Dancing with the moon isn’t a usual tactic used to qualify for the All State Speech Festival in Ames, but it worked for freshman Claire Hegland.
Hegland is the first West Delaware freshman to advance to All State in four years.
Hegland’s mime, entitled “The Girl Who Danced With the Moon,” focused on a girl named Clarina who was catching fireflies and found the moon on the ground.
“She picks it (the moon) up and dances with it, and after a while it gets bigger,” Hegland said. “She sets it down and plays hide and seek. When she comes back, the moon obviously didn’t find her, so she gets angry.”
At the end, Clarina pushes the moon up, and places it back in the sky.
The idea for this piece came from the song “Rises the Moon” by Liana Flores, which tells the story of a difficult life, but the moon remains as a symbol of peace.
Hegland has had experience performing, which helped with preparing the mime. Some of these activities include choir, show choir, and band, as well as musicals at West Delaware and in Dubuque.
Often, Hegland’s performance attracted many observers, something she did not expect. Hegland had to find ways to calm herself down before her performances.
“I didn’t want to do the Parents’ Showcase because I was so scared. It was the first time I showed it to anybody, and I was scared I was going to mess it up,” Hegland said. “When I’m standing offstage, I take deep breaths, and in my head I say, ‘This is so amazing,’ ‘You’re going to do amazing,’ or ‘Let’s show them what you can do.’”
In terms of advancing to All State, the thought was at the back of Hegland’s mind. Hegland hoped she’d make it one day, but she never expected it to be her freshman year. When it was announced in the library that she received a nomination, Hegland couldn’t believe it.
“My mouth dropped to the floor, and I curled up into a ball,” Hegland said.
Along the way, Hegland received commentary and encouragement from her coach, Jenn Lamb. Lamb feels that what aided Hegland was her expressive face and array of actions.
“In mime, so much of it is that you’re telling the story without words and without anything that you’re actually interacting with. Claire has this ability to widen already large, expressive eyes, and she likes to perform,” Lamb said. “With an individual mime piece, you almost have to go to what we might consider overperforming. You have to exaggerate everything, and she found a really good balance to exaggerate the pieces that she needed to fully tell her story.”
Hegland feels that reaching dreams, like All State, come true through working hard, being passionate, and having a sense of self.
“This is such a big dream come true,” Hegland said. “I thought my dreams were too out there. They’re not. No matter how big or small your dreams are, they will come true. Just keep on going.”
