Under a Desert Moon Reflections

May 11, 2009 09:48 AM

On the first day of Colleen’s Low Intermediate I Performance class, just a short three months ago, Colleen asked my fellow dancers and I to describe our goals for the semester. On May 2 and 3, “Under a Desert Moon” flew by in a jewel-toned flurry of sequins, shimmies and finger cymbals, and each student shared her passion for Raqs Sharqi on stage. Now that nearly a week has passed since the spectacular and the performers have had time to rest and reflect, I asked my fellow dancers to think back on the goals they set for themselves and describe how they met them this semester. Below are some of the students’ thoughts:

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My personal goal was to RELAX! I focus a lot on my form and posture. I wanted to “dance to the music” and not “perform the routine.” I wanted my passion to show through my gobs of make up. :) I did achieve my goal (especially during the second show), in fact I did not “count” while I was performing, I just listened and felt. It was an amazing experience! I can’t wait to do it again!
– Farida

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I wanted to work on having more graceful arms and hands. The video of the performance will let me know more about whether or not I attained that goal.

I learned that one can do an “impromptu solo” and it is not the end of the world (friends were in the audience on Sat. night, which I did not know, and they said they thought my solo was just a part of the dance and that it looked good to them). Whew!

Colleen helped me a lot, not just dance-wise, but in general, by saying, “You can get all the way around the stage, you are just convincing yourself you can’t.” It resonated a lot for other areas of my life these days, so thanks, Colleen!

As usual, I think I learn a lot from the other dancers as well as from our fabulous and inspiring Colleen. I learned more about good timing from Karen, more about hitting the marks on stage from Dita, and new names for moves from Bex. I learned that I didn’t have to wear that long, hot wig in order to look like a belly dancer, that the High Impact Pigment eyeshadow kits are the greatest eye makeup EVER, and maybe I’m not yet too old to be doing this every spring!
-Laurie

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I didn’t quite get out of my head but I did get a better handle on my stage fright. Thank you all for your support and for being so fun to dance with.
-Dita
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My goals were to improve grace and spontaneity. Both are a work in progress. On the one hand, it’s hard to look graceful when I’m losing my balance in a turn, but on a positive note my arm and hand positions look better. As far as spontaneity goes, I’m still a planner/rehearser, but now that I don’t have to think so much I can just enjoy it!
-Micah
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One of my goals was to work on being more confident on stage, and to have more fun up there. Last year I performed with the B1/B2 class. I was terrified, and shook the whole time I was on stage. I still haven’t watched the DVD, because I’m afraid to see what I looked like.

This year was completely different. I didn’t feel nervous at all, nor did I shake. I felt very comfortable and most importantly, I had a lot of fun. I credit that to Colleen and all of you for being so helpful, supportive, and of course fun to dance with. At practices, we would perform in small groups and critique each other, which was a tremendous help. Now I can’t wait to perform again at the end of summer.
-Kristina

By: Lauren

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