Joline
Andrade
learned later that there were workshop opportunities at The
Tribal Massive. My troupe and I all sat down and looked
in to the possibility of going to The Tribal Massive, when
we realized that it wasn’t just workshops a-la-carte, but over
a week-long intensive training. That was when we almost
gave up on the idea of ever going. So, for the past five years
I continued to dream about going to MASSIVE, but that
dream seemed so far out of reach.
In the Spring of 2019, it was finally a reality for me to be
able to quit my day job to dance and teach full time. I also
thought, “If I am taking such a big step in my career, I owe
it to myself and my community to finally go to The Tribal
Massive and learn all that I can.” So with the encouragement
from my husband, my family, friends and students, I took
the plunge, invested in my dance education and registered
for the 2020 edition of The Tribal Massive Bellydance
Academy. None of my dance friends were able to go with
me so this was the first time EVER that I was going to
travel all on my own. This was also going to be the longest
trip away from home that I’ve ever taken in my adult life.
Up until the month before I left for MASSIVE I had never
even taken an Uber or Lyft ride. I was nervous beyond my
nerve capacity and my anxiety kept urging me to quit on the
idea. I ignored the negativity that bubbled within and I just
kept reminding myself why I was doing this. I hoped that I
could keep up, I would make a few new friends, learn a lot
of new things and network myself.
I arrived in Las Vegas the evening before the first class was
to start. Since it was my first year and I was traveling alone
I wanted to be as close to the events as possible so I spent
the extra money and stayed at Sam’s Town Hotel. That week
before I left I had been hearing about the Covid19 virus
and how it had made its way in to the U.S.A. I wasn’t too
worried about it because I had already received a lot of good
information from Tori (the event coordinator) about how
to stay safe, smart and sanitized. I brought a few face masks
34 The Belly Dance Chronicles � July 2020