Oops la la!
It was February and we were going to France for our bursary coaching weekend with Nicky Salt! All packed up in the car, leaving South London around Friday lunchtime, we couldn’t believe it was actually happening.
Well, it started last year on a beautiful summer day. One Oopsie is in Sweden, another in Greece, one is holidaying at home sipping G&T’s in her garden and one has just come off another 13-hour shift at work (bless). A message to the WhatsApp group comes in: WE’VE JUST HAD A MESSAGE FROM REGION 31 – WE HAVE BEEN OFFERED THE NICKY SALT BURSARY!
Oh my gosh, our dream had literally come true! We were over the moon! Who knew that the next biggest challenge for us would be to find a date we could all make! I’m sure many other quartets out there recognise the quartet life we have, balancing busy jobs, families, chorus commitments, etc to find time to rehearse, let alone time to go away for a whole weekend. With a little help from Nicky, who kindly moved things around, we did find that date. Phew!
And on a cold and windy February day. it was finally time to go. A whole weekend together. Coaching from a superstar, eating wonderful food and perhaps enjoying a glass of wine or two? Was this really happening? We just felt so incredibly lucky and grateful.
After a slight, totally deliberate, detour we arrived at the beautiful Maison de l’Art and were greeted by Nicky – and a bottle of bubbly! And it just got better and better, the weekend was quite frankly A-MAZ-ING! Not only were we coached by the absolutely fabulous, one and only, Nicky Salt, but we also had the time to let the coaching sink in, have a bit of a break, and then get right back on it and build, build and build.
In addition to our hard work, we also had time to just be together. We talked, we sang, we laughed. And then we laughed even more. We saw a bit of France, sang Bring Him Home on the ramparts of Montreuil-sur-Mer, the village where Victor Hugo wrote Les Misérables. That was pretty cool.
Nicky we love you. You listened to our dreams and hopes and quickly figured out how you could help us the most. Thank you for keeping us focussed. Thank you for increasing our confidence in abundance. Thank you for all the tools and tips. Thank you for reminding us of our individual jobs, but was it really necessary to tell our lead it was all about her? 😉 Thank you for accepting us for who we are, burps, farts and silliness included.
Thank you, Region 31, for offering this amazing prize to the most improved quartet. We are humbled and honoured. Thank you to Stardust & Sparkle for being so supportive when you couldn’t take up the prize you had so rightly deserved.