What distressed me about that class was that the instructor had not corrected her. It wasn’t even as if it was a large class at that time; there were only seven of us. I could see that he saw that she was doing it wrongly, but instead of going to her personally and telling her what she should be doing, he merely demonstrated the correct method again in front of her, saying several times, “Watch!” It was completely ineffective as this was while she was doing the exercise (which had us on the ground face down), and she could hardly be watching while she was working out. Plus, she was doing what she thought she saw, which was one of the worst yet common mistakes that a beginner always make, so yelling at her to “Watch!” isn’t going to make her get it right.

I waited until there was a break in the class where the instructor stepped out for a moment, and went over to talk to her about the exercise that was done incorrectly. I’ve injured my back before, and I didn’t want anyone else to have to go through the same thing, and I couldn’t simply sit by and watch someone hurt themselves when I know I can help in one small way.

I’m not a fitness expert, and I’m hopeless when it comes to understanding how body parts are interconnected. After all, I am a Physics teacher, and I admit I do not like Biology (even though I scored an A for SPM. Hehe, sorry, can’t help but to boast a little in there). But having attended several fitness and dance classes over the past few years both under good and not-so-good teachers, I’ve learnt quite a fair bit about how my own body works and what I should or shouldn’t do, especially when I have a curve in my spine.

Being lucky enough to learn under one of the best dance and fitness instructors I’ve ever known, I learnt about how to correctly position my body when executing a move both for dance and fitness. She herself had suffered from many injuries and broken bones, and knew how to tell us how to avoid hurting ourselves.

Hence, for this blog post, I’ve decided to come up with a list on “How to choose a dance or fitness class that is right for you.”

Note: By fitness class, I mean any classes that are designed to increase your health and fitness level. These kinds of classes include and are not limited to yoga, pilates, jazzercise, martial arts, cardio dance, resistance training, and even dancing.

In the following list, I always say “studios or teachers”. I include the term “teachers” here because some teachers are not committed to a studio; in fact many teachers teach in a variety of studios or gyms, or even teach independently in community halls or their own homes. Some teachers can also be called to come over to teach a private class in offices (for the staff clubs) or private clubs. Instructors mean the same as teachers in this case.

1. Always ask for a trial class. Never commit to an entire month or course worth before trying the class, if you can help it. Most studios or teachers always allow you to attend one trial class. Sometimes, trial classes cannot be offered because the classes offered are only for a short period of time, usually by visiting foreign instructors, and they need you to pay up front as a commitment fee as spots are usually limited.

   Trial classes are great for you to see if the class is right for you. It allows you to get a feel of the dance or fitness style if you’ve never tried it before, and see if you enjoy it enough to continue. Even if you may have done this particular dance or fitness style before, it lets you assess the teacher and see if you like the way he or she teaches. In addition, it also lets you find out if the level of the class is right for you; sometimes you may have inadvertently joined an intermediate or an advanced class when you are a true beginner; or if you thought you were a beginner but you’re good enough to advance to a higher level class. Some places offer free trial classes; however most teachers or studios typically charge a trial fee which is for that one class you attend.

   However, if the class is an ongoing class or requires a long-term commitment and they are reluctant to give a trial class, this should be a warning signal. You wouldn’t want to plonk down a large amount of money in advance commitment, only to find out you don’t like the class, or if the class isn’t right for you.

   I speak from experience, because I signed up for a yoga class with an independent teacher whom everyone assured me was good, only to regret having paid a whole month’s worth in advance because I found the teacher far from good. If I had asked for a trial class, I’d have saved my money and energy (I forced myself to go for the remaining classes because I paid for them).

2. Ask, ask, ask! If there is anything you don’t know, ask the teacher! Don’t think you can figure it out on your own, or ask your friend. You’re paying the teacher for a reason! Does the teacher welcome your questions? If the teacher doesn’t like you asking questions, it is probably because he or she can’t answer them. Another warning signal.

   Of course, the questions you ask should be related to the class; not “what time do you get off work?”

