The lessons that I encountered at LUME on a artistic and personal level brought light into many areas of my life. Never mind "the Americans" who only spoke English and had limited understanding, the generosity given by of those who translated for us was heartwarming in addition to the gestures of welcome and overextending accommodation.

What I found wonderful about LUME was the careful thought that went into the whole workshop experience: the ability to buy lunch and dinner in the kitchen, the nightly demonstrations, the parade/carnival, the desire to include the larger community, the chance to perform something/anything. Most of this came as a surprise for me since I only expected to attend the workshops and bought my plane ticket with this understanding.

The second workshop with Naomi was more difficult for me...There might have been a few reasons for this one being the language barrier...but as earnest as I was to learn LUME's method I don't believe I started to understand until more towards the second half of the workshop. I learned about the "personal dance" and bit more about the history of the method which was very helpful for me to enter into the work. I learned many things from Naomi, Her class challenged me and took me beyond my limits which honestly have never been tested before in that way. I learned that confusion should not allow you to freeze as a performer and you should take that and use it, take it and discover something new and use that to express. Make it a part of your life experience and put it in your tool box. A performer is a vessel that molds and expresses and shares their emotions, their body, their ideals, their thoughts, their world view...with playfulness and openness.

- vanessa

Then there was one.

Galen left on February 24th and to be honest I miss him. I like traveling with him. He is fun and it is nice to have a melancholic comrade. I try to tell myself that I´m not a meloncholic person. But I am. It is good to be reminded of who we are. As far as where I am... I am in this beautiful paridise... Natal. North East Brazil. On the Coast.

The beach is strewn with tourists and I hate it. I also love it because it means that it is a little safer than living in the city or one of the suburbs and I can go out at night without as much fear of being robbed. (I only say this because every local I talk to warns me of this) I try not to think about it too much, because as much as I believe it is great to be aware of your surroundings, I also believe that you manifest what you are thinking about. So if I am worried all day about getting robbed the moment I step outside, I probably will. Needless to say, so far so good. In a few days I will travel South and make my way back to Sao Paulo for my plane ride back home. I have posted a ton of photos on flickr. here´s the link... http://www.flickr.com/photos/34326624@N02/ it is completely out of any sort of order and I have not had a chance to do much cleaning up. I still have more to upload, but I have spent as much time in this internet hut/tattoo parlor than I can handle. The electronica is nice, but it is time to go.