Senior Project Speech

1. Gabee Thomas
Ms. Lester
Advanced Grammar and Composition
5 March 2012
Senior Project Speech
What would your reaction be to a doctor telling you that you needed a pacemaker? I was
shocked when my doctor told me. I have a complete AV block, which cause my heart to beat
slower than the average rate. How would you feel if your doctor told you that your heart surgery
was unsuccessful? I was devastated when I found out that I would need a second heart surgery
in eighth grade. The pacemaker was not doing its job to make my heart beat normally. How
about a second unsuccessful surgery, what would you do then? I was very nervous for my life. I
was unsure if I was going to make it out of the third surgery. I thought to myself, what if this one
doesn’t work, then what? Because of all of these surgeries I had to put my outside life on hold.
I spent about a week in the hospital for each surgery and I was not allowed to do what I love
most, Dance.
I have been dancing since I was three and ever since my first dance class, that is all I
have ever wanted to do. In sixth grade I joined chorus because I used to sing all the time. I
continued to take chorus all the way through high school. When I came to Creekview there was a
group called Show Choir that I was interested in because it had to do with singing. Not only did
it include singing but it included dancing too! I was thrilled that I found a group or an extra-
curricular activity that included both of my favorite activities. After participating for a year it
failed. There was no Show Choir group for my Sophmore and Junior year. So I decided to take a
step and talk to Ms. Wallace, the choral director here at Creekview, and see if I could bring show
choir back and possibly be the choreographer. She loved the idea and told me that she would

2. gladly be my facilitator for my Senior Project. So I decided for my Senior Project, that I would
put together a Christmas Show to perform at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta as a thank you for
helping me become a healthy and successful young lady. I eventually want to open up my own
dance studio and I thought that being a choreographer for show choir could help me prepare for
my studio.
My research paper was about the steps I need to take in order for me to open up my own
dance studio and it stated tips on how to become a successful director. I chose this topic because
dance is my passion. I want to be able to teach and share a passion for dance to other people.
Also this experience will teach me how to communicate with others, teach choreography that is
not too difficult but challenging to the dancers, and prepare me for teaching in my dance studio.
If I want to have my own dance studio some day, I need to be able to communicate with the
dancers, and be able to choreograph dance material that everyone in the group can handle.
I am now going to share with you the steps I had to take in order to make my Christmas show a
success.
My Project Facilitator was Ms. Susan Wallace. When I figured out what I wanted to do
for my Senior Project, there were certain qualities that I was looking for in my facilitator. I
needed someone who had experience in the performance field. My facilitator for my senior
project was Susan Wallace. Ms. Wallace is currently my choir teacher and director of
Creekview High School Show choir. Since she was in show choir in middle and high school,
graduated from Shorter College, and has been teaching chorus for over six years, I thought she
would be a great project facilitator. I work with Ms. Wallace on a daily basis outside of show
choir and it was convenient for the both of us, to team up and put together the Creekview High

3. School Show choir for 2011-2012. Now I am going to show you in order, the steps I had to take
in order to make my Christmas show a success.
I had to take quite a few steps in order to make this show a success so here are the steps
in order from start to finish. The first step I took in this process was calling an audition for
anyone who was interested in performing in show choir. I choreographed a short, detailed
combination for all of the contestants to perform for me. This audition process helped me to
decide how many people I wanted in the group, who I wanted in the group and I could start
brainstorming songs that might be performed based on the audition.
I selected 14 students from Creekview to perform in my Christmas show for 2011. I
posted a cast list and set up a meeting for all of the participants so we could talk about expense,
supplies, rehearsal schedule and when the performances were going to be. I choreographed on
piece to “Party Rock Anthem” as a featured piece in a fall Chorus Concert. This helped me to
get an idea of how the kids performed on stage and helped me to judge whether the
choreography needed to be simpler or more complex for the future. This performance was also
helpful to the cast members so they could prepare for a bigger performance for Christmas.
After the Fall Concert I started to pick out music for Christmas. I ended up picking “We
Wish You A Merry Christmas,” “The Sleigh,” “All I Want For Christmas is You,” “Let there Be
Peace on Earth,” “Christmas Cannon,” and “ The Grinch.” Not all of the songs had really
intricate dancing because then the audience would not be able to hear the students singing. I
blocked a couple of the songs and some had intricate dancing with a soloist.
After the songs were selected Ms. Wallace and I started working separately with the
students. Some days I would work with the girls on choreography while the boys worked with
Ms. Wallace on vocals, and vice versa. After three months of on and off rehearsals, the show

4. choir had a week of dress rehearsal and cleaning before we went to the hospital. At this point I
needed to decide what everyone was going to wear so they all looked somewhat uniform. I also
needed to distribute parent consent forms to be on live Television. Eleven Alive News found out
that one of the patients from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, me, was bringing her group to
perform for the patients and the staff.
I planned a meeting with the students the day before the performance so we could work
out transportation details. My mom drove five of the members including me and Ms. Wallace
drove the rest. We planned to meet at the school at eleven forty five am to warm up and get
ready to leave. We left the school at twelve and arrived at one to set up and work with channel
eleven. Channel Eleven ended up putting my story on the air that night and featured all of the
students I used in my show. I was thrilled by the success of my show and my appearance on live
Television. It was not easy to make this show success. I ran into some obstacles and challenges
along the way but in the long run they were worth it and they taught me a lot.
When I first started choreographing some of the students were having some trouble
grasping each movement. Some students couldn’t master the move, others could not hear the
timing with the music so that was tough to get through. I solved this issue by going over the
choreography slower and doing it multiple times with the music so I could create muscle
memory in the students’ bodies. Because all of the students had trouble with choreography, the
amount of time it took to finish a song was a lot longer than what it should have been. This
problem gave me two ways two outcomes of solution; one, make the choreographer simpler so it
takes less time to learn; and two, teach harder choreography and take more rehearsal time to do
it. I chose option one in this case. If the students could not grasp the concept of movement by
the rehearsal after the day they learned it, I simplified the movement. Another problem I ran into

5. was costumes. I was unsure of what everyone was going to wear. I did not even think about
costumes until last minute because I was trying to clean up the choreography. I decided to talk
to the students and see if we could form a costume out of clothes people had in their closets.
This problem showed me that I need to think about everything that goes into a show early and
not just the music and choreography. There needs to be a look in order for people to want to
watch the performance. Having problems and conflicts really taught me a lot about what to
expect for my dance studio later on.
This Christmas show was an unbelievable success and I had an awesome time working
with the students and Ms. Wallace. This was my first successful show and definitely won’t be
my last. I have learned so much about myself through this project. I have learned that I need to
worry about all of the details that go into forming a show. The costume is just as important as the
dancers and singers wearing it. I also have figured out who I am as a dancer. I have found a
unique style that I stick to when I am choreographing and it suits me and the people I taught very
well. I learned from this experience that advertisement is a big part of the entertainment world.
If you want to be seen make yourself known. Because the professional dance world is very hard
to become successful in, I have my life planned out in step by step order.
I plan to go to college and graduate with a degree in Cardiac Sonography. Once I
graduate I can apply for a job and start working in a Hospital. On the side, when I’m not
working, I can be auditioning for shows, a cruise ship, a professional dance team or even
Broadway. Once I have earned enough money from my day job, and have had enough
experience as a performer, I can then start planning for the opening of my new dance studio.
When I graduate from Creekview I will be majoring at Georgia Northwestern College in Cardiac
Sonography. Thank you so much for your time. Do you have any questions?