"Mongolian Dancer"

This was again taken by my coworker Pet'ka, with my hair already half unpinned. She put this photo up with a compliment that humbles me:

"Susan is a stunningly beautiful lady. She performed a mongolian dance at the Mela festival at Google yesterday. After her performance, I took few shots of her next to a white office wall. We used only available light, so the out-of-camera photo wasn't that exciting. I did little color post-processing here."

Thank you so much!

Rose in Summer

Despite the heat and a very shallow and rough stage, Saturday's performance felt like a success! I danced the high energy Uighur/Kazakh number, dressed as a young man again, although I guess I can't fool anyone since the announcer asked everyone to admire the 小妹妹 (young girl), oh well. The photo above is a screen capture from TV, when I had a real stage.

I love this dance, and feel that my endurance has improved since I came back from Shanghai, which makes it even more enjoyable. Despite the less than ideal quality of the stage floor (I skinned my right ankle doing knee turn jumps and bled all over my shoe inside the boot cover) it felt great and the audience response made me more excited to dance for them. After I left the stage a woman stopped me and told me how much she loved my dancing! Happy!

To be young, brash, and in love - I suppose any man would feel on top of the world, feel as if he could do anything, if his beloved loves him in return. Now I just need to find my love and give her the rose! =D

Dancing at the Google Mela

Recently I performed a Mongolian Chopsticks dance on a hot stage on a blindingly sunny noonday event at Google's Mountain View campus. Even with pre-stage jitters - it's always worse when people you know are watching you! - this reminded me so much of why I dance. The rush was exhilarating, and the comments and emails of people amazed by the Mongolian style and costuming let me know that I'd helped bring more diversity to people's lives. Here's a short video clip someone took and graciously sent to me.

One of my coworkers, Pet'ka, caught me after I danced and took some photos, one of which is above. Unfortunately, I'd already taken my hat off, as well as many of the pins holding my short, unruly hair together, explaining its terrible appearance.

Missing Shanghai

Being in Shanghai and working with the Shanghai Dance Theater was like a dream come true. Too bad it is already over! Each day was packed; I would rise at 7 am and go to class (基本功), break for lunch in the mess hall, rehearse in the afternoon, eat dinner in the mess hall, then dance again. If I did this every single day I might not like it as much, but that's the same for any job, no matter how much you like it. I'd do it all over again, even with the nasty mosquito bites.

I've come home feeling stronger and more centered, and I think I am finally starting to let my upper body relax a little more. The stronger the center, the looser I can be on top - I've been aware of this before, but it isn't until the sensation is actually experienced that true understanding can begin to blossom. I sincerely hope SDT will welcome me back from time to time, so that I can be inspired by some of the world's best, and work hard to become an even better dancer. I don't know what I have to offer them, but ... here's hoping.

Does this not remind you of ...

... a certain lady who graces the boxes of a certain brand of butter?

That's right, Land O' Lakes!

This is a costume for an Uighur dance from Xinjiang (western China) celebrating the harvest of grapes in Autumn. I felt vaguely like a Vegas showgirl because of the ostentatious adornments and feathers. To be honest, I am not overly fond of this dance precisely because it's rather showy. I prefer dances that are more understated but have great depth, or are simply lively and fun! But this one was, to me at least, neither ... Still, as a dancer you can't bring this to rehearsal or the stage - you just keep your opinions to yourself. So, for certain time periods I just love my grapes when required! (At least I'm not holding a stick of butter.)

The Good Pain ... The Bad Pain

Every athlete knows what I'm talking about. There's the good pain that comes from pushing one's body beyond the limit; it's the only way to get stronger. And then there's the bad pain, from injury. I've certainly had both, but I definitely prefer the former although it's difficult right now to think about it because I hurt all over, quite a lot!

I'm rehearsing a dance where I have to do a backbend on a tall Chinese war drum and kick off of it backwards until I land on the floor. Funny how the floor seems so far away from atop the drum. After some rough landings I was too scared to kick full out and basically ended up standing on my hands on the edge of the drum with my legs in a split in the air, upside-down. Many times. Needless to say, my triceps hurt. And so does everything else. Hopefully my muscles will learn and I'll get over my fear quickly.

I also have to learn how to flip off the drum without hands ... I swear I'll be brave enough soon.

Time to Rest ... But Not Really

There's been a bit of a lull lately besides some commercial shoots, which is nice because it's given me time to 1) recover from my mysteriously sprained right ankle from a month ago; still don't know what happened, and 2) concentrate on rehearsing the dances for upcoming shows.

Since I leave for Shanghai to dance in less than two weeks(!) I really hope I don't get sick or injured because I'd like to be able to perform at my best. I feel that the pressure's on, but at the same time I hope I can simply enjoy working with some of the best dancers and directors that China has. This is an opportunity I hadn't even imagined I would have, so I'll give it my best!