3. Monkey See, Monkey Do? Bad Idea. Dance and fitness classes should ideally never be “monkey see, monkey do”. This means that all the teacher does is stand in front and demonstrates the moves, and all the students merely imitate the movements.This is bad in so many levels, because some people do what they think the teacher is doing. The problem with this is that if you are not familiar with the move, what your eyes see and what your body is doing can be two completely different things. The best that could happen is you merely step the wrong foot in the right direction; the worst that could happen is that you injure a muscle because you used it incorrectly in an attempt to imitate the teacher.

   The only times where it is acceptable for classes to be conducted in a “monkey see, monkey do” fashion are:

   1. The class consists of advanced students who already know how to execute the moves correctly.
   2. The classes are too large, and the teacher does not have time to go from student to student or group to group.

   However, in either case, it doesn’t mean that the teacher does not need to explain how to execute the moves correctly. He or she should still explain how the movement should be done so that each individual is able to execute it correctly without the teacher observing them. Merely demonstrating without explanation and expecting the students to follow is a terrible way of teaching, especially when the particular type of dance or fitness has great potential for injury.

   I’ve seen teachers who handle large classes (especially during a large workshop) still go around to demonstrate and explain the steps correctly so that those who are standing at the back of the class do not miss out or misinterpret what was taught when the teacher was at the front of the class.

   Remember that yoga teacher I mentioned in point 1? She was a “monkey see, monkey do” teacher. It shocked me because even though it was my first time attending yoga, I knew that good teachers would go around to correct the positions of the students to ensure that they were doing it correctly. All I saw this particular teacher do was sit in front of the class and do the moves and expected us to follow. In fact, several times during a class, all she’d do is just wave her hands at us to ask us to get our legs “higher” or to press our bodies “lower”. She never once explained how to execute the move, or observe us to make sure we were doing it correctly. For example, there’s this move which required us to sit on our bottoms while gripping our big toes with our fingers, and we were supposed to sit with our bodies and legs in the air. Back then, I wasn’t a yoga expert, but I knew enough (through my dance classes) that this move should be executed with a straight body and if possible, straight legs. Many of the students in the class had curved their backs and their legs were bent, in an attempt to get their legs higher and to try to balance their bodies. Did the teacher correct them? No. She merely waved her hands to signal us to get our legs higher.

4. Explain and demonstrate. Can the teacher show how the move should be done correctly? If the teacher says, “Do a leap in the air,” can he or she do it? If he or she can’t, can he or she at least explain how to get it done?

   We often get very impressed by someone who can do amazing things. Some dancers have a natural born talent which enables them to look fantastic when dancing without seeming to try. Some yoga practitioners can do impossible-looking movements we never thought was possible to be done by the human body. Some people win competitions all the time, because they’re just so good at what they do. But that doesn’t mean they can teach. Being good at something doesn’t mean they can tell someone else how that person can do it too.

   It is rare to get a teacher who are good at both – i.e. good at executing the moves, and teaching you how to execute the moves. But if you do find such a teacher, then that teacher is a gem worth sticking with. When a teacher is able to show the correct way to execute the moves, you will at least have a visual on how it should look like so you can check your own movements; and when the teacher tells you how to execute the moves, you will know how to get there.

   However, sometimes there are teachers who may not be able to execute the moves. The important thing is that they are able to explain the moves, and can watch you and correct you until you get it right. These teachers sometimes can’t execute the moves because they may have had an injury that prevents them from executing the moves. Or they may not have the flexibility or strength required (possibly due to age), but they recognise that you do.

5. Never take someone’s word for it. Just because someone tells you that the class is good doesn’t mean that it’s the right class for you. Always go for a trial class and assess for yourself.This is because someone’s perception of “good” could be very different from yours; or perhaps this person has not attended enough classes elsewhere to know what the right way is.

   Again, with reference to the yoga class I had signed up for. It was a teacher my friends got in to conduct yoga as a private class, and they had been with her for over a year, and assured me she was very good. That was why I signed up for the class without asking for a trial. To my utter dismay, in spite of it being the first time I was attending yoga, I found the teacher to be a terrible one (read the example of the class in point #3). Upon further prodding, I found that many of them had never attended other yoga classes, and the one person who had, had suffered from an even worse teacher (which makes this teacher fantastic by comparison).

