Yesterday's performance was my sword solo debut (even my instructor hadn't seen it yet; only a couple of people saw me working on variations of it at the studio after classes) and overall it went pretty well. The sword tried to slip off of my head once but I was able to stop it from falling all of the way off and was able to rebalance it pretty quickly.
After the performance, I asked my fellow dancers for some feedback. For the most part, everyone was very impressed with my solo but I did get a few suggestions. My instructor, for one, wanted to see me use the sword more (I only danced with it for just over a minute of a 5 minute + piece). Someone else suggested that I "dance" the sword off instead of just "getting rid of it."
Before today's performance, I took their suggestions under advisement and had worked on some new possibilities to work into my solo piece. We got to the performance today and the wind would not stop gusting! The gusts of wind did make it difficult for sword balancing (and I did have some people tell me that they didn't think I should use the sword today but just dance to my music) but I did it anyway! Granted, I did do more dancing "with" my sword rather than a lot of balancing it but I did manage to have it on my head for a bit. I also balanced it on my hip while doing a side bend and that was pretty cool. =)
I am proud of myself that I was "brave" and decide to use my sword for balancing today and didn't just put it aside because some of the other dancers said they didn't think they would do a sword dance today. Like I said, I did have to do some modifying as I went through the dance due to the wind but I still think I did a good job. Yes, I did complete a "no-no" in the eyes of my instructor because I turned my back on my audience to walk towards the stage and set down my sword in the middle of the dance when I was done with it, but I can't go back and change it now. We opted not to dance on the stage they had for us today because it was not in good shape to be dancing on (the top was slippery, the pieces were raised in some areas, some areas moved when walked on, etc.) and we danced on the concrete in front of the stage. In the middle of my solo, I couldn't really take the time to look around for a place to put my sword so I made a split second decision to put it on the stage behind me. Yes, in hindsight, I could have handed it to my instructor's husband who was sitting in the front row, but he was taking photos of our performance so I didn't want to give him the added responsibility of watching my sword. Oh, well. Things to think about for the next time....
Once again, I am attempting to extend what I am learning in belly dancing to my "normal" life as well. I do know that my life is not normal =) but I mean my life that doesn't directly apply to dance (i.e. my work - - - even though the theme of this week's lesson plan in different types of dancing from around the world - of course belly dancing will be included). I am working on finding the balance that I can bring to my life. I know that there are times I do worry about the "small stuff" and that is something I am trying to work on - not necessarily sweating over the small stuff. I guess I am questing to find balance and not lose any body parts..... We'll see if everything remains intact this week or not....
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