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!! :)

Age, money and talent

I've been meaning to post something about this topic for awhile but haven't had the time to get to it. Now that I do, I want to share with you guys my feelings on dancing regarding age, money and talent.

Age. When I was in Hong Kong, so many people have told me or given me the idea that being young is really important when you decided to pursue dance as a career. Up until then, I've always thought that by now I would be too old to try to pursue dance, however, coming to Canada and talking to people, so many have said to me that I'm still young and I should/can do it. Yes, I agree that those who start at a much younger age have an advantage, but that doesn't mean that those who are older shouldn't start at all. I believe that hard work and determination are the two key factors for success. This obviously goes for everyone, but I think that with age and maturity we have a deeper understanding of how much work we need to put in in order to get to where we want to be. After much thought, I've come to this conclusion when dealing with age: what really limits us is not our body but our mind.

Money. I won't lie, dancing is expensive. You have to pay for training, dance classes and costumes, and on top of that workshops if you want to take them. Right now, I am still depending on my parents and I really need to start finding my own way to pay for dance classes. Parents have the responsibility to raise and educate their children, but once that goal is achieved, we need to start taking charge of our own life. For now, I know that I will need to find a part time job (or a back up plan) while pursuing dance. The problem is finding the balance between work, school, dance practice and dance classes.

Talent. Am I good enough to make it? Honestly, even though I've been dancing for a few years (not including my ballet training), I really only recently decided that I want to pursue this path. Given the improvement I've seen so far, I would say that I'd need at least another year of hard work to assess myself and decide whether or not I think I should continue along this path or if I should fall back to my back up plan and only do dancing as a hobby.Whether it be professional or not, dancing will always be a part of me now. I just want to learn as much as I can within this time frame and be the best dancer that I can be! It's going to be a busy and tough year, but I'm ready for it. I'm ready to give everything that I've got so hopefully it will take me to right place.

To all dancers out there, let me know your views! If there is anything that you want to add or think that I should also be considering also send me a comment :)