30 Tahitian Dance Challenge

About a year ago, I saw this book at the local book store and decided to buy it. It had lots of ideas to make your life more interesting, and as simple as the pages are, they moved me to start taking more risks. Start paying attention to the little things. Be in the moment.

Before I even bought it, I saw this page and I even had to snap a picture just in case I was going to put it back in the shelf. Luckily my mother loved it too and bought it for me, because she knows sometimes I need to learn to get out of my shell and just live my life.

So with this page, I decided...to finally do something about stage fright. I think at this point I already started Tahitian Dance, because I loved dancing but also to help me get out of my comfort zone, but I never performed with them. After the hour of class was over, that was it.

I'm very clumsy and unlucky. I'm also VERY pessimistic. I'd always run the worst case scenarios in my head before doing anything because I've been embarrassed and failed so hard many times in the past before. I grew to become a prisoner of my doubts and fears, and oddly enough this page sparked something deep inside that said, "So what if my coconut bra falls off on stage during the routine? Yes! I'm going to expose myself (pun intended) to embarrassment. To risk." And yes, it was fun. I'm glad I trusted the person that wrote this book.

 Check out my instagram too for more pictures =)

@NIA_MAKI

Fast forward three performances and a year later, I'm sitting in this chair in the US... pareo's untouched for months since I left Japan, and along with it, my dance classes... Looking for tahitian dance classes in the tristate area was much harder than I expected, not to mention I have no car or license since driving was unnecessary in Tokyo (Can I also mention that driving is one of the other ideas I have?).

SO, my solution was I was just going to do it. Even by myself. No teacher? That's fine, I have the internet and many people on the other end of the computer that can give me pointers! That's one great thing about the youtube community and internet in general that I love. Even with the trolls and haters, there are still other good hearted people willing to offer tips and help each other out. You share what you know and learn things from different perspectives you would have never thought of on your own.

Another motivator was the tummy rolls and cellulite I started noticing the past few weeks... America!!! Curse you and your delicious food in large sizes that are cheap and easy to get in bulk... I guess milkshakes, fries and cookies everyday (or every other day) is going to catch up to you eventually... So it's time to get active, time to move and get those fa'arapus going!

I started my first practice on my own, and aside from getting out of breath every two seconds...I can't say I did much of anything haha! I couldn't remember all the dance routines much, and the drills were not very well structured, and I took lots of breaks... haha...

So let me know what what drill you think I should add, and what goals I should have for at the end of the 30 days. Some things I'm thinking about are holding a fa'arapu for x amounts of time, or mastering the duck walk. Any ideas and tips are very much appreciated, and my youtube videos with the intro an progress will be coming shortly. Also, you can follow me on instagram @NIA_MAKI , I'll be posting pictures and mini videos of the drills, progress, etc. so hit me up there too with motivation and help. Cause I need it ya'll lol!

"The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance."
-Alan Watts