Crazy weekend (5, 6, 7, 8 Showtime + SM Global Audition Toronto)

This is gonna be a long post. I haven't had time to blog until now because this weekend was super crazy. My dance crew, MPress, went to 5, 6, 7, 8 Showtime which is a dance competition that was held at Mont Tremblant on Saturday and FINALLY, all our hard work paid off!! We came first in our category!!

My crew and our coaches <3                     Photo from my coach's Instagram

Look at that beautiful trophy!!

Even though we came first I think the best part of the competition would be watching 35-55 year old moms and dads competing. Watching them  made me realize that dance doesn't have to end after your 30's. Many people think that time is a limiting factor for dance because your body ages or no one wants to hire an older dancer (professionally speaking, yes this may be true), but that doesn't mean that you can't enjoy it and continue to do it! Out of all the crews, my favourite ones would have to be the ones with only the dads. They had so much fun on stage that it made me want to teach my mom how to dance!!

Next thing I wanted to share with you guys is my trip to Toronto for SM's global audition. This was probably the craziest and most last minute thing I've done in my life. I emailed SM probably around 4 or 5 days before the audition date and they never replied me until Saturday while I was on my way to Mont Tremblant. When I saw the email I debated whether I should go or not because it was so last minute. However, this is kind of a once in a lifetime chance experience and if I didn't go I would always be curious and would always wonder what if...

So I booked a last minute bus ride for Sunday morning to Toronto then came back the next morning. For those who are curious, here's what happened for the audition:

You get there and fill in a registration form, then you go into a waiting room and wait for them to pick you to go to the audition room. (I wasn't supposed to take pictures but here you go!)

Waiting Room (Front)

Waiting Room (Back)

Once you get picked, you get a number then go into the audition room in tens. Since I chose to do dance, I had to freestyle to a piece of music (in English) of their choice. Then once you're done you leave unless they call you to stay to go to another room.

I have to say that that was probably THE worst I have ever freestyled. First, I could barely hear the music because they were blasting it while using a very bad quality speaker so all I could here was static. Second, I tried to move to music in my head but the 'static' kept interrupting my song. I would say that those who auditioned for singing/MC/modelling would've had a slight advantage. However, this is only my opinion from what I went through in Toronto, maybe if you actually went to their headquarters in Seoul, New York or L.A. they would have actual speakers. All in all I think it could have been a little more well organized, but even so I don't regret doing it because I realized after going through it that I would rather be the back up dancer or the choreographer than the actual celebrity.

Last but not least, just wanted to say that Canada is such a beautiful place.

Photo taken on my way to Toronto

BAM (Bust A Move) Dans le Metro 5

Bust A Move/Festival Bust A Move is Canada's biggest dance battle, I believe. They were promoting the event in collaboration with le Metro (subway system in Montreal) and were showcasing to the public what street dancing and battling is. It is so amazing to watch such crazy dancers freestyle to music in different styles: hip hop, house, popping, waacking, locking and bboying. I feel so honored to actually know some of those who were there "battling" today! (You guys were awesome)

Here's some pictures that I took with my phone.(Sorry, don't have a pro camera so it's gonna be a bit blurry)

Kids Hip Hop

House

Locking

Waacking

Popping

My waacking teacher was actually there doing the house battle and we ended up going to my dance class together, but it got cancelled so... basically I got a private group waacking class and wow. I learnt so much from it! How I wish this could happen more often! And now she has convinced me to go battle in BAM. Initially, I was only going to go watch because it is such a big event that I didn't feel ready to do it, but since it is A LOT cheaper to go as a contestant/dancer and I can use the experience as practice, I will be battling on May 2nd. If you're battling or going to watch the event, I will see you there :)

On the fence

I guess you could say I have been a dancing since I was young. Did ballet for eight years, stopped, then started hip hop at 17. Came to Montreal for university, and rediscovered myself after learning about waacking and freestyling. Many dancers, me included, started dancing by learning choreography. I love it. But because of freestyle, I am loving dance more and more every day. As a person who has stepped out of my teens, I've often felt that the type of carefree, innocent happiness you experience as a child can't be found again because of responsibilities, stress, etc... I thought I'd never find that happiness until I started freestyling.

In the beginning, I actually hated it because I felt like I had to move a certain way to make the freestyling look good, but slowly, thanks to my friends in McGill Student Street Dancers (MSSD), I am enjoying it to the point where all I want to do is dance and to improve. And that is all that I can think about. I'd say I'm an okay dancer, I can pick up choreography well, but when it actually comes down to pure dancing, I still need a lot of work. Yet being surrounded by people who are amazing dancers, who share the same passion as me and who inspire me, at times I feel that maybe, just maybe, I could become an actual professional dancer.

Photo by Jojo Ariwi

However, being Asian, the typical thinking is to find a stable job, earn enough money to support yourself and your family. I know that if I decided to go for dancing, my parents would not be happy (obviously!). But what about our dreams? Do I play it safe and become a physiotherapist like I plan to be? Or do I take my risk, give my all and try to be the best dancer that I can be? 

All these questions always bring me back and forth which is one of the reasons why I created this blog! I will be posting other things related to dance, but I hope you can share your thoughts on this topic with me so feel free to comment and give your opinions :)