When Jenna Dorece, Emery/Weiner’s middle school theater director, announced “Legally Blonde” as the upcoming 2024-2025 middle school musical, I knew I had to be involved. Eagerly, I expressed my interest in acting as an assistant choreographer for “Legally Blonde.”
For some, there might be apprehension about spending that much time with younger students, perhaps deeming them annoying or childish. However, I believe it provides a valuable opportunity to act as a role model: a guiding figure to those who may be new or unsure about the process. As someone who has been involved in various productions throughout my time at Emery/Weiner, each one furthering my passion and love for theater, it seemed only right to turn those experiences into a way to help others and flip the script.
I learned endless things assisting with “Legally Blonde.” It can be a struggle to admit that you can learn things from those younger than you, but it is true nonetheless. As I spent time surrounded by middle schoolers, they reminded me that not everything requires so much pressure. Sometimes their ability to treat everything with a lighthearted flair became the reason we moved slowly, yet it also taught me to remember that theater can be fun; it does not have to be an intense stress factor.
I recall one rehearsal I spent reteaching the choreography to the iconic song “Bend and Snap.” For a while, I felt disjointed, unsure if I was doing a good job or even helping at all. After all, it is not always easy to get middle schoolers to really listen to you. However, as the rehearsal petered to an end, some students were already leaving for sports practices and other activities, only three cast members remained. I trusted these three to already know the dance, they were mostly there to help me anyway, so rehearsal evolved into something more lighthearted. They joked in that typical middle school fashion while rewatching rehearsal videos and practicing segments of other dances, and I actually found myself having fun.
At the start of these rehearsals, stress consumed me. I often found myself weighed down by the pressure of making a mistake, yet these few middle schoolers were simply having fun. More than that, they included me in their jokes, wanting to show me things and make me laugh too. All of a sudden, rehearsal stopped being an opportunity to mess up; it became an opportunity to laugh and to do something I chose to do because I enjoyed it.
From there, kids asking, “Eliot, can you help us with this dance?” no longer gave me a reason to be afraid, it was an opportunity to enjoy what I was doing and get to know a group of students I probably would not have known otherwise.
Throughout my time with the middle school musical, it filled a hole I did not know existed. I learned that I am allowed to have fun, to enjoy the things I choose to do. I also learned I will forever find value in using my experience to help others. If you ever find yourself with the opportunity to help in such a way, I cannot recommend it enough. You can always learn something from those you help. As the show’s main character Elle Woods reminds us, it is because of the people we surround ourselves with that we are able to “find [our] way.”
