Don't You Know Who I Am

Remember My Name.......FAME!

As one of the greatest movies displaying the performing arts and if I can think, the only movie made about a Creative and Performing Arts high school, Fame is at the top of it's game. On Friday a new updated version was presented to the world. Bravo and good work! I went and saw Fame (2009) today and found it hard to sit still I wanted to get up and sing and dance so bad. Just like the original we saw talented actors, dancers, musicians, and singers trying to make there mark on the world and be the best that they can be at their craft. The most relatable and riveting thing about Fame, both versions, are the characters drive and passion for what they are doing. You don't find this much and many never experience it.

I have experienced that sort of drive and insane passion for a craft that if I wasn't the best, I would rather die. It's the greatest feeling in the world. Myself, a former attendee of Pittsburgh's Middle School for the Creative and Performing Arts, and CAPA, aka, Pittsburgh's high school for the Creative and Performing Arts, was a dedicated artist till the end. The movie is basically a duplicate of what these schools are really like. It's a liberal, energetic, passionate place. Everyone is practicing all the time, dancing in the lunch line was normal, busting out in song in an academic class was normal as well. That's just how it was, and I wouldn't have changed it no matter what. It was a magical place where kids could all come together, no one was outcast, and be one. For we all had the same dream. Success.

I don't know if any of you have loved something soo much and if you didn't do it it felt like a part of your soul was missing. I have. And I feel very blessed to have felt that way. If I close my eyes and turn on Tchaikovsky, I can still feel it. I was a dancer, and I was going to be the best god damn dancer in the world! I practiced my craft up to 7 hours a day 7 days a week. But so did all of my friends. We were some dedicated people. I remember my 8th grade graduation show and our choreography was to the song Fame. Myself and another young ballerina, came out towards the end and played the ballerina in the movie. Little did I know 7 years later I would be standing on a Broadway stage jumping up and down because I received a callback to play this character on Broadway. A dream come true(that I royally f'd up by skipping my callback because it was at the same time of my 4th American Idol callback. FML.) The worst about this "performing bug" is that you never lose it. I have been trying to get rid of it for 4 years now and I just can't seem to shake it. I guess when you dedicate yourself to an art since the age of 4 and never leave it's side, it's kind of hard to lose. And maybe it's the fact that, dancing, is really all I've ever known.

This is the biggest run on piece I have ever written but maybe it was important for me to get this out there and get back to where my heart is and do what I am supposed to be doing. Performing is my heart and soul and like I said, it's just not shaking off too well. I really hope all of you have found or have had your passion because it truly is the best feeling in the world. So what were all of your dreams? And if you aren't doing them.......what are you waiting for? Life is to short.

Peace and Love

S