It's amazing how these kids inspire me. Tonight, we had the Goodbye Life Dance party. With just reading the title of this party, one knows how emotional this must have been. It actually turned out to be beyond incredible, and the kids walked away saying it was the best party they had ever had. Instead of the regular dinner and a movie that the kids all love, I decided that just like every other volunteer session, I want a going away performance. Nothing formal and I wasn't going to run music or anything. It was all on Life Dance to make this happen. I wasn't expecting much, but it turned into a creative competition.
About a week ago, Deepen and Ashok came knocking on our door asking if I would download them a song and let them have the music to practice. Deepen had really thought this out. He wanted to cut songs and put two together, he already had moves in his head. They originally wanted me to help them choreograph a number for them to do together, but being really busy, I encouraged them to go for it themselves. I am so happy that I didn't help them. It gave them the chance to explode in creation- and let me tell you, explode they did. This one project turned into about 5 different dances with all different members of Life Dance. A boys dance, a girls dance, Thriller, a circus number, and Kick Buttowski. I have never seen these kids dance so hard in my life. Every single one of them was ON tonight.
We started off the night with a dinner of PB&Js, soda, and candy, music playing in the background. Then, things had to get a little more serious. After the holiday break, our President has to resign in order to fully focus herself on her studies. In India, 10th standard is the year that you take the exam that determines whether or not you go on in school. It is really important. Because of that, we held an election for a new presidency. I think this is the first time the kids got to nominate and elect their leaders. It was super interesting to see what choices they made, but in the end, both, Diana and I, are incredibly happy with the turn out. We gave thanks to the old, and welcomed the new.
Next, we had them perform the latest dances learned, Get Ready and Stand By Me. Both were choreographed by Diana and I. We basically threw these pieces together and the kids learned them SO quickly. I am so proud of how they have taken it on. This is the first chance that they have really taken on a style and partner working, and they look really good. At first, they were nervous with the "hard steps", but I think they surprised themselves with how good they have become. Then, the true party began...
When Ashok and Deepen walked out with paint on their face and a homemade mask and bat, turned out the lights, flicked on a flashlight, and I heard the subtle beginning of Michaels Jackson's Thriller, I just about died. India is definitely not known for their wild imaginations and I love that I got to take part in teaching these kids art. I mean, look at these boys!
They used a flashlight for lighting design and even threw in a little audience reaction by coming up to our faces and trying to scare us. It worked. By this time, the audience was full. Sharmila (best friend) and Vadevu had joined us at the beginning, and as the excitement escalated, all of the study hall kids came to cheer them on. It is unbelievable how supportive everyone at this school is. The kids were cheering each other on, encouraging others to dance, and overall happy for the accomplishments the others had made.
The volunteers even decided to do a dance number for the kids too. We surprised them when we all joined in unison and then pulled them in to join us at the end. I even got to waltz with both Deepen and Rajesh (who is not in Life Dance, but who had joined us and danced his heart out).
And here is one more video. I love this because you rarely see Deepen just dancing it out. He is super lanky and shy, but here, you see his ideas flowing and he is actually dancing hard. These past few weeks, he has showed me so many more sides of him. I feel so lucky to have gotten to know him and all of these kids.
Kenady wrote an amazing post about this night with great details. Please read here.
As the party came winding to an end, everyone got a little mushy and sad. I sat in long embracing hugs and whispered 'I love you's in ears. Little Savitha hugged me tight and tears soaked my shirt. They haven't had a dance master stay as long as I have in a while, other than Shaun Parry. I feel like I'm just barely starting with these kids. Like, if I stayed longer, I could really get somewhere with them. They have grown so much and I can see their potential getting bigger everyday. All of them will do great things, I hope someday I'll get to come back and see what they have become.
We started off the night with a dinner of PB&Js, soda, and candy, music playing in the background. Then, things had to get a little more serious. After the holiday break, our President has to resign in order to fully focus herself on her studies. In India, 10th standard is the year that you take the exam that determines whether or not you go on in school. It is really important. Because of that, we held an election for a new presidency. I think this is the first time the kids got to nominate and elect their leaders. It was super interesting to see what choices they made, but in the end, both, Diana and I, are incredibly happy with the turn out. We gave thanks to the old, and welcomed the new.
Next, we had them perform the latest dances learned, Get Ready and Stand By Me. Both were choreographed by Diana and I. We basically threw these pieces together and the kids learned them SO quickly. I am so proud of how they have taken it on. This is the first chance that they have really taken on a style and partner working, and they look really good. At first, they were nervous with the "hard steps", but I think they surprised themselves with how good they have become. Then, the true party began...
When Ashok and Deepen walked out with paint on their face and a homemade mask and bat, turned out the lights, flicked on a flashlight, and I heard the subtle beginning of Michaels Jackson's Thriller, I just about died. India is definitely not known for their wild imaginations and I love that I got to take part in teaching these kids art. I mean, look at these boys!
The volunteers even decided to do a dance number for the kids too. We surprised them when we all joined in unison and then pulled them in to join us at the end. I even got to waltz with both Deepen and Rajesh (who is not in Life Dance, but who had joined us and danced his heart out).
And here is one more video. I love this because you rarely see Deepen just dancing it out. He is super lanky and shy, but here, you see his ideas flowing and he is actually dancing hard. These past few weeks, he has showed me so many more sides of him. I feel so lucky to have gotten to know him and all of these kids.
Kenady wrote an amazing post about this night with great details. Please read here.
As the party came winding to an end, everyone got a little mushy and sad. I sat in long embracing hugs and whispered 'I love you's in ears. Little Savitha hugged me tight and tears soaked my shirt. They haven't had a dance master stay as long as I have in a while, other than Shaun Parry. I feel like I'm just barely starting with these kids. Like, if I stayed longer, I could really get somewhere with them. They have grown so much and I can see their potential getting bigger everyday. All of them will do great things, I hope someday I'll get to come back and see what they have become.
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