i just had a really random thought.

i've never seen a male dancer date a non dancer before.

by male dancer, i don't mean any guy who dances a bit, i'm talking about the more serious dancers, who dance professionally or competitively or at least very seriously and regularly la. haha

for girls, it's still quite common to see them date guys who don't dance at all, but i really haven't seen a serious guy dancer date non dancers before

WHY? hahaha

wah, if i was a sociology major, i would totally do a research thesis on this!! haha

i think it's still all back to gender roles. dancing, no matter how much we raise awareness for it, is still considered a mainly girly interest.

and so non dancer guys can understand why girls would want to pursue it, and would still consider them as potential girlfriends or whatever.

poor guys however, cos non dancer girls might feel it's weird for a guy to dance, and be more flexible than them or something, so this might deter them from dating the dancer guys.

of course, dancer guys are always popular amongst dancer girls, cos it's a 2-in-1 eh (: if he becomes your boyfriend, he almost always auto becomes your partner as well (: package deal. hahah, and i guess, if the guy is a good dancer, the girl dancer can appreciate his lines, and the grace of his movements and know how tough it is, so she won't think he's weird or something.



we need to raise awareness for our dancer guy friends!!! (: they're cool!!! (:

and they're so strong, so if you marry them, you can take very coolio wedding photos of them carrying and lifting you or whatever you want. (: hahah

i was feeling quite head-achy until jess called!!!!!!!! i was very excited. hahahah and i forgot about it (: I MISS YOU BUD, i wish i was at the 'hot chocolate' event too!!! lovelove!


and i am so glad for angelina in JS and love actually. everything's more fun with a friend, and i feel safer with her around, cos if i dont know whats going on can ask her!!! (: wah, she's so organised its amazing. and she entertains me in lecture also haha(: <3 and she's the bridge btw me and our other JS group member too, cos i cannot understand what he's saying sometimes hahah


today i practised competition rumba with altron in SMU's very nice walkways today before we went to paso prac!

he really is very very nice to dance with. i've seen a lot of partners argue a lot over steps cos they get very frustrated with each other. to the point that they don't want to talk to each other for a while. haha

my partner is really awesome, he knows what he's doing. before we start dancing, he always does the checklist: back straight look up, give me some weight, connection. and im terrible at connection so so he spends time correcting me instead. haha connection basically is the leading and following thing. the man is supposed to lead, and the lady respond, but i tend to move on my own instead of responding to his leading.sigh, im a modern girl even in dancing. hahah, its very complicated okay.. i always forget to wait for him to move before moving myself. haha, but he doesn't get angry with me no matter how many times i forget, yet he'll apologize if he makes a mistake!! so nice (:

i think partner dancing is really very different from the usual individual dancing that i like. it can be difficult cos you're working with someone else, but it's fun cos there're a lot of stunts and fun lifts that you can do cos they guy can support you (:

and if the girl falls down, they almost always blame the guy. hahaha

i'm glad its fun to dance with my partner. but he's really too hardworking. all the days that we don't have official training, it's likely that he wants to self train! haha


This is why latin dance takes up so much time:
Let's use the paso routine as an example

1.Before we showcase it to SMU latin team for vetting, we need to prac under supervision of our external choreographer

2. Before we show it to our external choreographer, we need to prac with the team under supervision of our captain

3. Before we dance with the rest of the team, we need to practice with our partners

4. Before we dance with our partners, we need to get our indiv basics right.

so many levels! haha
of course you can skip steps and not bother to train outside of official training time, but really, if you want to improve faster you have to!!!


what you learn from the choreo in one hour, you need to prac on your own for another 5 hours before it goes into your head! hahah


im really sleepy actually. i feel like im falling sick! OH NO! ): but it's ok, cos my partner isnt going to training tmr. so i can't train much too anyway. haha

i've been dancing so much, that i'm very glad linh has settled the crusade stuff, so i can prob join! i've been out of touch with intentional christian fellowship for a while. i've been spending my own time with God, but i haven't been meeting up with other christians for fellowship and bible study, so im quite excited actually. (:


anyway, paso doble performance is in 2 weeks time, we're doing 2 shows. performances and competitions are probably the fastest way to improve, and it's an awesome experience of course. (: we filmed our trial run that day, and it looks better than expected, so the captain is quite pleased (:

going for comp class soon ! (: exciting (:

i met altron yest for him to teach me the chacha and jive comp routine, today we're learning rumba routine. then we're learning samba, and we already have our paso doble routine. once we get all the routines out, it'll be intense polishing of the steps!!!