6. Does the teacher know and understand your limits? This normally comes with experience, both from the teacher’s personal experience of executing the moves, and also experience from teaching. Different people have different capabilities. Some people are more flexible than others; some have injuries in different parts of their bodies; some have an imperfection in their bodies (like flat footedness, spine curvatures, vertigo, etc). This means that there are certain things that some people can’t do, and the teacher needs to recognise and must know how to get around it, if it can’t be overcome.

   For example, a friend of mine has been dancing since she was a child and is quite flexible due to her ballet training. She joined a yoga gym and because of her flexibility, executed many moves very well. However, one day she wasn’t quite warmed up enough, and while doing a stretch, the teacher who was walking around came over and pushed her lower, causing her to overstretch and injure her leg muscles. She was furious and asked why he pushed her, and he told her in an irreverent manner, “Well, you look like you’re flexible enough to do the move.”

   Any basic fitness practitioner should know that you never suddenly push someone during a move because it may cause unnecessary injury. They should always apply a slow and steady pressure until they find that the person cannot stretch any further.

   A teacher must be aware of the limits that the students face, and mustn’t make the students do beyond what they can do if it can cause injury.

7. Pains vs aches. A teacher must be aware of the students’ limits, but that doesn’t mean that the teacher won’t keep pushing! There is a HUGE difference between pain and ache.

   This is something that most people who are new to dance and fitness aren’t aware of, but is common knowledge to the veterans. Or at least, it should be.If something hurts and causes pain, that means you’re doing something wrong, and it’s time to stop! This could be because you’re not doing a move correctly. For example, if you feel a pain in your lower back, it might be because you are using your back muscles instead of your abdominal muscles, which can cause serious injury to your back. Sometimes, even if you are doing a move exactly like how your teacher explained or demonstrated, but it still hurts. This could be due to an injury or a deformity you have. For example, I have a curve in the spine which prevents me from doing certain moves that others can, and if I force my body to execute the move anyway, I can hurt my back. In this case, normally a good teacher will provide an alternative to achieve the same goal.

   However, if something aches, it feels like it hurts but it merely is because the muscles you are using have never been forced to work so hard! For example, for people who aren’t flexible, when they stretch their legs, the back of their legs seem to be hurting but actually they’re merely aching. In this case, you need to continually push yourself because you won’t improve if you don’t.

   Your teacher should be able to explain the difference between pains and aches, and should be able to know when to keep pushing you to do better. I have attended classes by teachers who are supposed to be experienced, but do not seem to understand the difference between pains and aches. They’d merely say, “If it hurts, stop!” without realising that it might merely be an ache due to an under-used muscle.

8. Don’t rush. Some teachers will speed up a class or ask you to try a difficult movement just to make you feel like you have improved so much. Oftentimes it is because you have improved and can cope with the quicker lessons or more advanced moves. But you need to also be aware of your own limitations. Have you really mastered the easier versions of the moves? When you do the more advanced moves, are you able to do them without hurting yourself?

   Be careful, because some teachers may skip to a more difficult move just to make you feel like you have advanced so much, but in reality it is a cut-price version that won’t help you get anywhere, or even worse, cause injury.

9. Understanding of the lifestyle changes, nutritional requirements, and the human body. Nowadays, it is very rare to find fitness teachers who can also guide you on your lifestyle change and nutritional requirements. And by lifestyle change, I don’t mean “You need to come to the gym three times a week.”

   Is the teacher able to guide you on how you should change your lifestyle to a healthier one? Is the teacher able to discuss your health problems and suggest some nutritional supplements or food changes? A fitness instructor is not a substitute for your doctor, but he or she should be able to give you some basic guides about how to make yourself healthier.

   In addition, since you are going for fitness classes to make yourself healthier, your teacher should be aware of the human body. If something hurts, he or she normally would be able to speculate a guess as to why it hurts. I repeat, your teacher is not a substitute for a doctor and if something really hurts, then go and get it checked! But generally if you’ve executed a move and it hurts, your teacher will normally be able to identify what you did wrong and what you should do to avoid it hurting. And if it hurts due to an old injury or imperfection, then your teacher should be able to provide an alternative move to achieving the same goal.

