Moves & Sorts

Sometime early this year, I was invited to perform with Nanci and Nikki in Moves & Sorts @ the new Actor's Studio in Lot 10. It was a complete new eye opening experience for me, as it has been quite a while since I performed on a stage (the last was during my school days, 15 yrs ago *gasp* - does that count?).

I was quite reluctant, not only did I have stage fright, I didn't think I was actually qualified to perform after only about 6 mths of weekly classes with Nanci. However, Nanci thought otherwise. She asked several of us, whom she thought would be able to handle improvisation and in the end, only Nikki and I agreed. A DJ friend of ours, Mathieu, also agreed to mix the music live for us on stage.

I must say I didn't regret doing this a bit. Yes, I had the butterflies in stomach moments, worried sick that I'd drop the basket, or trip and fall flat on my face (the 3 scars under my chin are proofs of my history of clumsiness), but in the end, all was well. We had so much fun in the dressing room, and improvising to Matt's music on stage. Nikki and myself were especially self-conscious, and we were overly anxious about mistakes that we made while we were live on stage - but all that was put to rest the moment we saw the video my hubby took of us from the first of of audience. Frankly we didn't look too bad after all!

Anyway, that's just another entry to my life chapters. Just thought I'd share it with the world :)

Nikki, Nanci and myself at Actor's Studio performing in one of the slots of Moves & Sorts in Jan 2010

courtesy of Antradika Hamza

One of my favourite photos

courtesy of Antradika Hamza

If Only...

Somehow that seems to be a favourite word that hangs on everyone's lips these days.

If only you had started dancing 10 years earlier - that was the exact words that my dance instructor said today. Well, he's actually said it many times before, I just never thought about it seriously. So what if I had started dancing earlier? Would my life have been any different?

He is normally full of praises for me; well, when you are being compared to a group who are at least 2 to 3 decades older than you, you'll stand out, no doubt about that. He thinks that I have a natural talent for ballroom dancing, except that I'm lack of the energy compared to those who are a decade younger than me. Of course not forgetting to mention that I'm a married woman, and I won't be able to commit myself to a competitive level unlike those who are still a free spirit, or has a partner who dances professionally too.

Sets me off pondering, if I did start 10 years earlier, would I have pursued dancing on a competitive level? I doubt it. Firstly, I was very very shy before, and I cannot imagine myself dancing to close proximity with another person. Secondly, I'm simply too jittery. Anything that requires me to be under the observation and scrutiny of another being will simply turn my legs to jelly. And most importantly, that my parents would never have approved of me being a dancer, at least not 10 years ago, when people's perception of a dancer was rarely positive.

Frankly I'm happy with the level that I'm at now - as much as I wished for that extra energy that would have boosted my dancing, I'm simply glad that what I'm doing is in the right technique, and I don't feel the need to be competitive.

What's important is that I look good and feel good doing it. I'll dance as long as my feet can take it :)

SDI Exam Day

Good luck to all!

What have I been up to?

Just the other day my sis said that I've been very quiet with my blog lately. I must admit she's right. I could only blame laziness, procrastination and lack of inspiration for the silence. Somehow I wasn't in quite a mood to update anything. Why? Is it because I've nothing interesting to write about? Not really. Well, here's a quick summary:

1) A friend of Joyce's who owns Indulgence @ Tropicana City Mall asked if she could get her students to perform at their opening ceremony. Initially I thought it falls exactly on my mom's birthday, so I didn't agree to go. And I was roped in just the day before after realising the miscommunication! I simply didn't know any of the steps except for the primera copla of the Sevillana, but I participated anyway. Just hid myself in between the rest who were more well-versed with the steps but it's tough since I'm quite tall! :P Made quite a lot of mistakes throughout, but who cares? We had a great time! :)

Arte Flamenco students @ Indulgence, Tropicana City Mall

2) I took up swing dance classes with Ming from KLSwing. And coincidentally, just after 4 classes, Matt Bedell from NY happened to be in town and KLSwing organized a welcome party - the Matt Hatter's Tea Party @ Urban Attic. It was a blast! Both TW and I went as poker cards, while we also had Alice, sexy cats, cute bunnies and queens who could schwinggg! Check out their photos here!

3) While SS was back in KL sometime in July, we went for a cake decorating class at ICCA. It was supposed to be a 3 hours session but we end up spending close to 5 hours at the center! Both of us brought home 4 cakes each decorated with fondant. Haha... when we asked the rest of the family members to guess who decorated what... they immediately pointed out the correct ones! Wanna know why? :P

Mini wedding cake decorating class @ ICCA

4) Salsa Party @ Urban Attic was just last Friday. Organized by Niels and DJ Vicente from a Cuban band named Habana Revolution, it was a hot latin night. Lucky for me I managed to get TW to do a few merengues and simple salsa with me too. Thanks to the all supporting & encouraging friends out there :)

5) And since I'm so obsessed with dancing, I took up belly dance too *grin*! Nanci Traynor, who also teaches yoga is now conducting Tribal Belly Dance class at KLPAC. I really enjoy attending her class, and so eventhough I live miles and miles away from the studio, I didn't mind travelling there every Saturday during the busiest time of the day. It's a good thing that she always start the class with a Savasana pose first :D

6) I finally found the heart to throw away my collection of miniature bottles. They are at least 15-20 years old, probably even more, and some of the contents have already turned into a different colour, leaked out or simply deteriorated. Instead of continuing to keep them and add to my already unbelievable amount of collector's trash, I've decided to just keep photos of them instead.

