Un resumen en fotos, part 1
First off, I owe everyone apologies and excuses for disappearing for approximately two months. I certainly didn’t want to do it – it’s not fun for me to feel disconnected from everything but FSD either. And I don’t discriminate. Even the papás were out of the loop for approximately a month. Even the papás bolivianos didn’t see me much for a few weeks. At the end of it all, they told me I looked pale and skinny and overfed me for awhile.
And things are just now calming down. The new program coordinator for 2007-2008 arrived, and with our replacement in the imminent future, Ashley and I are starting to check out…
There’s too much to say, so I'm going to rely on photos to catch up, starting with my blooming career as a bailarina.
The presentation – June 1-3, Teatro Achá
Introduction: Ode to South America and Bolivia.
Afro-Peruvian Festejo
My personal favorite: Peruvian Tondero. I’m looking for a video. (I’m back left.)
Bolivian Waka tokoris: The cow/milker dance. (I’m the fourth on the left.) The key is to spin hard enough so that the multiple polleras (skirts) and fuste (bloomers) show.
Bolivian Tobas: Dancing with a mask, a cold, and meter high feathers is torture.
Festival DanzaCruz
Two weeks after the presentation I was invited to travel with the dance troop to perform Tobas in a festival in Santa Cruz. We won in our category (still unclear how many competitors we had) and the troop won the whole festival with Suri sucuris (below, with the feathers).
Pati (my partner in crime) and me among the fifty 16 year olds we didn’t know we’d be traveling with.
The stage in Santa Cruz, capital of all the whining for autonomy going on in Bolivia.
Debut with the Kjarkas
In a last (?) absurd twist of fate, a week after seeing the famous Bolivian folklore group the Kjarkas in concert, I again received a call from my dance troop – this time inviting me to dance at the first anniversary of the U.S. style movie theater here in Cochabamba. Little did I know that we’d be dancing WITH the Kjarkas, to a live version of their anthem “Bolivia”, in front of thousands of people that turned out for the free concert. Unfortunately I have no photos and only a blurry video taken from a distance, so you'll have to trust me that it actually happened. It ended in about three minutes, but is definitely my biggest claim to fame up to this point.
And things are just now calming down. The new program coordinator for 2007-2008 arrived, and with our replacement in the imminent future, Ashley and I are starting to check out…
There’s too much to say, so I'm going to rely on photos to catch up, starting with my blooming career as a bailarina.
The presentation – June 1-3, Teatro Achá
Introduction: Ode to South America and Bolivia.
Afro-Peruvian Festejo
My personal favorite: Peruvian Tondero. I’m looking for a video. (I’m back left.)
Bolivian Waka tokoris: The cow/milker dance. (I’m the fourth on the left.) The key is to spin hard enough so that the multiple polleras (skirts) and fuste (bloomers) show.
Bolivian Tobas: Dancing with a mask, a cold, and meter high feathers is torture.
Festival DanzaCruz
Two weeks after the presentation I was invited to travel with the dance troop to perform Tobas in a festival in Santa Cruz. We won in our category (still unclear how many competitors we had) and the troop won the whole festival with Suri sucuris (below, with the feathers).
Pati (my partner in crime) and me among the fifty 16 year olds we didn’t know we’d be traveling with.
The stage in Santa Cruz, capital of all the whining for autonomy going on in Bolivia.
Debut with the Kjarkas
In a last (?) absurd twist of fate, a week after seeing the famous Bolivian folklore group the Kjarkas in concert, I again received a call from my dance troop – this time inviting me to dance at the first anniversary of the U.S. style movie theater here in Cochabamba. Little did I know that we’d be dancing WITH the Kjarkas, to a live version of their anthem “Bolivia”, in front of thousands of people that turned out for the free concert. Unfortunately I have no photos and only a blurry video taken from a distance, so you'll have to trust me that it actually happened. It ended in about three minutes, but is definitely my biggest claim to fame up to this point.
posted by Kristin at 1:49 PM
2 Comments:
This is too good for words. Thanks for the update!
-Erin
fantastique. just fantastic. Erin clued me in to your reappearance on zee blog. This (reappearance, dance photos, stories) makes me happy. And you know the H-word's hard to come by. Anyway, suerte con la transicion, your upcoming travels, et al. y que te cuides, vale. look forward to 'catching up' and more cuando sea, dancing queen. don't cringe.
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