Fady Shewaya dance gets its chance

[galadhir]

Finally danced my dance, and indeed I danced it three times - first in front of my other belly dance class, as a 'lets watch M do her dance while we take a water break,' thing. In which Louise gave me the idea to turn to the side so the mermaid arms on the camels could be seen better, and the whole class went 'oooh' when I did the deep dip with the sword on my head.

That was done in exercise gear. It felt okay despite the fact that I did lose my place at one point and find myself coming back to myself, thinking 'where am I? What am I supposed to be doing here?' Nobody seemed to notice, so it was fine.

Then I did it in full memento mori skirt get up in front of Elizabeth's beginners class. I don't think I forgot anything there, but I don't think there was a lot of enjoyment or engaging with the audience. I was too busy trying to remember how it went.

Then I did it again in front of a paying audience at the Buckleton Christmas hafla. This had a Christmas theme, so I wore a red 24 yard skirt, a green top, green and gold coin belt and a tinsel crown (was told I looked like the Ghost of Christmas Present, which I think is a complement.) This time it felt really good, and I was able to remember to make eye contact with members of the audience and smile.

Later my teacher who was also there emailed me to say it was a good performance, so I think that one went well.

I came away feeling buoyed up, and am still feeling oddly more solid for it, even a week later. I definitely enjoy going to a hafla and performing for one. Time to start on a new, better choreography for Shimmyfest next year.

Comments

[mistressofmuses]

Congratulations! I'm glad it went so well. The Christmas costume for it sounds great - I think "ghost of Christmas Present" is absolutely a compliment!

[galadhir]

Thank you! Yes, it's an odd feeling to have done it and now have no dance to be obsessing over, but this was a great first experience of doing my own choreography, and I feel a lot more confident, going forward :)

[mistressofmuses]

I'm glad it was a good experience! Will you have a chance to do more of your own choreography coming up?

[galadhir]

I should think so :) The instructor tends to go to at least two haflas in a year, and there's a chance to do your own solo dances at each one, so if I wanted to, I could just start now and be ready with the next dance for the next hafla :)

[starandrea]

You are amazing! It's lovely to hear how the performances went! Also congratulations ♥♥♥

[galadhir]

Thank you so much! There are definite advantages to cultivating a sort of gung-ho attitude and volunteering for things (to do the dance for strangers) that you would normally be far too shy for. I must do more jumping into things with enthusiasm. It works surprisingly well :)

[starandrea]

I love it; that's so awesome to hear :) A yoga teacher once told me, "she who jumps in with both feet will never feel the shiver."

[galadhir]

LOL! That's oddly true. Might drown though!