ABSTRACT
Like every performer, I have been through a few good disasters myself. All I could do then was try to compensate by giving an especially strong performance, stressing all the positive points and hoping that the audience would forget the mishap. I particularly remember a number called “First Dance,” a rather poetic piece in which I portray my mother dancing with me as a three-year-old child. I am dressed in an old-fashioned long skirt and a lacey blouse. The dance starts with me backing out of one of the wings, slightly bent over, leading the imaginary little girl in her first shy dancing steps. The trouble was that just before this number I had done one of my clown dances, and in the great rush backstage, I had forgotten to take off the huge green clown’s shoes. I realized it only when I was in full view of the audience. It was too late to do anything about it but try to compensate and hope for the best.