   Again, remember the yoga teacher I mentioned earlier? Yes, I know you’re tired of reading about her, but there are so many things wrong with that class! Prior to joining that class, I had overstretched and hurt my hamstring muscles, and was not able to walk properly (much less dance) for a few months. When it recovered, I did not have the same flexibility I used to, and was too afraid to stretch it beyond aching point (it’s a psychological thing). So when I went for the yoga class, I refused to do certain moves because I was afraid of hurting my hamstring muscles again, to which the teacher would look at me with disdain. And when I described the pain, she said I didn’t injure my muscles, I had injured my cartilage.

   I was flabbergasted. Wasn’t the cartilage in the joints? It was the back of my right thigh that hurt.

   In another example, I once signed up for a gym membership and I received two complimentary Personal Training sessions. The Personal Trainer only knew the basics of fitness and how to use the gym equipment; but when I told her I had a spine curvature, she didn’t seem to know what to do with the information. And when I used one of the gym equipments and felt a pain in my shoulder blade, she couldn’t tell me what was wrong nor what I should do to correct it.

   But of course I have had good teachers. During a jazz dance lesson, I once hurt my back doing a particular move due to the curve in my spine. Because of that, once I recovered, my teacher purposely made the whole class change the move in the choreography just to prevent me from hurting myself.

I know it sounds like I’ve had a host of bad teachers, but I have also been fortunate enough to have had excellent teachers. In fact, I’d probably say that having excellent teachers have “spoilt” me… meaning, I cannot attend another dance or fitness class without comparing the teacher to my excellent teachers. And if the teacher fails to measure up, I normally never stay for the class.

There are plenty of dance and fitness teachers out there, some better than others, some who don’t even deserve to call themselves teachers. If you’re lucky, you get the some of the best teachers in the industry. But that doesn’t mean you should give your teacher up! I’ve had some good teachers who although may not be able to explain a move very well (because of the lack of teaching experience), but did their best to try to get me to understand until I finally got it.

Part of the reason as to why there are so many teachers and instructors who aren’t very good out there is because many of them are mass produced. Years ago, in order to qualify as a fitness instructor, one needed to take a course to learn not only about how to execute the moves, but also to learn about the human body and about nutrition and food. But today there are many “fitness instructors” who receive their certificate after attending a course for a few months, and the only thing they can do is demonstrate a particular choreography.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that all teachers who go for a short course are not good. There are some teachers who already have a very good understanding of health and fitness even when they attend the short course. And of course, it depends on what they are teaching. Line dance teachers for example, are required to only teach the choreography in class; they aren’t required to teach technique or execution. There are still a few who do teach technique, because of their desire to ensure the students execute the moves well. But at the same time, I have also heard of students who have left a class because “all we want is the steps, why did she bother talking about technique?”, so I do understand the mechanics of the class is designed to match what the students want. But still, that doesn’t mean that the teacher can’t explain basic technique, especially to prevent injury to the knees and back (which are the most common injuries due to poorly executed moves).

I know this is a very long post, and it will certainly surprise me to know you have read it to the end! I’m not a dance nor fitness teacher, but I thought would like to share with you about my experiences, especially since it’s distressing to see how a lot of people end up hurting themselves because they followed a teacher whom they thought was very good, but is honestly, to say it bluntly, rubbish.

Thanks for reading!

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]]> http://www.zyenhoo.com/2011/05/15/how-to-choose-a-dance-or-fitness-class-that-is-right-for-you/feed/ 0 http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/09/05/this-weeks-roundup/ http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/09/05/this-weeks-roundup/#comments Sat, 05 Sep 2009 11:50:32 +0000 zyenhoo http://www.zyenhoo.com/?p=353 I feel like a deflated balloon.

I’ve always enjoyed training for dance competitions. Even if the outcome isn’t fantastic, even if I don’t make the break rounds, even if I flop, I still enjoy the training nevertheless. That has always been the best part of the competitions for me. The medals and trophies attained are just an added bonus. For the MODF, we had practice 3 times a week. Now my nights are free and I get to sleep early, but I’m feeling lost instead…

Well, on the bright side, I met up with three different friends for breakfast/dinner/lunch over 2 days. My social life seems to be on the rise. Hahaha.

