Katia's 9th Annual Retreat 2011

Oh my goodness!  I'm so behind!!

Back in July, Katia of Boston hosted her 9th Annual Dance Retreat in Lakeville, MA.  This was my first time attending, though I had wanted to go in 2010.

It was a jam-packed weekend!  From Thursday to Sunday, we were dancing and learning and having a grand old time.  Over the course of 4 days, Katia taught 3 choreographies, and there was a show or gathering on every night.

Khaleegy Dance
Since I had a chance to learn some of Khaleegy through Meiver, I had already had a love for this style.  We got to learn a really fun choreography that had a couple of moves I was familiar with and some more that I was learning for the first time.

The interesting thing about khaleegy choreography is that you really have to pay attention to counting, especially if you can't hear the slightest changes in the music.  I found that I really had to keep counting the measures just to make sure I stayed on track.

But overall, it was a really fun choreography to do with a whole lot of us.

Moroccan Dance
Katia had taken a trip to Morocco earlier in the year, and we had the privileged of seeing some of her pictures and souvenirs as well as hearing about her experiences.  She even had a couple of folks model the variety of dress and style.

In the Moroccan Dance workshop, she explained the emphasis on hip movements and compared some of the movement vocabulary with ones we were already familiar with in raqs sharqi.  The emphasis in the music was also somewhat different from what we're used to.  It was interesting to see the different way of calling attention to the hips.

Classic Dance
The Classic Oriental Dance was one we worked on the most.  This dance involved a sheer chiffon fabric which we cut a large slit into and used as an entrance veil.  Having a sheer entrance veil was definitely something I had never thought of using before.  But it makes sense to dance during a long introduction, and to fill it with a little bit of drama and stage presence.

During this dance, I took it as an opportunity to practice working on my spotting during turns, as well as cleaning up my arms.  Katia talks a lot about character and carriage, both things that I need to work on.  The music she chose for this choreography really lent itself to creating a queenly persona, which seemed appropriate for working on carriage.

Friday Retrospective Show
This show featured some amazing performances from the Retreat participants, some of which were Katia's choreographies from past Retreats.  One in particular was dance 3 different times by 4 different dancers (one was a duet).  It was amazing to see the same song and dance performed in 3 different ways (to a 9 minute song, I believe).  It truly felt like a different dance every time.  The same 3 dances danced in different ways was a perfect example of exhibiting one's own character.

Saturday Show with Live Band
I had the pleasure of dancing during this show with some of the best musicians in New England.  Tony Chamoun, his father George Chamoun, and several other musicians came together to play some amazing music for the Retreat.  As we were preparing, I could tell that the other ladies were extremely excited to have those musicians play at the Retreat.  They talked about how nice they all were, and how they know how to play for dancers.

Compared to some other musicians and bands I've seen, I can honestly say that I agree.  From set up to the final notes of your performance, the band is not only considerate of the space of the dancer but also the dancer's needs.

I decided to go for a Classic Oriental piece with Akdib Aleik.  I was definitely extremely nervous about performing for my peers to live music.

It's always funny what runs through your head during a performance.  I was trying to remember all the things that Katia had taught us thus far, while also trying to sing the music in my head as a way to know when breaks might occur, while also trying to keep connected to the musicians.  I know I wasn't as good at everything as I could have been, but I did have a lot of fun dancing for everyone.

blurry but pretty picture taken by Nina

I felt honored to have spent the weekend with such an already tight knit group.  It was definitely a wonderful example of the kind of family feeling one can have in the dance community.  These ladies were true sisters, and they continue to welcome new members.

I am definitely planning to attend Katia's 10th and Final Dance Retreat in 2012.  In fact, I can hardly wait.

Dancing With The Georges Lammam Band at Peña Pachamama

As I was planning to drop in on Amina Goodyear's Thursday night class, she invited me to a Friday night "open mic" to dance with the Georges Lammam Band at Peña Pachamama, a South American restaurant.

Georges Lammam is an extremely talented violinist and singer.  I mean, absolutely amazing.  I would definitely recommend going straight to You Tube to hear some of his music.

What's funny is that while I knew I recognized his name, I didn't realize why or from where I knew him.  But I'm so glad that I didn't realize it until later, because I'm sure that I would have been way too nervous to have actually said yes to this opportunity!

So, on Friday, April 22nd, I went to dinner at Peña Pachamama with two dear friends who had never seen me dance before.  I tried to stay calm, but I could feel the anxiety building.

