“This song is the first one,” he added, indicating the top parchment on the stack, in case she wanted to follow along. He was curious to discover that it sounded fairly upbeat. Some of the words seemed rather disaster-laden - mountains crumbling and so on, so forth - but it was cheerful.

13 Dorian You are good 1401 Dorian 0 5

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

April 18, 2019 6:34 PM

Danke schön! by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

Everything sucked just a bit less with a kind friend to help along the way. Johana Leonie was still clutching her flute, but she was doing so with many fewer white knuckles than she had been previously, and the assurance that she would have sparkles made her relax even further. If she was going to be getting some fancy education, it better come with some damn sparkles.

"Danke," she said, nodding firmly as if everything were now settled and right with the world. Focusing on the panel that Dorian was checking and then on the music she'd been given when he suggested this was the first song, Johana Leonie was quiet. She wasn't particularly skilled at reading music and certainly couldn't understand most of the lyrics, but she was pretty sure this song was paced out well enough that she could manage it.

With a determined expression, she pressed her flute to her lips and played along for the last minute or so of the song. It wasn't perfect, but she hit most of the notes she meant to. Basic, but pretty decent. She could do this! Now it was just a matter of whether anyone would actually want to enjoy listening to it.

As the first song drew to a close, she pulled the instrument away from her mouth and looked at Dorian with wide eyes. "War das gut?" she asked. "I can make the sounds be not like that too."

OOC - Feel free to have Dorian's opinion be whatever. Objectively speaking, Johana Leonie can play the flute fairly well, but not incredibly, and she doesn't know the song of course, so it would be so-so anyway.

22 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen Danke schön! 1432 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen 0 5

Zara Jackson

April 24, 2019 6:42 AM

Ukulele 101 by Zara Jackson

Zara was pretty psyched that both her song choices had made the selection for Teppenpaw's concert performance. She listened carefully to Georgia's intro speech. The other girl seemed a little intense but she was in charge, so Zara guessed she kind of had to be. It didn't dampen her spirits. It sounded like this was going to be a lot of fun.

She followed directions during the vocal run through of her first chosen song. Eleonora seemed pleased with her performance, and so was Zara. She knew she had a nice voice. She didn't push though, as they seemed to just be working out the general structure of things. She figured the time would come later to put herself forward for solos, once they worked out where and in which songs they were going. She was pretty sure she had shown both skill and enthuasiasm though, and hoped that she could get something, even if it was just a couple of lines.

Once they had finished that song, it was time to play with the ukuleles. Zara wasn't convinced of the assessment that this would be easy enough for them to pick up. Maybe it was just her lack of patience but she had never got on with a guitar or any other musical instrument that had appeared at family gatherings. She was therefore very surprised when the first chord they were instructed to try involved a single finger. She strummed the note in time with the rhythm being tapped out by the portrait. The next one was harder, but then they were back to a single finger, then... ow and what the heck and did fingers even bend that way? Then another simple one.

"Okay, so... every other note is painful and I can't make my hand do it. That really isn't bad though, is it?" she commented to her neighbour.

13 Zara Jackson Ukulele 101 1444 Zara Jackson 0 5