Dances at Kallang
Believe it or not, we did *drumroll*…. 26 performances on Saturday night at Kallang Theatre!!!! Whew… Fantastic man ppl!

1) Gimme – Rozana
2) Lady social dance at thumper
3) Kyo n Natalie
4) I Have a Dream – Yanling
5) Manfred n Rozana
6) Social dance Rueda
7) Xenbeat – 4 Hiphop gals
8) Tango new
9) Ballet class
10) Belly Salsa
11) Advance Rueda
12) Bachata
13) Funky Monkeys – Hiphop group
14) Sharleen n Natalie
15) Nigel n Grace
16) Ms Ho
17) Jazz
18) Tango Old
19) Terrence n Melanie
20) On2
21) Shines
22) Derek n Lyn
23) On1
24) Pink Panther
25) Melanie
26) Jian Yang n Yanqing

Testimonials for the Singapore Salsa Congress 2006...

I had a fabulous time participating in the Singapore Salsa Congress 2006. The overseas instructors and participants had a different style of dancing and it was an eye-opener for me as I saw the way they danced Bachata, Reggaeton, Chacha and of course, Salsa! I love dancing with the overseas dancers because it feels so different from dancing with those in Singapore. It's like the same Salsa, but with a different sauce or flavor to it!

Ministry of Sound was super big! The ambience was different from the smaller clubs that we're used to, and it was so crowded that people even resorted to dancing on the podiums! The music was great, and the people were all clearly enjoying themselves. I had the opportunity to go into the VIP room, and I could see all the salsa dancers strutting their stuff from there; the flavor's hot!

The standard of the Open Salsa competition was great! The top two couples were really proficient in what they did, and I certainly enjoyed watching them perform. It's so cool to watch how creative they are, and the showmanship was vavoomph! It blew me away!

Everyone I spoke to enjoyed the show at Kallang. The performers really enjoyed doing the show too. The energy was so high after that, we all went back to Xenbar, gobbled the food, and resumed dancing till the wee hours of the morning!

I think this congress was truly a once in a lifetime experience for me. It was great to meet new people to dance with, to do all the performances, and to catch up with old friends you don't see often! I'm so proud to be a part of this congress, words can't describe it! Heehee...

The Singapore Salsa Congress 2006

It was soooo fun!!! I met so many foreign artistes and dancers! Cynthia conducted 6 workshops! Reggaeton was cool… It’s time to introduce that to Singapore. You can tell the differences between the countries: Taiwan is big on Reggae and Afro, and I love their Bachata! The way they merged their traditional folk dance with Salsa is also cool… I wonder if there’s a Singapore dance we can combine into Salsa? Joseph’s songs are to die for… He has a great taste for the music, and there’s lotsa variety in them, and all nice to dance to… Heehee! I can’t wait for Taiwan and Hong Kong Fest next year! *saving money*

I also danced with Sohel from Sydney, Jaxon and Fasil from KL… Very smooth dancers with a certain style of their own… Very charming, I must say. Albert from LA is a great lead, with a unique style of his own. His contrasts of slow and fast moves are my favorite type of dance style to watch, coz you never get bored. He also takes care of the gal very well, so no worries ladies! He very kindly taught a 2 hour Salsa class for us today at Thumper… Oh, did anyone watch his tango? Oohlala *drool*

Although I didn’t get to dance or see much of the dancing, being busy running around, it felt that everyone was enjoying themselves, dancing away. I saw great, big smiles everywhere. MOS was so crowded that people were dancing on the podiums! Yeah, the floor was not the very best of floors to dance, but who cares! We were all there to meet and dance with all the people, and boy did we all dance.

Thumper was great! The music was blaring, and we did a great Rueda performance there, despite not being able to hear properly. There was just barely enough space to perform the moves, haha! I liked that rueda performance… Mel, Terrence, Grace, Nigel, Arvind, Lucy, GeikLee, they all also put on fabulous shows for the competition. I was so proud watching how much effort they put in and how much they had improved!

I think this is one of the greatest accomplishments so far, having put up so many different performances (about 12 group dances in total?) this time around. I have to say, I’m so glad to be a part of this festival, where I can get to meet new friends from all over the world, catch up and dance with old friends from other countries, and dance together with all my Xen buddies in the performances. We put on a great show, and I can’t wait to watch the DVD!

Singapore Salsa Congress 2006 - Thank Yous

Yay!!!! We did it! I had great fun at the Singapore Salsa Congress!!! Whew! What a hectic 7 days... As organizers, we were running around so much making sure that things were going as smoothly as possible that my first social dance was on Friday; on the 5th day! And since I was mainly in charge of the performances, I didn't really get to meet the overseas artistes or danced with them until nearly the end of the congress. There were performances every night except on Friday, and I counted... in total, I did 25 performances that week! Heehee...

I'm super duper proud of all our performers. Gosh, they really put in a lot of effort to put on great shows, and they did it! Even staying until 4am in the morning on the day of the performance didn't deter them from turning up at 10am for workshops on Sat and putting on a fabulous show that night! Did I say I'm super proud of them? It's like a mama hen preening her feathers. Haha... Of course, rehearsals were crazy and I felt like a shrew ordering them around the entire 2 weeks, but I think it was a fantastic experience. They really dedicated their 2 weeks to me, and I'm really honoured to have such troopers by my side. These ppl are a bunch of super cool ppl to dance with, and boy can they dance! I'm amazed I survived the week without falling apart at the seams. The week certainly flew by, and I dare say that this congress is one of the most exhilarating times of my life... Guys, I'm sure you'll agree: we put in sweat, blood and bruises into this show. It paid off, and the result was amazing.

To the Performers:
I love you guys. You were really beautiful out there. From the quick costume changes - stripping backstage and all - to the dedication and hard work, and standing by every night for run throughs and performances, you guys are really great! Although I looked constipated and stressed, I enjoyed every minute of it. Thanks for such a wonderful time and a fantastic performance!

To the Backstage Crew:
Lighting, sound and backstage manager - AhFu, Bernie, Nat, plus all the runners like Small James, GeikLee, Ariel, etc; Costume ppl - Defelyn, Ivy, Nat, etc... Thanks so much guys, for putting in that extra (last minute) work. You were all amazing. Thanks for screaming at everybody else that day. Haha... It sure paid off! Hugz...

Special Thanks:
Emma, Mary Yatti, Emma's Brother, Big James - for all the supporting work you guys did throughout the week. It didn't go unappreciated!
Mummy, Daddy and Jie - thanks for all your support and SMSes!!! I Looove You lots... My mummy's the best and most supportive mum anyone could have. She's a miracle worker! Haha...

Last but certainly not the Least,
Principal Ong, my amazing teacher - You told me I could do it... & I did it! We did it!!!! Hugz, Muakz, Luv Ya...

Sigh, God's so good.

The Salsa Dancer’s Identity in Singapore

Abstract:
This essay is a study of the social dancing in a Latin dance, Salsa, specifically in Singapore. It looks at the structure of the dance and the social norms within the Salsa clubs to explore how the social forces shapes the identity of the Salsa dancer.