There were 5 of us dancing that night, and we each had 2 songs to dance to.  I asked to dance to Aziza and Betwanes Beek.  I went second.

When Georges introduced me, he mentioned that I was a guest from Boston, and truth be told, it made me feel super special.  I'm definitely proud that I've had the training and inspiration of the dancers in Boston.

One of my friends tried to take a video, but he was promptly told that videos weren't allowed.  So, I took some screen shots from the video instead of posting the video here.  Not the best quality, but it's something.

I am really very proud of myself for going for it!  When Amira first asked me, I asked one of my fellow belly dance friends what she thought.  Of course she said, "Of course you should do it!"  So, I knew that if I asked anyone else, they would say exactly the same thing.

I kind of thought that perhaps it's a too-good-to-be-true type thing, so perhaps it just wasn't going to happen.  But it happened; my first time really participating in an open-mic event without relying on the safety of my teachers.

I'm really very proud.

Silencing the Noise

As someone who doesn't necessarily considers herself as a "professional dancer," in that I'm not really in high demand to do anything, there's still a lot of negative thoughts that still float through my head once in a while.

I know that I've come far in the past several years, showing more confidence in my performances and just generally having more fun.  But I still get really nervous right before a performance.

It's kind of funny what kinds of negative thoughts will flit through our heads in times of nervousness.  I think about whether I'm doing the dance justice, if I'm wearing the right kind of costume, if the costume will do something unexpected, if the music does something unexpected, or if I'm entertaining enough for the audience.

I have learned to push those thoughts away just as I'm about to step on the stage, but I wish I could learn to push them away during practice.

A couple of weeks ago during Amira Jamal's class, she lead a conversation about being present.  While we should be aware of what our bodies are doing (are our arms and hands full of energy? are we tucked? are we smiling?), are we able to ascend being physically present to being mentally and emotionally present?

During the undulations portion of our warm-up drills, I somehow became extremely disconnected with myself.  My undulations weren't doing what they usually would be doing, and Amira noticed it as well.

I remember thinking, "What in the world? This doesn't feel right..."  But I just kept going instead of stopping or really trying to figure out what was wrong.

Amira asked, "So, you were aware of the fact that something was wrong.  What could you have done to fix it?"

Seriously, she asked me a question that is basically defining my life right now.

I told her I couldn't answer that question, as it's literally been something that's weighing on me.  The more I thought about it, the more emotional I could feel myself getting.

Being in this state of unemployment with no direction has really been difficult for me.  At my last full time job, I was able to thrive because I was able to put a lot of my own ideas, and thus a lot of myself, into the work.  Because I was able to get out most of my ideas or even just be able to talk about them and hash them out, I think I was able to let the rest of my creativity flow through my dancing.

Does that make sense?

So, because I've been basically stagnant in my professional life, it's starting to affect my dance and my health.  It's almost like once I realized that I was blocking myself from creative expression, my body reacted to it by stuffing my sinuses and giving me a sore throat.  And honestly, I'm so angry at myself for letting it get the best of me.

Meditation and Chakras

I think what I'd like to do in the next couple of weeks is to sit quietly or with some soft music playing.  I would like to learn how to meditate and really quiet my ever-moving mind.  I will try to make sure that if any ideas do surface, that I write them down or draw them out. 

Holding on to it all hasn't been productive, and I need to try something new.

What has stood in the way of your dancing?  Is there a zone or a frame of mind that helps you to be creative?  What techniques do you use for silencing your mind? 

Shimmies V: Peace Love and Shimmies

On Saturday, March 12th, 2011, the ever-amazing duo of *Samantha* and Baseema Moirae hosted their fifth Shimmies (previously known as Shimmies For A Cure) entitled Shimmies V: Peace Love and Shimmies.

The day was jam-packed with workshops and a show featuring amazing local dancers.  This year, I had the pleasure of being the Stage Manager for the show.

It was great to see so many familiar and brand new faces from the New England belly dance community.

Workshops
Ooey Gooey with Najmat
One would think that having weekly class with Najmat is enough to build up some strength.  But in the following week, she will help you find muscles that have basically been dormant since you were born. 

This workshop was no exception.  Najmat taught us how to "milk it" and stressed the importance of "squeezing your princess" as you do so.  We worked through several movements that really focused on making sure that our ab muscles were always engaged.

As always with Najmat's classes, time flew by.  But I would be lying if I didn't say that many of us breathed a sigh of relief at the thought of being able to relax for just a short amount of time.