Just to fill up space, here’s my bragging rights:

My trophies from the Malaysian Open Dance Fest 2009

That’s my trophy for modern jazz individual (2nd), trophy for line dance individual (3rd), and medals for team events (3rd). I’m short of a medal for one team event, because there was a mix-up during the prize presentation, which the organisers haven’t fixed to date.

Here are the photos Pei Ru took during the night of the finals at Shangri-la.

In other news, I dropped my watch! My favourite watch!!! *sobsob* This watch was given to me by my website clients – a very sweet couple who thought of me when they saw this watch. Notice the brand of the watch in the photo below?? Best watch I’ve ever had! No one has ever had a watch with a brand in their name… mind you it’s not custom-made!

I dropped it as I was taking it out of my bag to put it on, and it fell straight onto the floor with a resounding crack. The impact not only caused cracks to appear on the glass front, but some of the diamantes were severely broken too :(:(:( Fortunately it’s still running though.

I dropped my watch! Notice the cracks on the glass front??

So I had to dig out one of my other watches to get the battery changed at a watch shop in One Utama. While the battery was being changed, I showed this watch to the sales assistant and asked if the glass face could be replaced. Admittedly, this isn’t a famous brand and obviously the shop I went to doesn’t carry the brand. The lady just handed it back to me and said, “It’s not worth it to change. Some of the ‘diamonds’ have already dropped off.”

I couldn’t believe how snooty she was. I mean, this watch is important to me for personal reasons, and it’s not some RM20-piece-of-junk picked up from some night market. So I just paid for the battery change and went off. I was actually contemplating buying a new good watch from the shop since they were having a sale, but her attitude completely put me off.

I’ll just have to go look for another watch shop to get it fixed then; probably a family-owned watch shop, if they still exist. Going to watch shop chains are of no use; some shops are so snooty, they won’t change the battery of a watch if they don’t carry the brand. At least if a shop is run by a family, they’re nicer and more willing to do what the customer asks.

Anyway, while I was in Midvalley today, I saw a Swatch roadshow and went to poke around. I asked a sales assistant to show me their waterproof watches (almost all of them are) because I have always wanted to get one for a long time, especially one that I can go swimming with. (Sometimes when I swim at the pool in school, I lose track of time. It would be good to have a watch so that I can check on the time.) She helped me pick out a really pretty and trendy white watch.

My brand new Swatch watch!

Yeeha!!! I haven’t had a watch with a rubber strap for a long time. Come to think of it, I haven’t bought myself a watch for a long time. Some of my watches were either free gifts with items bought, or given to me by friends. My watches in the past few years have all been either metal straps or leather straps. So yay!!! Now I’ve got one I can wear even when I’m exercising or dancing.

And… this is my first Swatch in my entire life!!! Hahaha!!! When I was in school, I’ve always wanted a Swatch because all my friends seemed to have them, but they were pretty expensive and I never worked up the courage to ask my parents to get me one. And I didn’t save for one either, because I felt that it was really too expensive, and I could easily get a working watch for less than half the lowest price of a Swatch. So this is like a childhood wish that’s been finally fulfilled. The only thing missing now is the rubber watchface guard that was the rage back in school.

I consider this my belated birthday present to myself, and my reward for my achievements at the MODF

Actually I spotted another Swatch watch that I also really liked; it has a metal strap with crystals in the them. But I can’t afford to buy too many watches And I’ve still got to fix the glass on my Zyenn watch.

Pretty good week so far, in spite of the cracked watch. And to top it off, it’s the second three-day weekend in a row! WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!

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]]> http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/09/05/this-weeks-roundup/feed/ 0 http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/08/31/crystal-finals/ http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/08/31/crystal-finals/#comments Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:48:31 +0000 zyenhoo http://www.zyenhoo.com/?p=345 The finals for the line dance individual junior, open, crystal and diamond, as well as the belly dance intermediate individuals of the Malaysian Open Dance Fest were held tonight at Shangri-la Hotel. Today’s competition is the 7th Crystal Dancesport Championships, with various events in Ballroom Standard & Latin ranging from junior under-12 to senior over 55, from beginner all the way through professionals; scheduled to run the whole day from 7am to midnight. The abovementioned finals were to be held for about half an hour at 7pm, at the start of the evening session of the championship.