I draw on concepts of play (Huizinga), identity (Hall) and cultural convention (Finnegan) to illustrate how the constant change of partners after every dance influences the dancer to be original and creative in his/her dance and within the culture in general. I also show how the creativity is limited by the structure of the dance.


Introduction
Salsa is known as a Latin music and dance that is largely influenced from the Spanish-speaking Caribbean (Manuel, 1994; Waxer, 2002). Works on Salsa has concentrated on how it is used as an identity marker to draw Latin people together (Portes and Truelove, 1987). As Salsa is a dance that can be found in almost every major city in the world, and is not just danced by Latinos, it piques my curiosity that this dance is so globally popular.

My exploratory interviews in the Salsa scene found much talk that Salsa appeared to have changed people’s lives. William, a Salsa enthusiast remarked when I asked him how it has changed his life, “You see lor: contacts, posture, perfume, styled hair… Before Salsa, I didn’t smile so much; I wasn’t so confident. Now better already.” Instructor Karen agrees,
I have seen many of my students’ confidence grow as they master their steps and realize that they can do them. I see them become happier and more sure of their bodies as they dance; I see their dressing improve and their character change as they seem to realize that there is a whole side of themselves – the body – that was never explored.

Further probing along the lines of the transforming quality of Salsa revealed that all of my informants mentioned “gaining confidence” as something that they have gained through learning Salsa. 16 out of 20 of them listed it as the first point when they were asked how Salsa has changed their lives. Other points include knowing many friends, finding their boyfriend/girlfriend, learning how to dance, reminding them to “enjoy life” and learning how to take care or handle a woman properly.

Although I am a Salsa dancer myself, talking to my informants made me realize that Salsa places great emphasis on individual style and creativity. Jeff, one of the directors of a Salsa club and also a dancer, explained that originality is highly prized within Salsa as it gives the uniqueness or X-factor to the dance that makes others remember it by. He gives example from famous Salsa dancers in the world:
"Johnny Vasquez is known for his quickness and the way he incorporates a Michael Jackson style in his performances; Frankie Martinez is world renown for his unique style in which he calls ‘Afro-Latin Funk’; Alex DeSilva is called ‘Mr. Smooth’ due to the fluid way in which he moves while dancing; and Al ‘Liquid silver’ Espinoza is famous for incorporating hip-hop into Salsa, which he calls ‘Millennium Salsa’. "
These American dancers are known throughout the world for their skill in dancing and the unique style that they have created within the dance.

In my essay, I seek to show how the Salsa dance and its culture encourage individuality and creativity. The main part of my analysis is on social dancing in Salsa clubs and how the cultural conventions there promote originality. The first part of my essay describes the Salsa dance and its cultural conventions. The second part seeks to show how these conventions promote individuals to differentiate themselves from others and be unique individuals. Lastly, I will show how these ‘outlets of creativity’ are inherently bounded by the structure of the dance. To illustrate my points, I use concepts on social conventions (Becker, Finnegan), cultural capital (Bourdieu), identity (Hall, Rose) and play (Huizinga).


Salsa Ethnography
My ethnographic research consisted of weekly participant observations in two Salsa clubs in Singapore[1], focusing mainly on Union Square, the more popular club, weekly participant observation (both overt and covert) in two Salsa schools[2] and semi-structured interviews from 20 Salsa dancers, students, teachers and performers[3]. These are information collected over the span of 2 months. All these are aside from my own personal experience as a Salsa dancer, teacher and performer for over two years.


Rules and Conventions of the Dance

(a) Lead and Follow
At this juncture, it is important to describe the Salsa dance. In “Music, Performance and Enactment”, Ruth Finnegan’s (1997) analysis of the musical practices in Milton Keynes highlighted the fact that the participants depended on a set of “socially accepted conventions” to interact with each other (120). Howard Becker in Art Worlds explained that conventions are a standardized set of rules in which participants in the setting rely on to create or produce a work of art. The set of rules, as explained by Becker are not permanent and may be broken, albeit at a cost; they are useful in providing “recognized pathways” in which individuals can interact and participate within the culture, and in this case, in producing the dance (Becker; McKay, 128). The most fundamental “convention” of Salsa is in the rules of the dance itself.

Salsa is a lead and follow dance, where the male generally leads his partner while the female follows his lead. Although people who have never tried a lead and follow dance before find it hard to comprehend the mystery behind how a man can lead a lady and a lady can follow a man, there are techniques behind the mystery, like “tension”, “hook” and “respecting the line” which are taught in the Salsa schools, and most Salsa dancers in Singapore learn their lead and follow techniques from the schools. Put simply, the leader dances with the female as an extension of his body. His task is to direct her into a series of steps that incorporates spins and footwork. The follower must flow with him by following his push or pull, spinning when he spins her, stopping when he stops her, moving when he leads and waiting when he does not lead her. In Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Mihaly Csikszentmihaly (1990) describes flow as a state of being that does not require vigilant mediation from the self, where one’s movement flows fluidly and “there is little distinction between self and environment; between stimulus and response”. In the case of Salsa, the follower must merge with the leader and move fluidly to his cues, while the leader must lead her by taking her movements and flowing along with it. The key element in Salsa as a social dance is that it is not choreographed: the leader may execute different steps as and when he wants to, and the follower is expected to go with his lead even if is it variations that she has never done before.

If we see the dance as a game to be played, the “rules” are for the leader to direct her clearly and flawlessly into variations while executing his own steps and for the follower to follow his cue without struggle and in total compliance with his lead. Both may execute additional steps of their own to beautify and personalize their dancing (the term used is Styling), but they have to find an opportune moment to deliver it because it must not affect the lead or the following, which will disrupt the dance. At this stage, there are two layers involved in the dance: the lead and follow, and the styling that is strategically placed to enhance the dancing. When this happens, the dancers do not fall into a ritualized movements and “let their bodies flow with the dance”; rather, “they can, at the same time, have the conscious intention, of pushing themselves… to the limits (or beyond) of their inculcated habitus” (Rostas, 1998: 91). Even so, there are many times when the dance is intentionally disrupted and the dancers break apart and dance separately (this is called Shines). Although the dancers appear to be dancing on their own with their bodies no longer in physical contact, they still maintain connection with their eyes. This happens for a few seconds and then they come back together again when the leader picks the follower up and leads her once again. Advanced dancers favor shines, as it is an opportunity to display their expertise in dancing freestyle, without the constraints of their partners. As can be seen, the rules of the game differ for the leader and the follower. The former sets the pace and the latter complies with it. This is the fundamental rule or convention for the dance.


