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.   

What a way to end the dance season.  This year the end of the dance season was marked with two competitions, first was the 5678 Showtime Nationals then my team and I were honored to attend the Dance World Cup. 

These competitions were so unusual yet so familiar I can’t imagine a better way to end this year of dance.  First of all dance competitions are usually on the weekend, but not these ones.  Nationals was on Monday and Worlds was on Tuesday.  Packing an entire competition into one day was pretty intense, so everyone was excruciatingly tired.  My school was at the competition for 13 hours straight and I had four dances to perform with my team that day.  Let’s just say that being at the competition from 10 a.m to 11 p.m on Monday then waking up at 7:00 a.m the next morning was not the most pleasant of experiences, but it was worth it when we got back into the competition atmosphere. 

I want to paint a picture for anyone who doesn’t dance.  Image yourself in a crowed room scattered with dance costumes, bobby pins, hair spray, packed lunches, and scattered suitcases.  Getting into the competition spirit mean creating a niche for yourself in that crowed room and getting comfortable.  It’s excessive amounts of hairspray and teased hair.  It’s stretching with your friends.  It’s the sparkly sequins.  It’s hearing the same song for all the dances and knowing you’re different.  It’s about fun and nerves and excitement.  That was what we felt this Monday and Tuesday asides from being tired. 

Nationals was all of this mixed with sadness.  Yeah we all joke about burning our costumes after we finish our dances for the last time, but when it actually comes down to it I was sad that this was the last time my team and I were ever going to perform some of our best dances.  At the end of 500 Miles the lights dimmed and it just hit me.  We will never do this dance again.  So the usual smile that spreads across my face at the end of that dance twitched and I felt like I was losing something special. 

I might have lost a few routines but I gained a once in a lifetime opportunity and a beautiful medal from Worlds that encompasses it all. 

There are two worlds of dance: competitive groups and solos of all styles, and ballroom.  Since I’m so involved in the first world of dance I sometimes forget the other exists.  I pride myself on being an active member of the dance community and it seems as if my school and I know every competition and convention that is going on in Montreal.  In reality we don’t even know the half of it.  My school and I do jazz, ballet, hip hop, tap, irish, highland, lyrical, contemporary, musical theater, and more.  So when people ask me what kind of dance I do, I’m always tempted to say everything.  It only really hit me last dance class when we had a guest teacher showing us salsa and latin ballroom how much of the entire dance world I’m missing out on.  I think of dancing as a hobby for young and fit women, but ballroom opens up a whole new realm for men and women of all ages.  With ballroom the steps are fun and simple and there aren’t the same restrictions and physical demands as other styles of dancing.  After a two hour salsa and Latin ballroom class we were all sweating but feeling great.  Ballroom dancing didn’t have the same intensity as ‘our’ dancing does.  We dance very hard and very fast for short periods of time, and with salsa it’s a different pace which makes it easier for adults. 

Ballroom dancing is a lot more intimate than my world of dancing.  You have to connect with your partner the whole time and move together.  When we’re dancing in a group if you make a mistake you stick out like a sore thumb.  In ballroom you and your partner help each other so making mistakes can be avoided.  The whole experience was fun and enriching.  We went from partner to partner and I got to be a part of my peers dancing in a way I never could before.  Seeing the way someone moves and dancing with them are vastly different, so in salsa when I danced with some of my class mates I got to know them as dancers better by adapting to their movements just having fun.  At first we were all a bit shy, but by the end of the class I could have danced with anyone.  I was just having fun and taking advantage of this rare opportunity. 

I’m getting older (not old, but growing up) and I’ve been thinking about how many years I can keep dancing.  When I’m in my thirties, unless I’m a teacher, there isn’t much place for me to continue dancing the way I do now.  This ballroom class gave me hope for the future because now I know that even when I’m much older dance can always be a part of my life.   

Now that we have this season’s SYTYCD top twenty the competition really begins…but it’s made me realize how much favoritism affects dancing.  Only a small number of dancers get their story told on television, and the others go virtually unnoticed by the audience at home.  This means that going into the first week of competition thousands, maybe millions, of people already have their favorites picked out and they know who to vote for before they’ve even danced.  It gives some dancers an unfair advantage of course, but that’s the way dance is.  The better you are and the more creative you are the more attention and adoration you’ll get.  Of course all the dancers are good, but they can’t all have dramatic stories to tell, so it makes their dancing seem less dramatic.  Essentially they pick out the dancers with the most drama, their favorites, and then they become Canada’s favorites. 

Favoritism is always a part of dance, even in my dance school.  It’s not a bad thing because it allows our school to showcase its best dancers, but it leaves some people feeling insignificant.  I know what its like to be in the back of a dance, but I also know what it’s like to see the final product and understand that I still matter even though I may not be the best.  It must be sad for those people who made it to top twenty without their unique story told, but they still made it to the top twenty, so they still matter just as much as the others.  In my dance school we’ve all been dancing for a long time, and every year we get better, but we dancers (and our teachers) know to an extent what are capabilities are.  We all have to accept the fact that some of us can do turns and jumps and others are flexible and others have that ‘wow’ factor.  Even though we all bring something special to dance there are still some dancers who never seem to be in the back because they’re just good at everything.  We’ve seen that as glamorous as that seems it doesn’t always work out to the dancers benefit.  Look at Natalie and Brandon.  They were front runners in the competition since their first auditions.  It seemed as if they were both guaranteed a spot in the top twenty because they were so good.  Then through out the next rounds the judges constantly say they aren’t living up to their expectation.  Being good, being the best, puts a lot of pressure on a dancer, but the judges can’t help having higher standards for the better dancers and more sympathy for those with less dance experience or a sad dramatic story.  That’s the way it is. 

I guess we’ll see how important favoritism’s role is in this season.

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. 

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.

I’ve already written about elementary school dances (or more specifically the slow dances) but in my school (in my grade) there was another kind of dance we always did, and that was recess dance competitions.

My grade as Good Shepherd School Elementary was like a family, so we did a lot of things collectively. Only my best friends and I were dancers, but somehow the whole school joined in on our trend of dancing during recess and lunch. 

At first it was just me and my besties who made up dances for fun.  One day we made up a really cool dance, or so we thought.  It started off with a bit of acting, we were all pretending to be real dancers warming up in a studio, then we all get up and start singing/chanting our version of Aqua songs while performing moves that match the words.  We felt like we were ready for an audience, so we showed out dance to the popular kids, and by the end of it they were throwing rocks at us.  Don’t worry though, it all ended happily because by the next year the popular kids were singing and dancing by our sides.

When the number of dancers grew so did the intensity of our recess activity.  We began dividing ourselves into groups and competing to see who had the best dance. We picked our song (which had to be easy to sing) and then we usually just learnt the moves that Tash taught us (and look at you getting paid for it ten years later).  The funny thing is, even though we were competing, I can’t remember ever winning or losing I just remember how fun it was to sing and dance for those 15 minute breaks between class and after we ate our lunch.  I remember how eager we were to get one of the best places to dance, which were the corners and edges of the school yard.  We’d practice for days, sometimes weeks for these recess dance competitions, but it wasn’t about winning,, it was just a way for al of us to be together and do what we enjoyed.  There’s no other time in your life when you can have so much fun without a care or worry in the world about the outcome of your actions.

I guess all that elementary dancing paid off, because not only did it entertain us, it also allowed us to break out into cheesy dance routines whenever Barbie Girl played at the school dances.