Fotos!

God bless professional photographers. They have a way of making regular folks like me look interesting, talented, maybe even kind of beautiful.

Take the photos from our December show. There were so many I liked, I ordered more than I had anticipated. Oh gawd, that sounds obnoxious, doesn’t it? It’s like saying, “OMG, I looked SO AWESOME in SO many, I HAD to order TONS!!” Ugh. Sorry. I really don’t mean it like that. What I mean is, the very-talented photographer was able to get some shots of me at those few moments when I wasn’t making an awkward grimace and my hands weren’t reminiscent of chicken claws. In other words, she captured on film a handful of shining moments when what I felt on the inside while I danced somewhat showed on the outside.

For example, let’s look at this first photo. This is from the fin de fiesta portion of the show. I love the goofy expression on my face. It says, “Yeah, I got attitude. Why? ‘Cause I’m feeling good that the show is over and I survived, and now I’m looking over my shoulder at my shaking booty ’cause I KNOW it looks good. Jealous?”

The second photo shows a totally different attitude. It’s more like, “You are mesmerized by the dance and hypnotized by my deep, intense gaze, no?” (I imagine this said with a Spanish accent …)

This last one is one of my favorites because I can see tension in my body but I can’t tell what the hell is going on with my expression. Am I going to laugh? Am I going to cry? I think it’s a little bit of both. This is from my solea por bulerias solo, which is like a four-minute, thrilling yet nausea-inducing emotional roller coaster ride for me. But that’s for another post.

It’s all a little embarrassing because I’m not good at hiding what goes on in my head and heart sometimes. I’ve got a crappy poker face. But hey, the pictures show exactly what’s going on inside me when I’m dancing, whether it’s good, bad or ugly. And for the most part, I think it’s fun to see.