(b) Changing Partners
The unique aspect of Salsa lies in the fact that individuals do not have a fixed partner[4] to dance with. Most Salsa dancers do not have a fixed partner and they meet up in a crowded club to find different people to dance with. The thrill of Salsa comes from dancing with different people: the participants get to interact and meet up with many people in a night; they do not get bored with the same dance steps because every person they dance with has a different style and way of dancing that they have to get accustomed to; and the constant change in partners results in a lot of interactive playing on the dance floor. “People go to crowded clubs to see and meet new people. Although you have to fight for space on the floor to dance, they still go there because it is the place to go to Salsa. You want to be seen there, to meet new people, to dance with not just one but many people in one night!” says Karen, a Salsa dancer.

This concept of constantly changing partners after each dance creates interesting elements within the Salsa world. To ensure that a leader can dance with every follower and vice versa, there must be a certain set of rules by which the dancers follow so that they will be able to dance even with strangers. This convention that dancers abide by is the lead and follow that is taught by the Salsa schools. Salsa dancer Noelle illustrates with an example,
"Say for example that a guy from London is in Singapore for a holiday and asks me to dance. Assuming that he knows what he is doing – that is he knows how to lead properly – and that I know what I’m doing and follow properly, we can dance well together even though I’ve never seen him or danced with him in my entire life."
In other words, social dancing is a spontaneous act and is not choreographed.

Due to the nature of the dance being a spontaneous act, mistakes within the dance are inevitable as dancers occasionally loose their contact and connection within the dance. This is acceptable within the social dancing, as the focus is to have fun rather than to attain perfection, and mistakes are covered up with shines and styling. As such, the convention of lead and follow does get breached at times, especially with beginners who are not skilled in leading or following, but this is usually waived off with laughter and smiles. However, this can be frustrating if the couple cannot synchronize, as they will not be able to dance properly.

This concept of changing partners also brings about interesting interactions between partners and with the audience. The partners are not permanent; it typically changes with every song. As such, an individual dances with one person for 5 minutes where they create a dance together, and then moves on to the next person after that. Often, a dance is used to gauge the capability of the partner and to access whether this partner is good to dance with again later. “When I’m dancing with a lady, I access her proficiency in dancing and cater to that. I will try to make sure that she enjoys herself and is comfortable. If she likes dancing with me, she won’t reject me if I ask her again later on,” John, Salsa dancer declares. Another Salsa dancer, Frank explains that most of the people in the audience are also Salsa dancers, waiting for their turn to dance. They look at those dancing on the dance floor to “check out the moves that others are doing” and also to “watch the ladies and look for potential candidates to ask to dance” for the next song. The partner’s and audience’s gaze makes it so that the individuals have to “advertise” themselves to find dancers to dance with, and I will dwell more on this later.

The notion of changing partners is key to my investigation, as I will show how this affects and brings about other conventions within Salsa.


Formation of Identity

(a) Differentiation through Dancing (Identity formation)
Hanna (1988) illustrates how an individual’s proficiency at particular dances can create social boundaries. The cultural landscape of social dancing where a dancer has to constantly choose different partners and where the audience is looking for partners to dance with suggests a need to make one’s dancing unique so that it will be attractive for people to want to dance with. Many Salsa dancers constantly strive to be good because it will ensure that they will always be in “demand” and seldom lack of people to dance with. Will, a Salsa instructor cited an example in his trip to the Hong Kong Salsa Festival in February this year, “It’s important to have a good girl (in terms of dance skill) to dance with. When we were in Hong Kong, I took Cheryl and ‘showed off’. Because she’s a good dancer and I’m a good leader, the people there were impressed even though we didn’t do anything showy”.

The sheer masses of male and female dancers within a club on a crowded night – approximately 350 people within 2,000 square feet – also cause the participants to differentiate their dancing so that they may stand out among the crowd. This is usually done through interesting variations, styling and shines. Men constantly learn new moves to ensure that they do not lack of moves to dance with the women; women learn styling and practice them to ensure that they can add their own flavor to the dance; both learn shines to add an interesting twist in their dancing.[5] Anya Royce (1980) in The Anthropology of Dance defines style to be “the whole complex of features that people rely on to mark their identity” (157). In the context of Salsa, dancers make their dance unique with their own style and rely on it to differentiate themselves from the crowd of dancers; these styles also alter with the music and the different partners they dance with. My experience as a female dancer reveals that my partner influences my style. If he holds both my hands, I cannot use my hand to style; if he spins me off into a series of shines, I may do my own moves, respond to his moves, or mimic them; his style in dancing (smooth or quick) also affects my style as he sets the mood in the dance. One of my interviewees, Rachel, also mentioned that she dressed up in different themes like hip-hop, elegant, classic or sexy to help her to set her style of dancing for the night. This reflects Kroeber’s concept of the element of selectivity, where people generally make a conscious decision to display certain styles, and where the style complex is constantly altering as people are removing and selecting items from the style complex (Kroeber, 1963; Royce, 158).

The different identities that the dancers try to create for themselves can be related to Stuart Hall’s (1987) concept of the post-modern subject. Hall et al describes the post-modern subject as “having no fixed, essential or permanent identity” (277). Identity is incessantly formulated and re-formulated “in relation to the ways we are represented or addressed in the cultural systems which surround us”. “The subject assumes different identities at different times, identities which are not unified around a coherent self” (Hall et al, 1990). This subject lives in a time of “rapid, extensive, and continuous change”, which is also a “highly reflexive form of life in which ‘social practices are constantly examined and reformed in the light of incoming information about those very practices, thus constitutively altering their character’” (Giddens, 1990: 37-38; Hall, 1992). Nikolas Rose (1998) in Inventing Our Selves writes about the self as an invented construct of a “unified, coherent, self-centered subject” (5). The fact that the post-modern subject has no fixed identity but one that can fluctuate with they way they present themselves in the cultural systems seem to encourage a creation of the identity of a unique self in Salsa. The styles that are selected by the dancers all serve to construct an identity for the dancers through the creation of individuality in their dancing.


(b) Differentiation through the Cultural Competency
There is another layer of convention – the “socially accepted conventions” as stated by Finnegan – that closely relates to the social etiquettes in and out of the dance. These are the behavior or etiquettes deemed correct and acceptable within the social dancing scene. Examples of the etiquettes of Salsa given by my informants are: respecting others’ space while dancing, taking care of the follower in the dance and proper grooming. Although these conventions are not mandatory for dancing, they are important as one’s reputation is built along the lines of such etiquette. A similar term is Bourdieu’s (1977) concept of cultural capital, which is a proficiency in a particular knowledge that is used for access into a social group. Such knowledge encompasses behavior, language and other social habits within the social group. Dancers with a good grasp of the cultural capital with regards to the Salsa social dancing scene do have an edge over others; their proficiency in cultural capital gives them popularity within the salsa crowd and more opportunities to dance. This is reflected by comments made by my informants on the topic of social etiquette in Salsa:
"Showing that you can take care of the girl you’re dancing with and respecting others’ dance space will tell us girls that you will take care of us if we dance with you, and that you will not send us into other people’s dance space, which may us to get (accidentally) stepped on or punch in the face by other dancers because we got in their way." – Natasha, Female Dancer

"I always make it a point to tell the men to be careful where they place their arms while dancing which may make the girls feel uncomfortable. There are some men who purposely choose all the sexy moves to execute with strangers, making many of the women feel distinctly uncomfortable, especially if they end up touching the women in certain areas. After that, they tend to get rejected a lot by the ladies and we all know why." – Wilson, Instructor.