Ballet for Belly Dancers with Aurel
If we knew how much more of a workout we were going to get in the second workshop, we probably would have wanted a longer break!  I was personally excited to take a workshop with Aurel, a gorgeous dancer/singer/performer.

I have very minimal experience with ballet.  For middle school, I attended a performing arts magnet in Los Angeles, and we were required to take a dance class as opposed to regular gym.  So, I know about pliés, arabesques, and basics about the feet positioning.  Aurel stressed the importance of the form and the lines that ballet hammers into its dancers, especially about pointing the toes and hiding the heels.

My thighs were burning after the workshop!  It actually made me want to do a bit more practice on my own to work on the beautiful form that ballet can give to belly dance.

So You Think You Can Fuse? with Neylan
I have only watched Neylan perform, so I was interested in taking a workshop with her.  It was great that she started with talking about the importance of knowing the origins and basics of the dances that you are fusing.  It would indeed be strange to try to fuse Filipino traditional dances, let's say, with belly dance without knowing the moves and music of each.

She then taught us 2 short choreographies which we danced through several times using different types of music.  We got to play around with making the movements go faster and slower, depending on the music she played for us.

I have to admit that my mind wasn't fully at this workshop.  With the show soon after, my brain was wandering over to my stage managing duties, and I kept glancing at the time to make sure I had enough time to do all that I needed and fit in a tiny bit of shopping before I needed to refocus my energy.

Shimmies Show!
The show featured about 19 dancers from the New England area, including the 3 wonderful workshop instructors.

There were many new acts that I had never seen perform before (such as The Belly Dance Collective and OmBellyCo), and some acts who were debuting for the first time (such as Serpenour and Shimza!).  And of course, there were so many of my favorite performers gracing the stage.

For the most part, even though I was managing the staging, I got to see the majority of performances.  As stage manager, I was in charge of keeping track of the music and relaying the information to the DJ's (who were late and not very accustomed to belly dance shows), making sure the performers and their props were prepared, and keeping track of the time.

I'd have to say that the Shimmies Team did a pretty great job.  For the most part, we were running on time with room to spare!  At some point, however, we took too much time to get the raffle distribution started, so the final set of dancers had to wait a bit longer than scheduled.  At the end, we ended a half hour later than originally planned.  Really, not a bad thing at all.

Truth be told, I thought the show was amazing.  There was such a great variety of performers and styles.  It never felt like a dull moment, though of course my feelings are heightened because I was helping out.  But the audience, who filled up the house, really seemed to be enjoying themselves.

To further prove how much fun people were having, when the DJ's started playing music that was more akin to a wedding reception, so many people were on the dance floor.  From the Cha Cha Slide to I Will Survive, the night ended as though we had been partying all day.

Thanks to *Samantha* and Baseema's ingenious organizing and event planning skills, I think we really all were having the time of our lives.

Raks Nativity 2010

On December 4th, a groups of belly dancers and their friends descended upon the town of Chelmsford, MA, to present the first production of Raks Nativity, the Christmas Story told through Middle Eastern Dance.

I was very excited to be chosen to play the Virgin Mary, which is really quite an honor coming from a Catholic family.

Publicity
On the night of the dress rehearsal on December 3rd, I received a copy of the Chelmsford Independent with the article on Raks Nativity right on the front cover.

There's me!

I'll be honest.  It was quite daunting to see that picture of me.  I really wasn't sure if I would be able to do the character justice, as I'm not really much of an actress.  But, I just kept telling myself to breathe.  All my peers were extremely supportive, and really helped to build me up.

What's a show without obstacles?
A week before the show, we learned that Amira Jamal would not be able to play the role of Anne, Mary's mother.  Her and I had practiced our part together several times already, but she was having a lot of trouble with her legs and knees, and I wouldn't have wanted her to hurt herself any further.

Truth be told, I was really saddened by the news.  I consider Amira my "belly dance mom," so it felt right that she would play my mom in the show.

However, when I learned that Najmat would be the official understudy, I was extremely excited!  Considering that we had joked back and forth about how she should be playing the Virgin Mary, it was all too appropriate for her to play my mom.

Debut
When December 4th arrived, I could hardly believe it.  I joked during the tech rehearsal that it would be over in 2 minutes, and we'd be wondering how we got there.

As show time closed in, I started to feel extremely nervous.  All my doubts suddenly flashed through my mind.  Behind the wings, I became intensely aware of my heartbeat.  Najmat assured me that I would do great, and I thought back to all the student recitals and performances I've been part of.  I even thought about how I had another dance gig I was hired for later that night.

