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. :)

Mini Street Dance Festival

Attended another dance workshop, this time by Urban Groove in KL. Wow... I am really travelling around to learn dance (cool). More details goto: http://danzityproductions.blogspot.com/2008/09/mini-street-dance-festival-2008.html

Melvin Jansen Ang from Philipine was in town with his team of instructors to teach some of the classes. It was encouraging to me to meet up with him again. Often he leaves me inspired to continue dancing... no matter what style.

The workshop covered the technique, foundational moves and some choreography. So I enrolled for New Style Hip Hop (a.k.a Hip Hop Lyrical).... and so did the girls from my church; JC and Jo. Would have loved to go for Krumping and Electric Boogalo (popping)... but next time-lah. My right arm is still healing from muscle strain... like I'm resting it (yeah right!!).

What I learned from this workshop, lots... because it's preparing me for the December Creative Arts Boot Camp in Penang and whatever else the Lord opens up for me. Why???.... I have been asked to teach hip hop... what's why!! Thanks to my street dance instructors Albert Chuah, Sean Loh and Melvin Ang; I'm learning from them on warm-up, technique and foundations of hip hop. All this knowledge will be used in December for a 6 hour workshop to teach kids from 7 yrs to 17 yrs old. On top of that, they will be performing at the last day of camp to the public. So for those of you who know me well... you know the state of my heart and nerves (ha ha ha...).

No matter what happens, I must alway remember to depend on Him.

My Pre-holiday Dance Workshop... (18 hours)

It was an interesting weekend. Had approximately 18 hours of learning and experiencing dance by Danzity's i-Dance Campaign. Some of the dances included Locking, Hip Hop, Breakdance, Popping and Street Jazz. At the end of day-2, I think I was pretty tired and I felt some of the muscles I never knew I had (ouch).

New School Hiphop (which I love)... a very expressive dance was taught by a very knowledgable instructor - Melvin Jansen from the Philipines. He makes it look so smooth and easy (like effortless). As for me, I think I was running after the song (ha ha ha... :P).

For Breakdance, I've seen it done before but never tried it... often afraid of breaking any bones (ha ha ha...). Instructor was very patient, since the dance is quite fast. He was able to break the steps down. Still tough but can do it (hurray!!)... need to buy knee pads if I am to continue in practicing breakdance.

Popping was interesting, it's knowing when to tense and release muscles,.... often I mix up the two. Melvin taught the wave... 11 steps. Need to practice infront of mirror-lah... dunno if I'm doing smoothly.

Street Jazz... is a combination of Modern Jazz and Hip Hop, seem to need a lot of strength in the moves. Was considering New Jazz by Danzity but after what I experience, I think I'll stick to New School Hip Hop.

Any way, good sessions, good mix of theory and practical. Melvin gave most of the background information of the different dance styles. He even showed the basic foundational moves for each dance. He encouraged us to look into the background as to why the song writer wrote the song, to get the real feel and purpose of the songs. Makes it easier to choreograph-lah.

Checkout Melvin Jansen's dance group ~ Team Vibe (http://teamvibe.multiply.com/photos).