Initially I was supposed to go over and spend the day there, helping out my coach Bronya (who is the emcee) and basically, to kepoh because I wanted to watch a few people I know compete in the events. Unfortunately – or actually, FORTUNATELY, because I made it into the Line Dance Individual Crystal finals, I knew I could not do so because I had to conserve my energy for the finals. I wasted a whole day today just to get onto the dance floor for two minutes tonight. I wasn’t going to run around doing unnecessary things especially when I wasn’t needed, and tire myself out and blow my chances for a good placing in the finals. The initial plan was made, because honestly… I had not been expecting to get into the finals.

At any rate, personally, I would have preferred it if they just completed all the line dance finals yesterday; but the organisers had their own reasons to put the finals at Shangri-la tonight.

Anyway, so I wasted the whole day today by waking up late, and taking a mid-morning nap, before finally making myself get ready for the competition. I-Vee came to pick me up, and we went to pick Pei Ru up, and then we headed to Shangri-la.

I-Vee herself had also made it into the Crystal finals (same as me), and Pei Ru was coming along to support and help us. Pei Ru helped me with my hair, and also helped I-Vee out with her make-up.

I admit that I was extremely nervous about the finals. I tried to keep moving before going onto the floor, but I was still feeling so cold, especially since I was wearing a short skirt, and I was showing off my midriff.  (Sorry no photos yet, I didn’t bring my camera – have to wait for photos from Pei Ru!) Amanda Leou (the official photographer’s daughter, who is also one of the photographers for the night) told me I looked so moody. It must have been nerves.

Well I gave it my all on the floor, and all I could do was hope it was enough. I did kind of miss my wall for 2 counts, but I caught it back very quickly. Thank goodness there were no variations!!

After that, I was hanging around outside waiting for the results. I thought that the prize presentation was going to be quite early, but we were kept waiting for a while. Our event started about 7.30pm, but by 9.30pm we were still waiting (and dying of hunger). We line dancers did enjoy ourselves for a very brief period, when we went onto the floor during the country march past and did little dance steps instead of just walking around the floor.

In fact, the prize presentation was supposed to be held outside in the foyer so that the ballroom competition would not be interrupted, but for some reason they suddenly changed their minds, and decided to interrupt the competition after all, and have the prize presentation in the hall. When I heard that, I began to fret a little… I didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of everyone if I got last.

Actually, to tell you the truth, I really wanted to get into the top six (6 is usually the cut-off for the number of finalists, but this time there were 10). But somehow I wasn’t very confident with the way I danced, so all I kept thinking while waiting for the prize presentation was, “I DON’T WANT TO GET LAST.”

Well, I didn’t get last. Or second last. Actually, I kept trying to keep count while the results were announced. Since all ten finalists would be placed, Bronya did announce the placings (“in tenth place… in ninth place…” etc) but I’d keep counting the people who have already been called and were standing by the podium for the photo, just to be sure. I kept losing count because I was so nervous, even while just waiting for the results. I was always expecting my number to be called anytime; I was kind of holding my breath every time a number was announced.

By the time the seventh placed dancer was announced, I was relieved, because that means I did manage to get into top six.

By the time the fourth placed dancer was announced, I was in disbelief.

I could not believe that I got into the top three!!! In fact, by then I knew I got 3rd place – and I was already very happy! I was skipping to get my trophy when my number was finally called. I was not foolish enough to expect any higher because the dancers who got top 2 were very good. I’ve known them for a few years now, and they’re very good dancers, and they have very strong ballroom technique.

It’s been so long since I’ve managed to a podium finish in events with more than 3 contestants… I probably had a bigger smile than the top 2 winners combined!

I know that I’m still not that good, and still have so much to work on… but it’s so great to be top 3 for a change, and to beat so many people!

In related good news, I-Vee got 8th place! So proud of her. She’s come such a long way. She has shown remarkable improvement even from the competition last month, where she had been extremely disappointed in herself for not doing well at all. This time, she managed not only to get into the finals, but to even beat 2 other people. Congrats, I-Vee!

Thanks, everyone for your good luck wishes – I’m sure they really helped me during the competition yesterday as well as tonight! Also, thanks to Pei Ru for helping me out with my hair and my number tags and stuff. And to I-Vee for the effort in fixing up the bling on our shoes and costumes. And to those who came to support us yesterday. But most of all, thank you, Bronya for your patience and for the yelling and for the drilling. There’s no way I could have gotten this far without your constant support and forthright criticism.

