Expressions | Observation

Photography by Kendrick Vasquez, HGAB Studios

Makeup by Jennifer Rodriguez

I am obsessed with flow. This may be why I love Oriental Dance so much. When I first fell in love with the dance I also fell in love with the music. Not the glitter, not the costume, not the glamour. One of the first things I observed was the harmony between dancer and sound. My eyes, my heart, my soul observed it. Later during my studies, my mind, the intellect, understood it better. The way this particular process unfolded is something I deeply value and continue to learn from.

Arabic music can be extremely intricate. I will never stop learning about the nuances and expressions of the music and the culture it comes from. There is always something new and exciting or something already learned to enjoy again and again. It is so special. 

This art form has taught my senses how to observe harmoniously. It has taught my ears to listen to melodies and rhythms simultaneously, taught my body how to interpret them through the art of isolation and flow. It has taught my soul how to speak through motion, and my voice to communicate with compassion. It has taken me to places in the world I never would have dreamed of traveling to and given the opportunity to smell most delicious things so that they infuse with memory and resurface when I dance. It has taught me that my eyes gift me with illusion and that I should not always rely on what they see. 

To observe is to listen and it’s one of my biggest lessons I continue to learn in many different ways. There is no one way, there are no two same experiences.