Back to the Future by 4. A
It’s December 28, 2014. 25 people wake up at different times and in different places but with the same things on their mind: It’s today. But it still feels like an illusion – it is just not possible that the day we’ve been preparing so long for is finally there.
We all meet in Měšaská Beseda at 4 pm and with all the make up and hairstyles we can’t even recognize each other. After carrying all of our bulky bags and stage props upstairs to the dressing rooms, we have to practice everything and it is not as easy as we imagined – after an hour we are already under time pressure. Our time is running out and we still haven’t done everything we needed to. We’re running here and there, feeling nervous and kind of wanting to run away. But 7:30 pm is coming whether we want it or not and people are entering the spaces of Měšanská Beseda. The show must go on.
With smiles on our faces (some of them are even real) we welcome our teachers, parents and friends and try to sell all of our newspapers and tombola tickets. In a matter of minutes the time has come for us to go and prepare for our dancing performance. We run upstairs (It‘s kind of a never-ending process, really!) for the clothes which we need for the performance and then we run downstairs and hide behind our wooden “time machine“ which we created. It finally starts with a short scene and video – the time machine has been broken and the crazy doctor (who is actually our ex-classmate Pepa, as much crazy as a doctor) finds himself in the 1920’s. He has to continue in his time travel until he finds all the sprockets from the time machine which have been lost in a different era, then he can return to the future. The 1920’s with their Charleston and waltz are replaced by the 1950’s with their rock’n roll. Disco from the 70’s, Michael Jackson and Kiss from the 80’s and girl X boys battle with Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys from the 90’s. And we are finally in the present! During all these eras something great happens: all the stress and pressure of the last couple days or even weeks just fades away and we enjoy the performance as much as we can. And luckily, the people clap their hands and scream!
Our dancing performance is followed by another one – one of our classmates, Andy, performs with her aerobic team KAerobik Plzeň.
Everyone tries to spend some time with their family and friends before we have to continue on our ride. At 9:30 pm (okay, maybe a little later) the “ribbon ceremony“ can start. To the sounds of the soundtrack of the movie Back to the Future, all 25 people with their companions have to get in the cardboard car and then get out again. Unfortunately, the car won’t be delivering us. While walking on the red carpet for my sash and glass of wine, I can’t hear a sound from my song or well-prepared comment. I just go and try not to be killed by the coins flying everywhere. After everyone has their ribbon which says: Maturant(ka) 2015, Verča and Filip make an outstanding speech mentioning all the years spent together. Our great teacher is also given a ribbon and a glass plus something special – a really big box. Do you want to know what is inside? Another box! And another and another… But after what seems like a day she can finally see her present!
After that, the teachers are already prepared for the solos during which they can convince us about our dancing skills. Teachers are later replaced by our parents. After all those solos we are free for about an hour – we can dance, talk to everybody and just enjoy our evening.
12:00 is coming which means that the Midnight Surprise is coming! We all meet in our dressing rooms again and, even though we want to stay in our dresses forever, we have to change into something a little crazier. As our first performance contained the world’s best-known songs, our surprise is about the Czech hits. Our costumes and dancing creations are appreciated by big laughter and applause. The surprise also contains repeats of our first performance but in a more funny version – instead of “Hit the Road Jack“ the song says “I used to smoke crack“, instead of “Beat it“ there is “Eat it“. We just made complete fools of ourselves and we feel really great about that.
Our graduation ball ends at 2:00 am and after cleaning the place, we can go to our afterparty in Amigos! You probably want to know something about it as well but our class agreed on not telling anything about it because everything you say can be used against you.
So the ball is over. I feel like it all took just an hour instead of 6, like I had to walk up the stairs to our dressing rooms and back down to the hall a hundred times, just take a few photos and talk to everyone just for a few moments…but despite all of this it just couldn’t have been better.
And what now? I just can’t imagine my Wednesday without our dancing practice and coming home earlier than 7 o’clock every day. I also know for sure that the songs from our dancing performance will never be the same again. Every time I hear “I was made for loving you“ by Kiss I just want to dance. I will miss it. Of course not all that stress, I mean the atmosphere. Because it wasn‘t only about preparing the ball, it was also about spending time together while preparing it. I don’t know if everyone enjoyed the evenning as much as I did but I know for sure that everyone in our class will remember that day for the rest of their lives. And good memories are priceless.
Michaela Vídršperková, 4. A
