"Grease is the word"...and the dance!

Sunday, Nov. 23, 11:30 a.m. -- All four of the ALT "dancers" (I use that term loosely. We are far from professional!) are gearing up for the performance at Amber Hall. We've spent the last 10 days practicing our moves to songs from the musical "Grease." Besides our dance, the charity event will include a variety of acts from people of all ages in the community. The show begins in exactly one hour. Eeps! So we're about to do a final dress rehearsal. **Click here to see it! **

12:16 p.m. -- We're now at Amber Hall, in a dressing room that we're sharing with an elderly lady in a kimono. Individually, we're running through our dance moves. We're making sure our outfits and make-up are just right. We're excited, but also anxious. I'm thinking, "Let's get this party started!"

12:56 p.m. -- We'll go on stage any second. I'm so pumped! The act before us was SO adorable! There must have been at least 20 little kids dancing to upbeat Japanese music. Now it's our turn. A disco ball is coming down from the ceiling. That's awesome! I didn't know they were doing that!

Lights. Camera. Action! ** Click here to join the audience, and let the show begin.**

1:01 p.m. -- Whew, that was the fastest four and a half minutes ever! What a blast! It reminded me of my days on the movement team at church. There were four of us then, too.

Overall, I think the dress rehearsal went better than the actual performance, but at least we made our mistakes with smiles on our faces. :) While on stage, I had one of those, "this is surreal" moments. Here I am in Japan, prancing around a stage in leggings in front of 1,000 people. What a life I lead!

The dancers have Kenji to thank for letting us turn the upstairs of his office building into a dance studio. I think he enjoys this picture. :) And thanks to Kenji for the videos, too!