Thank you to the organisers of the Malaysian Open Dance Fest for successfully organising a great competition! Looking forward to next year!

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]]> http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/08/31/crystal-finals/feed/ 0 http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/08/29/second-place-finally/ http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/08/29/second-place-finally/#comments Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:23:12 +0000 zyenhoo http://www.zyenhoo.com/?p=340 Today was the Malaysia Open Dance Fest, organised by Teresa Liu, Emily Mah and Lane Lee under the World Dance Academy umbrella. The competition received overwhelming response, I guess partly because we haven’t had a neutral competition for quite a while.

I myself took part in quite a number of events – 3 team events (line dance team open, line dance team crystal, modern jazz team open) and 2 individual events (line dance individual crystal, modern jazz individual open).

The team had been training hard for the past month or so, trying our best to get our routine right and to be synchronised. Unfortunately, today, we didn’t do as well as we would like to – we came out only 3rd in all our events. I know that sounds pretty good, but not when you hear how many teams actually took part in the respective events. I shall let you guess.

We were disappointed not in the results, but in ourselves. Still, it was a learning experience for us all. I’m glad to say that every individual in this team did put in a lot of effort, and we haven’t been working together long enough as a team; so hopefully in the future, with enough consistent practices, we’ll make ourselves a better team.

As for the individual events… well, to tell the truth individual events have always been frustrating for me because I can’t seem to get into the finals, even when my friends say I deserve to get in. Either that, or something will go severely wrong (not my fault) and I’d get booted to last place. I’ve practically forgotten what it’s like to be able to stand on the podium, with more than 3 people competing in the event.

So anyway, I MADE IT INTO THE INDIVIDUAL CRYSTAL FINALS!!! Yeahhh!!!

The finals are tomorrow night. I hope I’ll have some rather good news to report tomorrow.

As for the modern jazz individual open… I GOT SECOND!

OK, so there’s only 4 people competing. I know that doesn’t sound tough, but it is – you try it and see!

I was actually worried that I was going to get last, because the judges weren’t looking at me. I was quite sad, you know. There I was, smiling and pumping out all I had, but none of the judges seemed to be looking at me. In fact, one of them even walked around me to take a look at another contestant. :’(

After I got off the floor, Pei Ru said that I’m definitely in top two. Another friend, Joanne Ng, said that I should win (1st), and coming from her, it means a lot because she’s got a very critical eye.

But I was already convinced that I was going to get 4th (how’d you like it if judges walked around you to look at others???), so I tried not to get my hopes up.

And when we were waiting on the floor for the prize presentation… I had a few false starts. OK, they’re not really false starts. But you see, my tag number is 17. And when the emcee (who is Bronya, by the way) announced 4th place: “seven–” I was going to step forward, until she completed her number: “-ty-five”.

And then it would register in my head: “Oh! That’s not me!”

And then in 3rd place, it was “seven–” and I was going to step forward again, until it came out as “-ty-one”.

For the first time, I was actually able to hug the other remaining contestant as we wait for the results. (The other times I got high placings in line dance competitions, finalists weren’t placed on the floor like in latin competitions, we usually just run in from the audience back then).

I’m happy with second place. First place would have been nice, but it’s too much pressure to try to defend it in the future. I honestly know that I still have so much to work on in my dancing, so having the gold elude me is great motivation.  I know to some people, this may sound somewhat like sour grapes, but it truly isn’t. Besides, I don’t want people to start expecting me to dance like a superstar, and then see my dancing and go, “Haaa?? Like that also can win first place ahh?”

Anyway, I felt the first placed winner did deserve the win. I didn’t see her dance, but I saw her practising during her warmup, and she was super-flexible and rhythmic. And she’s really friendly and nice too

Tomorrow night will be tougher though. There are 10 finalists for the individual crystal. *sweat* I just hope I won’t get last.

Oh, by the way, there are no photos because… Pei Ru tried to take photos of me on the podium with my Olympus BUT SOMEHOW THEY ALL CAME OUT BLUR. Dammittttt!!!!!

