It’s not unusual for weekend evenings at CREA to involve some kind of performance. In the past year, I’ve been lucky enough to attend a plethora of concerts, dance shows, plays, and improv nights, most of which have even been enjoyable. 

While every show is the culmination of a great deal of hard work and dedication, a chance to show off newly acquired skills in front of friends and family, this weekend the audience also got the chance to preview the results of CREA’s own courses, the spring module of which just came to a close. As such, instead of the usual single event, the weekend was packed with music, dance, and the incredible 

Unfortunately, attending every performance would have required both a time machine and a firmer grasp of the Dutch language than can be achieved in a year of half-hearted Duolingo lessons. During moments where my linguistic skills prevented me from taking in the happenings on stage, however, I took a moment to look around and take in reactions from the audience, the friends and family that had gathered to support their loved ones, to cheer on their friends and to politely refrain from making any comments about the more overambitious risks taken by some of the vocalists on stage. 

It may be easy to sit in a dark room trying to come up with witty turns of phrases that somehow encapsulate the hours of effort put into every performance, and in fact, I intend to do so as often as possible in the future. Still, now, at the end of the academic year, I will take a moment and commend the talented and courageous performers who decide to take a risk and step up on stage, whether they’re doing it to fulfil a dream, experience something new or simply because they lost a bet.