Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Learning From The Very Best

Yesterday I had the most awesome time learning from the best of the best. As part of Danzity's I-Dance Campaign, they invited...


Ricky Carranza - Finland
(World Class Choreographer & Dancer)

Joel Tan - Malaysia
(Registered HipHop Coach & Pioneer of Street Dance Styles in Malaysia)

and we covered:
Module 1: Introduction to Street Dance
Module 2: History of Street Dance (and how it evolved)
Module 3: Street Dance Choreography (more of feedback to those who participated in the recent Street Dance Competition)
Module 4: Careers in Street Dancing
Bonus: Basics of Locking (one of the Top 3 foundations of Street Dance)

I really praise God for Danzity, as thought them I met professional dancers, instructors who have made their mark in the dance industry ~ internationally. Though with such skill & talent... they remain humble. Best of all, they are all Christians!! Hallelujah!!

My take away from the class is:
  • Do your thing - dance to express from the inside out.
  • For Choreography - be dynamic, unpredictable & be a story maker/creativity.
  • Remember who you are and your first love.... dance (your passion).
  • Be versatile & know a lot of styles.
  • Learn all the time (regardless of what is your age... fyi: Ricky shared that he is 44yrs old).
  • Find your 'killer step' or specialise should we choose dance as a career.

Through the Bonus session where Ricky was teaching the basics of Locking, I saw a familiar technique on how to teach. I finally understood what Melvin was trying to teach during the last Instructors Session, on how to teach dance or choreography to your class without words or giving verbal direction. Ricky showed it part by part very slowly but still to the music (but super slow), and repeated a few times until we got got it. Once we were able to get the start of the choreo & to the music, he speed it up and kept adding more steps or movement... to the point we were able to dance repeatedly. It was awesome. I can see that Ricky does not hold anything back, to the point Melvin (his mentee) has quite similar techniques in teaching... both practical & theoretical. Check him out...

That is a true Si-Fu. :)

1 comment:

Alex Steinert Miles said...

Oh joel tan...
he's quite some hunk.
You are indeed learning from a pro.