The Asian WCS Open, aka Swingvitation has come and gone. Great fun. I took the choreo class by world champs Jordan and Tatiana and we performed the routine on the Saturday night of Swingvitation. It was really challenging and my takeaway from it is, in performing any choreo, it’s vital to have the right partner.
I also took part in the Jack & Jill. Newcomer category so no points awarded the world swing dance council. Came in third, which was more than what I expected so that’s really happy news.
Here’s a pic of the partner, Matthew, I drew in the finals.
I’ll still be continuing lessons at Mosaic. Hopefully, I’ll be good enough for novice level next year. 
Took part in my first Jack & Jill on Sun (7 Apr 2013) at China One’s Viva La Fiesta event! Well, it was just for fun, no WSDC points awarded but was a good experience. I was in Heat 1. First partner was Daelus, then Philbert and last partner was Paul. All cool.
The whole event did make me acutely aware that I need to be less gan cheong and hold my count for fast songs, even if the guy tugs me forward. Gotta roll roll roll that foot into the floor.
Here’re some pics captured by China One. (Daelus is no. 211 and Philbert’s on his left).
Although we rotated partners randomly based on numbers chose by the audience, I ended up partnering 3 guys who were standing next to one another when we started off the line up.
Paul and me!
Group shot of all competitors
Pity I didn’t get any pics with Daelus or Philbert. Someone from the dance studio did take a video but I need to see how I can get hold of it. Heh.
As for results? Er, none. Hahahahaha. Now onto the next J&J at Swingvitation 2013!
There’s been talk in WCS recently about the merits of having “leveled workshops” at WCS events (i.e. having workshops that are marked out for different levels such as beginner/ intermediate/ advance, and the merits of going to the extent of having to audition before you can take the workshop).
I think some form of “leveling” is definitely necessary. As it is, I am irritated when I go for an intermediate class and some guy turns up and doesn’t even know the basics like how to anchor! It’s a waste of my time in class whenever I am rotated to that guy and I think I will be equally annoyed if I were to attend a workshop and the same happens.
That said, I can understand that from a commercial perspective, if all workshops need auditions, you may scare away students and that would make your event not viable (from an revenue generation point of view). Perhaps the balance would be to have workshops marked with different levels and implementing auditions for the most advance workshops only.
From my personal rookie point of view, that way, I know that if I flunk an audition and hence could not take the advance workshop, everyone else who doesn’t qualify would flunk with me. Not like the L4 class now (L4 being the highest level at the studio where I’m learning from)… out of respect for the system and the teacher, I do not participate in the main class because I’m not of the required standard yet. I stand in a corner and observe the class and practise the moves with a classmate who also goes to observe the class (so we won’t slow the class down). However, when I look at the main group in the class, I realise half of them shouldn’t be there too.
真金不怕火炼！
Tired. Was playing the silly game Plants vs. Zombies on my iPad till close to 3am last night. Was super tired but couldn’t sleep after that! Brain must have still been thinking about how to crush them zombies. Hahaha.
It was a real chore waking up and staying awake during a presentation on claims that I had to attend this morning. Now I’m super unmotivated at work. Setting myself hourly goals so that I can finish my tasks quickly. (Well, I’m 20min ahead on my current goal hence I can blog!)
Last Friday was a good WCS day. Had a productive time at social as I was able to follow well (not well as in “good” but well as in to the best of my current abilities). Dance is a process of time. Not only must you get the timing right, you also need time to improve. Sometimes, when I look around the dance floor, I feel that I am lousier than some of the girls only because they have been dancing WCS for the past 1-2 years whereas I only started this year. I thus wanted to quickly catch up with them… and that means squeezing what took them many months to achieve into the 2 months that I’ve been doing WCS.
Then I read what one of the instructors posted in the group chat I am in:
“People… you will get there when you get there. Don’t be too preoccupied that you’re not progressing as quickly as you’d like or as fast as X or Y.
While I can understand the natural inclination to improve as fast as possible, I think the best part of it all is always the journey. How much fulfillment would you get if I told you you could progress to All-Star tomorrow just by eating some magic chicken rice or something… vs someone who has to work through the hours refining his/her craft, struggling but persisting to get better to where he is/was at that point in time.”
And I agree. While my competitive nature means I will never be satisfied with where I’m at, I am also acutely reminded that I need to allow enough time for getting better. Most importantly, I must enjoy the process. Instead of applying everything that was taught in class on the dance floor, I am now going by the rule, “if you don’t feel it, don’t use it”. I’m sure I will eventually get the moves that elude me – at a later stage.
