We are down to the final week in preparing for our, Maohi Nui's, Christmas Show :0) This morning was our first practice together as a group--talented musicians, singers, male dancers, female dancers, keiki dancers, and our faithful supporters gathered today for an intense 5 hour practice! I love feeding off of everyone's energy and excitement every time we are putting on a big production or going into competition.
On Facebook, I posted a status, which read: This morning was nothing short of a PURE BLESSING!! Sometimes I get caught up w/ stress from the daily grind that I tend to go through the motions in life, but today was a great reminder that when I put my HEART into everything I do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING can bring me down. I have so much ♥ & RESPECT for my passion and the AWESOME, TALENTED people that I am blessed to share it with! *Manuia*
I always refer to tahitian dancing as my constant and throughout the entire time it has always been a love/hate relationship!! To call it my passion would be an understatement! I work 8 hours a day, the other 16 hours of the day, I am practicing to be better, I am dancing to help others get better, I am sharing the dance at a performance, I dream of dance, I am drinking to celebrate the completion of the hard work spent to execute the dance, I work out to be a stronger dancer, I eat at certain hours of the day to make sure I don't puke my guts out at dance practice, I refuel my body not to have energy for work, but energy to dance, I think Tahitian thoughts, I listen to Tahitian music, I replay Tahitian dance moves in my head. When I am not dancing, I crave to dance! I am so in love with this cultural art form, that when I hear the live music I get chicken skin, almost being brought to tears!
Like in any relationship, whether it be with another person or hobby, sometimes it gets too life consuming and the hundreds of hours, blood, sweat, tears and dedication you put in can put a heavy burden on your shoulders and cause sleepless nights, and stress. Sometimes I wish to get away from dancing, to lower what's expected from me as a dancer just to ease the stress burden.... but in the end, I always find myself loving and appreciating all the stress and hard work that was spent for the final outcome because it is always PRICELESS!! To feel the music, the adrenaline rush, to know that you worked so hard for something so beautiful is a feeling that I cannot even put into words.
This week has been stressful indeed trying to keep up with my diet, exercises, retaining choreography for our Christmas show, attempting to manage work, household chores, Christmas shopping, and I just got my period--so I'm trying extra hard to be patient, fight the menstruation fatigue and bloatedness hahaha! It's been a task, but I am sure that our supporters will not be disappointed by our performance next week Saturday! "Maohi Nui e! IMUA!"
