My first (official) solo

The above picture was taken by my friend and classmate Jen. Thank you, Jen!

So, I've danced solos before, for visiting friends and family, and at the Tahoe retreat. But Friday night was my first time performing a solo at an organized event, for a decent-sized audience (actually, the audience was so big that I almost freaked out). Judging by the number of compliments I got afterwards (even from people who don't know me), I'm guessing I did pretty good! I haven't actually watched the video yet, so I don't know for sure. I'm going to bask in the glow of feeling talented before I watch the video and nitpick all the things I did wrong.

I performed to "The Hunt" by Niyaz. The song is about a man who goes out hunting, but everything that he sees reminds him of his beloved, so he can't bring himself to kill anything. It's a favorite song of mine, both because of the meaning and because it's both beautiful and energetic. A lot of fun to dance to.

For my costume, I went with simple and elegant, rather than trying to schlep huge skirts and lots of layers up to Tempe with me. I'm wearing olive green flare-leg pants and tie-back choli, over which I layered a teal shantung silk panel skirt and cropped tie-top/vesty thing (with lovely light olive ties). Of course it's accented with lots of jewelry and hair goodies and the malachite bindi that I made the other day.

I was reasonably nervous, especially since I had to follow up a solo by a well-known local teacher, and dance on an actual stage instead of the floor. But not only did Kim of Plaza de Anaya give me a loving and warm introduction, but several of my friends from my various classes were sitting front and center with big smiles, making lots of noise. Their presence really carried me through those first scary moments until I could lose myself in the music!

I'll post the video when I can, but it's currently on Chris's laptop... which is in Texas with him.

(By the way, I did not end up dancing the drum solo, my classmate Marlene did a wonderful solo performance of it!)