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Contraltissimo — Dancing in the Rain
Published: 2014-03-02 04:55:52 +0000 UTC; Views: 10519; Favourites: 33; Downloads: 40
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When Mormons dedicate a new temple, first they gather all the youth ages 12-18 in the district, and have them put on a cultural celebration for the prophet, honoring and expressing through music and dance the traditions and heritage of the land where the temple has been built.Gilbert, AZ just got a beautiful new temple, and this evening was the cultural celebration. I just watched about twelve thousand youth perform these numbers of mass choreography in the rain. (Arizona. Ha! What are the odds?) What a bunch of troopers! Agh. Everybody got muddy shoes and feet, costumes and props were sullied, eight-ish violins, a handful of guitars and some four hundred ukeleles might need some sweet-lovin' care tonight but dang. Those kids sang and danced their hearts out.
And then Connie got an art-itch and actually made a speed-painting, and she is so happy about that.
Way to go, Gilbert Temple District Youth.
[EDIT] - I've been asked a couple of times now, so I'll just type it out right here that YES! You may download and print to your heart's content.
All those youth were so strong and inspiring to me; I remember those dancers' bare backs bowed under the freezing rain, upstage from a young man doing a solo, waiting for their cues.... They gave me great memories--and great art-itches, haha!--so the least I could do is let them distribute some more mementos of their experience.... though now I kind of wish I'd spent more time finessing this pic.... 
Maybe some time in the future. Cheers, all!
~Connie
[EDIT AGAIN] - Heh, my sis-in-law pointed out to me today that a blogger one Leslie Householder used my picture in this blog about the cultural celebration . I'm surprised this picture has traveled so far already! It's gotten like six thousand views in two days!
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Comments: 46
Sabes hablar español?
siempre te veo escribir en ingles
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Heh, solo un poquito. Estudié en.... en.... como se dise.... escuela secondaria? High school anyway. Pero that was a loooong time ago. Ahora yo estudio.... uh.... no se como se dise. 中文。 Muy dificil! Pero muy interesante.
LOL mi Español es maaaaal.
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That it ok, i can understand english. Its good know other lenguage so so
Mi ingles lo estoy practicando tambien, quiza te empiece a dar comentarios en español para que tambien practiques. No te preocupes si me los contestas en ingles (My english is practice too, maybe I start comment your draw in spanish because yo begin practices reading. Dont worry if you can't answer me in correct spanish )
: )
jajajaj
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Two of my girls danced in this piece! That just be my Sydney ... she was the only dancer who's hair wasn't pulled into a bun because it was too short. Any chance I could purchase this painting?
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Haha oh wow! Oh, tell them thank you thank you thank you from me! They were all so inspiring and strong and brave.
Well, I painted it on a computer, so I'm afraid it's nothing physical.... however, you are totally free to make use of the download button to the right and print it, or have it printed somewhere, to your heart's content!
Thank you again!
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This is so lovely, and captures perfectly when the girls were waiting on the stage behind the singer. It reminds me of the scripture, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord" Some of my other favorite "images" from that night, that I wish some artist could capture, was the standard of liberty, drenched with rain, but being carried very proudly from the back of the horse. The young woman with long hair who sang on the stage, with her face upturned many times, into the rain. The view of all those youth with their white flags from the distance, with the temple gleaming in the background through the mist of rain. The kids were cold and wet, and I feel for them, but the rain made the images so incredibly beautiful and meaningful. So many bright, happy, and literally clean youth -- it gives such hope for the years ahead. I hope they understand how much it affected all of us who were watching.
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Wow, thank you so so much for your beautiful comments!
I'm glad you like the picture. Thanks for looking!
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When my son got home it was way after 10pm and he was shaking so hard, I just pointed and said. HOT SHOWER, NOW!!! when he got out he wrapped in a blanket and said he had "so much fun tonight" and fell asleep. I know he will never forget it. Neither will I. They were more than Awesome.
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Oh wow glad he was able to warm up! All those youth are so, so strong. Big thanks to you and him!
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Beautiful! My daughter was not happy when she got home, but I know she was happy when she was there and having fun in the rain (she just saved the attitude for us then). I made this Meme for it (courtesy of Shawshank Redemption): www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbi…
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Thanks so much!
Also.... THAT IS THE BEST MEME FOR THAT CELEBRATION OH MY GOSH.
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I'm also working on a blog post about the celebration (posted later today sometime). My blog is unseasonably (dot) blogspot (dot) com and I'll add your beautiful picture!
