Dance

Agnes De Mille once said, "To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful." I have never witnessed this more than tonight.

This coming Saturday the kids all go home for Christmas break, and with the departure of the kids we also lose Anne and Diana--the current dance masters here at Rising Star. As the dance masters usually do, they had a big party with the LifeDance kids to say goodbye. Unlike previous parties, though, this one had a big performance attached to it. Deepenraj (who is basically a future director) got everyone on this kick of making up their own dances. Ashok and he made up three dances for themselves, the rest of the boys in LifeDance made up a dance, and the girls had a dance. They had all been keeping their dances secret until this party when they would perform them all for each other. Let me tell ya...these kids are some talented little devils. The girls' dance was AMAZING and they were dancing bigger and more confidently than I have ever seen them dance before. The dance with 5 of the LifeDance boys (also known as the "circus dance") had tons of lifts and jumps and flips and was also AWESOME. But, the highlights of the night were definitely Ashok and Deepen's dances. Like I said, Deepen is a future director so he and Ashok went all out with lighting, costumes, the whole nine yards. Their first dance they came out dressed in matching white button-downs with tennis shoes and jeans. When they walked out you would have thought Justin Bieber had just crashed a 13 year-olds birthday party--every girl their was screaming and fawning over them (including Anne, Diana, and myself). They did a Michael Jackson dance as well as another dance that they had Anne edit the music for and everything. It was seriously so awesome how creative they got with it.

The last number Deepen and Ashok did went above and beyond. The other boys turned off all the lights and they came walking out in new costumes. They started the music--Thriller. One of the other boys turned on a flashlight and shined it on the floor--mood lighting. Ashok turned around and he had a huge bat/stick and a crazy Halloween mask. Then Deepen turned around and started dancing and he had painted his entire face! They were decked out!! They pulled out all their best Michael Jackson moves and were killin it! In the middle they even pulled out some Axe body spray and sprayed it in the air for fog effect--this ish was planned OUT! They would even sneak right up to the audience and scare us for added effect--it was all ridiculously amazing. To top the night off Anne, Diana, and I, as well as a couple other volunteers that are here, all did a dance to "Celebrate" for the kids and surprised them--so basically everyone was dancing, celebrating and having a good time (much like the song says).

Ashok and Deepen in their Michael Jackson costumes: definitely swoon-worthy

You cannot deny that this is ridiculously awesome.

Deepen and Ashok in their "Thriller" gear...needless to say I'm a little scared

The dance masters and the LifeDance team--Anne and Diana, you will be so missed!!!

After we wrapped up the party and the kids were all back at the hostel going to bed, Anne, Diana, and I all went back to the school for a little dance sesh of our own. The upstairs lobby of the school (where LifeDance does most of their performances) is the perfect space to dance and let go. It's open air, you're looking out over the beautiful campus, you can see up to the stars...it's a blessing to be able to go there and dance. The three of us put on a few songs and let it all out on the floor. There is no better feeling that letting yourself go and completely surrendering to the music and your own feelings--as Martha Graham said, "Dance is the hidden language of the soul," and our souls had a lot to say tonight.

To bring it all home to my original quote: from the kids to our fellow volunteers to Anne, Diana, and I, we were all larger, more beautiful, and more powerful tonight because of dance. I have never seen most of the LifeDance kids dance as hard as they did tonight. Their spirits were radiating with light and exuberance. To witness the confidence and power in these kids when they dance is one of the most awe-inspiring things I have seen since I have been here. The insecurities and societal pressures that plague most tweens and teens were gone and all that was left was self-expression and dance. To get in front of all your peers and perform a dance that you made up takes A LOT of guts--and these kids hit it out of the park....it is just another reason why the kids at Rising Star are a cut above the rest. :)

Vanakkam