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

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

Reality Check

Have I been dreaming too big?

I recently gave myself a small assessment on whether or not I CAN actually improve as much as I want to within a year's time. At some point while I was doing all this thinking, I've come to realize that to dance and to make a living from it at the same time is almost impossible, especially for where I am at now. Not only is it really difficult and it would take a lot of time and a lot of practice, but you also need to be good enough and get recognition from other people. Now that I've come to think of it, even though my dance teachers are all amazing at what they do, they all are either still in school or they have part-time jobs. This just shows that even at their level, to just dance and make a living from it is not easy.

As I was giving myself this small assessment, I've also rewatched the few videos that I have of myself waacking and all I can say is that I am so blessed to have amazing dancers/teachers around me and helping me because man have I improved! Hopefully, I'll continue to progress this way. There is still so much for me to learn, but I'm determined to show the world that I can do this. I will keep my dream alive, but probably be more realistic about it from now on. Don't get me wrong, this still means that I am going to give it my all, but I do need to finish school so that I can find work to support myself and my dancing. Whether or not my dancing can take me to where I want be... I guess we'll have to see :)

On a side note, I will be going back to Hong Kong soon for summer. Definitely going to miss Montreal, but I also contacted one of the waackers in HK so can't wait see what the dance scene is like there!

Here are my videos, first one is of me practicing before Hot Mess this March which is also the first time I filmed myself and second one is the one from Bust A Move.