A small sampling of my miniature bottles/samples collections

6) I completed my very first oil painting(s)! Hehe.. nothing complex... in fact I believe a 10 year old could come up with something better. Still, I'm proud of myself :) Details here.

7) My new blog, craftee guiri was launched sometime last month. It's dedicated to all my crafty moments and my passion for DIY gifts. I thought it was best to have a focused craft blog rather than cramping everything in here. Now you know why I've been so quiet :P I can't split myself into 2~!

OH dear...and I still haven't updated anything about my last Europe trip yet. Bummer.

SDI Exam 2008

I finally got my hands on my flamenco exam certificate last Friday. It was an early Christmas gift. Yep! I passed my SDI Preparatorio Level, together with Clea, Sania and Manuela. Now that it is over and I have completely forgotten about how nervous I was, I must agree that the entire exam had been fun. All of us were dressed up in standard black leotards, flamenco skirts, with our hair neatly bunned and adorned with a large flower.

As we got closer to the exam (which was on Nov 13, 2008), Joyce organized extra classes for additional practices. Although Joyce insisted that we were doing fine, we were all quite tensed and worried (who isn't?). But what I have appreciated most about having taken the exam is my speed of improvement within a short period of time. Somehow I guess its a human's nature that we can sometimes be too comfortable with our current positions. If things like exam never existed, we would never push ourselves to our maximum potential.

Nicola, our examiner was really sweet. At the end of the exam, she gave lots of pointers to all the exam candidates which I found to be very useful, eventhough it was clearly basic information. She also gave a workshop on Alegrias, which was difficult for us Preparatorios, but nonetheless of great fun. Once Fernando asked me, "Is your flamenco teacher Spanish?". He was quite skeptical about a non-Spanish teaching a Spanish dance but I told him I have a great teacher, and of her being Spanish or not was not of importance, I simply wanted to dance only!

Hopefully next year I'd be able to complete my Primer level too!

A Chance to Rub Shoulders with Bryan Watson & Carmen Vincenlj

BW & CV fans in Malaysia had their chance to meet the 9 times World Champion in Latin Dance (1999 - 2007) yesterday evening. The couple mesmerized us with their Paso Doble, Cha Cha, Samba, Rumba and Jive. We weren't allowed any videography during the performance but at least Sharon, Peggy & I managed to get an up-close photo with him! :D

Wuuuaahhhhhhh..... :D

A wonderful 1h 15mins dance performance by Iberica de Danza!

The cast of Iberica de Danza who performed at KLPAC

Estupendo!

Spent 3hrs + at KLPAC today with a bunch of Spanish dance enthusiasts. We started with a group of about 30, but as the workshop progressed, little by little started to quit. It was a little tough for those who have virtually no background in spanish dance at all. It was very difficult for me too, but I stayed put....after all, we were there to have fun!

The workshop was organized by the Spanish Embassy and conducted by Iberica de Danza to promote Spanish culture in Malaysia. Yesterday they had the beginner's workshop, but the timing clashed with my arrival from Brisbane so I couldn't make it. I was hesitant to attend today's advance workshop but I'm glad I went ahead with it! :D

We started with a warm up, brazos (arm movements), pies/zapatos (tapping action with the feet), castanets, and then to Sevillanas!!!!! It brought back so many good memories from Spain. We did the primera copla, which I did quite alright, I think. And for the segunda and tercera I just screwed up.... ha ha ha. We didn't have time to do the fourth one, but it was fine. Don't think I'd be able to remember all of them anyways.

The last half an hour we were introduced to a Galician dance, a fun folkloric dance from the northern-west part of Spain. It looked easy yet so tough! I guess its best to leave it to the experts to do it :D They will be performing tomorrow and on Tuesday....and I got free tix to watch them... Hoooraayyyyyy!!! Hopefully I'll get to see them in the backstage too :)

Photo 1 - From L to R: Olivia, Joyce, Raquel Ruiz (Iberica de Danza), Me
Photo 2 - From L to R: Me and Manuel Segovia (Iberica de Danza)

MYOS**, Uncle!

Sorry, seriously I hold no grudge whatsoever against vertically challenged people. But this uncle at the dance studio really gets on my nerves.

