Dance life

My neck is stiff, my back is hurting, my legs are sore, and my feet feel swollen.  That’s right; I just got back from the weekend dance convention, Coastal Dance Rage with some of the most popular former dancers and choreographers from So You Think You Can Dance. 

Our first class was with Nico, Canada’s first SYTYCD winner, and he taught us contemporary jazz.  In all honesty I remember liking him and enjoying his dance, but I can’t remember much about his class because it was at eight in the morning and we’ve learned almost ten dances since then.  I loved Nico, and voted for him all the time last season, but he never had the same friendly and lovable personality some of the other dancers/choreographers had so he’s easy to forget sometimes. 

Blake is unforgettable on the other hand.  His dance, and the song we danced to, keep replaying in my mind.  He has an in your face attitude, and he can come off a bit strong sometimes, but if your keep trying, you’ll get it.  Blake walked into the room, got on stage and started teaching.  Even though it was fast, and hard to keep up with, in the end his dance was our favorite.  As soon as the song came on, I took the night by Chelley, we all just got it.  

Bobby Newberry, our next choreographer, has a very similar style, only his choreography was a lot more intricate.  After struggling for a while most of us managed to get the gist of it, and it ended up being a really fun class as soon as we stopped thinking bout the details and just had fun.

Shannon, Blake’s sister, was our contemporary teacher, and she likes to throw her head around a lot.  The entire ballroom seemed to be in pain the day after her intense head rolling choreography, but asides from the pain it was a really great piece.  I loved doing it, even though I knew I looked like an idiot it just felt nice to throw myself around and be emotional because it’s something I don’t do a lot.  

Twitch, runner up in season four’s SYTYCD was the best teacher of the weekend, and I’m so happy to see that his personality is just as personable and genuine as it appeared on TV.  He went really slowly with us, and broke each movement down, so we could get his hip hop routine even if (like me) we weren’t very gangster. 

Benji on the other hand…the winner of season two’s American SYTYCD, was my least favorite teacher.  He had great personality on the show, and even though I didn’t like him and was upset he won, I respect his dancing and I knew he won because of his great personality. He has a great personality, and every time he wasn’t teaching he was funny, and nice, and charming, but as soon as he started teaching he was harsh and aggressive and too fast, especially since the style he was teaching was completely unfamiliar to all of us.

Francisco, an amazing ballet dancer, taught us ballet the second day.  I feel a little bad for him because people don’t want to be doing ballet in a convention, but he’s an unbelievable dancer and I’ll never forget his tour jete. 

Asides from the celebrity teachers we had a few famous assistants in a few of our class, including Cody and Taylor, two of the dancers from this season’s Canadian version of SYTYCD who’d been eliminated.  There was also Melanie M who’d been eliminated just last week from the show assisting too, but she never assisted any of our classes. 

Even though I’m in a lot of pain the weekend was unbelievably fun and it’s worth the stiff neck.   

Today, my close friend Tanya Perks is having an operation.  While she’s lying in bed still groggy from the medication I want to remind her, and let everyone else know, what an amazing person she is.

Tanya is a great dancer (who’d been on the Junior Funk team longer than anyone else) and an even better friend.  I’ve never met someone so open and sharing. Tanya is dedicated and devoted to her friends and dance, and her compassionate personality is a source of happiness and comfort to the entire dance team. 

Tanya is getting an operation today to remove her bunions.  I guess all of Tanya’s dance and tight point shoe work didn’t help her feet.  Today, at the age of nineteen,  Tanya has painful bunions on both feet.  When she began experiencing severe discomfort she stopped wearing her pointe shoes in ballet.  Even though she had been off pointe the entire year at dance, for some reason Tanya wanted to wear her pointe shoes at the big end of the year shoe.  A mix of determination and denial took over Tanya, and let’s just say that she was in a lot of pain at the end of the dance.  Even though she knew it would hurt her, she wanted to be strong and push past the pain to dance with all she had. 

Tanya is inspirational.  She’s is always there for everyone, when they’re down or when they just need a laugh or a place to hang out on the weekend.   

I’m glad Tanya is finally doing something for herself and fixing her problem.  I wish her the best of luck on her road to recovery and I know myself and all her other friend will be there by her side everyday.  She won’t be dancing for several weeks, but I know she’ll be the life of the team as per usual when she’s back at dance and feeling better.    

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Tomorrow’s the day of the So You Think You Can Dance Canada auditions in Montreal.  Even though I’m not auditioning myself I’m still really excited for everyone who is.  The best part of the audition process (that we get to see on TV) is when you recognize a dancer you know. Last season I recognized Justin Jackson, an amazing tap dancer who I’ve seen in countless competitions over the years. This year I’m hoping to see Jamie, who’s representing our dance school Cameron.  I can’t wait to see the Montreal auditions, and I hope that tomorrow goes well, not only for Justin and Jamie, but for everyone. Good luck guys, and I hope you have a blast!

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Ola! I’m starting to miss you all more and more, but I’m having a great time here just relaxing and trying not to worry about anything back home.

