random thoughts – Day 1,856 – (Wednesday) – costume quest

As dance performance season nears, dance costume preparation panic kicks into high gear. The costumes involve multiple pieces that are the official costume, various hair and jewelry accessories, and other parts dictated by the venue (usually outdoors) and weather. April events could be warm and pleasant or they might be cold and raw. At August and September events, we could suffer heat stroke or it could be chilly. It’s anyone’s guess, and it’s not even fair to blame it on New England weather because it was the same situation in Middle Tennessee.

The Jezebellies freezing in April 2011.

In 2011 in Clarksville, Tennessee, our troupe The Jezebellies was scheduled for a morning performance at the April Rivers and Spires Festival. It had rained the night before and when we arrived at the site everything was wet. The temperature was in the 40s and raw, and we huddled and shivered near the stage in our lightweight harem pants, golden dance tops, and spring jackets, waiting for the sound guy, who was late and still nowhere in sight. Ugh. The minutes ticked by, the schedule was now late, and we were cold. At other festivals in the same town, we nearly baked on the asphalt under the blazing sun.

Years later in Massachusetts, hours before an Earth Day performance on the Common in Townsend, it was an especially chilly and extra breezy day, and I was tearing through a nearby Wal-Mart desperately searching for leggings and tank tops to layer under my costume for warmth. The wind blew our veils all over the place. A pizza box was carried across the Common by the wind and landed around one of the legs of a dancer in the middle of a dance. Crazy! We still laugh about "that time with the pizza box."

Costume quest.

This year I’m in two dance groups and there are performances scheduled for April 26, June 6, June 17, July 26, and another one or two over the summer still TBD. In the process of tearing through two under-bed storage boxes, one closet shelf, and a quilt storage bag looking for a specific red belt and top set worn only once, maybe twice, a couple forgotten costume components were unearthed. It felt like a treasure hunt when I failed to find the top and belt, but found the forgotten and never used coordinating hair accessory with tassels and shells. The worst part is, I know I had that set in my hands a few months ago. But where the heck was/is it? Seriously, where?!? I need to find these pieces pronto. Like yesterday, and definitely by next Tuesday.

The main quest turned into an opportunity for a little organizing side quest. The skirts and harem pants are now rounded up and hung together for the first time, instead of the previous scattered storage. Maybe someday I can perform a similar exercise and collect and hang all the Halloween costume parts. It will probably be a side quest to a larger objective, but whatever gets stuff done is okay with me.