I was very heartened last Fri when one of the more advanced leads asked me if I have other dance background because I have improved very fast (yeah, the poor chap danced with me at my very first WCS social after having attended only 2 lessons. Lol. 2 months compared to 2 lessons would definitely have been a big contrast). I also asked another friend for feedback since I have not danced with him for 2 weeks and he said he was pleasantly surprised because there was a marked difference from before he went on holiday. In his words, I am the most improved rookie recently and am now better than some who have been dancing for almost a year. That was gratifying because I am a rookie. No pressure on me to compete with the better girls!
And I believe I will catch up. Someday.
Didn’t take any leave for CNY this year cos there’s no one to cover for me for my main bank account. The thing about this bank is that some of the deals can be closed within 1-2 hours. So it’s quite important that there’s always someone on standby to quickly ring underwriters for terms & put a policy together. Unfortunately, the new person who was supposed to be my backup on this account only started work on 14 Feb so I didn’t feel comfortable taking leave.
Good thing is, my new colleague has started work so once he gets settled into this account (in addition to technical knowledge, client management is crucial, in my opinion), I will be able to take leave. Yay!
The bad news is, my new colleage is only working with me on 2 accounts. On all other accounts, Foxconn has been assigned to back me up and that totally sucks. Not only do I find her lacking common sense, she has absolutely zero initiative and expects to be spoon fed all the time. Really irritates the crap out of me. Not to mention her English is terrible! After a year in the company, she has as much insurance knowledge as the department secretary. Argh! Such a pain in the ass.
I haven’t decided how I intend to allocate work to her but it looks to me that Foxconn will remain an overpaid admin stuff (and even doing admin, she sucks. Super careless!)
Sigh.
My office “forces” us to use the same screensaver for branding consistency. But the screensaver is this huge white background (covering almost the entire screen) and our company logo in the middle. I really don’t think a huge patch of white is energy nor screen saving!
I truly believe that in dancing (and as Iceman pointed out in sports too), practice makes permanent. So if u don’t nail your basics, u’re permanently screwed.
I’ve been quite obsessed with nailing the basic footwork for West Coast Swing. It’s not difficult per se – almost everyone I’ve seen has no problems doing it on the correct count. But doing it with the right style & groove is quite a different story. Having observed people on the dance floor, I’ve concluded that as long as you don’t perfect the basic step, no matter how well you lead/ follow, it still won’t look good.
I think I like WCS a lot more than salsa… at least I really enjoy watching the pros on youtube whereas I’ve never actually bothered to watch a salsa video at all.
While salsa is fun, I think I enjoyed the partner interaction more than the dance itself. WCS, on the other hand, has a very captivating dance form. I wished I could learn more and learn faster but classes are short (1h only) and it’s not always easy to get enough practice.
Anyway, there’s still 3 more months till Swingvitation 2013. Hope I improve drastically by then!
Started the new year by learning a new dance – West Coast Swing (WCS). It’s the official state dance of California and has its roots in Lindy Hop. Thank goodness it looks very different (i don’t like Lindy. Heh.) My interest in WCS was 1st piqued when i saw videos of my friend (and salsa instructor), Zee, dance it with his gf, Dalena. WCS can be danced to contemporary music – anything that has a 2-beat rhythm. Which appeals more to me than salsa cos while salsa music can be catchy, i can’t fully appreciate songs which i don’t understand the words of.
After checking out videos of Jessica Cox, Jordan Frisbee and Tatiana Mollman on youtube, i was hooked. What a great dance form! I love how musical interpretation is so tightly intertwined and accented in WCS. I’ve gone for 4 lessons and 2 social dances so far and i love it. Can’t wait to learn more steps! Hope i can fully internalise the basics soon so that i can move on to styling.
Custom made dance shoes for WCS today. Super looking forward to them!!
Was so busy throughout Nov and Dec that Christmas came and passed in a flash. For whatever reasons, i didn’t get to sing nor listen to many Christmas carols this year, which is quite a shame. Went to watch CZ12 on Christmas eve. Excellent movie. Classic Jacky Chan at his best! It was non-stop action and laughs. I enjoyed the show so much I wanna watch it again… But i think i’ll wait for the DVD or Blueray.
Just watched Jack Reacher… Not too bad, typical Hollywood action show which i think i’ll forget about in a few weeks’ time.
Came down with a cold on Christmas day. Such a bummer but i’m almost fully recovered.
Anyway, thank you Jesus for coming down on earth 2000 plus years ago. I know Christmas wasn’t the actual birth date of Christ but it’s symbolic for us to commemorate God with us, Emmanuel has come.
ANGELS FILL THE NIGHT WITH SINGING, GOD IS REACHING OUT TO MAN
BRINGING US A GIFT OF HOPE IN CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR
MORE THAN JUST A TIME OF GIVING, THIS IS GOD’S ETERNAL PLAN
AND CHRISTMAS IS THE REASON WE CAN SING AGAIN
Blessed Christmas!
Recent Comments