On Heavy Rotation

Our halau has about five more weeks to go before our ho'ike. We have five numbers to perform. It sounds like a lot (at first, that's what I thought), but it's not so bad now. I won't lie and say that the routines are easy. I struggled with one kahiko in particular. I tried to write out the foot work and draw the hand motions, which, to someone else, would look like hieroglyphics. It just takes too much time to do, especially by myself. It's easier to watch someone dance while I scribble the dance on paper. And even with the notes in front of me, I get cross-eyed trying to read and dance at the same time. However, our kumu shared with us his method of learning the dances--by memory. Just understand the words and feel the music. Lately, I've been trying it, and it works. I have a CD of our songs performed by Kumu, and I have it playing in my car, on repeat. It keeps me company during my commute to work as I run the routines through my head. And the thing is, I'm not tired of it. I really want to do my best because I've never been so excited about hula before. Ever. Last night during class, I was smiling my way through the hula 'auana and ori Tahiti routines (like how we're supposed to) because I was having fun. I just hope my smile didn't look cheesy. Dancing and holding a smile for three minutes straight without looking cheesy is not an easy task.