So, we’re eleven days into the trip and one more stop before we wrap up this volume of Tales of a Dancing Diplomat. We boarded the plane for one more intra-country trip Fabiola’s hometown of Santa Cruz. We arrived on Sunday morning, greeted nicely by the humidity and palm trees….and absolute quiet. It’s Sunday and almost nothing is open (much like my hometown of St. Louis). Juli wasted no time finding the pool and it was nice to have some time to enjoy el sol. This truly was a Sabbath for us. We walked around the main plaza and acted like tourists…well, extra special tourists. Back in La Paz (and in Cochabamba), we went crazy with gift shopping. Both of us fell in love with a native instrument, the zampona. I vowed to take it with me everywhere and practice. (The entire photo and video montage of this new love affair will be coming soon.) This fine Sunday, the Ecuadorian national volleyball team has been let loose on tourist patrol in the plaza. There also was a small group of native musicians. Well, no se que me paso, but without too much thought I decided to whip out my zampona and accompany them. Suddenly the Ecuadorian team was taking pictures of and with me with the band. Not sure if the band appreciated my talent, but it made for an entertaining day off.
Monday was our full and only work day in Santa Cruz. It started early with a TV interview. That went super duper well. Next we headed over to the Centro Boliviano Americano (CBA) where we gave a live demo/promo for the workshops later that day. We were joined by a couple of the teachers from the local dance school, Fama Machine. There’s no greater rock star feeling that to interrupt a school day for a performance in the courtyard. :D Now, it’s off to the San Isidrio Cultural Center. This workshop was so much fun! We were joined by area youth and adults alike in this converted barn. Some were dressed for dance class, others in their work shirts, but we all got down all the same. The center is doing such beautiful work in such a marginalized area.
Only two more workshops left…and boy of boy do our bodies feel it! We refresh ourselves with an afternoon trip to the nail salon…gotta look fly for our last hoorah. At this point it’s mind over body because our bodies apparently went on vacation without telling us. We squeeze in an hour workshop for the dancers from Fama Machine; they are mostly YouTube-taught bboys, so starting with a warm-up, doing technique and learning choreography was a new challenge. This is the norm and also proof why the envoy program is needed. For many self-taught students we encounter, this is their first time doing something structured and having to think about musicality and performance quality. Not sure if the light bulb clicked during class but they certainly appreciated what we offered. And now, without a pause, in comes about 80-100 students for our last 1.5 hour workshop at the CBA. Thank heaven for adrenaline!! This was an amazing way to end the tour. We got so many folks of all different ages and levels dancing Hip Hop. Taking them through a structured class and learning the four principles (peace, love, unity and having fun). And of course we ended with what seemed to be the world’s biggest cipher!! So much fun!!! We raffled off a few DVDs and CDs, took pictures, shook hands and kissed babies.
WHEW!!! Another successful envoy trip!!! Muchas gracias to Fabiola and Ben for creating such a dynamic program and becoming not only colleagues, but friends. To all the dance teachers and center coordinators…que sigan luchando por nuestro juventud con los artes!!! And to all our students…muchisimas gracias por hacerse tan disponible a aprender cosas nuevas. Gracias a Bolivia!
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