In All Seriousness......

As if!  Who are we kidding..its ME typing at you!

Last weekend was Oasis Dreams.  It's a big belly dancing hafla (party) put on by our belly dancing instructor/mentor, Mearah.  This was Mearah's last "hoorah" as she is retiring from teaching.  It was a bittersweet weekend.

The women at our belly dance studio have become more like sisters than anything else.  When I was away for 5 weeks last year, they really looked after Omi Girl for me.  They love her as much as I do.  We get together to sew, to dance at clubs, to just hang out..and of course dance.  The weekend of Oasis Dreams is always a big weekend for us.  And I think THIS YEAR in particular, we just wanted it to be fabulous..not for us..but for Mearah.  We had 3 dances to learn.  Then Omi and I also had our duet (which we already knew and have performed once) to do.  Learning the 3 choreographies in a few short months (with a month off in the middle) was difficult for me.  As a matter of face, I never got the big huge group one down; thank god I was never really in the front and I could follow Kalista in front of me!  But our class dance, I had down perfectly!  That is, until we got up on stage.  Just a couple of weeks before the actual performance, my class didnt' have it down and we were all freaking out.  We just wanted to do Mearah proud.  Mearah considered pulling our class from performance if we couldn't get it right by the  next class.  The next class came and we nailed it.  

On stage....well, we had fun.  For the most part, we did great, but there were some mess ups, but we got back on track and finished strong and with smiles on our faces.  

Then it was time for Naomi and I to do our duet.  This is a song I choreographed.  I should know this thing by heart!  I DO know this thing by heart.  But for whatever reason, I completely messed it up on stage in front of God, Family and Friends.  But you know what?  Omi and I laughed and had a great time!  We weren't perfect, but we were perfectly  happy.  I will admit to thinking, "I let Mearah down.  I invited friends and I totally messed up in front of them!"  But then there is a part of me that says, "Naomi and I had the best time!  I have never messed up in a dance and had that much fun in my entire life!"  And we are in this for fun!  Even Naomi said she had entirely too much fun messing up, and her boyfriend was in the audience!  *laugh*  I love dancing with her.

When I wasn't dancing, I was watching as many dancers as I possibly could.  Not everyone was perfect.  There are 2 studios that seem to demand perfection, and that is all good.  Then there are 2 studios in town who, when we mess up, just laugh/smile it off and keep on moving.  You can totally tell the difference between the studios when we all dance, but I'm certain that ALL of us love to dance and have a great time, or NONE of us would be up there doing it!

Saturday night was the night for the Elite and/or Professional dancers to perform.  This is always a treat!  The very first performers are always the entire group from Mearah's Desert Dreams Dance Studio.  We totally  nailed our dances and it was so fun to share that last dance with all of my sisters.  But then it was down to business and watch all the other dancers.  

What I watched was so entertaining and inspiring.  I have always said that if and when I do burlesque it will be something silly, and even after Friday nights dance with Omi, I felt like my calling is to not be so damned serious when I dance.  Well, Saturday night confirmed that for me.  I watched these elite dancers, and 3 or 4 of them were just too entertaining and surprisingly funny.  First there was a sword dancer who was making silly faces while she danced.  Then there were 2 of my sisters from my studio dancing, and both of them had silly parts in their dances and my heart just lifted and felt inspired!

I have no idea what is in store for me when it comes to dancing, but one thing is for certain, I am going to laugh and smile all the way through this journey!  Life is too short to take something as fun as dancing that seriously!  I have Mearah to thank for that.  

Thank you, Mearah, for being patient and for really showing us that we can be graceful and silly and fun and laugh all while we are dancing.  Thank you for your love and support!  Thank you for the inspiration.  Thank you for your love.  Thank you for being the best example of how to take care of yourself by letting go of what you love in order to take care of you and find your fun and laughter again!