Acting on a Whim, a Tradition is Born
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The hardest part of teaching is saying goodbye to students.
Performance week each season is also time to say goodbye. Even if some singers and drummers return, it will never be the same group again. As each final ensemble finishes, I find myself in a daze, saying thank you and goodbye to a few parents and students who stay to thank me. The last summer performance this year was different.
Twenty-eight drummers and I play for a sea of campers and a few parents.
We end with drummers playing:
BOOM! BOOM! Tap!
BOOM! BOOM! Tap!
The drummers continue, confident.
I stand and turn to the audience. With both hands, I slap my thighs.
SLAP! SLAP! Clap!
SLAP! SLAP! Clap!
Most parents and all drummers mouth the words silently.
At a signal, the drummers sing out with gusto!
“WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU! WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU!”
Most campers join us!
Soon, I motion the crowd to pause.
Students drum and sing:
Everybody here make a big noise having great fun in the 21st century
Put a smile on your face, fill up this space,
Playing our drums all over the place singing:
We will, we will rock you! We will, we will rock you!
Parents glow and smile in appreciation. Younger campers gaze at drummers like they’re superstars.
We sing the song twice more and end with a giant rumble!
“Thank you everyone for coming to enjoy the drum performance!”
Polite applause arises, swiftly followed by the deafening sound of a large crowd of children talking and moving after keeping quiet for a long time. Counselors and parents shout and gesture in vain. This will take a while.
We drummers are trapped.
Trapped
All campers, counselors, and parents must move before we can leave our seats and pack drums into Myrtle the music bus. And chaos reigns for a bit. I look from face to face of these dear young drummers I care so much about, careful to show them a warm smile. On a whim, without thinking it through, I unstrap my drum, and stand.
Acting on a whim
I walk to the first drummer on my right.
Hands together, I bow and say
“Thank you for your hard work and leadership. You took the hardest position here and you did well!”
Frankie beams.
Turning, I bow to the student in the next chair.
“What a solo you did! The triplets and the unexpected pause before the loud boom at the end were impressive!”
I go to each student in the half circle and tell them something true, good, and specific about how their growth affected our performance.
“You played the really tough rhythm today as though it wasn’t hard at all!”
“When Amani’s stick broke, you passed yours and came and got another – that was so kind.”
“You stayed focused the whole time! Every time I looked up you were watching!”
“I was so glad you gave the bell back to Birch, who passed it to you too soon. It was encouraging!”
“Birch, I was proud of you when you did a solo after Jordan passed the bell back to you. You made a generous choice to share your talent”
“You watched Solaris carefully – and it showed! You did great.”
“Solaris, you were so supportive, you helped Ripley play at the right time. You are a great mentor.”
“Thank you for playing with such enthusiasm!”
“You’ve come so far this summer; I am so glad drums are fun now!”
“You were right on the beat and followed the dynamics exactly!”
Each drummer gets a moment of triumph and respect. No drummers talk the whole time; each one breaks into a grin as I speak to them. They listen carefully to hear what I say to each student and smile even more.
At the last chair I bow, “Thank you, Milagro, for being willing to sit on the end even though that wasn’t the plan. So much depended on you starting Shiko and being the last person playing Taiko alone. You took rise and shine seriously.”
After Milagro, I stand in the center of the group, palms together. I spin slowly and bow again to the whole group.
Young Dakari calls out “Thank you Ms. Nan for drumming with us – this was great!” and starts one last rumble on the drums.
All drummers join in the loud rumble. After the last camper group leaves, they watch Frankie and Milagro carefully and end the rumble exactly together.
My cheeks hurt from smiling. I’ve started a new tradition.
Traditions for Transition
What traditions do you use to ease transitions? How did you come by them? Intuition? Research? A mentor? Reflecting on a need? Your culture?
Goodbyes remind me of how temporary life is; of the swift passage of time and the brief moments we have to pour love into each other. This new tradition celebrates that, giving us one more chance.
