While I was in Quebec, I decided to practice a little because, well, I had to. I only practiced once, though, which led me to feeling disappointed with myself... but that's beside the point.
While I practiced, my mom asked whether she could watch me. I agreed, of course, even though it is kind of hard (for me at least) to dance in front of people who are close to me. After a few moves, she asked me to stop and went to get my father. So I started over and both my parents were watching. I decided to go in "performance" mode (even though I was just in my jammies, lol) to make it easier for me and, heck, that's what I look like when I perform. "Performance mode", for me, means that I interact with my audience, I smile, etc. I tend not to smile too much when I practice, which is something that I am trying to work on.
Anyway, my parents just wanted to see one piece and I did the drum solo for our upcoming RenFaire performance. They loved it. Then, they started chatting together and, well, I needed to keep on practicing so I started another piece, the basket dance (without the basket on my head) and was still in "performance mode", which made my parents stop chatting and they were glued there, watching me. It was funny.
After that, I was done with my practice and my parents commented on how isolated my moves are and how they are amazed at how beautiful it is, etc. Then, they said, "If your former teacher, Francine, was to see you, she'd be really impressed! You're so much better now!" Now, whether I am much better than when I took classes in Quebec is totally debatable.
However, I know one thing that they liked better: it was the tribal aesthetic. And I think that I understand the dance better. And, well, maybe I've grown up since the last time that they had seen me dance (which was like 7 years ago) but, definitely, the tribal moves make me feel utterly woman and powerful.
And, heck, even in my goofy jammies I felt womanly and powerful. Now that's power! ;op
Comments I had received
From Suri:
Good for you! It is hard to dance for those we are closest to, at least it is for me. I don't know that I'll ever have the chance to dance before my parents just b/c of distance. I have danced before my in-laws and that was scary! I didn't know what to expect from them but they were totally supportive. It's great when people "get" what you're doing. It seems that your parents do!
From Haifa:
I hear ya!Its the hardest thing for me to dance infront of my hubby. Thats fantastic though that your parents watched and could even tell about the isolations and knew that you had gotten better. Power be to the woman who dances in jammmies!!!
From me:
Yes, the comment on my isolations took me a bit by surprise. I mean, you do get that comment from fellow dancers but from people who are not that familiar with the dance, I thought that it was way cool! Then again, the drum solo piece is really good to showcase isolation! Suri did a great job choreographing it!
From Suri:
Thank you!
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