I would normally avoid partnering with him, due to height problem (it's really difficult dancing with a guy whose stature barely reaches your shoulders). But that is not the main reason why I'm avoiding him. He likes to correct other people's mistakes. Mind you, I'm not all high and mighty and refuse to take advices from veterans, but first look at yourself and see if you are the one who needs correcting in the first place. It's always, "You should be doing this, you should be doing that, don't take such big steps, I can't keep up, blah blah blah". Unfortunately today there weren't many guys around to partner with, and I got stuck with him :S

I am probably just a little too tensed as we are now in the midst of getting ourselves ready for the upcoming ISTD Gold Star Latin exam. Being such a scatterbrain, I really don't know how I'm going to remember the choreography for 5 dances!

Nonetheless, there is no way I am going to partner with him again in future classes. NO WAY!

**Mind Your Own Steps

Flamenco Workshop

I had a great time this morning at Cyberjaya Community Club with Angel in a Flamenco workshop organized by Joyce and Arte Flamenco. I must say he is really entertaining and fun to work with. I've lost count but there were probably about 30 flamenco enthusiasts present that day, fully geared in their beautiful flamenco skirts, flowers to adorn their hair (ladies only of course) and flamenco shoes.

The techniques session lasted about 2 hours, and then we had a nice buffet lunch at the cafeteria. The intermediate and advance bailaoras (and bailaor) stayed for the advance choreography, and there are some of them who stayed just to watch. Unfortunately I had to leave to the airport to pick up my sis who was coming back from Brisbane so I didn't get to see the second half. :(

Here's a short video on what happened this morning (nope...I'm not in it, have to hold the camera!)

Arte Flamenco

Had my first flamenco class today with Joyce from Arte Flamenco Malaysia. Finally got the chance to use those shoes I bought almost 2 yrs ago! I know its a little absurd buying something that I don't need at that time, but I know I'll definitely find a use for it :D Also my flamenco skirt... muahahaha...

This preparatorio class is relatively small at the moment, with only 4 students including myself. Overall I enjoyed the session a lot, as it brought back a lot of good memories from Spain. Let's see how long I can last in this class :P

Workshop with Glen Tierney

I know I've been rather quiet lately, apologies to all my reader's who has been keeping a close tab on my blog. Nope, I haven't got MIA (missing in action), just a little full on my daily schedule. With my wedding reception dinner moving closer, I realise there are so many things that I have not done, despite having the luxury of 1 year's preparation.

Anyway, that aside, I just got home from Glen Tierney's dance workshop (Waltz & Tango) at YS's studio. His class was really fun to be in and though it contained only very simple and basic information, I find myself learning a lot just within that 2 hours. TW joined the workshop at gunpoint (well, almost), but he found it to be beneficial as well. Glen emphasized a lot on the posture as well as the right footwork (which TW was weak in). Throughout the 2 hr session, he switched from one partner to another and corrected our weak points. It was really nice to know when he commented that I was very comfortable to dance with.....ha ha ha... probably because he is just at the right height for me and me for him. :)

A pity the workshop only lasted 2 hours. But if he ever comes to Malaysia in future, I'm definitely going to attend his workshops again!

Two Left Feet - Part 2

Judy, my ballroom dance instructor, suggested that I participate in the Malaysia Team DanceSport Championships 2007 in the Beginner's category on the 28th of April. Hah, what a joke! She said that I am qualified, just need a little touch-ups here and there. On top of that, I don't have to search for a dance partner; TW is readily available now that he is taking dance lessons with me. Yeah, right.

He had to be at gun-point to take up dancing, and now what? Competition? He'd rather have me shoot him. Ke ke ke..... of course I have to be fair too.... my knees shudder even at the mention of the word, so how can I compete? I got myself 2 tickets instead - to support and cheer for Hazel who will be competiting in both the Latin and Ballroom Category D. All the best, darling! :)

Two Left Feet

After more than 6 months of absence, I resumed my dancing lessons with YS Dancesport. "Thanks" to YS who regarded highly of my abilities, he suggested that I join the Advance group.

In the 1st hour (latin technique) I was struggling to keep my balance on the 2 1/2 inch heels; I had been on flats most of the time for the past 6 months since I had to do a lot of walking. Lucky for me, I regained by stability at the end of the class, though the ball of my feet had began to hurt a little.

The 2nd hour was tough. Everyone else was already well versed with the Group 1 and Group 2 sequence for the Cha cha cha, and was learning the new Group 3 sequence, while I was completely in the dark and tried to mimic whatever I could. However, after dozens of double spin turns and open hip twists, my knees and ankles couldn't take it anymore. I was thrown off balance everytime I had to make a second spin turn. My partner had to remind me to keep my feet close each time I make a spin - if only it was that easy!

Nonetheless, I enjoyed the 2 hours lessons a lot (although I end up walking like a duck immediately after). It feels so good to be back there again! Will have my ballroom dance lessons this Sat, really looking forward to it.