That show, the end of term extravaganaza
Where parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts
And other staunch uncompromising supporters
Sit on school seats in humid halls
Remembering past times
And the performers who want to get it ‘ just right’.
I remember ‘The Snow Queen’ in Birkenhead YMCA
Where I, having practised nightly for an eternity,
Was bedazzled by the footlights
And each careful step flew away out of my head
To be danced on some other stage instead.
And what of me, the Prince in Gold?
Urgent stage whispers from the wings took hold
And I walked imperiously with as much pose as I could muster
Backwards and forwards across the stage
Could they tell that my heart was a fluster?!
Jo Hansen 