David Chiu

Dress rehersal tonight!!! and I still need to memorize my piece! and my car is still broke!!!! Anyway, here is my third essay from the workshop. I was watching Def Poetry Jam while writing it, so it has a sort of spoken-word flavor:

The Talent Show
By David Chiu

Boom, boom, boom, boom.

I could hear my heart beat in my chest like a bass line stolen from the sounds of new jack swing.

There I was, standing offstage in the latest street fashions complete with polka dot socks and striped shoes.

There I was, standing offstage with something to prove.

I was waiting to prove that there was more to me than meets the eye.

That I was more than just that Asian student in class who was always quiet and shy.

I was filled with a nervous determination to blast through stereotypes and misconceptions.

I wanted respect, attention, and most of all validation.

For the past two weeks prior to this show I had spent every waking moment planning how all of this would go.

I carefully selected the music. I wanted something sexy but strong. So I selected “I wanna get with U” by Guy one of their hit songs.

Then I spent every day sketching out choreography on paper. I used stick figures to represent moves that I would have to practice later.

I also wanted to use lights for a dramatic effect so I had the theater pitch black before I would start my set.

The curtains would be closed but as the music started, they would slowly open until fully parted.

Finally, on the first downbeat of the song the spotlight would instantly turn on, and then follow me around for the rest of the song.

Boom, boom, boom, boom.

I could hear my heart beat in my chest like a bass line stolen from the sounds of new jack swing.

That’s when I hear “next up is david chiu performing a dance routine.”

Now I will admit. When I heard those words, I was scared. I was scared as hell,

Cause the auditorium was packed with hundreds of teenagers who booed people offstage when they didn’t do well.

I walked onto the pitch black stage behind the curtain not quite sure what was going to happen for certain.

Then the music started and the curtain parted.

When the downbeat hit so did the spotlight.

This was it. If I get booed off the stage I will be scarred for life.

I started my choreography with as much energy as possible

Although inside I felt completely naked, and the most vulnerable.

But then something happened that was magical.

I started to hear the audience chant my name. “Go chiu, go chiu, go, go, go chiu”.

In that single moment I had transcended all stereotypes and blew them away.

It was the ultimate high that has kept me driven to this day.