a view from the dining hall into the main dance classroom at camp
click to enlarge, and sorry it's so dark!
My bunk in the dorm at dance camp, including Aswad bint Al Waha (my stuffed black cat)
click image to enlarge
It was four and a half days of intensive dance training, and dance conditioning classes (a total of 5 hours a day), and in middle eastern drumming. There were a couple of lecture classes, fabulous food, amazing camaraderie, spectacular dancers to observe during class, and total separation from every day life.
No tv, no radio, no internet, and no cell towers close by!
Oh, and the food was plentiful and delicious....and, because of all of the sweating, no one worried about how much they were eating! We were always STARVED for every meal, because we literally used up all of the calories from the last one!
The teachers were Cassandra, Habiba, Yasmina Amal, and drumming with Nicole.
The dance classes were separated into units on middle eastern dance technique, and units on both "cabaret" style dance, and "folkloric" dance.
THEN, there were also units on choreography, where we were taught complete choreographies for performance.
Cabaret style is what most people think of when they think of middle eastern, or "belly," dance. Sinuous movement, utterly feminine, and with sparkly costuming (which is, incidentally, VERY expensive!!)
Folkloric style is much different, and more what you might call "ethnic." Last year, we learned Khaleegy, the women's dances of the Arabian lands. Still sparkly, but not what you would typically consider to be "belly" dance, either.
This year, it was Tunisian dance.
Tunisian dance is COMPLETELY not what you would consider belly dance! Look it up some time! (there are some cool pictures on Nicole's website--look for the dancers with the water jugs on their shoulders)
The Tunisian classes were especially intense, because the movements are very focused on twisting the hips, while "in releve`," or, rather, on the balls of your feet. Always.
I had to cut out of the choreography class after a while, because I have issues with my left foot, and those issues started to effect my left ankle. Because my arch is falling on the left side (thanks for THAT gene, Dad!), my ankle functions differently, and the seriously intense pressure from Tunisian technique, for hours a day, turned out to be too much for it.
I found that supremely frustrating!
Anyway, part of Dance Camp is a big show, for which we spend months preparing.
The audience is FAR more dance-savvy than any other one might perform for at any other time of one's dance year!!
The audience is ALSO probably the most enthusiastic one may ever come across!
This is because, by "show night," we have all formed new friendship bonds, and have all sweated and cried together during the intensive training classes....and everyone knows, you cheer loudly when your friends are on stage!
Last year, I did a solo, and a duet with one of the other members of my troupe, Rasha al Warda. We won a performance award for that duet.
This year, we did a trio, our full troupe at the moment, and then, I also did a COMEDY themed duet with the OTHER member of the troupe, Jawhara. We won a performance award for the comedy!
I have been told that it's highly unusual for one to win an award at two consecutive dance camps!!
Then, on the last night, the amazing teachers put on a stunning show, which is followed by an all-out dance party. There is henna, and food, and "adult beverages," and live music, and, of COURSE, dancing.
I had the SUPREME honor of being asked to sit in with the musicians for the party. I was invited to do this by the drumming teacher herself, and then again, by the "main" teacher of the entire week, Cassandra of Minneapolis.
THAT was really, really a HUGE honor for me.
Unfortunately, because I was "with the band," I didn't get to have my henna time, so no henna art on my hands or feet this year. OH well...I had plenty of that for my wedding day!
All in all, it was a wonderful, challenging, affirming, and educational experience.
I learned much about myself, as I did last year, regarding my limitations, as WELL as my capabilities!
In addition, I learned that I am in much better shape than I expected to be! I only took one pain killer all weekend, for my ankle, and I never even thought about my hot packs until Saturday morning, when the only soreness or pain I had was across my lower back.
THAT taught me that my posture had not been good on Friday!
I had fully expected to be sore, or worse, in actual pain, the whole time, and was very pleased, and surprised, to find that I was not. (Aside: Last year, when I was in what I thought was better physical condition, I used my hot packs every night, and took several pain killers!)
I feel rejuvenated and inspired...AND, I lost 3 pounds!!
Unfortunately, it rained almost the entire time we were there (as it seems to have done across the upper midwest as well...there was horrible flooding on the way home, and a big detour that added hours to our home bound trip). The constant rain at camp made it impossible to spend any time enjoying the lake, and the level of humidity made the sweat factor overwhelming at times.
The humidity levels were probaby at 98 to 100 % the entire time. When you're working out like that, and sweating, and there's no where for the sweat to GO because it can't evaporate....it's unpleasant.
But, that was the only thing that put a ... um... damper on the trip!
We didn't realize, either, that there was widespread flooding back home, and that the flooding was horrible between where we were, and home!
When we got into Indiana, we had to be re-routed off of our highway, because it was under 4 feet of water! Our trip took over 8 hours, where it should have only been just under 6.
We also didn't know about hurricane Ike, so I would like to put out there that I am sending prayers and good vibes to all of the people in Ike's path whose lives were impacted.
No comments:
Post a Comment