Both of our daughters had the good fortune of being in the cast of Selkirk High School’s recent production of “Bring It On” and we feel compelled to offer thanks.
Our thanks to the other members of the cast, who worked so hard since the start of the school year back in September. This cast did four months of fitness and gymnastics training before even starting rehearsals. In all, seven months of diligent work for four performances. Young people working that hard and demonstrating that sort of commitment can’t be anything but an inspiration.
Our thanks to the Kimberley Gymnastics Club and the gymnastics, fitness, and cheerleading coaches who whipped the kids into shape. Wow.
Our thanks to the parents and assistants who sewed the costumes, created the sets and managed the stage during the performances. An enormous amount of work to make the performers look good, and look good they most definitely did.
Our thanks to the members of the band and the audio team. Under less than optimal conditions, they rendered easily the best sounding presentation we’ve heard in that theatre in a long time.
Our thanks to the teachers of Selkirk who recognized the importance of this show to the students and helped them balance school and rehearsal schedules. Thanks also to the teachers and staff who ran the front of the house.
Our thanks to the community of Kimberley and surrounding area for filling the seats. There were great crowds for every night of the show and your cheers, laughter and applause give the performers the encouragement to be the best they can be.
Our thanks to Carrie, Eva, and Soren, Sven Heyde’s wife and children, who gave up their husband and father for much of the last seven months. If it is any comfort, our children benefitted greatly from all the time Sven was not with you.
Our thanks to Sven Heyde, head of Selkirk’s Music and Drama Department, and director of the production. We are grateful not only for his tireless and patient work with our daughters, but for the lessons he taught along the way. Cheerleading is not part of our culture in Kimberley, and yet Sven didn’t let that stop him from doing a musical entirely founded on it. He simply figured out what needed to be done, and then got to work doing it.
And that is, perhaps, what we are most grateful for. The lesson and example of what can be achieved by stepping outside your comfort zone, reaching for a goal beyond what you’ve experienced before, setting out a path to achieving that goal, and committing to that path. The reward, as was proven in McKim theatre last week, can be amazing.
Thank you, Sven, for teaching our daughters this lesson in such a wonderful and powerful way.
Tara Ramdin & Brian De Paoli