A few nights ago Connie and I went to another one of the shows they put on each night.  This time it had some sort of theme going, I thought it was west side story because it used the same music, but then it turned out to be more of a rich people vs. street gang type thing.  Rich girl falls in love with random guy from other group and her bf fights for her.  It was very cheesy, and the dancers did a lot more awkward acting than was necessary in my opinion.  At one point the two groups were fighting and they were throwing tires at each other (random prop eh?) and it went on for a good minute…no dancing just throwing tires (it seems like they forgot the point of what they were doing) until one guy got hit in the stomach with the tire.  Haha. The whole time there was this one girl (she was really tall but that’s a completely useless fact) who did nothing but stand in the background as an extra.  She tried to dance (in the back of course) but she didn’t seem happy about it.  It was just funny, the music, the acting, the not so much dancing, the lip singing (where they just stop mid word), basically the whole thing, but I enjoyed it for all of those reasons.

The next day (yesterday) was our typical day in the Dominican. Wake up, eat breakfast, sit by the beach, sit by the pool, read, drink lemonade, eat pizza for lunch, swim, sit by the pool some more, finish my book, go back to the hotel and get ready for supper, take a nap, go to supper, then go to the coffee place after diner.  This is our daily routine, but yesterday while we were in the coffee shop it was raining.  Dad wanted to get a drink in the lobby before we went back to the hotel to watch American Idol and maybe avoid walking home in the rain.  As we were sitting, Dad and Connie sharing a cigar, it started to pour.  Thunder, lighting, the whole bit, as we were sitting in the hut of a lobby.  The rain started whipping us in the face since we were sitting close to the edge, but there was no where to move to.  Rain started pouring in the unfinished roof of the lobby flooding it (the poor guy with a mop didn’t know what to do). The ground was wet the seats were soaked everyone was huddled close together trying to avoid the rain while taking pictures of it to prove to their friends back home that it was really that bad. 

It was 8:00, so we decided to make a run for it back at our hotel, it didn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon.  The water went up to our ankles on the ground outside, it was pouring from the roof of the buffet as we try to dog the downpour.  It reminded me of the rides at waterparks where the water is pouring straight above you and you try to steer your tube the other way but you go right into it, head on, soaking yourself.  Well we were soaked, screaming and laughing as we ran splashing in the dark back to our hotel.  We get back, dry off, and watch American Idol (go Kris).  Then we go to sleep and start our whole routine over again today.   The only exceptions today are that we played beach volleyball and went to the restaurant Wasabi where I ate Japanese food for the first real time.

When people hear that I am a dancer one of the first things they ask is if I will try out for So You Think You Can Dance.  Of course it would be a great opportunity and a lot of fun, but it just isn’t me, and I know a lot of other dancers who feel the same way.  I love dancing, but I’m not a soloist, I’m a group dancer.  I’m part of a team and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

This weekend was the CanDance competition and we did fantastically.  At the competition, and a few others this season, I realized how close we are as a team.  

Our first dance was ‘500 Miles’, a dance which requires a lot of energy and endurance.  By the last minute of the dance we’re usually all exhausted, but this time everyone seemed to find an extra boost of energy…everyone except me.  I was having a great time dancing when my energy started to drain.  I started to think too much and I could see my kicks going lower and I felt incapable of pushing myself that extra amount.  I came off stage disappointed in myself and I looked around to see all my team mates smiling.  My teacher said it went well, my parents and friends said it went well, and I was the only one it seemed who didn’t feel it went well.  Because everyone was so happy about the dance their enthusiasm rubbed off on me, and within minutes I was raving about the dance too, almost forgetting about my lack of energy.  

Our next dance was ‘Maestro’, a dance where the intermediate and senior dancers are combined (giving the dance a total of almost 20 dancers).  It is such a fun dance to do because it allows a lot of expression and personality to shine through.  I felt great while dancing it, I committed myself to it and I managed to finish the dance without any mistakes.  I came off stage ecstatic looking around smiling to see the reactions of my peers.  My best friends were mistake free like me, but when we met up with our teacher she said that she’d never seen so many mistakes in that dance before.  I looked around and realized that people were less than satisfied with their performance, and it made me feel bummed out, not because I was disappointed in them, but because I felt like I did badly as well.  We’re a team and if a few people don’t perform to their potential even though we’re supportive and understanding, we still all feel it as if it were our mistake. 

So this weekend, even though we did extremely well (winning Platinums, Golds and special awards) the way I felt about each dance was a direct reflection of what everyone else on my team felt. 

I’ve spent the entire night trying to write an essay on poetry, as a source of inspiration I dusted off my ipod, charged it up after half a year of being dead and unused and started listening to all my old songs.  Wow. It’s so weird to listen to my obscure mixture of emo and aqua songs.  Anyways, we all know the feeling of listening to our old favorite songs.  This Coheed and Cambria song reminds me of old times singing and dancing in the basement.  It’s sad experiencing something that used to be so important, it’s concrete evidence of how much I’ve changed and it always makes me sad…which is a reason I never listened to my ipod. 