I know this may sound silly, but the mere fact that I knew that acting (and serious, not being silly acting) was involved made it feel more important for me to do well.  I just didn't want to let anyone down.

Then the music started.  I took a deep breath, took one more look at my cast mates in the wings, and erased all those doubts from my mind.

As the first act came to a close, I felt myself breathe out as though I had been holding my breath the whole time.  It was great!  It felt great!  The audience seemed to enjoy themselves, and I hadn't fallen off the stage.

After some reapplication of makeup and readjusting of the costume, it was time to prepare for the second act.  I got to catch up with a couple of belly dance friends in the audience, but mainly tried to stay out of sight.

At some point, we were waiting in the wings during the second act, and I looked at the same people I was with during the tech rehearsal and said, "See! In like 2 minutes it's seriously over! How did we get here?!"

In preparing for the final scene, I sat in my chair and tried to channel a new mother's spirit.  I looked at the fake baby doll in my arms (though it was so real looking, it was kind of freaky!), and thought about what it must feel like to have just given birth and holding your new baby.  Then I thought how every mother must feel that their child is just as special as the newborn baby Jesus might have been.

On a side note, I know that I am definitely not prepared for motherhood, and this is why:  During rehearsal, I would constantly forget about the baby doll!  It was left on a table, or downstairs in the dressing room, or somewhere else.  But man, I am not prepared for babies!

The curtains opened and the final scene began.  This was perhaps one of the easiest parts for me, since I literally just had to sit there and look extremely happy.  But, in all honesty, I was extremely happy. 

The person playing Joseph (who I had only met the night before) and I were second to last to take our bows, and the drummers, Johara's Snake Dance Company, followed after us.

We did it!  We pulled off an amazing show, and each one of us were eager to talk to our friends in the audience to hear their feedback.

Reflections
Looking back at the event, I am still feeling this wonderful glow about me.  It's strange, really, playing such an important religious character but not being at all religious.  I can't help but feel a bit more spiritual and even more into the Christmas spirit after the show.

It was so lovely to see so many friends in the audience.  I remember at one point, noticing the light reflect off my boyfriend's glasses in the audience as I danced.  I get a bit nervous knowing he's there, mainly because his opinion is really important to me.  And at the same time, it's extremely comforting to know he's there because his opinion is really important to me.

They all said that I did a great job and how I was really expressive.  I had been much more concerned about looking pregnant, more than anything else, so I'm glad that I was able to accomplish both.

I now know that I do have the capacity to act as well as dance, and maybe even both at the same time.

As the pictures were published on Facebook, I felt like I was reliving the show all over again.  I honestly could have done it again, even 2 nights in a row.  Considering that it was about an hour of action and that it was a full house, we probably could have packed in another show.

All in all, I am so proud to have been part of this production.  I am proud of Nepenthe for being so creative with this vision, and I thank her for allowing me to be a small part of it.  Whatever she ends up doing next year, and if she does this again, I am so down!

For pictures, please check on my Photo and Video blog: Cecilia of the Sea

BARAKA: A Benefit for MataHari

Remember back at the end of May when I spoke about Meiver's Intensive Repertoire Class?  Well, there was a total of 3.5 months of intense work, learning, dancing, and feet aches.  It all culminated on Wednesday, August 18th, at the Multicultural Arts Center.

The ceiling of the MCAC

The stage, Pre-Show

Meiver has been working her tail off, with the help of some of her students, to organize an extremely successful event to benefit MataHari: Eye of the Day, a great social justice organization that works towards immigrant, refugee, and workers rights.

In my previous post about the choreographies, I talked about all the things I was learning and all the things that I could do better.  In this post, I want to talk more about the choreographies and about the experience of being in the show.

Being A-Part
To be honest, in the beginning, I didn't really know how major the show was going to be.  But as the months passed and more was revealed, I got more and more excited.  To be even more honest, a lot of my fellow dancers were extremely anxious about the show, but I felt more excited to be part of the show.

With at least 10 different people with at least 10 different schedules to coordinate, it was difficult to try to keep steady progress on learning all the choreographies.  Also, it being summer, there was a lot of summer traveling (as was the case with me).

As August 18th drew closer, there were many things we all needed to work on in terms of the choreography and details.  But I truly believed that we would rock the show.  I believed that my classmates would do their best.  I believe that all of Meiver's and our hard work would pay off.

I know that I haven't been part of a show of this level since my undergrad days and the Queer Fashion Show.  There was perhaps less makeup back then, but there was definitely more glitter now.  But the stress seemed to be about the same.

