This memory is shared by Brenda Smith and dates back to around 1985:
As a member of the primary school choir, I had the opportunity to sing on Radio Oranje – a radio station that was widely listened to in our region. We were the stars of the show, or so I thought.
I’m not exactly what you’d call a “natural” singer. In fact, if there was an award for “worst singer in the choir,” I’m pretty sure I’d have won it. But during a music class, our teacher had us sing a song while she walked around the room and listened to everyone.
I remember thinking to myself “I’ll just lip-sync, no one will know the difference.” But as fate would have it, the moment of truth came when the teacher came to hear me sing. And I did what any rational person would do in that situation, I sang out loud. And to my surprise, she told me that I had to be at choir practice the next day.
I still don’t know if it was because of my singing or not, but I think that the teacher might just have had a soft spot for me. Or maybe she was just desperate to recruit more members for her choir and knew I wouldn’t argue. Either way, I found myself enjoying singing in the choir.
The experience of singing in different places and watching our passionate (and slightly uncoordinated) teacher conduct us was a hoot.
One particular performance still has me in stitches to this day. During one of our practices, our teacher was so fired up that she went full “Riverdance,” stomping on the ground with the ferocity of a thousand Irish step dancers. Just as we thought the performance had reached its crescendo, her foot got stuck in a hole in the floor, and she tumbled to the ground like a newborn fawn taking its first steps.
We all froze for a moment, unsure of what to do, but she jumped up as if she had just landed on a trampoline, and continued conducting us with even more energy and enthusiasm as if nothing had happened. We all burst into laughter, unable to hold back. From that day on, we looked forward to choir practice with a little extra anticipation, wondering what our teacher might do to upstage herself next.