Independence Day Celebrations and Dance Performance

This past Friday morning, on September 14^th, at 4:30 in the morning, I was woken up by the loud rhythmic pounding of drums driving up and down the highway in front of my house.  I was confused: Were they the marching band from the high school traveling to Jinotega city for a competition? Why were they drumming so early in the morning?  Was is the primary school in Wale and did they seriously have to start practicing that early in the morning before the parade that day? That was a silly question, because I knew well that people here regularly get up at 4 and 4:30 in the morning to start their day.  

September 14 and 15^th are national holidays in Nicaragua, the 14^th celebrating the anniversary of the battle of San Jacinto, and the 15^th celebrating the independence of Central America.  Each year all the local school bands get together and battle it out in Las Praderas, the biggest town and the municipal seat in Pantasma.  On the 14^th all the schools celebrated in their own communities, and this year is the first year a band has been formed at the primary school in Wale 1, where I live, so it was exciting to have the newly formed band march up and down the street through the community.  They’ve been practicing practically every day after school for the past few months preparing for the Independence Day celebrations, rehearsing all the band’s various rhythm patterns, the dance team’s dance choreography, and the group called “los guirros”, who play this metal raspy instrument in time with the drumming of the bands.  The uniforms were sewn, the hair was gelled, the make-up was applied, the tights were put on, and the band marched up and down the street throughout Wale 1 in the hot sun with sweat dripping down every forehead. 

Wale 1 marching band parade on Sept. 14th

The Wale 1 marching band and dancers

After the parade through the street, everyone gathered at the school for “el acto”, or the presentation of the band and various speeches and dances prepared by teachers and students to celebrate the anniversary.  Earlier during the week some of the girls who come to my dance class asked me to choreograph something for them to perform, so I put together a very basic Bellydance routine and we practiced it almost every night that week at my house.  There were 4 of them who participated, and they were all already part of the band somehow so they would already be wearing their uniforms.  I simply gave them some scarves to tie around their hips and put some flowers in their hair to create a more Bellydance friendly look.  Oh, and I had them tuck their shirts up so their midriffs were exposed too.  They were so cute! 

Of course just as the parade made its way to the school, the power went out so the computer that was set up with all the dance songs couldn’t play any of the music through the big amplifier that was brought.  Luckily I came prepared with my little iPod speakers and so the girls were able to perform the Bellydance routine for everyone, even though the speakers were a little too quiet for the size of the crowd.  I spoke briefly while they were taking their positions, telling the audience that this dance style came from the Middle East, and was called “Bellydance”, or in Spanish “danza de vientre”, and that it was something new to enjoy.  The girls performed the dance with smiles and poise while I proudly watched and took video and photos of their first Bellydance performance, of the first Bellydance performance in all of Pantasma, probably.  It was great!  They didn’t miss a single step, even after messing up several times during frustrating rehearsals at my house the previous week.

My little Bellydancers!

After they finished I hooted and hollered, causing everyone to awkwardly stare at me before realizing it was time for them to applaud the dancers.  Here people don’t really have the applaud etiquette that Americans have, and so sometimes the clapping is super delayed and doesn’t come until the dancers are actually leaving the stage.  It’s like they don’t recognize that when the music ends and the dancers stop that the dance has actually ended, and they need the prompt of the dancers actually walking away from the stage to start clapping for them.  So usually when I’m in large group situations and someone has just performed, I jump into applause at the appropriate time after a performance and that usually catches on quickly with the rest of the crowd.  But during the girls’ dance I had my hands full with my camera so I couldn’t applaud them right away, so I hooted and hollered until I could put my camera down to free up my hands, and that totally caught the audience off guard and they all turned their heads in surprise at this sudden uprising from the local gringa.  I didn’t care and wasn’t embarrassed or anything, I’m used to people reacting funny to me in crowd situations, and I was just so proud of the girls and their flawless dance performance that I had to shout out something!  It was a good moment, for them and for me. 

The happy dancers and teacher after a great show

I’m hoping that the impromptu dance performance during the 14^th celebration at the school will motivate the other girls in my dance class to perform someday.  I’m continuing to teach Bellydance every Saturday in the afternoon, and hope that it turns into something more.  Eventually I’d like to switch to hip hop or salsa or something a little more mainstream to attract more community members.  Maybe Thriller for Halloween?  We’ll just have to wait and see!