anyway, i realised other people plan their timetables based on how many free days they want or trainings or something, i planned mine to suit the weather.

most of my classes start earlier in the morning, before the hot sun rises, or after 4pm, when the hottest sun is gone. hahah, and i also end late when i have class, to escape the sun!!! hahaha

now i don't really need to carry my umbrella, and i can walk to school and back without sweating a puddle and feeling sticky! (:
so smart eh! (:

someone sent me a very pretty bouquet of 9 red roses and baby's breath.


he arranged it himself so it's one of the sweetest things a guy has ever done for me i think. i'm quite touched actually.


but i'm also feeling very stressed now. ):


edit: not my dance partner btw

as i said yest, God is really gracious to me.

this morning i woke up a phone call from the deans office. i've been shortlisted for the joint degree program thing in america, so im going to the interview on fri.

if God thinks i should go, then i'll go and see what plans God has over there, if not, then i'll be quite happy to stay here and do my dancing anyway, and apply for SEP to go to uk and find jess (:

when God is in charge, it's always a win-win situation


lovelove

some pictures from DP 2011 (: it was lots of fun, we all look so sad. haha i act sad better than act sexy anyway (:



anyway, i wanted to share something i remembered. way back in june, when the whole period of me being very very sad was just starting, soowei jie prayed for me once during retreat, and she told me that God promised that He would lift this blanket of grief and pour into my life.


now, a few months later, while skyping with jess, i realised that God kept His promise, and even more so than i expected. i really do feel like God has been pouring abundantly, and blessing me in so so so many ways.

and im so glad that it's God who's making my path straight, and not by my own strength, because, after all, i can slip up but God won't slip up!

I just want to say that I'm very very grateful for everything God has been doing for me, for comforting me during the times i felt most alone, for bringing wonderful people like jess, and esther, and angelina and my sis and a whole bunch of friends from school to love me, for giving me so many things that i don't deserve, helping me do well in school and at dance. anyway, this whole period of feeling very sad has also been the time that i've ever spent the most time with God i think. i think, for all the pain it was, it really brough me closer to God, and I feel a new kind of peace, that He really really is in charge, and that I can trust Him.



God really loves me a lot.
I really love Him too!

my room currently is a warzone. there're flowers and makeup and hairstuff, and costumes all over the place. haha, all my pins and cosmetics are strewn all over the floor and table!!! haha

i just finished DP 2011!!!!! YAY!!! it's quite a relief, i finally have some time to catch up! i havent even had time to print my lecture notes!! gosh!!


angelina and wilfred were the awesomest! they came to support me! (: <3 <3 <3

i had a lot of fun putting on makeup for abt 16 dancers, it was fun to be in charge of doing everyone's eye makeup, and i had a chance to practice! (: i think it turned out not bad too (: and no one's eyes got injured because of me k! (:

and it was really funny to put make up for the guys, cos they kept tearing up when i put liquid liner on them, so funny. these are all really tough guys leh, all crying from the eyeliner!!! hahah


okay!!! time to take a break for.... a few hours! (: tmr we start again!!! (:

the latin casting is tentatively out, and i should be doing paso doble and rumba!!! (: im really happy cos while rumba is a mass item with 10 couples, only 5 couples are gonna be doing paso (:


major upcoming events:
- CAC+us concert (latin) : feb
- next latin competition : march
- chinese dance concert : april
- Dance Uncensored (eusoff dance) : april


and maybe a few more small events (:

yuppss, sounds exciting, but when i think about the commitment level, im quite scared. i can forsee myself dancing day and night for the next few months.


especially latin!!!! training is so intense, plus we have competition classes, and then hours and hours of self prac to polish up!! i think i might wear out my shoes soon la! haha


BUT FOR NOW. I'M GOING TO SLEEP. IM SO TIRED.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!

altron and i danced paso for welcome tea (:

ok, it's 3 am and i just finished my love actually slides for presentation tomorrow. somehow i don't feel terribly sleepy today.

and today is not completely a dance post, its a whole list of thoughts sparked off from something my friend told me haha
one of my friend's boyfriend got angry with her because she's doing a stunt with a guy, and he has to lift her. haha. i can just imagine that he'd explode if she ever tried latin dancing.