On the weekend my boyfriend was in the mood to watch Rocky Horror for some strange reason.  I have an aversion to Rocky Horror in the same way I have an aversion to my ipod.  I used to be obsessed with it, and I would watch it multiple times a week.  I thought it was fun, and I liked that a movie this random even existed.  I guess I killed it though because now whenever someone mentions the movie’s name I try to casually dismiss it.  Well as my friend and I were preoccupied my boyfriend slipped in the movie and it started playing.  Despite my hesitance I really enjoyed it.  Of course we only watched the singing and dancing scenes (because no one likes to watch Rocky Horror from start to finish it’s too mind numbing). 

As I was watching the Time Warp scene I remembered how much I loved the movie.  I love the costumes, the hilarious fat girl on the floor at the end of the scene, and the super long pause in the middle of the word ‘anticipation’. 

It’s a weird time of the year right now I guess.  I’m looking back and forward at the same time.  I’m listening to old music and watching old movies but I’m thinking about this upcoming summer and dance events.  I have a little over a week before I’m free from school and I won’t have to choose between homework and writing my blog…I always choose blog anyways… 

For those of you who read my last blog and were wondering where the cheesy burst of pride and emotion towards my team and school came from, it was because I was presented with a bursary for being a dedicated and hard working dancer from my school but I was trying to keep it a surprise from my family (who hadn’t heard the news yet) while still showing the school how much I care.

Every year my dance show presents a few bursaries to deserving students who have shown their passion and commitment throughout the year.  Days before the show my friends and I all make out guesses as to who will win.  This year we were sure we had it right…but like always we were surprisingly wrong.  My best friends have both gotten the bursary in the past, Natasha got it last year, and Michelle the year before, but I never believed I could win it like them.  The day before the awards would be announced (at the May Show) Michelle texted me and wrote:

Hey, I was just thinking about the bursaries last night and I realized YOU could totally get one this year!

I denied it, and convinced her I couldn’t win so I wouldn’t get my hopes up, but she still planted the idea in my mind. At the end of the show they announce the winners.  Each winner gets an introductory explanation, but even when I heard my teacher describing me: always entertaining, never know what to expect in class…I still couldn’t believe I could win a bursary.  Standing up their holding my trophy I felt so proud of myself. 

During the dress rehearsal my friend Tanya and I were talking about how neither of us believed we could ever win an award from the school.  We decided that next year we would really dedicate ourselves to dance and the school so we could have a chance of winning the bursaries together.  We said next year would be our year.  Well, right after I won the second bursary, my teacher announced that there was a special award for a loyal dancer who holds the team together…and Tanya won.  This year was our year, and it couldn’t have been more perfect.

Thank you for a perfect year, and I can’t wait for next year!

It’s funny how a single dance show can mean something different to everyone. It takes dozens of people to organize a show, hundreds bring the dances to life, and hundreds more to watch it.  Each of these people experience this one show in their own way. Those who organized it watch with nervous anticipation from the wings to see if all is going well.  For those with an excess amount of dances the show is a blur of sweat and stress. For those loving parents in the audience it’s a few minutes of pride bundled with hours of mild entertainment.

I find it kind of funny how this show can be so important to one person and just another way to pass the time for another.  I always here my family complaining about the length of the show, but the show seems to fly by for me.  This was the most exciting and fulfilling May Show I’ve ever been a part.  I’m really proud of myself and all the other dancers in the show and I just want everyone who was part of the show, or who is part of my blog to know that this show is more than just a simple dance show.  The girls who dance competitively know that the show isn’t as nerve racking as the dance competitions we got to, but the show is just as important because this is the only time our team is more than just a team, we’re part of the whole school.  I’ve never been so proud to be a Cameroner.

Yesterday I had the dress rehearsal for my dance school’s annual end of year show.  When I was younger I remember coming to the school in my costume, waiting with my friends, then performing my dance and leaving.  When I started taking more dance classes dress rehearsal became a little more intense.  The problem was, my best friends were assistant teachers, so they had to be backstage helping their students for almost the entire dress rehearsal. While they were constantly being productive, I was constantly waiting to perform my next dance without anyone to really talk to.  I looked around at my friends talking with the little kids they teach and I always felt left out.  I was never an assistant at my school, and the one time it ever bothers me is during dress rehearsal.  I wish I could be such a good role model to the young dancers at our school. I wish I could help out the way my friends always do.  All I wanted to do was be back stage and be part of all the action like my best friends instead of sitting next to my costume bag talking to anyone else who was as bored as me. 

This year I had more dances than ever before because I was one of the characters for the show’s theme, so I finally got to be part of the backstage action.  I loved feeling so involved in the show, but better yet, one of the best parts of the dress rehearsal was talking to some of the younger dancers at my school.  I had gotten to know the junior dancers during our last competition, so I was so happy to be able to talk with some of them and see how they looked up to me.  I never realized how much I as a dancer influenced others.  Being at Cameron is a really great feeling, because I know how important I am, I know that I matter to the other dancers in the school, and this year for the first time I was able to be a part of the school in a way I’d always dreamed of.  It’ll be a good show, I can’t wait.