The Vain Performer

Photo: Pia Monique Murray performing with TECLA. Photographer: Alex Reside.

Can you be a performer without some amount of vanity? Being a performer suggests people will be enriched by your presence.

Thinking about the next project. How can I enrich my audience every time I step on the stage?

I was nervous before my performance at Miss Al Boogie's EP Release Party at Cameo Gallery on Monday night. How would my Fela Suite: Lady contemporary afro-modern improv dance piece fit in with this elctro pop hip hop music show?

take off shirt. take off skirt. black sports bra. black bikers. red and green lapa on my waist. black scarf on my head. places! gotta start now. crouch low. head down. rise.

I heard people's approving whispers and my doubts faded. I hadn't danced this solo in two years. But I know the characters intimately. These women have things to say. They are always relevant.

Wow. She's amazing. She does African dance. This is beautiful. Woah.

So they do want to hear what I have to say. So it is worthwhile. So I am that good.