"I dance, I tell the girl:’ you’re in my world, you won’t fall, you’ll feel secure, you can just relax and enjoy the dance’; I make sure I try to take good care of her. – Tim, Salsa Student
Although Singaporeans tend to dress down and are not showy in their appearance, proper grooming and dressing properly does show that you put in the effort to dress well, smell nice and look ready to dance. It shows that you respect the people you dance with because you bother to look presentable; you won’t go for a first date in Bermudas, an old smelly shirt and unkempt hair unless you think it’s trendy and that your date likes it. It’s the same for Salsa." – Jim, Salsa Instructor

The importance of cultural capital within the Salsa world can be seen through the importance attributed to confidence. When asked how they benefited from their experience in Salsa, many of my informants highlighted that they have become more confident of themselves in dancing and in other aspects of their lives. Salsa student, Tom spoke of how Salsa introduced him to various aspects of social life that he was not aware of, thus making him more confident as he learnt and mastered these aspects of the culture. He remarked that he now knows better how to interact with girls and how to Another of my informants, also a salsa student Vicky, 26, spoke of how learning to follow the man while dancing gave her confidence in the dance when she achieved success.

Salsa instructors also educate their students on certain aspects of social etiquette. A world famous instructor from America demonstrated to her students how looking and acting confident – by standing on the edge of the dance floor, swaying to the Salsa rhythms and snapping your fingers – can easily get you people to dance with. Josh, an established Salsa instructor in Singapore described how he made one of his top students yell at the top of his lungs when training for a Salsa competition “to get a fiercer and more confident look on his face”. When asked why confidence was so important, he replied: “because it looks good and you look like you know what you’re doing”. In my experience as a Salsa teacher, the proper posture is one of the most important and fundamental pointers on looking good while dancing, and I find myself constantly poking my students’ backs to get their postures straight while they dance. Looking confident makes a dancer appear to be in control and “know what [he/she] is doing” (to quote from Josh). This makes he/she look like a good dancer to dance with because it would mean that this partner knows how to take care of his/her partner. As a Salsa instructor Carrie, aptly puts it, the trick to dancing well is to make it look easy and effortless, “as if you were born to do this, and born with that talent to dance”; it is for the men to look like a gentleman who treats the lady well and makes her look good, and for the women to follow effortlessly, with the posture maintained.

The cultural capital is important because people get to know each other in the Salsa clubs and they all eventually have a list of most favorite and least favorite people to dance with. Those who master the cultural capital or social etiquette can indeed differentiate themselves from the masses of Salsa dancers because they have the knowledge and confidence – what Thornton (1995) calls the subcultural capital – of how to present themselves within the social club[6].


(c) Differentiation through social pressure – the audience gaze
Individuality and creativity also stems from the social pressures or expectations that are inherent within the Salsa club. The social landscape is such that the dancers frequently change partners, and when an individual starts dancing with a new partner, they are seizing each other up, checking the ability of their partners.

Salsa dancer Roy described his anxieties when he first learnt Salsa,
"The girl is looking at you, waiting for you to make the first move. You’re so nervous that you can barely remember how to do the step correctly. Then after that, you have to try to think of the next step; and while you’re doing that, you’re worrying that she becomes bored because you know so limited variations."
Shirleen, a Salsa student describes how she “panicked” when she danced with an experienced dancer,
"When he asked me to dance, I was so nervous! He was one of the best dancers there, and I was just a beginner. I was really stressed and nervous; I totally panicked! I was so nervous that my hand tensed and I couldn’t read his signal. I started second-guessing him and we started struggling on the dance floor because he was trying to lead me into variations while I was trying to second-guess the variations. As you can imagine, that dance felt like a total disaster!"

As can be seen, the partner dance does impose an expectation on the dancers to do well in their dancing (or their partners will suffer!). The fact that there are no fixed partners can bring about an anxiety to perform well in the social dance. This perhaps pushes the dancers to be better faster, so that they can dance well and will not let their partners down. An interesting phenomena that arises out of this social landscape is that the dancers actually “market” or advertise themselves while dancing. During the dance, the dancer “sells” to his/her partner that he/she is a good person to dance with, and is someone worth dancing again in the future. Jeff, instructor comments,
"You always see smiles on the faces of Salsa dancers, and they are always very friendly. This is because they love to dance, meet new friends, and are enjoying themselves. But it is also important for them to smile or at least look friendly because if they don’t, the partner may think that they don’t like them. Other people are also watching from the audience and these are potential dance partners who are looking for people to dance with."

As such, the gaze of the dance partners and the audience commodifies the dancer into an object to be acquired. As a result of this, many dancers, especially the advanced dancers flaunt their individual style and character while they dance through they way they confidently interact or play with their partners while executing the variations, shines and styling they choose in the dance.


(d) Play Element within the Dance – partner and audience
As put forth by Johan Huizinga (1955) in Homo Ludens: A Study of Play-Element in Culture, there is a strong element of play within dance. This, in addition to learning the lead and follow, is a second layer within the salsa dance, which in my opinion, makes Salsa a dance rather than merely a series of steps to be executed. The factor that differentiates any series of steps from exercise and dance is the mind, which somehow labels salsa as “dance” rather then a form of exercise. The mind acknowledges Salsa as a form of dance due to its aesthetic appeal and the feeling of fun and enjoyment that is involved in the dance. McRobbie (1984) in “Dance and Social Fantasy” speaks of dance as something that places emphasis on the body and its promised pleasures for the dancer and the audience (140). Those that embrace the sub-culture are acutely aware that Salsa is a sexy dance, which involves close body contact, and the dancers thrive in the realism of it. As Royce puts forth, dance is one of the few opportunities in the modern world where displaying the body is acceptable by society (160). In Salsa, the dancers daringly embrace and explicitly acknowledge the sexual overtones in their dance by maintaining eye contact while sexily dancing, constantly challenging and teasing their partners and the audience. It is a common saying, quoted by Carrie, a Salsa instructor that “Dancing Salsa is like doing it right on the dance floor”. This bold front is one of the attractions of the dance: those who Salsa, dare. She states, “As Salseros, we are a different breed of people who are not afraid to embrace our sexuality, and in our dancing, confidently flaunt it”.

