Vancouver Street Dance Festival 2015

Vancouver has always been a beautiful city and my second home since I was a kid. Going back this time, not only did I get to see family, but I had the chance to check out Vancouver Street Dance Festival (VSDF)!

Day 1: Prelims.
As a normal battle goes, we all have to go through prelims. To be honest, I was nervous being in another place and battling, but at the same time I wasn't really feeling it because I wanted to enjoy the event! Due to this, plus I was first to go and I didn't know the music at all, I did pretty horribly (in my standards). But hey, every experience is an experience to add to mine so I still got something out of it. To my surprise, there were a bunch of Montreal waackers that came to the event! Most of them made it to top 4 too which was dope!

Day 2: Main Event Day.
Compared to events I've been to in Montreal, VSDF was held a Robson Square which is an open public space with free admission. So there were many non-dancers there and the vibe was just amazing!! I got to enjoy the shows, watch the battles and go into cyphers which was a lot of fun. Waacking is always the most fun to watch haha so here's the finals!!

After the event, we all went to place called Guu Garden that served Japanese tapas! The food was so good and we got to get to know some of the locals from Vancouver AND got to know the members of Konichiwaack. Damn those guys and fun and CRAZZYY!! I had so much fun just watching them that night!! Here's one of my first video's that I saw of them ;)

Day 3: Workshop day

I've actually taken Princess Lockeroo's workshop before when I first started waacking, but I was too new back then to understand what she was trying to teach. This time round I took her advance class and wow it was so damn hard, but so damn good! I learnt a little more about how to train by myself, but I also got a little bit of a deeper understanding of the different elements in this dance style. Now I've got a lot of work to do... However, this class really gave me a lot of motivation and inspiration on how to train myself which is just what I needed. Can't wait to start and get into training mode again!!

Mandatory post-workshop photo

Hot Mess 5, Heir to the Throne, jam sessions, training, workshops, lifestyle

Just wanted to do an update since my last post. I've been training hard in my dancing especially waacking while trying to cope with and finish school. Going to session, taking lots of classes and workshops, doing battles, etc. I think has helped me grow. A LOT. Here's some footage of my last two battles:
1) Hot Mess 5 which is exactly one year since my first battle

As I mentioned on Facebook, I think this is probably one of the best I've done even though I didn't make it past prelims. But now looking back at it, even though I killed my character, my musicality was way off and I could have actually done a lot more. So NEXT YEAR imma bring it!

2) Heir to the Throne 2 vs 2 all-styles Master and Apprentice, MSSD's first jam, where I got to pair up with Bboy Toonz. First one was prelims and second one is top 16.

Just saying even though I was waacking all-styles battles are hard because of the music. DJ was mad dope though so he gave us, dancers, some crazy music and energy. Plus, my partner was giving me a lot of energy too! Definitely felt his support behind me and he killed his rounds as well! I am actually so proud of every one of the members in MSSD cause I have seen everyone grow, including myself. Going back to my round, I think my top 16 round was pretty weak cause I was trying to incorporate some house into my waacking, but that was hard... Probably gonna take some house classes over summer.

However, with all that said, we are always the harshest judges on ourselves. I am actually very happy with my progress, comparing those with this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zgf72o6VVE), but I've got lot of work to do! :D

Speaking of house classes, I had the opportunity to go to New York City during reading week and got to get down with my peeps at Central Park then went to a super awesome hustle class and jammed with some OG huslters which was SUPER cool! Then lastly took a house class with Sekou. This is guy is so in tune with his body it's crazy, I learnt a lot from him and can't wait to start taking house classes here in Montreal!

By now, with the amount of dancing that I do, I can say that dancing for me is definitely a passion and a lifestyle. It's a way of life for me to express myself, to create and to escape the harsh reality, break the boundaries and values that our society puts on us since we were young. I absolutely love the culture I'm in and the people around me sharing it.

To end this post, here's a video of Lily (my friend) and I waacking in Brooklyn while we were hunting for graffiti art :D

Workshops, workshops, workshops + New Year's Resolution

With some time to spare I can finally update my blog!! I went to three workshops towards the end of last year, Blueprint workshop 2014, one with Kento Mori & Marc Marvelous who are both Usher's backup dancers and one with Spicey.

Blueprint workshop was something I always wanted to try to do and I finally had enough savings to go to it in November! It was an exhausting day... A total of  5 dance classes on one day with an hour break in between.  I definitely learnt from it, learned how to pick up choreography quick (real quick!) without a mirror with over 100 other people in the same room. For me, it was more like a dance convention than a workshop as it felt like choreography from each teacher was thrown at us and that was it. Personally, I feel like workshops should have more of an interaction aspect to it because I find learning and hearing these famous choreographers and dancers stories are more inspiring than just learning their choreography. Don't get me wrong though, you can still learn how they move through their choreography and I definitely learnt a lot that day. It just may not be my cup of tea.

