SF Ethnic Dance Festival 2009

The last week or so has been pretty insane. Actually, scratch that, the last 24 hours have been pretty insane. Tell me how a girl is gonna go between 4 cities and 3 residences along that time, hitting up a new car and a major performance in the process?! Um, yeah. Anyway, on to the highlight story.

It’s Monday afternoon as I write this, a full 24 hours after our final performance at the 31st SF Ethnic Dance Festival, and I’m still riding that “Ethnic high.” Ever since February, when we first found out we were honored enough to be among those who earned a coveted spot in such a prestigious event, and even ever since last fall when we were preparing for our audition, I always wondered what this weekend would bring. I remember waking up on Saturday morning to a text saying, “This is the day He has made. Let us rejoice and be glad.” Followed, of course, by an “O di va?” And I realized, it was finally here. Thank goodness! All that prep work, stress, worry, and practice would soon pay off. And it did.

Looking back, I now wish I could relive this weekend. In my mind, the high of walking off the stage and being able to high five everyone, and/or say “I think I just had a hard on” in reference to how we were able to put our hearts and souls on that stage in such a cohesive manner .. that feeling will live on in my mind, and it’s gonna be pretty hard to top it, in my opinion. I know that months from now, or hopefully even years from now, when I’m going through a stressful moment in my personal dance journey, I’ll go back to this feeling and draw from it as a source of strength, to remind myself that I started and continue to do this for the pure love of it.

The most amazing part of partaking in this particular festival was the fact that all these cultures were able to come together, educate each other and the community about their own, in such a beautiful and poetic way. One world, one collective spirit, all came together on one stage in one festival. The unity that spoke behind it all was mos def inspirational and reminds me that the best part of doing all this is getting to share my knowledge and passion with others.

However, the best part of this journey was, undoubtedly, the people that I was honored to share it with. From those times we were ready to shoot each other, to the times we were so frustrated we were just ready to give up, to those times we would send messages so corny they were endearing in an effort to encourage each other, I still will hold on to them. The trials made us stronger, the constructive criticism made us better, and the small moments drew us together, and I think we definitely defined the word Pamilya in this whole process. My energy has been renewed, my spirit has been uplifted, and I now know we can take on anything that comes at us.

Next stop: Las Vegas! That’s right, be excited.