First name / Beautiful Writer,
Last week, in a shopping mall in Bahrain, I watched a breakdance show 30 times. It was my job—as the event manager, I controlled the post-show selfies line. Each show, the B-boys brought up a little boy from the audience and walked him through a cartwheel and maybe a simple dance move before flipping over his head.
I watched 5, 6 and 7-year-olds do the cartwheel and refuse to do the cartwheel. I watched bashful boys shake their heads, blushing, and exuberant boys do helicopters, hands on the floor, swinging their legs around beneath them. I watched their mouths open as Tiriboi head-spun and Proy flared and Jesus flipped. One 5-year-old started shy, reluctant, but as Jesus encouraged, the kid committed, over and upright to a round of applause. He looked around—you’re clapping for me? Then he helicoptered with enthusiasm and the crowd went wild. The kid’s face opened in joy, and I knew that look—
At 16, I helped run a Girl Scout Tri-State Encampment. The Pet Shop Boys cover band was late on opening night, the arena full of girls restless, and the adults on the planning board frantic. “Allison—can you go out there and just keep everyone calm?”
I stepped on stage, squinted into the lights and started easy. “Who’s from Alabama?! Florida, lemme hear you!” They cheered. They settled. They did what I asked. I told jokes copied from MTV comedians and my own: “Dogs are like American waiters, they rush right up, Can I take your order! Cats are like French waiters—excuse-moi, you want my attention?”
5500 girls laughed when I wanted them to, again and again, and I knew it then, forever, that I was an entertainer, that performing was my heart and core, and that every art I made, would ever make, was for an audience.
When did you know who you were meant to be?
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