With this concept in mind, we can now explore how these dancers express themselves in the dance, which makes the dance so “hot”. As the dance is that of lead and follow, the couple apparently flows together as one body moving to the music. Yet, beneath the surface lies a constant tension, a game of courtship. Here, I use Huizinga’s concept of play to derive my analysis. The man woos the lady with his charm while he dances, showing off his confidence and style while leading her like a gentleman; the lady may choose to accept the “courtship” or play hard to get and challenge him with moves of her own. As the leader brings the follower into a series of steps, he challenges her to the moves, and she accepts the challenge by executing the variations he leads. However when they dance, they are not merely executing variations or choreography, for that would be “boring”, as stated by advanced dancer Zach. Rather, what is essential to the play and makes this dance unique is that the teasing reactions are on the spur of the moment; i.e., they are not choreographed but spontaneous. The dancers taunt and tease each other throughout the variations executed: one dancer would give the other a cheeky look as he/she suddenly does a sharp turn or a body-wave, hoping to catch his/her partner by surprise and gain the upper hand in their play. The other may choose to respond with something of his/her own, or choose not to do anything and keep a cool face, seemingly unfazed by it[7]. As it can be seen, the “play” within the dance causes impromptu and spontaneous interactions amongst the dancers, which is similar Finnegan’s analysis of the Jazz musicians who improvised the music during their performance: “composition in performance” (127).

In sum, the essence of Salsa lies in its play. Rather than merely displaying their sexual prowess, the dancers turn it into a game, involving not just their partners, but also the audience. In doing so, they break the mundane seriousness of the dance (which otherwise may be called exercise) and have spontaneous “fun”. And since this dance is merely a game, it is acceptable to openly “flirt” with different people throughout the night. Many dancers actually “play” at seducing their partners and then give a cheeky look or laugh to indicate that this is just a game, and that they are not really flirting but merely frolicking.

This game of Salsa is an established convention that Salsa dancers learn as they advance in their learning. What is interesting is that the teachers actually do teach their students how to play the game. In one of my observations of Salsa classes, I see the teacher explaining to her students that they should either tilt their chins down or up and not keep their head straight when they look at their partners because the former conveys a certain “attitude” and character to the face while dancing which the latter lacks. She also instructed the men to look at the women and smile “as though you care for her deeply” but not stare at her constantly as that would frighten her. Salsa Instructor Josh also taught his student to wink at the audience during a competition, clearly recognizing the “play” at work with the audience. The play within the dance helps to construct the identity of the individual. As there are many ways in which one can “play” while dancing, it encourages individuality and a personal character to develop.


Restrictions bounded by the Structure
So far, I have shown how the Salsa dance and its social conventions have molded the concept of originality and creativity within the dance. The fact that one seeks different people to dance with in a night causes one to differentiate oneself from others both within the dance – through the selection of variations, styling, shines, the commoditizing of oneself and the concept of “playing” – and outside of it – through the mastering of cultural capital within the club. The expectations of creativity within the dancing is strong as Jeff, a club owner remarks,
"Salsa dancers like to tease and play, and also shock others too, with unique and moves. Some men like to ‘fake’ a variation, to trick the ladies, others like to stop suddenly in their movements to test the ladies’ sensitivity in their following, some ladies like to suddenly do a ‘butt-up’ (a styling that requires a sudden bending down that sometimes startles the men; i.e., their partner suddenly ‘disappears’ to the floor) or a head toss (another styling that requires the hair to whip in a circle). Other people like to use moves from hip-hop, belly dance, or tango to add twists to their moves, and the audience watching the dance likes it because we get to see something different. Sometimes, the shocked look on their partner’s face is also very fun to watch, especially when the girl suddenly pushes the guy away and goes into her shines."

Ironically, these expectations also limit the depth of individuality and creativity within the individual. No matter how creative they are, the dancers still do have to abide by the rules of the dance. The men still have to lead the women; the women still have to follow the men. Although there are times when each can take a break from leading and following respectively when they choose to do so, they cannot bend the rules too often or they will be considered a “spoilsport” in the Salsa game (Huizinga). Rather than going against the rules, salsa dancers seek to find their individuality within the dance instead. The advanced dancers frequently use styling. The reason this is so is because styling is incorporated in addition to the lead and follow. One must be able to style without affecting one’s lead or follow; the style is meant to beautify the dance and not to impede its flow. Advanced dancers who have a better grasp of the fundamental lead and follow techniques can therefore style to beautify their dance, while it may not be in the beginner’s capacity to do so.

Furthermore, even though the promotion of creativity is strong within the culture, in reality, many dancers imitate other better dancers both in Singapore and outside of it. Like fashion, Salsa follows trends and these trends are set by the well-known dancers and copied by the rest. This concept of individualism is a moving target, since others will imitate a good move that is created. As such, one is constantly pursuing new moves and the self is always under construction through the re-forming its image and identity. Although creativity and originality are bounded by the rules of the dance, they still serve to add individuality to the dancers and improve their confidence because the scope and style of Salsa within the boundaries of its rules is very broad. An individual can and does construct an identity not only by creating something new, but by also choosing the styles that he/she wants to adopt. In this sense, Salsa as a game has strict rules, but there is genuine freedom within the rules whereby styles are constantly created.


Conclusion
The analysis of the social dance shows how the identity of the Salsa dancer is shaped. In this essay, I drew out the much taken for granted factor of changing partners within the club, and showed how this influenced the style of Salsa and propagated individuality and creativity within the dance. Naturally, as with all social settings, this is not the only factor that creates the strong thread of originality within the dance, but I feel that it is a factor worth considering because it shows how the simple rule of “changing partner” can affect tonality of the Salsa dance.


Bibliography

Becker, Howard S (1982). Art Worlds. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Bourdieu, P. (1977) Outline of a Theory of Practice (Cambridge: Cambridge: University Press).

Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper & Row.

Finnegan, Ruth (1997). “Music, Performance and Enactment” Consumption and Everyday Life, ed Hugh MacKay. London: Sage Publications, p113-158

Giddens, Anthony 1990). The Consequences of Modernity. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.

Hall, Stuart (1992). “The Question of Cultural Identity”, Modernity and its Futures, ed Stuart Hall, David Held and Tony McGrew. Cambridge: Polity Press in Association with the Open University, p273-325.

Hanna, J. L. (1988) Dance, Sex, and Gender: Signs of Identity, Dominance, Defiance, and Desire. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.

Huizinga, Johan (1955). Homo Ludens; A Study of the Play-Element in Culture. Boston, Beacon Press.

Kroeber, A L (1963). Anthropology: Culture Patterns & Processes. New York, Harcourt, Brace & World.

Manuel, P. (1994). “Puerto Rican Music and Cultural Identity: Creative Appropriation of Cuban Sources from Danza to Salsa", Ethnomusicology 38, p. 249–280.

McRobbie, Angela (1984). “Dance and Social Fantasy”, Gender and Generation ed Angela McRobbie and Mica Nava. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan; Atlantic Highlands, N.J.: Distributed in the U.S.A. by Humanities Press

Portes, A. & Truelove, C. (1987). “Making sense of diversity: research on Hispanic minorities in the United States”, Annual Review of Sociology 13, p. 359–385

Rose, Nikolas (1998). Inventing Our Selves: Psychology, Power, and Personhood. London: Cambridge University Press.

Rostas, Susanna (1998). “From Ritualization to Performativity: the Concheros of Mexico”, Ritual, Performance, Media, ed Felicia Hughes-Freeland. London; New York: Routledge, p85-103
Royce, Anya Peterson (1977). “Symbol and Style”, The Anthropology of Dance. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, p154-174.

