Christmas Show Memories

My favorite part of the holiday season isn’t Christmas, it’s the Aerial Dance Christmas Show.
Don’t freak out–I do like Christmas. I only really see my family twice a year, and Christmas is one of those times. I most certainly look forward to it, but my excitement for the Christmas Show is on a whole other level!
This year is going to be spectacular, and with a Circus theme! This is Aerial Dance’s 5th Anniversary, and they’re pulling out all the stops! The venue is bigger, and the lighting and seating have improved. There are NINE instructors choreographing routines, and countless students that will be dancing. The most exciting part, to me, is that this year’s show will include AERIAL. Yes, you read that correctly, AERIAL. The hoop, hammock, and silks will all come out to play! The addition of aerials makes me extra excited. They’re a newer addition to Aerial Dance, and they’ve gained quite the popularity. They’re also incredibly fun to do and to watch. I’m looking forward to the looks on people’s faces when someone does a drop!
I’ve been lucky enough to dance in three shows before this: 2012, 2013, and 2014.
 

The 2012 show was my first one. I was Intermediate/Level 2, and I was super nervous! I had never performed my pole skills in front of this many people! We learned a routine in class, and I danced it with others from my level.  It was this year that I learned a little trick that has helped me in every performance: Keep my glasses off. The audiences is a bit blurry when I do that, so it helps trick me into thinking no-one’s there at all! 🙂 I remember watching the video of my performance afterwards and laughing at my mistakes. Yes, I was laughing! I had way to much fun not to be! It was such a great experience!

I had so much fun in 2012, I had to do it again! I had made it into Advanced by the time the 2013 show rolled around, and took the opportunity to dance an instructor choreographed routine with a fellow classmate. I was much more comfortable in this show, but still nervous! It was super fun, as you can see in the video here. My fellow dancer is quite a bit taller than me, so we had a little fun with that too!

As you can see, I have an affinity for Embrace–two years in a row they caught me in that pose! This year my routine was much shorter, only 30 seconds. The show was too big for the Aerial Dance studio, and it had moved to Mill Creek. I was part of a “collage,” dancing with some of my friends. You might recognize that woman in the background as my partner from the year before-she was part of the collage too! She had a darling routine. I wish I had video of my routine to share with you all, but it was soo packed and soo busy that I had difficulty finding someone to video for me. This is literally the only picture I have, and it’s actually from Aerial Dance’s photo stash.
I must share with you–this show had a particular impact on me. I had my “woe-is-me” moment alone before the show, because no-one was coming to watch on my behalf. At first, I had thought “I’m just dancing for a bunch of strangers.” I came to realize, quite soon, that that was not an entirely true statement. I was dancing for me and I had a family of Aerial Dance ladies cheering me on. When that hit me, my sorrows melted away and it made dancing SO much easier. This show was profound for me in another way: it was the first year my show outfit didn’t include a tank-top. That might not sound like a big deal, but for a curvy woman like me, it was a biiiiiiig step–personally, and in my pole journey!
 
If you’re reading this and not sure if you should perform–do it. Just do it. Your audience is filled with fascinated onlookers and supportive pole people. It is a very positive event, with lots of fun and cheering. I do not regret performing, no matter how foolish I may have looked–I’m certain you won’t regret it either! 🙂
I’m not quite sure what this year will bring for me. There’s still a lot of time before the show, so my options are open. No matter what, I will be there, and you should too!