well, today is a good day. altron and i confirmed our partnership for 1 year, we'll probably have to break partnership in year 2 and whether we'll continue after that depends on what we're doing also. but anyway, it's pretty cool, and our first full competition together will be in march. he wants to dance all 5 latin dances!!! it will be challenging! (:

anyway, we had to discuss which comps we intend to participate in, which dances we wanna try and which studio we want to learn from, there're a lot of politics and it's hard to hop from studio to studio without offending people, especially since we both already started competing, so i guess i'll just follow him to his current studio.

anyway,linking to 'love actually' this whole partnering thing is really quite complicated. it's almost as complicated as dating la. people get upset when their dance partners break partnership. like breaking up. hahah, some partnerships end well, some partnerships end up with both parties upset.


i guess after all, if you train together for so long, there should be at least a bit of chemistry and there's still an emotional connection, and it feels weird to see your partner have a new partner. after u train together for a while, you get used to their style, and you know the common mistakes they make, the rough size of their steps, you get used to how they move, how to hold them, and its very hard to keep switching partners, cos u have to re get used to it i think.


you also have to deal with the problem of the possibility of falling in love with your partner, which, in all honesty, would be quite easy i think.

All the factors for falling in love are there:

1. You spend a lot of time together (training, technique classes, comp routine classes!!!)
2. dancing involves some physical contact obviously (at the minimum, there's hand holding)
3. you get pretty comfortable (comfortable enough to argue about steps and mistakes too)
4. there should be a level of chemistry (at least enough to look like a couple on stage and make the audience believe that you are in love)
5. you probably do generally like your partner as a person (otherwise why'd you go into longterm partnership with them right?)


that's why a lot of dancers end up dating each other. so i guess you really need to be clear about what you want, and draw certain boundaries too, like separating dance from life in general.

but then again, when you're actually dancing, it doesn't really feel weird to hold someone else, both of you are not really thinking about the fact that you're holding each other's hands, you're more concentrated on what the steps are, what the expression and the music counts should be. but then, from an audience point of view, it's different i guess.

anyway, i concluded that as long as i intend to dance latin with a fixed partner, i probably have to be single. it's possible to date and dance at the same time, but there's so many potential problems.

i don't think i could date a boy like that, though i would actually understand where he's coming from. anyway the time thing is a big problem too, i'd be upset too if my boyfriend spent more time training with his partner than with me.


it's hard for a boyfriend to accept that right?

but i couldn't give up my dancing either.
so i concluded that i probably shouldn't date and dance.

ok that was a very long post, and i think it's a pretty honest post, maybe cos it's 3. 30am now and maybe im trying to figure out what im thinking too. i confuse myself a lot.

oh ya, i forgot to say the best thing about the competition.

since it's called DANCESPORT, the refer to us as ATHLETES!!!!!!!!


HAHAHAHA, im now a sportsperson! :D

im back from competition! (:


my partner and i placed 4th for inter-tertiary open paso doble! (: think it's really not bad! (: we did better than some of the senior couples, and we're only one place away from getting a medal.


ok, it was really scary. scarier than i expected. when we reached, we were late, and there were A LOT A LOT of people, warming up, dancing, recalling steps, doing make up and everything. and we were supposed to go test the floor. but i couldnt find my partner, so i had to go test it on my own. and the floor was different from what we were used to, so i was very scared. it was hard to glide on it, cos it felt sticky.


for our event, it was straight semi finals, so they pick 6 couples, and i kept checking my hair and shoes and everything. it was seriously very scary. hahah

and it was so scary to wait for the results of the heats to be pasted on the wall. it was such an awesome feeling to be recalled to dance in the paso final event.

and the finals was just as scary. and anyway, i felt really blessed to even have made the finals, and it was really a blessing we placed decently well. (: God is really nice to me (:


anw, im really proud of my partner too (: he made it to semi finals for rumba and chacha, and he placed 3rd for jive, which is really pro! he was so tired and changing number tags through out the events, but he kept going! (:

and the other girls in the team think im really lucky to get him as my partner (: i think so too (:



anyway, after a long day of competition 9-6pm, followed by a chacha choreo class 7-9pm, im going for contemp at 1am!!!!!!!