Glitter provided by Sassy Sparkles.

Speaking purely from my own personal experiences, I know how difficult it can be to coordinate so many people, regardless of availability, regardless or experience, regardless of commitment.  From the talents shows with 3rd through 8th graders to coordinating a single dance with 20 members, there's a lot of work that needs to be done.  I couldn't help but feel empathetic to Meiver's workload.  But still, I had confidence about the show.

On some level, I felt bad that I wasn't able to connect with some of my fellow dancers on how stressed they were feeling about the dances.  I was more concerned about the costuming, as I had already spent so much money that I didn't have, and there were some unforeseen last minute changes.  But overall, I was feeling really positive about the show itself and our abilities to produce a great one.

Modern Oriental
As the opening number to the entire show, it was fabulous.  Personally, the technique was perhaps the most challenging to me.  Aside from remembering my posture, I had to remember how to hold my hands a different way then I'm used to, point my toes to hide my heel, and remember the various transitions.  It was a challenging piece.  But even though I wasn't in the audience, I'm sure it was such a glorious way to open the show.

"Sahra" by Bassil Moubayyed

This dance is a perfect example of how an ensemble of dancers should look on the stage.  Though some of the aspects of the dance are influenced by the ballet, I felt like this choreography was something you would see the Bellydance Superstars performing.

There were times when I would practice the choreography in my head and I would get distracted by wondering how one even designs something like that dance.  Making sure the right groups of people or even one person would end up in the correct spot, going from point A to point B, who turns in which direction.  The dance-math is making my head hurt!  But kudos to Meiver for such a gem of a piece.

My Solo
Holy quick costume change, Batman!  Thank you to Ma'isah, Aleksie, and my other classmates for helping me with my super fast costume change!  My solo was the 3rd act of the evening, and I had to get my outfit and my zills ready.

I was sweating so much from the first piece and from changing, that I carried a little napkin with me backstage and behind the wings, and left it in a corner where I would be able to grab it later.  But I continued to sweat throughout my entire performance!  Later, the boyfriend told me that he couldn't tell that I was sweating, which was a relief.

I look so at ease for sweating so much!

Actually, the boyfriend told me that I looked so comfortable and confident during this performance, and later Meiver tells me that her roommates and boyfriend said I make it look so pleasant.  I honestly feel speechless about those compliments.

I know that I was happy to see some of my fellow Amira Jamal classmates and my boyfriend in the audience. In a way, I was dancing for them, in true balady fashion (this was the "Balady ala Accordion" that I danced to during Amira Jamal's student recital in May).  Perhaps this was why I felt so confident even through my sweating.

Fan Veil
Well, I'll be honest here.  I felt like I was a sausage being squeezed into its casing, but it was just that I was so hot and sticky and trying to fit into a body suit that my butt was too big for.  Don't get me wrong.  I think in the end we all looked pretty darn awesome!  But I did have my doubts, and I was just nervous that I would make this piece not look good.  But hot damn, did we look awesome.

Hot Fan Veil Action

I absolutely loved this piece.  The music, the fan veils, the choreography.  I don't know if anyone was tripping out in the audience from the beauty of the veils, but I know I was having my own personal hallucinogenic trip being part of it.  I can't wait to see it on video.

I realized, however, that the choreography and the technique went hand in hand.  If you were unfamiliar with the fan veils, the choreography would not be as strong.  It was somewhat impinging on us as the dancers to really get comfortable with fan veils.

As I have already loved the veil, loving the fan veils was just too easy.  Whenever the kitties were asleep, I would sneak in a practice session with my fan veils.  Learning the technique felt more like play than anything else.  I'm eager to find some fan veil tutorial DVD's to further my education.

Khaleegy
The most difficult thing about this piece was trying to slip bracelets on my wrists.  I have huge hands, so I don't ever wear bracelets since it hurts to put them on and take them off.  There were many hilarious jokes about using lube to make it easier on me when I was getting ready.  I just braved getting my hands scraped by the bracelets, and in the end it was fine.

I was really nervous about all the spinning.  I didn't know how my body would react.  Originally, this was going to be the final piece, but the acts were moved around a bit, and this was our second to last dance.  I was hoping that if something were to go wrong, I would at least not need to dance again.

I thoroughly enjoyed this dance.  I felt like my timing had been off during all of the practices, but during the show I knew what I was doing.  This was another song I would play over and over on my Zune while riding the T.  My neck wasn't sore the next day, nor was I ridiculously dizzy after all the hair spinning.

