Our traveling tales took us on a short plane ride to a lower altitude to Cochabamba!! Yay, warmer temperatures and easier breathing!! No rest for the weary in this profession. As soon as we arrived, we had time to check in to Hotel Diplomat and head off to our first interview. Then we’d be scarfing a quick bite before our first workshop at the Centro Boliviano Americano (CBA). Well, if that sounds like a daunting day, let me tell you it rendered me capeless and sick…like en serio. Tired but eager to get on with our day, we arrived for our schedule television interviewim. WE arrived, but the host didn’t until almost an hour later. Did I mention we had a long day…not time for this kind of delay! Nevertheless, it was a successful interview. We returned to the hotel…I wasn’t feeling so bueno. I forced myself to eat something…then I REALLy was feeling malo. But hey, I’m a superhero dancing machine…not time for tummy aches.
The first workshop was for advanced dancers and teachers. QUE DIVERTIDO!!! We started with West African movement and then got into some Hip Hop. Cochabamba has some VERY talented dancers. There were like 50 dancers in a small auditorium dancing with mucho gusto y animo. We all sweat like maniacs and smiled ear to ear for the sheer enjoyment of the experience. As the adrenaline was wearing off and the usual rock star treatment ensued – photographs, email exchanges, etc. I tried to hold myself together. As soon as the crowd cleared I was in the bathroom losing everything I had put in my body. I thought I felt better, but a little later I was ruining the dinner experience as I was taken to the hospital…some bacterial infection. The hospital was a, ummm, different experience. Thank God for Jesus and Juli and Fernando. After a few days, I got my appetite back and was putting on my superhero cape again.
Cochabamba was a great success! All of the workshops were excellently attended and we put together a great show a mARTedero, an old cow slaughterhouse converted into a hip artsy fartsy spot. We met the biggest Jesus Christ in the entire world – Cochabamba has bragging rights to biggest statue of Jesucristo in all the world. (The one in Brazil is on a higher mount, but He’s bigger in Bolivia.) The greatest highlight was our visits to local dance studios. To our surprise, they have really taken to jazz there…and they do it REALLY well! There are artists there doing innovative things and I have nothing but respect for them. We made so many new colleagues and friends there….hasta la proxima porque seguramente, va a ser una proxima!
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