Friday, September 26, 2008 DANCE
Posted by me:) at 6:28 PM
Surprisingly, dance has actually played a major part in my life.. Never in the first 12 years of my life have i ever thought that one day, i can actually dance. Lol. It's this kind of stuff that happens in life which really surprises and stuns us. I was quite a huge fan of choir when i was primary 2 and being a choir member was my dream. Hence I became and had always been a member of the school choir in primary school, never good at sports nor anything got to do with performance. I was an introvert T_T.

Hence, i've never danced until i reached secondary school. I didn't get into the RV choir but the renowned River Valley Dance Society. Back then, it was one of the more prestigious cca in RV and (from what i heard) the better school dance groups in Singapore, thanks to our seniors. I was excited initially as i was introduced to this brand new thing and the dance 'Victory' put up by the dance seniors on CCA orientation day left me a deep impression. So i was this noob, who is excited and yet with no background. In our year, the majority of the newbies had dance background, i was part of the minority who had absolutely no idea what was ahead of us. I knew nuts about dance, not even stuff like first placement or demi pointe.

My very first dance instructor was 余老师 who taught us in secondary 1. He was very strict, and majored in chinese dance. I learnt my first 兰花指, 抛头转, 乌龙脚注( i have no idea if these are the right characters), 劈腿, 下后腰 and many more from him. I used to say that dance practices are torture, i take back my words now. They were indeed very mentally and physically tiring yet satisfying. We spent one year with him and he left due to his busy schedule. By then the dance mates whom i hanged out more with were those from my class.


苏老师 and 王老师 took over. The following year was a syf year and there were auditions for the syf item. Due to poor stamina, i often felt unwell halfway during the trainings. And of course, i didn't pass my auditions: i did not participate in the 2005 syf. Although i wasn't the only one but it impacted me quite a bit. I wasn't yet used to failures since my primary school life has been quite successful for me. Well anyway i was quite a big failure as a dancer. No coordination, no balance, no emotion and the severe lack of confidence. I got scolded many times by ms leong, who joined us not long after. (In total, we had three instructors.) I admired my seniors very much, they were (and still are) great dancers. I sort of gave up on myself during the period of syf, especially there wasn't much dance training with the ongoing syf.


Then came the turning point of my life. It started from the end of secondary two when i 误打误撞, got myself involved in SEAMEO, 41st SouthEast Asia Ministry of Education Council Conference first held in Singapore. It was a combined dinner performance with people from other schools and countries for the VIPs of various neighbouring countries. It gave me opportunities and showed me what i was capable of. We were picked randomly, seriously randomly for the performance. I had no idea why ms leong picked me but when she did, i was quite blur, especially since i wasn't wearing my glasses when i got pulled out. We trained frequently and had many rehearsals. I interacted with my first fans, the ones which gave me blisters and stuck many wooden splints into my fingers. It was like a training in disguise as i built up on my performance quality and the ability to pick up steps faster. I understood the need for constant training and that the things we pick up during such experience stay with you for life, just like the skill to swim or cycle. Hence, it became my first official performance, excluding the RV's 50th anniversary concert=) It boosted my confidence and helped me develop a passion for dance. I got to know jinghui, munhan,cheryl and jinhwee better, who have become some of my best and closest friends today.




The performers of seameo. We look erm...chinese.



So, the seameo performance led to a series of repeated performances of at least 7 times. Trust me, we counted as we became sick of it, despite slight changes made to the dance. But i got to know my friends better. Following up were other performances such as spanish dance, which was the horror of many and our very own teacher's day dance performance.


the most dreaded of all.





our very own by rv dancers'04.

Despite that, i was still quite reserved and didn't talk much during trainings. Well it changed when we were informed that we need to learn 'Anggun' with us as the lead dancers this time for an NUS performance! We, especially our batch of dancers learnt the whole dance purely on our own with the aid of the syf video and our memory. The numerous dance sessions bonded us very quickly and soon we became close friends, nearing that of a family, though it was more of among the girls. Under the influence of fellow dance mates, especially Dawn ( lol yes dawn, it's you) who is super lame, i became lamer each passing day. But it's a good thing in fact, it made me more sociable and happier.=)




Things got even better with the dance exchange trip to Shanghai-Suzhou. We learnt more dances, hung out with each other more often. One great thing the boosted our relationship was our commone interest in dance. We had so much fun during the trip. And i know that many of us still miss the trip even though it happened 2 years ago.





蝶颂





Anggun in Suzhou

Wanglao and the girls



Then we had our SYF 2007 which we clinched GOLD WITH HONOURS! The process of choreographing to tidying everything up was filled with sweat, tears, muscle aches, injuries, blood but yet fun and laughter. There was a period of time when we couldn't walk without pulling our aching muscles, and when we have to lower our butts slowly just to sit down. There are incidents when we injure myself( i was the worst i think). But it was all worth it=)) [Read my 26 january 2007 post for more information on my injury, with picture included!]




All in all, i think that dance has shaped me to how i am today. If i did not join dance in the first place, but choir, i think :


1. I'll still be as introvert as before. If you think i'm introvert now, i'm worse previously.

2.I definitely will look differently, perhaps not so muscular and skinnier than now.( dance builds muscle..).

3.I doubt i'll be wearing contacts now, since i first wore them because of dance performances. So most likely i'll still wear glasses to school everyday.

4.i'll walk in a different manner.

5.I wouldn't be as lame as how i am now.



And the list goes on.

Hence dedicating this part to my beloved dancers( both guys and girls), i really love you people! I'm so glad to know you all. They say that high school friends usually form the closest and more long-lasting friends in your life. I think i've found them=)And although we may be in different schools now, i'm sure and i hope that the distance wouldn't be much obstacle to us.We should catch up some time. Hearts<3>