Moving closer to the performance for culturama, the dance leaders requested to have additional rehearsals after school and on the weekends as we needed to finish adding in formations to the dance. For me, this was quite challenging as I already had commitments outside of school such as training and coaching for rock climbing that I could not miss. Not to mention, there were also a lot of tests and IA’s at the time that needed to be completed for numerous subjects. This added quite a bit of stress to normal school days as I was struggling to maintain a balance between schoolwork and CAS requirements.

However, by using the time I had in my frees efficiently and effectively – I managed to work on my assignments, which saved me time after school that I could use to commit to culturama practices and rock climbing. Through this, I managed to develop good skills in time management and prioritization, planning out the week and assigning specific dates that I would need to complete my work by. As a result, I was able to meet the deadline for my psychology IA instead of requiring an extension.

With regards to the culturama performance, our dance leaders exaggerated the importance of having a lively expression and presence on stage so as to reflect the nature of Brazilian Samba dance and music. Over the course of the practices, I was able to build additional self-confidence and set a target for myself to enhance my expressions each time, making them bigger and bigger. This helped to really embody and portray the essence of the Lambada dance, not only through my movements, but through my facial expressions.