My Journey
By Yanqing, 22/01/07
Many people who have come into Xenbar have undergone miraculous changes. I will not try to sum up the whole extend of all those changes, but I will attempt to describe my journey.
In my two and a half years there, I’ve blossomed from a toot and blur little girl to a happy, confident and skillful person. I’ve never had much ambition in life, and always had a vague idea that God would know what He wanted me to do and send me to do it. Little did I know that He had big dreams for me; dreams that I did not even fathom of dreaming. Of course, God was smart. He knew that I would freak out if I knew, or my head would swell so big with that thought that He didn’t bother to let me know. Instead, he sent me a miracle. A miracle of a man who could see a part of His plan such that he could guide me down that path. That man had the facilities and the resources to fulfill His plans for me. One month into my training, He sent an invite from Thailand and charted me on my course to dance overseas; something I never even dreamed or considered was possible. Don’t ask me why, maybe I’m a girl and a romantic, but my journey as a dancer is one long miraculous ride. I mean I work hard and have loads of fun along the way. I’ve found the man of my dreams and achieved many things that I never asked for but was bestowed upon me… A girl can’t ask for more that that right?
Many people wonder why I’m pursing dance as my career. They’re astonished and express regret that I decided not to pursue my honors degree just to dance. But honestly, I didn’t choose my career; it fell upon my lap and I would have been stupid not to pursue it. Hey, you only live once anyway. And now that I’m in this, I’ve never been happier. I love what I’m doing, and I’ve grown so much as a person and a character. I still have so much more to grow, and I can’t wait to see what He has for me next.
“Oh that you would bless us indeed, and enlarge our territories, that your hand would be with us, and that your would keep us away from evil, that we may not cause pain!” – 1 Chronicles 4:10
Tuesday, January 23
Conditioning Class
Gosh, it feels great after the conditioning class... Absoutely exhausting, but my muscles are tired in a good sort of way. After the workout, I feel refreshed and well challenged. I was never really quite satisfied with my isolations, but now I'm even more determined to make it look nicer... Somehow I must arch more! Haha...
I sound like a dancer obsessed.
I guess the isolation class is really good training for us all because it encourages us to push our bodies further beyond it's current limit and break into new territories - more arched backs, faster hip or torso circles... Sometimes I wonder if there's any limit to the human body. Everything I do, I feel that I can push my body further beyond its limits and it never fails to (gradually) go to that limit. It's a never ending game. I guess the only time it'll stop is when my tailbone indeed touches my shoulder blade! Haha... Sounds scary!
The conditioning classes comprises of series of isolations, spins and stretches... the fundamental techniques that we need to be good, solid versatile dancers. Most forms of dance require certain amounts of the three techniques, and Justin has set up a class to mold the dancers into great dancers with the isolations. Personally, I feel that the class is pretty cool, since you can focus on making your isolations better, practice spins in a group, and open up you body after all that with some stretches... This is especially so if we do it everyday... What a great way to end the day with a solid hour of conditioning... I can feel all the stress go away as I use up all my energy sustaining the moves. You also forget about everything else when you're struggling to push your body beyond its limits. And the stamina training you get from it is incredible! Gosh! It's like doing the cardio shines all over again, this time you get to focus more on the isolations. I bet all our students will be effortlessly doing beautiful isolations in no time! Heehee, I can't wait!
The spins are also important. They are the ones that make our dancers stand out in the crowd. All the older SemiPro people are addicted to spinning... Most of them can do at least 4 rounds, if not 5 - 6. I'm thinking of conducting spin practice sessions everyday 15 minutes before class to give us a chance to practice together... That sounds good! And maybe 15 mintues after classes too! Heehee... I must get my 8 - 10 rounds of spins! *new objective set*
Gosh, it feels great after the conditioning class... Absoutely exhausting, but my muscles are tired in a good sort of way. After the workout, I feel refreshed and well challenged. I was never really quite satisfied with my isolations, but now I'm even more determined to make it look nicer... Somehow I must arch more! Haha...
I sound like a dancer obsessed.
I guess the isolation class is really good training for us all because it encourages us to push our bodies further beyond it's current limit and break into new territories - more arched backs, faster hip or torso circles... Sometimes I wonder if there's any limit to the human body. Everything I do, I feel that I can push my body further beyond its limits and it never fails to (gradually) go to that limit. It's a never ending game. I guess the only time it'll stop is when my tailbone indeed touches my shoulder blade! Haha... Sounds scary!
