Oops, I did it again…
Fine Art Friday #70
In middle school, I was a Britney Spears backup dancer.
Let that sink in.
It was the spring talent show.
A few friends and I decided we’d had enough of sitting in the audience. This was our moment. Our debut.
We were going to dance to Oops… I Did It Again.
Except—you couldn’t just Google “Oops I Did It Again choreography” in 2001.
You had to wait.
For the music video.
To come on MTV.
Like some kind of savage.
We’d sit in front of the TV, eyes peeled and VHS tape in the recorder, praying the video would play before dinner or homework or—worse—your little brother changed the channel.
When it did come on?
Pandemonium.
We’d record it, rewind, pause, learn the moves one 5-second clip at a time.
No tutorials. No mirrored camera angles. Just blurry, low-def Britney, some jean shorts, and a whole lot of determination.
Eventually, we learned it.
And there we were: a handful of awkward 12-year-olds on the stage in the school gym, living our pop star dreams.
Did we mess up a few steps?
Of course.
Did we absolutely crush it in our minds?
1000%.
And even now, all these years later, I still think about what that moment taught me:
You don’t need everything to be perfect to make something joyful.
You just need a little grit, a little friendship, and maybe a grainy video on a loop.
That’s what making art still feels like to me.
It’s a little bit messy. A little uncertain.
You don’t always have the whole picture, and you’re never quite sure you’re getting it right.
But you show up anyway.
You dance anyway.
You find the joy in the trying.
ART NOTE:
If you’re creating something and waiting for the “perfect” tutorial or the “right” moment—try starting anyway.
Even backup dancers have to make it up as they go sometimes.
xo,
Courtney
P.S. Somewhere, there’s a VHS tape of that performance. I’m hoping it never surfaces. But also? I kind of hope it does.