Amani, ‘12

How’s it going, Prospectives?  I know many of you have recently been informed of your acceptance to UR and are brimming over with excitement!  Congratulations!  I’d say that you have definitely achieved a mark of distinction because every year the applicant pool becomes more and more competitive, and landing a spot at Richmond is no easy job.  Now, take a deep breath in and release it.  Don’t start stressing too much about making the right college decision.  It will come…it will come.

Lately, my stress has been preparing for our Ngoma Spring Concert.  It’s over now (it was this past Saturday), and I’m glad.  I love being a part of the company and really enjoy the people and the elements of African dance, but boy oh boy, last week was intense!  We had practice every night for about 2 hours or more—Friday night (the day before the show) we practiced from 8pm to 1am.  Yeah, intense, like I said.  And the next morning we had to practice from 9am to 12pm before returning at 5pm to practice and prepare until 7:30pm when the concert actually began.  So in a matter of 24 hours, I spent almost of that time practicing for our performance.  Talk about exhausting!

Nevertheless, at the time of the show, we had to muster up all of our energy.  Baba-D (our artistic director) told us, “I want you to take all of the energy that you’ve put into your dances all year and combine it, and that’s how much energy I want you to have at the show.”  Impossible?  Much.  Lol.  But we did put on “a phenomenal show” in the words of so many attendees.  It is surely an experience I will never forget—from straining my ears to hear the breaks played by the drummers to running to opposite sides of the backstage areas to hurriedly change costumes in between dances, from singing a chant by myself (and I’m no singer, mind you lol) to doing a dance solo (or duet, really).  I have never done anything like it, and that is part of the reason why I love it so much.  One spring concert down, three more to go.  Oh yes, I’ll be back. 

Enjoy your spring breaks that are coming up, but be safe!  And if you all ever have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact any of the Spider Diarists or the Office of Admissions—we are all glad to help you as you set out to make your choice of life and academia for the next four years.

Until next time…

Amani