Thornton, S. (1995) Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital (Cambridge: Polity Press).
Waxer, L. (2002). Situating Salsa: Global Markets and Local Meanings in Latin American Popular Music (New York and London: Routledge

End Notes:
[1] The two Salsa Clubs are the only two clubs in Singapore that has Salsa everyday. My observations were mainly on Friday and Saturday nights, where the club is at its most crowded. Occasionally, I went to Union Square on a Tuesday where it is beginner’s night.
[2] I sat in and also participated in the Salsa schools’ weekly basic classes, intermediate classes, advance classes, styling classes and shines classes. While both schools wished to remain anonymous, one of them is the largest Salsa school in Singapore, boasting more than 10 instructors and clocking on average 3,000 student-hours a month.
[3] The names of my informants have been kept anonymous and fictitious names have been used.
[4] Throughout the essay, I use the term “partners” meaning a person’s partner for one dance because most people do not have constant partners but find different people to dance with throughout the night.
[5] Refer to above for explanation of shines, styling, etc.
[6] However, one has to note that for a dancer to look good and confident while dancing, he/she needs to be proficient in leading or following to a certain standard before being able to really be in control while dancing.
[7] These were actions that were both observed and experienced in the salsa clubs.

PS: My final essay for the University... Could be better, as they alwiz can, but the best I could come up in the time I had.

We appeared on the Newpaper, Straits Times, and Stomp!!

Cool Lah... The Newpaper published one super big pic of us... Compliments of Wai Hwang for taking such nice pix!! Heehee... It's all a miracle! We took that pix like two days before they requested for it. If we din take it, we wouldn't have had any to publish. He's perfect timing yeah? Haha.

Anyway, here's the dates...

29th September 2006 - The Newpaper p 3, 28, 29

04th October onwards - Stompcast
06th October 2006 - The Straits Times p 30
08th October 2006 - The Straits Times p 43


Compliments of WaiHwang, I managed to post the biiiig pix!!! Yaay!

The Nice Shots

Ariel

Terrence

Myra

Sam

Bianca

The Photoshoot At Xen... Haha... Quite Fun for Vain Ppl and Shy Ppl alike!

Managed to take some for myself, but most of the time, I played director. Hwat does a director do? Tell jokes while they pose. Unfortunately Jianyang was in Australia... I tried, I really did tried to tell jokes, but...

Guess I'm not cut out for jokes... I'll juz hafta wait for Jian Yang to come back so that he can give joking lessons!

So I tried making Funny Faces instead! Disfiguring my face to such contortions in order for them to smile and capture a good moment on film...

*Sigh* The things I do for my School!! haha!

But... it didn't quite work out either...

Salsa – The Game of Playful Seduction

What is it about Salsa that makes it so “hot”? Why is the dance so popular? Here, I seek to explore why…

In this junction, it is important to describe the Salsa dance. Salsa is similar to Ballroom social dancing in the sense that it is a lead and follow dance, with the male typically leading and the female typically following his lead. The leader dances with the female as an extension of his body. His task is to direct her into a series of steps that incorporates spins and footwork. The follower must flow with him by following his push or pull, spinning when he spins her, stopping when he stops her, moving when he leads and waiting when he does not lead her. The crucial element in Salsa is that it is not choreographed: the leader may execute different steps as and when he wants to, and the follower is expected to go with his lead even if is it variations that she has never done before. If we see the dance as a game to be played, the ideal scenario is for the leader to direct her clearly and flawlessly into variations while executing his own steps and for the follower to follow his cue without struggle and in total compliance with his lead. Both may execute additional steps of their own to beautify and personalize their dancing (common term used is Styling), but they have to find an opportune moment to deliver it because it must not affect the lead or the following, which will disrupt the dance. Even so, there are many times when the dance is intentionally disrupted and the dancers break apart and dance separately (this is called Shines). Although the dancers appear to be dancing on their own with their bodies no longer in physical contact, they still maintain connection with their eyes. This happens for a few seconds and then they come back together again when the leader picks the follower up and leads her once again. In sum, the rules of the game differ for the leader and the follower. The former sets the pace and the latter complies with it. This is the bottom-most layer or what can be considered the ground rules for the dance. (physical sphere?)

There is a second layer involved within the salsa, which in my opinion, makes Salsa a dance rather than merely a series of steps to be executed. The factor that differentiates any series of steps from aerobics, martial arts and dance is the mind, which somehow labels salsa as “dance” rather then a form of aerobics or martial arts. The mind acknowledges Salsa as a form of dance due to its aesthetic appeal and the feeling of fun and enjoyment that is involved in the dance. There is something that the mind relates to so that all those dancing and watching the dance actually associate themselves with it. In Ballroom dancing and Ballet the dancers are focused onto a far-off something, a dreamy realm of fantasy or creation that they play in their minds as they sashay around the dance floor. This creates the dreamy, illusive and ethereal atmosphere you feel when you step into a Ballroom or watch a ballet performance. The dancers flow as one, melting together to form a series of fluid movements that delivers the body elegantly in consonance with their dreamy fantasy. In these dances, the mind is deported into an alternate realm of dreamy, almost surreal and timeless fantasy that somehow dominates the western forms of dance (so that it’s not explicitly sexual and thus appropriately suitable).

Salsa, however, takes on a different mental approach. In contrast to Ballet’s and Ballroom’s ethereal overtones, the Salsa dance revels and thrives in the present. There is no “far-off something”, nor a timeless quality that the dancers project out in Salsa. It is realistic and authentic, sometimes explicitly so. As such, those that embrace the sub-culture are acutely aware that Salsa is a sexy dance, which involves close body contact, and these people thrive in the realism of it. They daringly embrace and explicitly acknowledge the sexual overtones in their dance by maintaining eye contact while sexily dancing, constantly challenging and teasing their partners and the audience. It is a common saying that “Dancing Salsa is like doing it right on the dance floor”. This bold front is one of the attractions of the dance: those who Salsa, dare. So as Salseros, they are a different breed of people who are not afraid to embrace their sexuality, and in their dancing, confidently flaunt it.

With this concept in mind, we can now explore how these dancers express themselves in the dance, which makes the dance so “hot”. As the dance is that of lead and follow, the couple apparently flows together as one body moving to the music. Yet, beneath the surface lies a constant tension, a game of courtship. The man woos the lady with his charm while he dances, showing off his confidence and style while leading her like a gentleman; the lady may choose to accept the “courtship” or play hard to get and challenge him with moves of her own, etc. As the leader brings the follower into a series of steps, he challenges her to the moves, and she accepts the challenge by executing the variations he leads. However when they dance, they are not merely executing variations or choreography, for that would be boring. Rather, what is essential to the play and makes this dance unique is that the teasing reactions are on the spur of the moment; i.e., they are not choreographed but spontaneous. The dancers taunt and tease each other throughout the variations executed: one dancer would give the other a cheeky look as he/she suddenly does a sharp turn or a body-wave, hoping to catch his/her partner by surprise and gain the upper hand in their play. The other may choose to respond (retort?) with something of his/her own, or choose not to do anything and keep a cool face, seemingly unfazed by it.

