Cultural Festivities on the National Mall

I was reminded this week of how lucky I am to live in DC. I got to go to 2 events on the National Mall and see/do things thousands of other people travel from faraway to experience.

Thursday (aka Independence Day)
I spent the first 9 hours of the day finishing the research for my final paper (and doing laundry and Pilates), then dressed myself in patriotic colors and met up with Britt and some other friends in the shadow of the Washington Monument. Our friend Mark had been there since 7:30am that morning staking out our spot for the fireworks but by the time we got there around 7:30pm, it wasn't even that crowded! We hear terrible things about the crowds but there was still lots of free green grass to sit on and the Metro wasn't overcrowded. Too bad the Washington Monument had ugly scaffolding on it.

The fireworks were spectacular. They were between us and the Lincoln Memorial. I don't think I've been that close to fireworks before - it definitely added to the experience to feel the boom in my chest whenever they were launched!
Friday
Worked on the outline for my paper and then went to The Salsa Room w/ Doug. It was the first time wearing heels and dancing in 3 weeks since I sprained my toe at my last Broadway jazz class. So grateful it is healing. Glad I found a new salsa buddy! Hopefully he doesn't move away soon like all my other dance friends!

Saturday
Wrote the intro to my paper (yay, big progress!) and went to an intermediate jazz class at Joy of Motion Dance Center w/ Andrea as part of our audition preparation process (see blog post). We were nervous/excited and had no idea how hard it would be. The teacher was incredible; we could tell he'd had years of professional dance experience. He went through everything super fast and we struggled to keep up. My ballroom background did NOT prepare me for this new vocabulary of dance, linguistically and physically. I took an intro jazz dance class at BYU, but that was about 4 years ago. I kept turning to Andrea and saying, "Please tell me the audition routines are easier than this!" because she went to one of the prep classes and learned the first audition routine. Good thing I have a few more dance classes before auditions this Saturday; and I'm only going to the beginner level ones from now on! (this pic was taken before the class started - still non-sweaty haha)
After the class, I stopped by the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall for the last hour before it closed. I was sad I didn't have time to volunteer like I did last year (I hadn't started grad school yet; see blog post). I'm so glad I went. It was a great interactive cultural experience :) There were 3 themes:

One World, Many Voices: Endangered Languages and Cultural Heritage
I didn't really learn about any language, they were mostly general cultural display/discussion. I asked this guy to teach me some rhythms on the punta drum - so fun! I've been wanting to learn how to play the conga drums, but I'll have to find a place to practice first (where I won't disturb the neighbors or roommates).

Hungarian Heritage: Roots to Revival
There's alot of dancing in Hungarian culture! Like this 1st pic of a wedding processional dance, and the 2nd pic of a community circle dance. It reminded me of my intro folk dance class at BYU; we learned alot of Eastern European dances.

It was fun trying to get up on those stilts. The little kids were much better at it; when I finally got balanced on both legs, I could only stay long enough for a some nice father to take a picture. Then I gave the stilts back to the kids haha.

The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity
This was the theme I was most looking forward to, but it turned out to be the smallest and I didn't catch the fashion show (just this picture pose). Disappointing :(

I'll definitely have to give myself more time to explore and participate in the festival next year!

God bless America