When restless teens find a reason to tune in
I have zero musical talent. My husband starts laughing whenever I sing. Even my mother told me I can’t carry a tune. In grade school choir, I mostly just lip-synched for the good of the collective.
I’m OK with it though. I grew up in a time when people were not afraid to be honest (maybe a bit too honest) about lack of talent in others.
It’s not that kids these days are less able to handle criticism. It’s just that they’re not exposed to it in the same way. I blame fawning social media. How can you recognize truth if all you’re exposed to is gushy flattery or toxic trolls?
So when I heard about my school’s musical talent night, I was a little bit apprehensive. Of course I bought a ticket — that’s what teachers do. I can be suckered into purchasing raffle tickets, cookie dough, popcorn, to donate $10 to various marathons and charities, and buy tickets to the school play. I just know to temper my expectations.
The talent show was called “Glow” and it was a fundraiser for the Regent Park School of Music — one school helping another. My colleagues in the English department spearheaded the event, but the whole school got involved.
I was asked to pick up 250 samosas. I didn’t take it personally.
The event was held in the cafeteria. As soon as the lights went down and the show began, I knew I was witnessing something special.
Teachers become really aware, really quickly, of atmosphere. It permeates every classroom lesson and class interaction.
When I’m teaching a class of 30 shifty teenagers, I know when my lesson has them hooked. The air gets thick and heavy with the weight of their concentration. Everyone stops looking at their phones and starts looking at me. They lean forward. I can hear them listening with minds wide open.
This feeling is delicious and energizing.
The opposite is also true. My students are mostly polite, but when they are not interested in my lesson, I can feel the restlessness of their wandering minds. I can hear their silent pleas to Please. Just. Stop talking!!
In Ancient Greece, theatre went beyond entertainment. Participation was almost a communal obligation. Classical Greek tragedy was a sort of group therapy, a way to purge built up anxiety and attain catharsis, or release.
“Glow” kicked off with a performance from a Regent Park School of Music alumni. The crowd clapped and cheered.
Then Bollywood dancers took over the stage and the crowd went wild. Solo singers, a student band named “High Five,” a cappella singers and moving duets quickly followed.
A cheeky student dance troupe named Bokchoy Boyz brought the house down with their breakdancing-acrobatic yo-yo-Gangnam-style antics.
They won the prize for “Audience Fave” at the end of the night.
There was a Chinese ribbon dancer in ornate costume, a classically trained ballerina, songs in Mandarin, some K-Pop and a final concert piano performance so intricate the audience listened in pin-drop astonishment.
And throughout it all, the capacity crowd of 400 students cheered on their peers, hooted and hollered encouragement during minor technical blips.
They were all in, and the air grew thick and heavy with their concentration. The performers surfed on waves of energy.
It’s easy to forget sometimes how young my students are: 15 to 18 years old. When I bump into them elsewhere, they are roving bands of boredom.
They are cynical, but so eager to be moved. They have short attention spans, but are on the lookout for lifelong passion.
That night, they waved their cellphone lights during the show. And when a teacher band took to the stage for a spirited cover of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” and Bon Jovi’s “Shot Through the Heart,” they got to their feet in a standing ovation.
The school raised more than $6,500 to help kids in another city experience the transformative power of music.
High school productions are really just modern Greek theatre. And at the end of the night, communal catharsis left everyone with a happy, happy Glow.