Piano Recitals

amazing things, these are. if you've never been to one, i assure you, you will. sometime, someplace, in any random walk of your life you will be called upon to attend, (or perform in), a piano recital.
i had the privilege of both attending and performing in one tonight. 'privilege' is used very loosely here, it was more of an arm-twisted privilege.
so, i went. i was rewarded for my attendance with the opportunity to play first. i wasn't quite sure how this was going to happen, as i had developed a peculiar case of the ague, along with an incredible knotting in my stomach. feverishly, i glanced around the room. at piano lessons, this room had seemed rather spacious and roomy, now i could see that i had been seriously mistaken. with fifty odd people stuffed in there, this room was downright tiny. carefully tucking my legs sideways under my metal folding chair, i heaved a sigh, and began emptying my mind of all intelligent thought as the moment grew nearer.
soon, my piano teacher perkily went up to the front of the room and announced with a big smile that i, the mighty rainbow panda, would be performing first. my breathing, previously shallow, now stopped completely. faintly, i smiled and went up to the piano. doing my best to avoid eye contact with the fifty pairs of eyes staring at me, i muttered my name and the title of the song that i was going to attempt to play. however, my fears were soon dissuaded, once i began to play, it went pretty well, as i was able to lose myself in the song and forget about the people staring at me. finally finished, i endeavored to curtsy, but failed rather miserably. i scuttled back to my seat, my head low, and face red.
i tried as hard as i could to gracefully seat myself, but that soon fizzled out, as i awkwardly stumbled past the people in the beginning of the row. ultimately, i ended up sitting down, in my own chair, thankfully. some of the details between the piano and the trek back to my seat are kind of fuzzy, but since no one is in a body cast, and there are no phone calls, i assume that everything went ok.
i settled myself down to listen to the other students. rather uncomfortable in my chair, i experimentally tried crossing my legs. unfortunately, this wasn't quite possible provided with the close proximity of the row of metal folding chairs in front of us. saddened by this strange turn of events, i contented myself with crossing my arms, and began to study the people around me. in the front row, there was a little boy. he looked kind of cute and little-boyish, with his nice shirt and pants on, and his slicked back hair. as i continued watching him, i noticed that he was doing something to face. whilst trying to decide if he was merely tapping his face in rhythm to the song, or picking his nose, he stuck his finger in his mouth, and i realized with chagrin that he was performing the latter.
quickly changing subjects, i looked at the little girl directly in front of me. she squirmed around for a while until her parents shushed her with a warning glance. she sat perfectly still, which was no fun to watch.
bored, i shifted my gaze back to the performer. he was a rambunctious little boy with quite the staccato. he would raise his hands about a foot off of the keys and then bring them down with a thud. i always thought he would hit the wrong note, but he never did. i was quite impressed. while being thus impressed, i heard an elderly voice come from the back of the room, "wow, will you look at that kid! he's sure a character!!"
for some reason, that set me off into a torrent of silent snickering. shoulders heaving with noiseless laughter, the girl next to me whispered, "yep, that's my grandma for ya. she can't figure out how to whisper!"
i abruptly stopped laughing outwardly, although it entertained me for several minutes inwardly.
after another long hour, it was my turn again. i got up and said my name again, which i felt slightly foolish for doing. i mean, i had just told them my name for crying out loud! so i told them that i was still the one and the same mighty rainbow panda. this set my dad off in gales of laughter, so i quickly sat down at the piano and began my song. it went well, not great, but not too bad. then i played a duet with my teacher so that was fun.

then. the big moment. it was composition time. all us students were supposed to have written a piece of music and then perform it tonight. well, i sort of composed something, and i am really rather fond of it, it chronicles the bittersweet story of my personal romance. however, because my bittersweet story is only partially finished, so was my composition. but my teacher had insisted earlier that it be played. finally, in exasperation i told her that if she really wanted to, she could play it, but i was definitely not going to. much to my surprise, she agreed, and played my half finished piece of music. however, i didn't want to claim the piece as my own, cause that would be weird, asking her to play it for me, so she put me down as anonymous, which promptly set my family into laughing fits. they told me all the way home, "i didn't know your name was anonymous!!" erg. but it was ok. all went well. and i am FINISHED!!! no more recitals ever!! oh the freedom...
ok, i'm all finished now, i realize this is freakishly long, and for that, i most sincerely apologize. au revoir.

~M.R.P.