In sum, the essence of Salsa lies in its play. Rather than merely displaying their sexual prowess, the dancers turn it into a game, involving not just their partners, but also the audience. In doing so, they break the mundane seriousness of the dance (which otherwise may be called exercise) and have spontaneous “fun”. And since this dance is merely a game, it is acceptable to openly “flirt” with different people throughout the night. Many dancers actually “play” at seducing their partners and then give a cheeky look or laugh to indicate that this is just a game, and that they are not really flirting but merely frolicking.

As can be seen, there is a sort of dual layer to the dance: 1) the ground rules of Salsa which establishes the fundamental physical techniques of how to dance, and 2) the second layer which sets the cultural norms of how to behave while dancing. These two are the socializing “norms” within the dance, and they work together – usually cohesively and sometimes destructively – to form the dance we call Salsa within the context of Singapore. The latter occurs when the ground rules are sacrificed for the fun of the game; e.g., the follower disrupts from following the leader by pushing him away or refusing to take his hand, teasing him and playing “hard to get”. However, this form of play cannot be done too frequently or she will be seen as being a “spoil-sport” by not allowing her partner to play the game.

Discliamer: This is only a very, very rough draft, so please don't quote me on this... It will be subjected to a lot of change.

Behind the Scenes: Shooting a TV Commercial

I had a fantastic time the last few days being on the set as a dance choreographer of a few hundred thousand dollars commercial shoot. The female model, Dunia, was a gorgeous 180m tall beauty! I think my head ended up at her waist! You can imagine my horror when they told me the guy could not make it for the practice on Friday... Picture me, a 159m short dwarf spinning her (20 cm taller than me!) over her head and dipping her. An impossible task rite? But I did it! Salsa style on tippy toes, hopping all along the way! Yah, and then gotta sound and look professional too... Hmm I think I managed to sound pro without much prob, but I sincerely hope I looked confident hopping professionally around Dunia!

On the day of the shoot, my 2 extremely tall charges looked marvelously expensive. Few thousand dollars gown, silk shirt, blink blink... But they looked beautiful in the shoot. The director, Humberto is a really funny guy. In his eagerness and zest to direct, he kept falling off the directing chair at the end of every shoot, nodding his head furiously. The assistant director, Roslini (I think?) speaks a load of languages... Spanish, Malay, Italian? I think he has a talent of breaking the ice, making the models relax and feel comfortable, cracking jokes... The camera men, lighting experts and all just seem to know when to adjust this or what equipment goes where without needing to exchange words! I had a little culture shock when I first came, dunno where to stand or when to move, but soon got the hang of it... Still, it doesn't look like they're working. These guys look like they live here and that this was what they were made for...

Yesterday's shoot was outdoors. We went to the integrated resort to shoot, and found that the resort have not been built yet! So we built a platform, watched a jazz band play against the silhouette of the city skyline, while my charges imagined what a great romance it would be to walk along the yet-to-be-built boardwalk of the resort where they see the Singapore flyer (singlish for Ferries Wheel). After that we counted mosquitoes and got a butt massage while the van drove us bumpily out of the construction site towards the indoor stadium for a night of celebrity-dom and cultured dance.

Upon reaching the indoor stadium, I was greeted by half-naked men (the kind with abs - we call them models)! ... And a running cockroach. The cockroaches were a curious commodity... They had a propensity to offer themselves as free souveniors to take away from the stadium, for the thrill of hearing the female shriek or male yell when they pop out of our bags. Thankfully, nothing of the sort happened, but I was entertaining myself with such thoughts before we began shooting. It wasn't until the shooting began when I recognized that one of the models acting as the news-hungry papparazi was actually Justin Lim, who used to teach modelling at Xen, and then did his model's graduation at Actfa.

Anyway, Dunia and Claudio was pretty amazing. Especially Dunia. She juz simply looks stunning, and she'll out-shine anyone because of her height.. If she towers over you, she is kinda the first thing you look at, duh. I think I'll have to wear stilts, do cartwheels with stilts, hop around like a mad dog and set my already fiery red hair on fire before anyone will notice me beside her.. haha!

I also managed to talk to more of the ppl in the shoot, they are really great and friendly ppl, who do their job really well. I can feel the happy and relaxed vibe in the team even though they were fighting against time to finish the job. I highly recommend Chris, the producer, and her team at the Shooting Gallery to anyone who is looking for someone good to shoot commercials! =)

Dos and Don’ts for Social Dancing

1. Always smile and enjoy your dancing; it’s the people who are important in Salsa. Social dancing is a communication between you and your dance partner, so smile, relax, let your hair down and just dance! Don’t worry too much if you have limited variations or have problems following your partners. What’s important is your smile!

2. Thank your partner after the dance. Gentlemen, be sure to lead her off the dance floor when the music ends. Don’t leave her stranded on the dance floor!

3. Social Dancing requires close contact with other dancers. For an enjoyable dance, ensure you smell pleasant! Most dancers choose to wear cologne or perfume to prevent body odor, some use breath spray or mints to curb bad breath. And if you tend to perspire a lot while moving to the upbeat Latin rhythms, it’s advisable to bring a change of shirts so that your partner will feel comfortable while dancing with you.

4. When dancing with a person you have just met, start by leading her into simple variations to help you to get into sync with her. This also helps you see how experienced she is in social dancing, which enables you to plan your moves while dancing with her. If you want to execute more complex variations, be sure to watch her expression to see if she can handle the complexity. If she seems to enjoy the more challenging steps, you can probably do more of it.

5. Respect the dancing space of other dancers while dancing. If the dance floor is crowded, take small steps and try to keep to your space while dancing. This minimizes feet-stepping and body-bumping accidents!

Photos: Jaztin & I (2)

Photos: Jaztin & I (1)

Photos: Jaztin & I

...took some photos for the salsa fest yesterday...

The Bdae Saga Continues...

& we tried to take proper photos... heehee

yeah rite!

My Bdae!!!

Haha... Yeah gettin' older.... And these ppl turned up! Sweet of them.

T'cher Ong & I

The Men. Notice they dun bend down...

Whereas the ladies...

this is a nice act-cute pix... haha

Rag Photos 2006

Plaza Sing Display

The Macho Men!

The Faerie Gals!

My Partner Yuanshou & I!

Party at Xen!

RAG 2006

It's been a looooooooong time since I've updated this thingy... Many things have happened. I've changed my phone to a pda and have no clue how to use its functions... yeah I do know how to use the schedule planner, alarm clock, actual telephone, blah blah blah, but the emails, radio... well, I've got many years to learn I guess... haha It's ironic how technology's supposed to save you time and make things more convenient for you, but I spend a couple of hours a day waiting for the damn thing to work... I wonder if I add up the time spent waiting for it to upload, download... how long could it be.