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Please feel free to pass that meme on. I'm surprised it didn't get that much sharing. hahaha
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This is great! I love the perspective a lot. And I felt so bad for these girls! They were wearing white and had to be freezing! D: I hope they got into something warm at least because I didn't even want to take off my Nephite costume after we went it was so cold hahaha. But you totally captured the feeling in this picture and that is super rad.
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Nephite performer yaaaaaay! Augh my goodness, all of you did FANTASTIC.
Yeah I was worried for a bit that the white fabric might be a problem, but it seems to have been just fine. They danced beautifully.
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Hahaha thank you!
I actually didn't even see them during the actual performance since I was down on the field. My mom was talking about it since she was there and I was like "What dancers in white?" and then when we watched it later, I was like "Oh no!". And it was amazing how no one got injured, especially on the stage! It was worrying enough running onto the field with the slippery mud (we all slipped down our hills at least once that night) but I can't imagine the stage. I was a bit bummed that Captain Moroni wasn't able to get on the stage like in the daytime run through, but it was still a miracle how no one got hurt. Like, dang.
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Oh Wow! This is taking me a moment.....a bit emotional. My daughter was in the dance. As I watched from the warmth of my home half mile away, and saw the rain pick up for her turn I held my breath. As the music started I looked to find her in this position on the stage, and then I did.....kneeling in an inch of rain, her ponytail dripping and the pouring rain hitting her back. I was overwhelmed, with both a bit of worry but mostly completely proud. She has danced for 13 years and yet never in the pouring rain, in the cold or for the Prophet. Thank you for capturing the first look I had of my daughter that night, and for the feelings that will always be attached with it. This is beautiful and I am grateful for your talent!
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Ahhh, your comment touches me so deep. 
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Thanks so kindly!
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This is very well done, I love it! It rarely rains in AZ but when it does, most people stay inside. Not these youth, they make me proud of our youth for sure!
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Oh I know they were amazing!
Glad you like the pic! Thanks for looking!
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Thanks! 
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So awesome!! I am totally with you, I was so amazed by the hard work that went in to all those kids did.
I absolutely winced and wanted to cry watching the violins in the rain... but after a bit of thought, I realized that if I had been asked, I would play mine in the rain for the Prophet, too.
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Oh my gosh the violins....
But also.... yes to everything you said.
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Wow, that little emoticon really does capture my expression. lol!
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Heh, I love that one.
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Wow, I really really love the details on the hair! 8D You did fantastic! Great job!
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Thanks so much, Blue!
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No problemo (: How has life been treating you lately?
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You speed-painted this? Nuh-uh! I'm jealousssssss.
Yeah, the rain was insane, lol. The fact they had dancers on the podium and it looked so slick and there were no accidents is awesome. Two of my brothers were part of the celebration, they were in the group with the flags and Captain Moroni segment. We tried to look for them, but we couldn't find them XD. But my mom and others have said that during the rehearsals, they worked hard, so I think they did fine here.
I personally liked how they had the Native Americans do a dance. I don't know if many cultural celebrations have the local Natives do a segment of their own, but I could be wrong. *shrugs* The little boy especially was doing his darndest, it was cute.
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Oh my gosh, the first time they cleared the field and I saw all that mud I was like....
Haha, the Captain Moroni segment was awesome---loved that flag-wave at the end.
And those hoop-dancers wow!! 
I also liked the little interview segments they would do in between, talking to the youth about different subjects.
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Yeah, that was something. I thought for sure that the rain would clear up, but Mom said that the wind from the West kept the clouds in the area the whole time, so it just rained the entire time. And the youth didn't mind XD. The cultural celebration deserves a mention in Conference for sure.
The flags at the end was great, too. Were the nation flags to symbolize all the nations that have temples currently, or something? I couldn't tell.
Yeah, the interviews were nice, though I thought some of the segments in between parts were kinda "eh", honestly. *shrugs* I dunno. I thought the Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego segment was lip-synced, it looked like that to me. Wasn't happy about the lip-sync if that's what went on (and being a film student, it bugs me when I notice lip-syncing). Unless the microphones were really that good.
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Haha, reminded me of the Easter Pageant actually.... where they just have the pre-recorded lines and you just.... well, lip-sync! 
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I didn't know they lip-sync the Easter Pageant :/. Now I'm not happy about that...
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Ha! This just from my bro.... he and his wife were called to organize a bunch of this stuff so he'd know.... "Tell your friend kokorotoyume that each country flag was held by a young man or woman with a mission call to that country."
So there it is!
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Ah, I see. So they were just recent mission calls, then?
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Oh man, I'm sorry! 
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