Photo by Jonathan Williams

In that picture above, that's the moment we've just concluded all the hair spinning, dropping down to the floor, and picking our hair back up.  I was definitely sending messages to my brain and my inner ears to chill.  Again, this is another video I can't wait to watch.

Saiidi
This dance, perhaps the most polished one, was the finale of the show.  We had our nicely spray-painted canes, our bedlahs, and our smiles.  No one dropped a cane, no one hurt someone else with a cane, no one got left behind.

This was the choreography that I felt very confident about, though my can twirling needed some practice in the beginning.  Whenever I would walk to practice with my cane, I would twirl down the street, of course making sure that no bystanders would be affected.

Working together in our pod

For me, ending with the saiidi made me feel like we owned that stage.  We had been working so hard in the past several months that we deserved to wave our big sticks in victory.  Of course, this isn't to say that the other performers hadn't worked as hard.  But some of us had 4 or 5 costume changes!

We had an amazing show, and each and every one of us danced our hearts out.  Backstage, amidst all the chaos, there was a lot of conversation and a lot of laughter.  On stage, we tried our best to bring Meiver's vision to an audience in awe.

I'm a true believe that you make your situations what you want them to be.  This particular situation was just exhilaratingly inspiring, and I'm proud to have been part of it.

Amira Jamal's Student Recital 2010

On Sunday, May 2nd, Amira Jamal hosted her annual Student Recital at the Pacific Arts Center of Metro West, in Framingham, MA.

I love her student recitals for many reasons, including the opportunity to see my amazing classmates dance and to see some of the newcomers perform.  This might sound horrible, but (and I mean it in a really positive way)it's nice to watch the newbies because it reminds me of where I came from.  A closet full of belly dance clothes later, I can proudly say that I'm no longer a newbie.

Mainly, I love the student recitals because it's been great practice for me.  I've always been exceedingly nervous about performing in public, especially around other, more professional dancers.  But this year, I felt different.

In a way, the recital snuck up on me.  I had been extremely busy, and with a new kitty, it has been difficult to do much dancing around the apartment.  Next thing I know, it's April and the recital is a month away.

When I'm working on choreographing a piece, I usually just play the song over and over on my mp3 player.  Strangely, I find it really productive to choreograph while riding the T.  This time around, I really tried to focus more on where the music was taking my movements and build upon that, instead of trying to incorporate every little step that I knew into a dance.

But the real difference was that this year, I danced to an actual Arabic piece.

In the 5 years that I've been taking classes with Amira Jamal, I've danced to Tori Amos' "Sweet the Sting," Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," Bjork's "Bachelorette," The Beatles' "Something," and Pink Martini's "Never on Sunday."

I've always loved the idea of fusing different concepts together to create something beautiful, which is mainly why I've focused on dancing to different types of music than traditional Middle Eastern music.

The great thing about Amira's classes, however, is the fact that we're exposed to so much Middle Eastern music, from classical Arabic to more pop tunes.  She encourages us to keep broadening our understanding of the dance by understanding the music.

So, this year, I danced to "Balady ala Accordion" by Hassan Abou el Seoud (This song can be found on Shik Shak Shok and 10 Songs Every Bellydancer Should Know).

Oh, ya.  Another difference was that my costume wasn't completely green.  It was mainly purple, and only had the tiniest hint of green.

Most of the pictures were taken by my boyfriend, so they're a little blurry.
This was my entrance.

Shocker!  I know!

Oh ya, baby...those are zills!

I couldn't really tell you why I finally decided to dance to an Arabic song for the recital.  I have talked in a previous post about doing a Filipino/Middle Eastern fusion dance, but I haven't learned enough about traditional Filipino dance to put something together in time for the recital.

I had already danced to "Balady ala Accordion" at an event I organized, and I really love the song itself.  Also, in the past, I had been dancing to somewhat slower songs.  I figured it was time to up the tempo, and go for playing my zills.

Confident and smiling!

Overall, though I know I needed to improve my zill playing, I actually felt extremely confident about my dance.  Since we got the chance to perform for each other in class earlier that week, I had received really great feedback from my classmates - dancers I really respect.

I am really proud of myself for a 6th recital under my belt, and for feeling not as nervous as I stepped out onto the stage area.  It was also quite nice to get complements from some of the audience members, of whom were mainly family members of the performers.

It was also great to have my boyfriend there supporting me.  Though he isn't so good at taking pictures, it's always nice to be reminded that I have someone in my personal life that enjoys and supports this hobby.