I took another one later on that month with Kento Mori. Unfortunately, financially I couldn't afford to go to both Kento and Marc Marvelous' workshops so I had to choose one. It was a hard choice, but I ended up going with Kento's. I was able to catch the last bit of Marc's class and when I saw it I quickly regretted not splurging to take his class as well. Before the class started, we made a cypher and I saw Kento and Marc dance (freestyle not choreographed). I was so mind blown! Their vibe was absolutely crazy!! And for once I didn't feel like they were competing or judging anyone in the cypher, a cypher at a studio that usually does choreography. Seeing them dance, I was like, "Now THAT'S how you dance." That's also when I realized I haven't been dancing fully...yet...ever. Till this day I am still amazed at their energy level. After both workshops ended they stayed behind to talk about their stories which was so inspiring for me. To know that one of them just wanted to dance and the other just wanted to meet Michael Jackson and have come this far so absolutely inspiring. Knowing this proved to me that with perseverance, passion and determination you can do what you want.

This would be one workshop I would never forget.

At the end of November, I took my last workshop of the year with Spicey. It was one that was organized by MSSD and worked more on hip hop foundations and grooves which was very helpful for me as I'm trying to become more comfortable in freestyling in hip hop and it never hurts to go back to foundations! She also told everyone at the end of the class to chase our dreams and dare to dream further inspiring me to continue mine! Though mine has changed a little since the beginning, when I started this blog. I will probably update that soon in another post.

Now to New Year's Resolutions. I definitely have a few goals I want to achieve this year. (which has started out pretty well since I was asked to choreograph a flashmob to help raise awareness for youth cancer patients/survivors. So look out for that post with the video in the near future!)
My 2015 New Year's Resolutions:
1) Improve my waacking
2) Get better at hustle as a follower and learn how to lead
3) When I have time, learn some house, locking and popping
4) Graduate and finish my degree without compromising too much time from dance
5) Learn to speak basic French so I can find a job after I graduate
6)  Make time for friends and family whenever possible

P.S. Happy New Year!! :)

Update

Haven't had time to blog since I got back to Montreal because I've been dancing and working hard ever since. And you know what, my hard work over summer paid off, I've gotten comments from a few teachers and some other students in my dance classes who said that I've improved or could tell that I've been training. This made me feel pretty proud of myself and very happy because I HAVE been working my ass off! At one point though, I thought that it still wasn't enough because I knew in my heart that there's so much more room for improvement. Knowing that I was physically and mentally ready to step my dancing up a notch but not having the time to practice and to do it because I had to do homework and study was frustrating. For awhile I felt pretty down because of it, but it also got me thinking that I may have been putting a little too much pressure on myself and rushing things a little. It also felt like I was trying to prove to everybody that I am good which really was not the right way of thinking because I dance for myself so I shouldn't be dancing to prove anything to anyone. Taking back a step to just breath and relax really helped me get my head in the right place, and I've come up with a few things that I should keep in mind for future references if I ever something brings me down (thought I'd share it with you guys):

• Anything you do and want to do well, will take time
• Don't rush it, just keep doing your thing, work hard and everything will slowly fall in place
• Keep training and keep pushing
• Stop comparing yourself with others. Yes, friendly competition is good, but more so you should focus on yourself and develop your own style. Don't be a photocopy machine ;)

So, overall, I feel a lot better now and I feel like I'm in a better state of mind to actually continue on improving. It's tough trying to balance school work, dance dance classes and everything else, but I'm managing. Also, did my first gig 2 weeks ago, so hopefully those will keep coming! :P

Hong Kong (Part 2) - a little update

I've been in Hong Kong for around 2 months now... doing some training by myself since I've been back up until July, then I finally went to my old dance studio and started taking classes again. It felt so good!! Though I have to admit, I miss living a 10-minute walk away from my dance studio. I also managed to find another studio that offers waacking classes. Currently taking classes from a HK waacker called Virago Carmen and I've been learning some new stuff! Hopefully, I can take in what I'm learning here, put my own twist to it then use it when I'm back in Montreal!

However, lately I've been feeling like I've hit a plateau (which is a normal process of learning in my opinion). It feels like I'm learning new things, but I'm not actually fully taking it in if that makes any sense... But I know I just need to push through and I'll continue to grow and improve. Just need to keep dancing ;)

Also, I've noticed two things this summer. One, the dance styles, waacking and hip hop, are different in Hong Kong compared to Montreal. One seems more about technicality and tricks, the other seems to be more about feeling and living the music. This may or may not be true, but it is what I've noticed. If you've seen/think anything different or the same please comment! I'm curious to know!! Two, my life would be so empty and boring without dance. It's one thing to just say it, but I can actually feel it. I don't even know how to describe how bored and just bleh I am when I don't dance for a few days, but once I start dancing and moving, I feel whole again. Even after work, when I am exhausted, as long as I know I'm going dancing I have this extra boost in energy and feel all happy inside! I think it's safe to say Dance is here to stay, for good.

On a side note, Julien and I have been working on a little project called "Dance Over Distance".

The video's gonna be out early August so make sure to look out for it! It's gonna be dope~