Practicing what I preach
When I teach hula, I tell my students, "Practice facing a wall with an 'audience' - pictures of folks smiling at you, or a shelf of Beanie Babies, dolls or other stuffed animals. And I practice what I preach. Just ask the Monkey.
Hula as a performance art
Hula always was a performance art, from the earliest of times, and all students need to pretend, from time to time, they're dancing for a crowd. Some never want to do shows; they dance hula strictly for personal enrichment, and that's fine with me. But when you practice before a "pretend" audience with supportive, smiling faces, this imaginary "show" sometimes inspires a dancer to put a little more spirit into her practice.
Smiles, everybody!
So, I tell my students to practice facing a wall, because walls and corners guide a dancer in hitting her marks when the choreography goes beyond simple steps from side to side. And facing an audience of smiling people - or animals - is encouraging.
...and a Monkey!
And, just to prove to the students I mean what I say, I began putting photos and smiling stuffed characters onto a shelf my haumana face while in class. And, the Monkey, who is a big fan of my hula classes, decided to hop onto the next shelf up, just to get a better look at their performance!
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