Performing at the large gym on Aug 23, 2023, Me and Emily Torres dance Baja California for Back to School Night. After not being able to perform last year I was very excited and nervous. Overall, It was better than what I expected, I am now ready to perform in the future.

Music, steps, skirts, BAILE. Ever since I was 6, I’ve loved dancing and listening to music. My cousin and I love to choreograph our own dances. Not only that, my favorite game to play on the WII was “JUST DANCE”. I would become super competitive and aim for the score of “Perfects”. I would sometimes get upset when my cousin would beat me.The songs we danced to were mostly popular. 

Of course, you can’t dance without music. Depending on my mood, I like to listen to music, whether it’s in Spanish or English.

So, when I got the chance to join the baile class last year I jumped at the chance. Embracing my culture is very important to me, which is why I joined. Last year, I did not get to perform because a lot of people didn’t take the class seriously. A couple of us wanted to perform and put the effort into learning the choreography, so it was sad to see our potential go to waste.

This year I’m in the advanced class and I knew things were going to be different. There were some returners from last year and more people are putting effort into learning the choreography.  

This year I knew I’d get the chance to perform at Back to School Night. It took us less than two weeks to learn it as we were on a tight schedule. When learning the choreography, I struggled, yet everyone seemed to pick it up fast. I practiced everyday at home since I didn’t want to look bad during the performance. It took me a while to learn one of the steps. Sometimes I would get stuck in certain parts, but I kept practicing and I got the hang of it. .

We performed in the large gym for back to school night showcasing Calabaseados from Baja California. I was very nervous since it was my first time performing in front of a big audience. 

During our performance, I kept telling myself, “Please don’t mess up…”,  before performing, I even prayed to God. The floor was very slippery, which was something I wasn’t used to. I remember my heart pacing before going up on stage. It felt like my heart was going to explode. My arms felt like a river from all the sweat. I remember trying to keep it cool above the surface, but I was a nervous wreck. 

I was lucky enough to have my friend beside me, she really did calm me down. I heard the intro song and my best friend Emily and I walked out together as we greeted the audience. I gained confidence being next to her and seeing that she was calm helped me calm down. 

After the two dances, it wasn’t too bad, as I expected it would be worse. Hearing the crowd cheer us on made me happy. We did two songs and an intro. The intro wasn’t too bad as it was only walking around greeting guests, I really enjoyed it. 

The other two songs went really well. I didn’t mess up too much and I did good overall. 

I’m ready to see what the future holds in this class. I can’t wait to perform and wear the vestidos because we were unable to wear them for back to school night. We are working on a new choreography which is Aguascaliente. 

I hope I get chosen to perform again, but I wouldn’t be too mad if I don’t get picked as some people are more advanced than I am. But who says I won’t try and perfect it to be one of the ones up there and performing. I love and look forward to being in class everyday, since I get to learn more about my culture and I get to dance as well.