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The Malaysian Open Dancefest is an event I’ve always looked forward to, eversince it first started in 2009. Sanctioned by the International Dance Organization (IDO), it is one of the biggest multi-genre dance competition in Malaysia, including line dance, belly dance, and street jazz. This year it’s even more exciting with the inclusion of latin and ballroom dance.

I look forward to it not only as an observer, but as a competitor.

This year is the 3rd year MODF is running, and as usual I signed up for as many events as I could cope with. I signed up for the individual belly dance novice open and crystal, and the individual line dance novice open and crystal. I was hoping to be able to do better than my score last year : quarter-finalist for belly dance novice open (after fighting in 2 preliminary rounds), 5th place belly dance novice crystal, and 3rd place in both line dance novice open and crystal.

In case you’re wondering, the term “crystal” is a nice way of describing the age category of 30-45 years in this competition. Hey, *I* like it.

I was getting butterflies in my stomach by Friday (the day before the competition), and I could not wait for the competition to arrive. So… here’s what happened from my point of view when the big day finally came.

BELLY DANCE

The individual belly dance novice open was scheduled to be the opening event of the competition, and given that my tag number was a single digit (#9), I was in the first heat, and I was literally the first dancer to step onto the floor competitively that day.

Belly dancer

I didn’t do so well in belly dance this time, unfortunately. This is probably because the contingent was even bigger – there were almost 60 participants in the belly dance novice open! Out of which only 24 were selected for the semi-finals. It was too tough a fight for me, especially since I don’t even take belly dance lessons. I didn’t get through to the next round, which was the quarter-finals.

For the belly dance novice crystal, it wasn’t easy either as there were more than 20 participants. I literally jumped for joy when I found out that I made it to the semi-finals!

The semi-finals was not an easy round for me; not only because the other participants were talented – which by the way, included one gentleman – but also because I had no breathing time after my line dance novice open preliminary round. It was all I could do to change into a whole different costume, try not to get anything tangled, catch my breath, and run almost straight back onto the floor for the semi-finals.

If I was happy for getting into the semi-finals, imagine how I felt when I found out I made it for the finals!

The finals was held that night, and fortunately I had some time to rest before the night events resumed.

The finals for the belly dance crystal was held almost in the same fashion for me as the semi-finals – straight after my line dance finals, out of one costume into a completely new one, and running almost straight onto the floor again.

Now, for the results : I got 6th placing. I’m quite satisfied with it as the fact I got into the finals already pleased me. It was an honour to dance with such talented belly dancers in the finals, some of whom I know made it to the belly dance novice open category too.

Individual belly dance novice crystal winners

LINE DANCE

The line dance genre also saw greater participation this year compared to last year. And looking at the participants while we were waiting in line to go on the floor, I realised I was one of the oldest (I’ve found out that I AM the oldest. Damn. Now I feel old). Of the 9 dancers competing in the preliminaries, only 2 of us (including myself) were eligible and were going to compete in the line dance novice crystal. I was literally fighting with people half my age, give or take.

I was simply ecstatic when I found out that I was one of the selected 6 to make it to the finals for the line dance novice open!

For those who are unfamiliar with line dance competitions, individual line dance categories have pre-selected songs and choreography, which means that all dancers in the same category must dance the same choreography to the same song. The only thing we can change is the styling (e.g. hand placements). The dances and songs selected for the novice open and crystal were the same: Burlesque, which is a tango piece; and Twist With The Fat Boys, which is a novelty dance. They’re quite tiring dances, especially the second dance. I can tell you from personal experience.

The line dance novice open was scheduled to be the opening event for the night, and I was probably going to be the first competitive dancer to open the competition again. However due to some changes in the day line-ups, we became the second event that night.

Because the line dance novice open finals were held quite early (about 6pm) which was before the dinner was served and before the formalities of speeches and such, the hall was quite empty. And honestly speaking, the few who were already there were not very encouraging as they barely smiled or clapped during the competition, no matter how well the dancers danced. However, I did not let that stop me as I was here to compete, not entertain. I pulled out all the stops and gave the two dances my all.

The line dance novice crystal finals was held a little later, after the formalities and after dinner was served. By then, the hall had already filled up to maximum as all the ticket-holders were already present and were enjoying their dinner, although the temperature in the hall barely rose. Did I mention how cold the hall was? It was freezingly cold!

The line dance novice crystal had five participants and hence was straight to finals, but please don’t think that it made it any easier. The other participants were obviously prepared, with beautiful latin dresses and pretty heels.

Anyway, the audience now were certainly far more encouraging. It always makes it easier for all competitors to do well when they have positive feedback. It was heartwarming to see people smile back when I gave them the “arrogant” nod during the tango (they obviously knew that I was merely in character, and I’m not really a snob). And apparently I shocked a lot of people (in a good way) when I took the long black skirt off after the tango piece and appeared in short little red number for the twist. It surprised me, considering I did the same for the novice open categories, and I wasn’t the only one. It was probably because I was the only one to do so during the crystal finals.

Dancing to "Burlesque"

A complete change of character was necessary for the twist. It was a fun dance, and I certainly had a lot of fun with the dance. I-Vee told me that some of my moves were very cute, and people actually laughed when I executed them. And when she shouted my tag number (in support), they shouted it with her. I made fun faces at the crowd with every move; and many of my friends told me that they loved my facial expressions because they were so fitting with the song and were not at all static.

Doing the hip bump in "Twist With The Fat Boys"

As a competitive dancer, I cannot describe to you how heartwarming it is to have people cheering you on, especially when they don’t even know you and is only probably seeing you for the first time; to see them watching you (instead of watching another dancer) with big smiles on their faces; and to have random strangers stop you after the dance was over and tell you what a great job you did, and that they hope that you win. I experienced it all that night. It is a feeling I will cherish for a very long time.

I hope you don’t think I’m boasting, because I’m not. I did not expect any of that, and when it happened, it was such a pleasant surprise.

I really couldn’t wait for the results, and yet when the prize-giving was finally conducted, I did not want it to happen.

For the line dance novice open, I was hoping (but not expecting) to get a podium finish. And… I did!!! I got 3rd place!!! It was certainly a shock for me, because as I had mentioned earlier, all the other finalists were about half my age!

Individual line dance novice open winners

The biggest and best surprise was yet in wait for me. I was holding my breath when they were announcing the individual line dance novice crystal winners.

Individual line dance novice crystal winners

I was announced as the CHAMPION for the individual line dance novice crystal category!!!

This was the first time I’ve broken that ceiling… all the while the highest I’ve ever gotten was second place as an individual dancer. I’ve gotten first place before in team events, but not for individual events.

I hope this will not be the last time!

Thank you to all the people who have supported me and believed in me all this while! I could not have done it without your support!

Special thanks to I-Vee and Christian for coming to support me at the competition even though I didn’t ask you to.

And my utmost gratitude and appreciation must be given to my sifu who has never given up on me – Bronya Bishorek!

Congratulations to ALL winners of the Malaysian Open Dance Fest! Thank you to the organisers for a job well done!

And… I haven’t told you the kicker yet. I was actually not feeling well throughout the whole competition. I’ve been sick since Monday, and in spite of my efforts, I wasn’t able to recover in time for the competition. In fact, as I’m typing this, I’m still coughing my heart out. So… yes, I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved in the competition.

Here’s a video someone took of the individual novice open finals. I haven’t found a video of the individual novice crystal finals yet. I did buy the competition DVDs that a professional videographer took that night, but I will not upload the videos because that would be copyright infringement.

I’ll post a link if I can find the video of my winning dances! In the meantime, see if you can spot me in the video below. Enjoy!!