One year, One bike, One dream: Una Actuación

Over the last week I have made friends with a few fellows from Segovia, Chus, and Filjo. I met Chus while he was slacklining in the court yard just in front of my school, and of course I could not pass up the opportunity to meet someone from Segovia who holds common interests with me. After a few days Chus invited me to help him run a performance that he and Filjo were putting on. At the time I had no idea what it involved, but being eager to get involved with the local culture I was all for helping out. The night before the performance I went with Chus and Filjo so they could show what it was I would be doing, and to my surprise I was to be controlling both the sound and light boards. I have never used a sound or light board so I had three hours to figure it out, I think a week would have been more sufficient, but I guess you gotta work with what you got. By the time the three hours had passed I had a general grasp on what I was to do, then only to have Filjo inform me that the dancer may change all the settings that we had just gone over and completely change everything I had just practiced...

The next day rolled around and I anxiously awaited the time I would meet with Chus and Filjo to head to the Pueblo called Perogordo, where the performance was to be held. I brought with me three of my friends from school, Chris, Megan, and Kerri, all of whom are very keen on separating themselves from the group of American students and actually getting involved with local Spanish culture. After taking a few wrong turns on our way to Perogordo, we finally made it around 8pm, and by 10pm we were ready to go with the community pouring into the little performance hall. The entire Pueblo showed up for the event, with a bustling 250-300 people in attendance. I had met with the dancer about 1 hour before commencement and had made the proper adjustments to her preferences, but I have to say with so many people there to see the production and my lacking Spanish abilities I was more than a little nervous.

The house lights went out and it was show time, Filjo and Chus provided entertainment in-between dances so that our dancer could change outfits between each song. The skits they had were hilarious and the magic awed the audience. The dances were more than amazing, each oriental dance featured a different view or aspect of African culture. The dancer (whose name in all the excitement I forgot) was born in Cameroon I believe, and was absolutely perfect in her presentation. There was a total of five dances, the last being a very exotic hand drum piece entitled "Vanaye," finishing with a drastic drop in lighting and a mountainous roar of approval from the crowd.

After everyone had cleared out we took down all the equipment and all had a drink together in celebration of a successful performance. I am very happy to have been a part of such a great experience.

On our way to Perogordo