We did rag this year within 2 weeks again, as alwiz... But it's finally done... Quite tiring but a super good experience. Lots of fun, although sometimes I feel that as leader, you don't quite enjoy so much coz while they are having fun, I'm ransacking my brain how to fit everything together... hmmm. Must learn how to enjoy more, stress less. haha
Great fun, I made sure I took lots of pix (or as many as I can). We did 4 performances this year man!! Talk about making full use of the dance... Rag, public display, DnD. haha Anyway these bunch of people are super loads of fun to be with... Sometimes I forget how enjoyable it is to juz talk nonsense n no need to put on a professional front. =)

Something wrong wif the downloading. I'll put up the pix next time... for the memories!

_______News Clippings!!_______

Press Conference for the Taiwan Salsa Festival 2006 (June)
(That's me & Principal Ong!)

________________________________________________________

Press Release for the Hong Kong Salsa Festival 2005,
Performance at the Avenue of the Stars, February 2005
(I'm doing the upside down knee flip!)

Taiwan Salsa Festival 2006

Man! Time flies when you're on holiday...
Juz came back from Taiwan... Superb place! Lots of food, clothes, frenly ppl... The Taiwan Salsa Fest was a great blast! It was small, but real cosy. We met Israel and Juan Carlos who are both really fantastic Cuban dancers. They way they isolate their shoulders and bodies just make you gulp... and drool. The great thing about taking part in overseas festivals is that you get to see the different ways each country dances Salsa. For example, Singapore's version of Bachata accentuates the hip on the 4 and 8, while the ppl in Taiwan do not do that! Instead, they glide their hip up slowly on the 4 and 8. It creates a totally different feel to the dance, and it'll be cool to incorporate it in our Bachata. And ohmigosh, the way Juan Carlos dances Bachata is fantabulous! haha... I can't describe it except that you have to follow him coz his rhythm changes as he feels it and as the music flows. haha... That's dancing from the heart for you!

The Taiwanese

The Taiwanese people were super friendly. On our first night there, they brought us to eat Tai Chung's most famous stinky tofu... It was cooked to perfection lah! Haha... One our students in the workshop, Sugar (tt's her name! =p), offered to drive us back to the hotel from the place where we conducted our workshop, on both days! She also bought us chicken feet and some crackers that were famous in Tai Chung... So sweet of her!

Taiwan Culture

Taiwan's a great place to go... the night life's fantastic, the variety of food is amazing and intoxicating, the people are fun-loving and shopping's great!

Sooooo many clothes tt's diff from Singapore. The rates are not very cheap, abt the same as Singapore actually, but a lot more blinnk and dressy... Their hip hop culture is cool. The clothes are so erm, hip and they juz dance on the streets! We went to a tourist spot which is an old place of worship and now a cultural arts centre, there were kids dancing all over, wherever they could find reflective glass doors for mirrors. So cool... harder to find in Singapore... 10 ppl consider illegal gathering?? and is basking licensable in Singapore? *shrug* I love their culture there... It's nice. But I love Singapore too... heehee

Salsa Competition over the weekend

The Jitterbugs Competition was great fun... Man, the fight was a damn tight one... I think most of the contestants could easily have won... It's so close, I'm glad that I wasn't judging. Sheesh! It was tough man.

Way to go my fellow Xen ppl! I think you all did a superb job, considering that most of you are still so new to dancing. heehee... We're proud of you all for putting in so much hard work and pushing yourselves to the next level. Keekee... It's actually a whole new experience not competing... Fun, less nerve-wrecking, but not so rewarding in terms of experience. =) After all, Principal Ong and I juz returned from Taiwan 2 days b4 the competition, and kanna flu summore...

Clothes! I finally have things to wear!

Anywayz, I have a closet full of clothes from Taiwan! yeah! Oh but half of them are bikini tops or blink blink items... only wearable in xen or while dancing... anywhere else, I'll have ppl staring at me, half of them with the "wat's she doinig wearing nothing around" look and the other half with the "????" look... For some reason, it's quite a crime to dress up in Singapore, but I'm singaporean and I also lazy to dress up sometimes too lah... Still, it's polite to dress nicely and not in rags, juz like body odor and bad breath... And it's fun! (yeah call me bimbo...) I wonder what will happen if I go to school dressed in tank top and a mini skirt? Guyz eyes may drop out and gals will stare daggers behind my back? Hmmm dun think i'll wanna try it...

Yeah! Many thanks to Leon for doing such a good job! Many thanksto Ivy for helping me to ask Leon to do it! Man tt guy has talent! haha... Note: this is not real money... I'm not tt famous or popular... haahaa

On Judging for the AC Dance Examinations...
Fair? Or unfair?

I heard some comments about the judging criteria for the exams. I'd like to say one thing from my previous experience in Ballet examinations. Our ballet examiners are brought in from overseas (mostly from UK) to judge in the different schools. They are alwiz different people, and they all have their own marking preferences. I recall my ballet teacher saying things like, "this examiner likes expression", or "this examiner is very strict on technique"... They all have their own preferences and mark differently from other examiners.
I remember frens trying for 3 times to pass an exam, failing the first 2 times coz the examiner was very strict, but scoring very high the 3rd time coz the examiner was lenient... Examiners are inevitably humans after all.

Although there is a marking system - scores for timing, musicality, interpretation and expression, technique, etc - each examiner gives scores differently. In other words, you may score very high this year due to your strong techniques that the examiner favors, but be marked down next year because the other examiner was looking for expression and musicality that you did not provide enuf to meet her standard. As such, so-and-so may score lower last year, but higher than you this year.
A scoring sheet helps, but in the end, the examination is still marked by people wiith their own subjective preferences, so it may be fair across the board on average but it is not alwiz precise. Note that judging is done by humans, and all humans have differing preferences.

The only way to ensure that you are better than the rest is to be so good that you're clearly better than them in all aspects of the dance. Also, you have to be judged in the same examination to see where you stand as compared to the other students (Otherwise it's not easy to compare).

Another thing to note is that your standard today, may be different from your standard tomorrow or next week or next year. You may panic in the exam or screw up your routine; you may have stage fright, or you may excel in the examination environment. The judging depends on the student's performance in the exams. I have taught many little gals who were very good in class but they totally freaked out in the exams, and as such, scored very low... Not fair, but hey, you're judged by your performance at that time, in front of the examiner, not by how good you are supposed to be normally. Principal Ong tries to prevent this stage fright thingy by forcing the students to do run-throughs with the lighting and everything, to minimise the chances of screwing up.

To sum it all up, judging is done by humans and human's opinions are subjective. As such it is inevitably 'unfair' to a certain extent. We try to keep it fair and consistent, but dancing is after all an art, and unless we do dance in a multiple choice format (MCQ) it's hard to be super consistent.

And for the people who did not perform their best their best in the exams, dun worry, this is not the last one... there's another one coming up. And soon... =)

And they went a little wild here...

(SNAG Magazine 240506 at DblO)