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| Image found here |
Sorry this blog post is coming so late, since the Interfusion Festival happened over MLK weekend! But I've been going through a job transition, so it's been hectic lately!
This year, I took more dance workshops than anything else. Part of me wonders if, now that I've been to Interfusion several times and have had those experiences of connecting with complete strangers, the novelty of that has worn off. I also wasn't as open to sharing with strangers as I have been previously; I would rather talk to my boyfriend about my thoughts/feelings, since the two of us could actually do something about it (a stranger is just a sounding board).
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| Vinny and his partner are great Zouk teachers! Photo credit: Dan D. |
I took the Brazilian Zouk beginner workshop with VinÃcius "Vinny" de Souza, which I did last year as well. Interfusion ends up being the only time I dance Zouk! I really enjoyed doing it this year, so I looked into dancing with District Zouk here in DC. But it's so expensive! If you want a lesson on top of a social dance, it costs between $20-$35 per dance every week. In comparison, which I was blues dancing every week pre-pandemic, I paid less than $10. And if you can't dance every week, there's almost no point in doing it (at least when you're just learning), because you'll easily forget what you've learned so far. So I guess I'll just have to wait until NEXT Interfusion to get my Zouk fix again! Here's a video of Vinny and his dance partner doing some Brazilian Zouk:
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| Ann Kite leads 5Rhythms workshops, and she is so good! Photo credit: Nicole G. |
And while ecstatic dance is very different from a social dance like Brazilian Zouk, I think I enjoy it just as much. I made sure to take a 5Rhythms workshop with Ann Kite; I had done this with her at least once previously, and I knew I'd love it. It's just so freeing to dance around like no one is watching, just moving your body however feels good. I think she was offering the workshop one evening and one morning, but I prefer to do it at night: it's a great way to end the day, just shaking everything off. She does qualify that some people will start to "feel feelings" during the dance, since emotions can rise from letting go in this way. That's never happened to me before, but it did to my friend that time, so it really is a thing!
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| This was a group of us from the "5 Elements Dance" workshop. Photo credit: Ross L. |
There were two workshops that weren't necessarily connected, but I made them so. On Friday night for my final workshop of the day, I changed which class I'd be in at the last minute. I decided to take "The Science of Pleasure: Tuned In and Turned On" with Nilgun "Nil" Akselioglu. The main exercise of the class was to envision an experience of pleasure in intimacy and consider what made it pleasurable, particularly the context: What time of day was it? How did your partner smell? How were you feeling about yourself? And then on the flipside, we considered a time of intimacy that was not pleasurable, and contemplated the factors for that. We were told to write it down, but I just thought about it in my head (especially since I had already had these thoughts on my own; I'm a pretty reflective person in general.). So then I took all of those thoughts and brought them to my final Interfusion workshop of the weekend: the "5 Elements Dance" with Peter Petersen. I have taken many workshops with him in the past, so I knew I'd enjoy it. This dance was similar to 5 Rhythms, except there was more of a manifestation/action behind it; you would picture a goal or dream you have, and then through dance you would nurture that dream, disperse the things holding you back from achieving it, and then send it out into the universe to help make it happen. So the goal I pictured was related to that pleasure in intimacy that I was thinking about the day before. I really enjoyed the ecstatic dance aspect of this workshop, and I liked how I could actually picture my dream moving through these cycles. I would definitely recommend it!
There were a few workshops that didn't quite meet my expectations, mostly because of how they were marketed. I had hoped "Individual Moments in a Partner Dance" would give me some styling tips, but we weren't really taught styling moves that we could incorporate in social dancing (although I did learn what Urban Kiz was!). "Grounding in Movement" was supposed to be a Zouk lesson on top of the bootcamp, but it was SO SLOW! It felt like the most beginner class ever. I didn't even learn anything new; I was bored the entire time. "Solo Musicality" sounds like dancing on your own and listening to the music to inspire your moves. But instead we learned an entire dance routine together, which is not solo at all! I felt like a little kid practicing for a dance recital. I think if these workshops had been "sold" for what they really were, I wouldn't have signed up for them and would have taken something else.
I also took two workshops that didn't last their fully allotted time. The "Gong resonance" class I took had to end early because, while we were trying to meditate, a laughing yoga workshop was happening next door, messing with our vibes! Hopefully the organizers will think about things like that when deciding which rooms should house which workshops. And this wasn't the only workshop to end early: "Festival Meditation" in the last slot of the day on Friday lasted only 30 minutes. Had I known it wouldn't take the whole hour, I would have left earlier so I could have eaten dinner at a reasonable hour. I think the instructors also need to be clear with the organizers about the true length of their classes.
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| Luba Evans led the "Absolute Love" workshop. I wasn't a fan, but the young woman on the left loved it so much that she now co-presents the workshop! So clearly it works for some people! Photo credit: Nicole G. |
I was disappointed how many of the workshops focused on your negative energies/feelings/vibes, like releasing your anger or confronting your traumas. I understand that some people need that, but I don't: I'm a very happy, positive person who hasn't had awful experiences like that. So when the instructors of the "Absolute Love" and "Ying Yoga and Your Chakras" workshops kept bringing stuff up like that, it kind of brought me down and made me less happy ("Raga Fusion Kirtan" was the opposite, thank goodness. Hemant Kapoor was all about peace, love, and happiness in his mantras!"). I wonder if there is a way to market those specifically, like having the words "anger" or "trauma" in the title. Or perhaps the instructors could balance out the negative feelings with positive ones.
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| I really liked Hemant's good vibes! Photo credit: Ross L. |
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| We were dancing and singing; very kumbaya! That's my ponytail in the front! Photo credit: Ross L. |
The main bummer of this year is that I actually had something stolen! It's unfortunate when you've spent all weekend with this beautiful community, only to have someone take something that isn't theirs. In general it's a very trusting space; people leave their coats, bags, etc. around the rooms. I had put the quarter-zip not near my bag when I was getting warm while dancing, and when the workshop was over, it was gone. I want to be charitable and give this person the benefit of the doubt: maybe they mistook the item for theirs. But I think someone saw that it was a nice Under Armour item and stole it. Luckily, things are just things, and they can be replaced. But it was just a sad way to end the whole weekend.
Want to read more about the Interfusion Festival? Here are my many other blog posts from previous years:
Fall 2017 (now the Festival is strictly over MLK weekend)
2019 (I guess I didn't bother writing a blog post about the one in 2018?)
2020
2022 (There wasn't one in 2021 due to the pandemic.)
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