chapter 9 - dance night '06
i tried to blog last night after i got back from supper w/ the m.a.d people but i just felt too lethargic. so these are what dance night means to me...
as i was riding on a taxi to school last morning, it occurred to me that dance night will be my first performance which people paid to watch. this only spells one thing: it must be good. must.
what happened afterwards is pretty well summarised in the blogs of other dancers so there's no need for another narration. i think that the whole experience from the time the term "dance night" was introduced to me till the moment i stepped into my house last night was something which will bring a smile onto my face everytime i recall it. from banner painting to selling tickets, from promotion dances to rehearsals, from late-night practices to that early-morning assembly advertisement, from conversations with jack to partnership with yan ling, from shopping for the wardrobe to sleepy bus rides, from laughter to tears, everything was like a beautiful dream.
and i think that jack was right. there was once (the 2nd latin session i remember clearly) when jack told us that dance night will change our lives and that it will change our perception of dance. he's right because i have been immensely touched by these 3 months of hardwork and finally last night's success. when i first started taking the latin course i was a little worried about the outcome, given the technical difficulty of the form. furthermore, i have 2 more dances to cope with. i even felt vaguely dreadful because latin has taken a lot of my time and energy when i'm supposed to be in the hip-hop division. but i told myself that nothing is too hard and i marched on. from then on it was training, scolding from jack, improvement, more training, more scolding from jack and more improvement. everytime when i stepped into the studio jack would be already practising and his first question would be "got practise or not?" and then followed by the threat "you all are gonna get it from me." i was frightened of him. very frightened.
fastforwarding to one session 2 weeks to dance night, when we were screwing up everything imaginable, when the choreography was still unfinished, jack blew his top. "how long is your dance night away from now? 16 days!!!" 16 days to dance night and we still have 5 bars of cha-cha and 2 bars of samba undone. it was crisis. we thought we were never gonna make it. jack continued ranting about the consequences of failure (particularly about how he'll just claim that his job is done and leave us to be effed up by the school). so that night we stayed on to practise until the security guard came and booted us out.
rehearsals were equally stressful, a flare-up between jack and one of the breakers didn't help in the least. with jack criticizing every run we did, the only thing he says other than "very bad" was "very very bad." the only time he said "very GOOD" was the run before the matinee performance. not a man generous with praise.
matinee was a blur. latin declared as lousy (i don't need to repeat the name of the one who said it). had dinner, played a bit of soccer with andrew, took some photos, touched up the make-up, changed and held my breath...
before our cue for latin one could feel the tension building up in the audi basement with all his/her 5 senses. practising quietly, hugs, encouragements, and more hugs.
music started, curtains opened, cameras flashed, boom!! and the rest is history.
success! victory! satisfaction! triumph! jack said that there's nothing more that he could've asked from us. i finally found the feeling which is described as "beyond description" now. bittersweet is the closest. sweet because of the fulfilment. bitter because everything is going to end.
on the trip home (on a taxi, again) with jack and meiling, i found another side of jack which i never knew existed behind that stern facade during practice. the sentimental and soft side. that parting handshake and wave.
so, all thanks to jack and hide for their extreme devotion and commitment. can't imagine dance night w/o them. thank you ailene for giving me a chance to join latin which was an experience i'll never forget. thanks to huiyan for her simply brilliant choreography and instruction for the chair dance. thanks also to fellow j1s especially liu qian, nick, key boon, meiling and sylvester for their unending encouragement and help. thanks to seniors kegan, michelle, birong, germaine, david and sam for all the advice and support, not forgetting yan ling who is special not only because she's my partner for both my dances but also for tolerating my repulsive stench and sweat. i have to particularly thank the audience which is the best ever, and my friends in it who turned up to lend their support. however, my biggest thanks goes out to you, who is reading my blog now and always going through the trials and tribulations in life with me.
as i was riding on a taxi to school last morning, it occurred to me that dance night will be my first performance which people paid to watch. this only spells one thing: it must be good. must.
what happened afterwards is pretty well summarised in the blogs of other dancers so there's no need for another narration. i think that the whole experience from the time the term "dance night" was introduced to me till the moment i stepped into my house last night was something which will bring a smile onto my face everytime i recall it. from banner painting to selling tickets, from promotion dances to rehearsals, from late-night practices to that early-morning assembly advertisement, from conversations with jack to partnership with yan ling, from shopping for the wardrobe to sleepy bus rides, from laughter to tears, everything was like a beautiful dream.
and i think that jack was right. there was once (the 2nd latin session i remember clearly) when jack told us that dance night will change our lives and that it will change our perception of dance. he's right because i have been immensely touched by these 3 months of hardwork and finally last night's success. when i first started taking the latin course i was a little worried about the outcome, given the technical difficulty of the form. furthermore, i have 2 more dances to cope with. i even felt vaguely dreadful because latin has taken a lot of my time and energy when i'm supposed to be in the hip-hop division. but i told myself that nothing is too hard and i marched on. from then on it was training, scolding from jack, improvement, more training, more scolding from jack and more improvement. everytime when i stepped into the studio jack would be already practising and his first question would be "got practise or not?" and then followed by the threat "you all are gonna get it from me." i was frightened of him. very frightened.
fastforwarding to one session 2 weeks to dance night, when we were screwing up everything imaginable, when the choreography was still unfinished, jack blew his top. "how long is your dance night away from now? 16 days!!!" 16 days to dance night and we still have 5 bars of cha-cha and 2 bars of samba undone. it was crisis. we thought we were never gonna make it. jack continued ranting about the consequences of failure (particularly about how he'll just claim that his job is done and leave us to be effed up by the school). so that night we stayed on to practise until the security guard came and booted us out.
rehearsals were equally stressful, a flare-up between jack and one of the breakers didn't help in the least. with jack criticizing every run we did, the only thing he says other than "very bad" was "very very bad." the only time he said "very GOOD" was the run before the matinee performance. not a man generous with praise.
matinee was a blur. latin declared as lousy (i don't need to repeat the name of the one who said it). had dinner, played a bit of soccer with andrew, took some photos, touched up the make-up, changed and held my breath...
before our cue for latin one could feel the tension building up in the audi basement with all his/her 5 senses. practising quietly, hugs, encouragements, and more hugs.
music started, curtains opened, cameras flashed, boom!! and the rest is history.
success! victory! satisfaction! triumph! jack said that there's nothing more that he could've asked from us. i finally found the feeling which is described as "beyond description" now. bittersweet is the closest. sweet because of the fulfilment. bitter because everything is going to end.
on the trip home (on a taxi, again) with jack and meiling, i found another side of jack which i never knew existed behind that stern facade during practice. the sentimental and soft side. that parting handshake and wave.
so, all thanks to jack and hide for their extreme devotion and commitment. can't imagine dance night w/o them. thank you ailene for giving me a chance to join latin which was an experience i'll never forget. thanks to huiyan for her simply brilliant choreography and instruction for the chair dance. thanks also to fellow j1s especially liu qian, nick, key boon, meiling and sylvester for their unending encouragement and help. thanks to seniors kegan, michelle, birong, germaine, david and sam for all the advice and support, not forgetting yan ling who is special not only because she's my partner for both my dances but also for tolerating my repulsive stench and sweat. i have to particularly thank the audience which is the best ever, and my friends in it who turned up to lend their support. however, my biggest thanks goes out to you, who is reading my blog now and always going through the trials and tribulations in life with me.