Some notes and thoughts about my weekend away at Art of the Belly

1. This is an awesome festival that is well run and full of talent.  I heard about it via word of mouth, and wanted to pass it along for you to consider attending.
2. Festivals can be overwhelming.  I did the exact thing I was warned about when I first went to another East Coast festival, and signed up for a pile of classes.  But, I planned out lunch breaks, did not perform, and chose sleep over partying all night.  (Having a cold made those choices easier.)
3. Scouting around your location ahead of time makes #2 easier.  Knowing there was a kitchenette in the hotel and a small grocery run on the way there allowed me to stock up on essentials for my diet.  What I should have done was to also phone screen restaurants to find GF friendly options and to check for latex glove use.  (I am horribly allergic to latex.  Eating food prepared with them can send me to the hospital.  Thus, if they use the gloves, I have to eat heavily cooked foods, which also tend to be the ones with wheat.  Thank goodness one restaurant was really sympathetic and modified a dish for me!)
4. Take advice from Ozma's Costumes: take extra paper and pens to lend, say Hi to your classmates, and if you see someone in more than one of your classes, introduce yourself!  I made some new friends this way; and, making friends like this in a prior workshop was how I even found out about this festival!
5.  If you see a dancer after a performance, and you enjoyed his or her performance, say so!  And, introduce yourself!  You may make more friendships this way!
6. FAAAAAAAAAAAAAHTIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEM!  I spent 6 luscious hours with her over the weekend.  I swear: you can learn more from just watching where she places her big toe than you can in many other 6-8 week classes.  She is warm, and supportive, and wonderful.  If you know a teacher you love and don't have ready access to is teaching at a venue like that, go on and take several classes with them while they and you are there.  She built on concepts over the weekend, so it became more of an intensive and less of a workshop.
7.  Sometimes, it is wonderful to just study and watch.  I did not perform, which I think made the festival FAR more relaxing for me.  Instead, I was able to take in the bulk of the show.  (Some classes clashed with the show; but, you can't do everything.)  It is hard work to sit there for hours at a time when the show started at 12, you got there at 2, and it runs until 10.  This is where some planning ahead (see #2) can save you.
8. Support every dancer.  Every one!  There will be dancers whose nerves show, props that misbehave, costume issues, and even visible lack of rehearsals.  It happens at every show and it has happened to everyone of us.  Still, your smile in the audience may be the thing that reenergizes them.  My favorite thing about this festival was the lack of competitiveness and the incredible support each dancer showed the other dancers.  THIS is the type of event we should have.  If you want that experience, you have to create it by providing that support to others.
9. Ask questions without shame!  I ask a LOT of questions when I study, because I want to get as much out of the course as I can.  As Fahtiem said, "You paid for me!"  The question you have is probably shared by others.  And, people will probably come up and say that after class (more ways to make friends!).  Plus, it can help the instructor to grow in their teaching style.
10.  Sometimes, taking the same workshop a second time can be a worthy investment.  I confirmed this with at least 3 of the ones I took this weekend.  While the concepts were the same, the instructors had new exercises to drive them home, a new perspective on the topic, or a new way to convey the information.  Teachers (the good ones, at least) grow too.  You may be amazed at how they have grown since you last studied with them.