i think im having some dance withdrawal symptoms. so i shall do a very long post on dance.

The next time you look into the mirror, just look at the way the ears rest next to the head; look at the way the hairline grows; think of all the little bones in your wrist. It is a miracle. And the dance is a celebration of that miracle. -Martha Graham


and I shall keep track of the styles i've done:


ballet
i think ballet forms the basis of my dance style since it's the genre i've danced the longest, i like to think of it as my backbone in technical training. most of the time, instructors can tell that i've ballet training just by watching me do my warmups, and they'll come and ask me. sometimes it's good because ballet give u very good fundamental training that's useful in any other form of dance, sometimes it's bad, cos ballet is also very rigid and the techniques are quite expressionless.

"I don't want people who want to dance; I want people who have to dance"-George Balanchine



chinese dance
when i first started this, i kept getting scolded like mad by the choreographer because chinese dance is super fluid and expressive and there's a high importance on flexibility. i think of it as a more expressive form of ballet and it's more fun because it's prettier and less empty i think. (:

"Technical perfection is insufficient. It is an orphan without the true soul of a dancer." -Sylvie Guillium


contemporary
i think this is tough cos it's like fusion, i only do this on and off for productions, so im not very good at it. it's never really a happy dance, always quite emo or angsty or angry, and i always think that's hilarious, and i keep laughing, which is a bad thing. it's good training cos it's very very fast and involves a lot of turning around and jumping up and down,but it involves a lot of bruising too ): ugly knees.

"Those who dance are considered insane by those who can’t hear the music."-George Carlin




social and ballroom
the latest thing i'm trying to learn, it's my first time dancing partner work, so sometimes it's hard to coordinate, and i have problems reacting to a guy's leading sometimes, he'll tell me that i'm doing my steps on my own, instead of responding to his movements. ): i guess there's still a lot i have to learn. but it's really fun too, and partnerwork has benefits that i get to try lifts and stunts that i don't get to do so much when i dance by myself. (: anyway, there're 5 dances in latin: chacha, rumba, jive, samba and paso doble. five dances in standard: foxtrot, waltz, Viennese waltz, tango, quickstep. then there's social dances that i want to learn like the salsa, merengue, bachata etc. currently i'm only doing latin, and a bit of salsa, so learning the rest will take many many many years !!! im excited!

Someone once said that dancers work just as hard as policemen, always alert, always tense, but see, policemen don't have to be beautiful at the same time. -George Balanchine

2010 marks the 11th year of my love affair with dance, and i hope there'll be manymanymany more to come! (:


I’m very excited about dance and love it with a deep passion. I also struggle, tire and become discouraged. But what has always revived me...has been the rebirth of energy each time the creative process is awakened and artistic activity begins to unfold even in some infinitesimal measure.
-Ann Halprin*


lovelove!