Burning Up…

Whenever my dance professor and I are in Mali, we gather in the mornings on the roof of our home with master drummers and celebrated dancers to learn and record rhythms and dances. It’s always a humbling and inspiring affair–not to mention an exhausting workout for the mind, body, and spirit. Until I first danced in Mali, I never knew that sweat could literally fill buckets. It’s always a relief when we’re chased inside by the overpowering heat of the noonday sun. “In Malian culture,” my dance teacher likes to remind me, “the ideal is always to burn with passion on the inside, and remain cool on the outside.”