After two and a half months of rehearsals we were ready to
ramp things up. It was time to move to the Olympic Stadium.
I was so excited
and could already imagine how incredible it would feel the first time we viewed
the field of dreams (AKA the pitch). Unfortunately for me on the day of the
first stadium rehearsal I was ill and could not make it. I was gutted!
I heard from all my
Olympic friends how great it was to finally be in the stadium…but also how it
had rained for 2 hours and everyone was soaked! This was something that would
be a reoccurring theme throughout our rehearsals (to the point where people
were joking if it didn’t rain on the night we would have no idea how to dance
on a dry stage!)
The next week I was due to make my first appearance in the
stadium but very sadly my nan died. All my family were abroad so it was vital
for me to be at home to take care of things. I will always be sad that my nan
never got to see me perform in the opening ceremony, but as a lot of people
have said she in fact had the best seat in the house.
After juggling everything I was unsure if I would be able to
continue on because I didn’t know how many rehearsals I may need to miss (there
was a rule – two missed rehearsal and you were a reserve / out). But I was
determined that after everything I had been through this year, everything I had
fought through there was no way I was going to miss out on performing.
I do have to say that this tragic experience is really the only
thing that slightly damped my Olympic experience. I had contacted the organisers about my circumstances as soon
as I knew I needed to go home because I was worried about my attendance and the
outcome. (I knew I would miss at least 3 rehearsals at this point). When I
eventually received a reply it was unsympathetic and disrespectful and I was
fuming at the response. I don’t want to go into detail but it left a very sour
taste in my mouth.
Luckily I didn’t need to have any further contact with this
particular person and I have to say that out of the thousands of people
involved in the organising and running of the opening ceremony there was only
ever this one person who I had a grievance with. Everyone else was so very friendly,
enthusiastic and helpful – no matter how busy or under pressure they were. And
I think that is testament to the Olympic spirit that everyone involved in the
games has.
The next week I finally got my first glimpse of the stadium.
Seeing the stadium for the first time was incredible. A real goosebump moment.
I couldn’t believe in a few weeks we would be performing to 80,000.
Once we started rehearsing in the stadium it was more
important to learn our positions, transitions and entrances and exits. This
meant there was a lot of waiting around, but when there are 1400 people to move
that is inevitable!
This was also when we started practicing our entrance and
exit . I would be entering on a human made tube train (so terribly iconic of
London it was brilliant! Although we had joked that to make it authentic we
should hold some sort of strike or delay on our way around the track – also known
as the M25). Gosh! From where my tube entered the stadium to where we got onto
stage was almost a 400m run. Well that was a shock to the system! And running
around a 400m track, whilst holding onto the shoulder of the person in front of
you, and for some of my friends whilst carrying a LCD tube to represent the
train, was no easy feat! This is something that took a long time for us to get
into a workable rhythm. I think this was probably the moment we were worried
about most. But after sitting out to watch a rehearsal a few sessions later
from the seats it didn’t look half as bad as we all felt it did (which was very
reassuring!).
As I mentioned before once we reached the stadium for
rehearsal was when the dread rain curse reared its ugly head. We had been lucky
at Dagenham – there was only one session that had to be moved indoors because
of pouring rain. But from now on that was not an option as we needed to be
prepared for the possibility, and let’s be honest the probability, that it may
rain on show day. I think it rained at nearly every rehearsal we had. The stage
would become slick, making it hard to dance or run without slipping, and there
were a few casualties. But eventually we were so used to this I think we were
prepared for all eventualities the British weather may have throw at us come
the 27th July!
As the stadium rehearsals were a lot longer than the
previous rehearsals we also were given food packs. You may think this is a very
mundane entity to write about but the meal packs were to become such a talking
point amongst the volunteers I could not edit them out! At first people were
excited – we had something new at our rehearsals. The meal packs consisted of a
bread-heavy, filling-light sandwich (AKA brick), plus some Pringles, a Nature
Valley cereal bar and an apple. For every meal. At every rehearsal. For three weeks. I swear
if I see another Nature Valley cereal bar I will not be held accountable for my
actions! I managed to accumulate quite a collection at the bottom of my bag!
Ironically the press have now started referring to the velodrome as 'The Pringle'. How it pains me to hear those words! (But to be fair they do have a point).
A week before the show we were informed that the ceremony
was running 20 minutes over so 2 minutes needed to be taken from each section
of the show. This did cause a frisson of panic as we were seven days from performing
but luckily the changes to my section were minimal. I did feel bad for the NOW
section as theirs was the most affected. There was one song that was shortened (‘Random
Antics’ or as we all knew it as Rah Rah East London Madness!) that everyone was
sad about! But when you look at the facts it was either two minutes from each
section be or a whole section would be removed from the show. I am sure
everyone would be more than happy for the former option when they look at it
like that.
Unfortunately there was one section that had to be cut
completely – a stunt bike team. Everyone was saying how devastated they were
for these performers. To have rehearsed for so long and then not be in the
ceremony is such a tragedy. But I hope that they know that everyone was sad for
them and really respects all they had achieved thus far.
The other great thing about stadium rehearsals were starting
to see the lighting and effects that would be used during our section. Every rehearsal we would find out a little more and it would blow my mind every time! When it was casually mentioned that we would have fire jets during 'Firestarter' I think I nearly exploded with excitement! I would get to perform with pyrotechnics!!! How incredible is that?!
One of the moments that choked me up was the ending. I was lucky enough to finish standing on Glastonbury Tor looking out over the whole stadium. This is the only moment during our performance that you could really soak everything in. With Emile Sande's 'Heaven' playing, the house which is a central point to our performance would lift into the sky to reveal Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the British inventor of the World Wide Web. This is a man who revolutionised our lives and turned down making profit, instead deciding to make it free for everyone. As the house lifts up a message shoots across the seats saying 'This is for everyone'. The first time I saw this it made me emotional but it is a moment I will never forget.
Once we had moved to the stadium everything had kicked up a gear and time seemed to be slipping through our fingers. Once we had practiced our tube trains, our ending, our transitions and practiced with lighting and effects the next stage were dress rehearsals. To 60,000 people...
It was a huge undertaking to take people with such
a vast range of abilities and try to train them to a performance standard. It
would have been so easy to just two-step and sway your arms a bit and express
that these people were volunteers and that explains the simplicity. But the
fact that Kenrick and his team were willing to push for a higher standard and
have faith in the volunteers is commendable. The fact that the dance captains
always taught with a smile and spoke with kind words, always encouraging and
not scalding us when they would have been under immense pressure it quite a
feat. I have so much respect and love for these guys . Thank you for thinking
big, being totally inspiring, nurturing us and helping us realise our dreams at
the personal sacrifice of your time, I am sure huge amounts of stress and
pressure. You helped us achieve the goal of putting on a great show and made a
beautiful moment in everyone of our lives that we will forever treasure.