The conditioning classes comprises of series of isolations, spins and stretches... the fundamental techniques that we need to be good, solid versatile dancers. Most forms of dance require certain amounts of the three techniques, and Justin has set up a class to mold the dancers into great dancers with the isolations. Personally, I feel that the class is pretty cool, since you can focus on making your isolations better, practice spins in a group, and open up you body after all that with some stretches... This is especially so if we do it everyday... What a great way to end the day with a solid hour of conditioning... I can feel all the stress go away as I use up all my energy sustaining the moves. You also forget about everything else when you're struggling to push your body beyond its limits. And the stamina training you get from it is incredible! Gosh! It's like doing the cardio shines all over again, this time you get to focus more on the isolations. I bet all our students will be effortlessly doing beautiful isolations in no time! Heehee, I can't wait!
The spins are also important. They are the ones that make our dancers stand out in the crowd. All the older SemiPro people are addicted to spinning... Most of them can do at least 4 rounds, if not 5 - 6. I'm thinking of conducting spin practice sessions everyday 15 minutes before class to give us a chance to practice together... That sounds good! And maybe 15 mintues after classes too! Heehee... I must get my 8 - 10 rounds of spins! *new objective set*
Saturday, January 13
At the end of a chapter, a new one begins...
2006 was certainly a memorable year... In terms of Salsa lingo:
Went to HongKong in Feb for the HK Salsa Fest, performed and competed there... Got the scars to prove it!
Major performances for the SP team at DblO, MOS, The Green @ Kallang in June.
Had a fabulous time in Taiwan for their 1st Salsa Fest... Broke a top and a shoe during performance.
I neva had so much casulties on stage until this one haha... The shoe fiasco was the best... My feet slipped out of the shoe (uh-oh), then the strap (thankfully) decided to break too, all during the coffeegrinder. And I completed the cgrinder, the flips and split flawlessly with one stocking feet and one ladybird shoe. Now this video is shown all over Taiwan on TV... Hmmm, now I got story to tell my future grandchildren.
Then it was the Singapore International Salsa Fest. We got featured over the local Newspapers and on Stomp. That was cool... Met Eddie the Salsa Freak and other great dancers. Loved her classes. She commended us for supporting and sponsoring this fest even though we were going to hold another congress in December - an awesome moment! Oh yeah, we also broke the largest Rueda World Record.
And last but not least was the Singapore Salsa Congress. It was awesome. Stress, but loads of fun!
We were going everywhere to party, even to MOS... It was so jam-pack in there, ppl had no space to dance! And 26 performances in Kallang Theatre by the SP ppl on the 17th... Wow, you can't beat that lah... Teacher Ong has taught me well. I didn't even know we pushed out so many performances - 17 were group performances! Wow, how did we do it? I've got no clue! Haha. I previously counted 15 but apparently I missed out some then! heee
The classes were great fun.... Cynthia was much loved by the students in her class. Everyone loved Joseph's music! Albert fr LA even did an extra class for our students after the congress, and boy were they impressed... I still see them practicing those moves on the dance floor! And whoa the social dance was great! Though I din really get to social much, having to run around like a mother hen finding all my chickens, the ones that I did, I really enjoyed. My first social dance for the week was on Friday, after 5 days of the congress, can you believe it? Most of the social dance I did was on Sat night, and Sunday night, when the major part of it (the performances) were over... Then I still remember, we were all sitting by the podium in Qbar, finally resting because we did it! It was over and it was a Great Success! WhooHoo!! My Gosh, we were so exhuberrant after that.
I can't seem to stop writing about the congress, coz there is just so much of it to say, the words juz pour out. =)
And then after all that, I spent the holiday season learning to play majong and honing my skills... Funny thing was, I watched more then I played! And also accomplished quite a lot of work while they played! Hee hee...
I think this December is the Month of the Sleepover Parties... We stayed over like 3 times during the week of the fest itself... I think we all bonded really well then... Then the Christmas and New Year mj sessions... haha. I think we can migrate there already!
2006 was certainly a memorable year... In terms of Salsa lingo:
Went to HongKong in Feb for the HK Salsa Fest, performed and competed there... Got the scars to prove it!
Major performances for the SP team at DblO, MOS, The Green @ Kallang in June.
Had a fabulous time in Taiwan for their 1st Salsa Fest... Broke a top and a shoe during performance.
