"C'mon, girls, I know you're nervous about this but this camp will help make morris dancing more famous! And that's our goal." Jeff, our squire (teacher and disclipinarian of morris dancing.) tried to cheer us up. "You know, girls, we aren't just here for the morris dancing, we're also here for our individual talents. My singing, Jane's drumming, Anne's keyboard playing, Rose's bass guitar playing, Grace's guitar playing and Irise's saxophone playing. I know you're nervous about being at a camp called Camp Rock for morris dancing but I know it will turn out right." I poured out my heart. I'm really passionate about morris dancing, it's my life. My side(a group of morris dancing) and I have been dancing since we were 10 years old.
I'm 16 now by the way. We are currently on our way to Camp Rock for the summer. Camp Rock is in Ontario, Canada and we all come from Cornwall, England so we're all a long way from home. Oh! The mini van pulled into the parking lot and we scrambled to get off. Spending 6 hours in a mini bus with 5 girls and one older man is hell. As we scrambled to sign in and find our cabins, we knocked over three guys and two girls. "I'm sorry. They're probably sorry too. I'm Belle, those hooligans and I are morris dancers." I said, helping one of the guys up. He had chocolate brown curly hair. In fact, all three guys had curly hair, except one had darker, more black curls. "I'm Nate, this is Shane,Jason, Caitlyn and Mitchie." The guy I was helping introduced.
"C'mon, Belle! Let's go get settled in the cabins!" Anne, I think, yelled. "This bunch of cream faced loons are my morris side. Jane, Anne, Rose, Grace and Irise." I pointed at each one. They grabbed me by my arms and dragged me away. As we left, I heard Jason ask "What's a cream faced loon?" I just laughed.
Our cabin was one of the biggest cabins on the campsite because it was for all six of us. There were three bunk beds, one against the back wall, one against the left wall and the other against the right wall. Anne and Jane claimed the back bunks, Rose and Irise stole the one on the right so Grace and I took the one on the left. "Now you're all settled, can we practice? Brown, the camp's owner, wants us to dance at the opening night jam." I asked.
Everyone nodded, so we headed to the dance studio. It was huge, a bigger dance space than we were used to. "Guys, what dance shall we do? The shootie? Have we even got our sticks?" Rose spoke up. "Vote! I vote we do the shootie!" Excitable Grace squealed. "Alright, hands up for the shootie!" 5 hands shot up. "The shootie it is!" I took charge. I do that a lot.
Later, at the opening night jam, we were doing our prepreforming ritual. It constists of hugging, hi-fiving and cheering. "Girls and Boys, I give you the Cornish Dancing Girls." We heard Brown introduce us. Jeff came on to the stage. "Well, I'm the girls' teacher Jeff. I will be teaching classes on this particular type of dance. Right, I hand you over to the capable hands of Belle, the self appointed leader." I took my cue to walk on stage.
"Hi. I'm Belle. I'm a morris dancer as are my friends, Jane," Pause."Anne," Pause."Rose," Pause."Grace," Pause."And Irise." Pause. "And we are the Cornish Dancing Girls. Hit it, guys!" We started to dance.
The shootie goes like this:
Skip in a circle-9 skips in sets of 3.
forward 3 skip, on the spot 3 skip, back 3 skip.
CHORUS ONE: right end of stick tapped, left end tapped, clash. (clash is when two morris dancers tap their sticks together)
in formation of 2 lines, right top end dance. and left bottom end dancer. left top end dancer and right bottom end dancer. Middle dancers.
Clash then repeat of previous chorus.
END CHORUS.
Crossover. Right side first, in other side, three step, then backwards three step.
CHORUS TWO: right end of stick tapped, left end tapped, then held like a gun, straight in front.
Same formation as above.
Clash then repeat.
END CHORUS.
Left end dancers middle 3 steps. three steps in middle. then back three steps. Clash.
Left end dancers & middle dancers to Right end-same way as before. Clash
As above happens, Right end dancers semi circle three steps, three steps on spot then back.
CHORUS THREE: same as before but sticks pointed up like a gun salute.
Clash.
Repeat.
END CHORUS.
Same as before chorus but reversed. So left end dancers semi circle as right end dancers do same as left end dancers did before. So do middle.
CHORUS FOUR:
same as chorus one.
END CHORUS.
We finished dancing and the loudest applause we had ever heard roared from the audience. Everyone was cheering and clapping, except a snobby blonde who just looked disgusted. "Ignore her. That's Tess Tyler, the resident bitch of Camp Rock." A voice came from behind my left shoulder. I twisted around, Nate was stood there, a smirk/smile curling his perfect lips. Wait, did I just think Nate's lips were perfect? "You were fantastic!" Nate's voice cut through my musings. I blushed. "Thank you. I just hope everyone welcomes morris dancing to Camp Rock." I thanked politely.
Brown rushed backstage, looking frantic. "I need a band or musical act to perform now." He ordered. The girls and I exchanged looks. "We'll do it. Our band's called The Gang." I told him. " We'll do Chillin' in the summertime."
Stepping into the spotlight, I listened to the girls' playing. Upon hearing my cue, I began singing.
oh whoa, oh whoa.
It was a beautiful day,
I threw my worries away,
Nothin' new. it was the same old same,
I'm a gonna start a new page.
I turn the radio on,
And it's my favourite song,
So good to sing along,
Feels so good, this can't be wrong
I just want a good time, oh-whoa
I don't wanna fuss and fight, noo
Life's too short to waste time. oh-no
Every little thing's gonna be alright
'Cause, we're chillin' in the summertime
Not a cloud in the sky,
Everybody's feelin fine,
And everything will be alright.
'Cause we're soakin' up the sweet sunshine,
Not a worry on my mind
Everybody's feelin fine,
And everything will be alright.
There's a party tonight
(Yo, where's it at?)
Where the moon shines bright
Bring your friends and I'll bring mine.
It feels so good to be alive.
And when the night is through.
Sweet guy, it's just me and you
There's only one thing left to do,
And that's play this song for you, 'cause
I just want a good time, oh-whoa
I don't wanna fuss and fight, noo
Life's too short to waste time. oh-no
Every little thing's gonna be alright
'Cause, we're chillin' in the summertime
Not a cloud in the sky,
Everybody's feelin fine,
And everything will be alright.
'Cause we're soakin' up the sweet sunshine,
Not a worry on my mind
Everybody's feelin fine,
And everything will be alright.
And in the mornin', we gonna rise
(we gonna rise)
Trials and tribulations pass us by
(Pass us by)
So don't you worry,
Love is waiting on the other side,
Every little thing's gonna be alright.
'Cause, we're chillin' in the summertime
Not a cloud in the sky,
(Not a cloud, not a cloud.)
Everybody's feelin fine,
And everything will be alright.
(All right.)
'Cause we're soakin' up the sweet sunshine,
(Sunshine.)
Not a worry on my mind
(Not a worry)
Everybody's feelin fine,
And everything will be alright.
(It's gonna be alright.)
'Cause, we're chillin' in the summertime
(It's gonna be alright)
Not a cloud in the sky,
Everybody's feelin fine,
And everything will be alright.
'Cause, we're chillin' in the summertime
Not a cloud in the sky,
(Not a cloud)
Everybody's feelin fine,
And everything will be alright.
As we finished, there was silence. Were we that bad? Then six pairs of hands clapped for us. Nate, Shane, Jason, Mitchie, Caitlyn and another boy, very similar in looks and age to Jason were stood up, cheering and clapping heavily.
Somehow, I knew it was going to be a rockin' summer.