im quite crazy i think. i have a 3 and a half day study week, but like a 7 day dance week. wow. (: i'm loving uni life (:

im leaving for competition in 15 mins! (:

im nervous about my steps

and scared about forgetting something

and a bit excited since it's my first comp

and also happy that the day is finally here

and blessed with the best partner ever! don't see him so small and quiet, he's actually really strong, and he's a very good dancer! he knows what he's doing, and he knows what im supposed to be doing too.he won't panic and he knows how to hold me so he doesn't accidentally touch me where he's not supposed to. i feel very safe dancing with him.


and i have enough makeup in my bag to paint an army over! hahah, 96 shades of eyeshadow somemore. hahah wah, i'll call them the rainbow army (:

lovelove

oh, i thought i removed the spammers, but they're back in full force. ): why like that. i think i need to put some antibiotics on my tagboard. haha

anyway, i have no lessons today! (:

met my partner in the morning to prac paso, going for contemp in a while's time, and there's latin training after that!!! haha

okay la, but i went to central co-op to buy my text books! (: i only like to buy geog textbooks, cos i feel like i can keep it forever since i'll be teaching geog. the rest feels like a huge waste of money, so i always try to get used textbooks. haha

and this sem, the lecturers expects us to find our own readings ): and im so tech un savvy that i actually had to go to the library to ask the librarian how to download ): she was so nice, and she gave me a personal tutorial on how to use the library e resources. haha
and i found out that u can't download everything, so i guess i'll be making lots of trips to the library to find my articles to read. seriously, so much energy to walk there could be put to better use. haha

on the other hand, this sem i have 2 classes with angelina, and 1 with my partner, and maybe 1 with linh!!! (:

and i get fridays off! (: LONG WEEKEND! life is wonderful! (:

i think i qualify as one of those irritating students who keep sending emails to the office asking a lot of questions. hahah, i've been sending lots of emails to the SEP office asking so many things, and now i'm sending lots of emails to my MOE scholarship officer asking her whether MOE will let me do a joint degree program in North Carolina, and a lot of admin things regarding it. i've gotta write a lot of essays for both the NUS side application as well as the MOE application for money.

it's a lot like writing the essays for application for overseas uni last time. must write why it's beneficial to you and why it's beneficial to NUS to send you. and why it's beneficial to MOE to pay for you to go. wah, must think of so many benefits for everyone.

but it's okay! i won't complain, cos i'm really blessed already to be able to apply for this program, and blessed that MOE has already agreed to partially fund it if i get selected.

anyway, this joint degree program is so cool cos i'll be able to go to USA for 2 years, which is almost like studying overseas already!

i really hope i get to go!!! but im too lazy to start writing my essays! i shall go watch step up! (:

it's such a nice quiet night. i don't have anything planned for tmr. that is so awesome. i need some time to catch my breath, cos it's been such a crazy week, i hate being late and i've been late for so many things because i keep rushing.

anyway, im excited for this year, and this sem. and i've been out shopping to update my wardrobe for this sem! (:



i've seen really nice pics of people wearing shorts with black stockings and flats. and i think it looks really cute, and it makes shorts less boring don't u think? (:




but i really hate high waisted clothes. i look horrible in them, even if the dress looks so nice on the mannequin. i guess u need to be a size zero waif to carry it off. ):







this looks nice, but i would look like a yellow cupcake in it. maybe linh could wear this and get away with it. haha (:


speaking of high waisted clothes, there's one thing bad about being involved in the costumes and make up team for latin. we have to go shopping for the clothes, and try on so many different clothes. sometimes when i look at a dress, i already know that it's not going to look good on me, but still, i have to go and try it on and show the others, so they can decide if it's suitable or not. and i go into the dressing room with a sinking feeling. hahah, it disturbs me to purposely put on something i know will look bad on me, and show everyone how bad it looks. hahaha

i also really dislike puffy dresses and dresses that cinch just under the chest area.

like this one. it's everything i dislike in one dress. except the colour. it's a really pretty purple. okay, but i guess really really skinny ppl could look nice in that.

i like dresses that are form fitting until the waist, and then after that either body skimming or flowy. it's more forgiving on the figure. i don't like stiff skirts!


this one is such a pretty body skimming dress


this one is flowy and elegant



this one has a stiff full skirt, i don't like it. it's poufy ):

it's such a pity they don't make many dresses that are form fitting to the waist anymore ): a majority of such dresses are super tight, and for clubbing. the nice dresses always get cinched under the chest now. ): how upsetting.

and i took so many pictures off the net, i hope i don't get sued!

lovelove