I neva had so much casulties on stage until this one haha... The shoe fiasco was the best... My feet slipped out of the shoe (uh-oh), then the strap (thankfully) decided to break too, all during the coffeegrinder. And I completed the cgrinder, the flips and split flawlessly with one stocking feet and one ladybird shoe. Now this video is shown all over Taiwan on TV... Hmmm, now I got story to tell my future grandchildren.
Then it was the Singapore International Salsa Fest. We got featured over the local Newspapers and on Stomp. That was cool... Met Eddie the Salsa Freak and other great dancers. Loved her classes. She commended us for supporting and sponsoring this fest even though we were going to hold another congress in December - an awesome moment! Oh yeah, we also broke the largest Rueda World Record.
And last but not least was the Singapore Salsa Congress. It was awesome. Stress, but loads of fun!
We were going everywhere to party, even to MOS... It was so jam-pack in there, ppl had no space to dance! And 26 performances in Kallang Theatre by the SP ppl on the 17th... Wow, you can't beat that lah... Teacher Ong has taught me well. I didn't even know we pushed out so many performances - 17 were group performances! Wow, how did we do it? I've got no clue! Haha. I previously counted 15 but apparently I missed out some then! heee
The classes were great fun.... Cynthia was much loved by the students in her class. Everyone loved Joseph's music! Albert fr LA even did an extra class for our students after the congress, and boy were they impressed... I still see them practicing those moves on the dance floor! And whoa the social dance was great! Though I din really get to social much, having to run around like a mother hen finding all my chickens, the ones that I did, I really enjoyed. My first social dance for the week was on Friday, after 5 days of the congress, can you believe it? Most of the social dance I did was on Sat night, and Sunday night, when the major part of it (the performances) were over... Then I still remember, we were all sitting by the podium in Qbar, finally resting because we did it! It was over and it was a Great Success! WhooHoo!! My Gosh, we were so exhuberrant after that.
I can't seem to stop writing about the congress, coz there is just so much of it to say, the words juz pour out. =)
And then after all that, I spent the holiday season learning to play majong and honing my skills... Funny thing was, I watched more then I played! And also accomplished quite a lot of work while they played! Hee hee...
I think this December is the Month of the Sleepover Parties... We stayed over like 3 times during the week of the fest itself... I think we all bonded really well then... Then the Christmas and New Year mj sessions... haha. I think we can migrate there already!
Friday, January 5
Recently, someone said... Never look down on an elder; don't underestimate the wealth and depth of experience in their lives. If I have only lived for 22 years and have done so much already, I can't imagine what it's like to be 60 or 80 and have all the experiences and knowledge I have. I've always been a sucker for stories, whether they are fictional or true... And our elders sure have lots to tell, and we have lots to learn from. It's a pity my Hokkien is so poor. I miss out all the good stuff from my grandparents.
I remember when I studied the Joy Luck Club in Sec 4, the book was basically a collection of stories told by 7 people about their lives.... I asked my parents about my grandparents' lives, and was indeed rewarded with a rich collection of memoirs. It's pretty amazing how much like a fairytale our lives can be.
The Lady with the Chopper
My great-grandmother was a very strong (cool) woman. When my grandfather was born, they went back to China to visit their relatives. The relatives wanted to keep my grandfather (the first-born son) with them to ensure that my great-grandparents kept strong ties with the family. You know what my great-grandma did? She went to the table of elders holding a chopper and threatened, "If you don't return me my son..." and Wham! The chopper slammed down on the table. And they took my grandpa and ran off to the boats.
Now I always tell ppl I have a very cool great-grandma. She's the reason why our ties with China on my grandpa's side is weak and why we all don't speak Hakka... Heehee... She also single-handedly brought up her children, but that's another story altogether.
I remember when I studied the Joy Luck Club in Sec 4, the book was basically a collection of stories told by 7 people about their lives.... I asked my parents about my grandparents' lives, and was indeed rewarded with a rich collection of memoirs. It's pretty amazing how much like a fairytale our lives can be.
The Lady with the Chopper
My great-grandmother was a very strong (cool) woman. When my grandfather was born, they went back to China to visit their relatives. The relatives wanted to keep my grandfather (the first-born son) with them to ensure that my great-grandparents kept strong ties with the family. You know what my great-grandma did? She went to the table of elders holding a chopper and threatened, "If you don't return me my son..." and Wham! The chopper slammed down on the table. And they took my grandpa and ran off to the boats.
Now I always tell ppl I have a very cool great-grandma. She's the reason why our ties with China on my grandpa's side is weak and why we all don't speak Hakka... Heehee... She also single-handedly brought up her children, but that's another story altogether.
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