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]]> http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/08/29/second-place-finally/feed/ 0 http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/05/11/dance-update/ http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/05/11/dance-update/#comments Mon, 11 May 2009 13:30:46 +0000 zyenhoo http://www.zyenhoo.com/?p=266 I know this is a bit late. But I was so busy trying to fix up my blog with other things first.

The first weekend of May, I was up in Penang for a dance competition. There were three dance disciplines in the competition: latin, belly dance, and hiphop. Initially I wanted to bring a hiphop team in for the fun of it… but then after a few practices, my team members decided to pull out for personal reasons. Anyway, we’re not hiphoppers. We’d probably have died on the floor; the other teams were very good.

I took part in the Latin Ladies’ event with Bronya. Actually it took me a while to make a decision on whether we should enter the competition or not. I was actually scared of taking part, mainly because I felt the pressure to do well. Bronya has more than twenty years’ experience of dancing. Me? I only took latin lessons these past two months… and I totally suck at it. Haha. Learning latin made me feel that the past 5 years of doing line dance and freestyle dance was all for nought.

Anyway, we also signed up for Latin Novice under the organiser’s encouragement. The skill levels (Beginner, Novice, Pre-Amateur, Amateur, Professional) are usually reserved for man/lady couples only. Latin Ladies is a unique event which only lady/lady couples participate; this event was created as many ladies found it difficult to get a male partner to dance with (like Bronya and myself).

Because we signed up for two events, I pulled out of belly dance which I signed up for also purely for fun. I wanted to conserve energy for the latin events.

Well… the novice event had A LOT of couples, so much so that the preliminary rounds had to have 2 heats! And guess what, Bronya and I made it to the quarter-finals!! But there was no joy in this triumph. We were not the only ladies-only couple to participate in the Novice; some even had gone as high as Pre-Amateur, and many ladies-only couples managed to get through to the next round. And it was only AFTER the preliminaries that after some complaints, the organiser was forced to announce the disqualification of all ladies-only couples from the non-ladies events. So we didn’t even get to fight in the quarter-finals, even though our number was called.

As for the Latin Ladies… well, we made it to the finals!!!

And we got fourth!!!

Which is not bad for me, being a first-timer!!!

Yay, me. Pats self on back

OK, we don’t have any photos. That’s because we had no supporters accompanying us up there. Not that I wanted any, I was already under pressure as it is, although most of it was self-induced pressure.

And here’s proof: http://www.williamluisa.net/v2/pages/posts/1st-national-ymcas-international-ballroom-hip-hop-belly-dance-competition-pulau-pinang-2009166.php

William is our latin dance trainer and he’s fantastic. If William and Luisa look familiar to you, that’s because they were among the trainers on Malaysia’s So You Think You Can Dance

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]]> http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/05/11/dance-update/feed/ 0 http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/04/26/lucky-me/ http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/04/26/lucky-me/#comments Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:52:44 +0000 zyenhoo http://www.zyenhoo.com/?p=232 I went to Malacca for the weekend, to accompany Bronya on a dance workshop she was conducting. I was also supposed to perform with her, but I hadn’t gotten the music ready yet as we were both so busy the past few weeks – she gave me the list of songs to use last week, but I had no time to fix the medleys, so on the drive down, I worked on it on my laptop.

I’m pretty sure that the workshop attendees must have thought me unsociable, because I sat in one corner fiddling with my laptop instead of mingling with the crowd. But then, the 2-hour drive was only enough for me to cut one medley, and I was supposed to do three! So I worked on the other two as the workshop was in progress. Fortunately I-Vee was with us, and she helped me take a video of the entire workshop. From time to time, I managed to take a few shots of Chief Guru with my DSLR though.

…. which goes to show how last-minute our performances were planned. We did have a rehearsal between the workshop and dinner, but that was obviously not enough

I performed with Bronya in two of the medleys (a funky mix, and a cuban mix) while she performed solo for one (smooth). Erm. We did pretty well in spite of the last-minute cuts, if I do say so ourselves. OK, maybe she won’t agree with me, because I messed up some of the beats. But the crowd did respond to me, and to her, when we played with the crowd. So I guess they enjoyed our performances in spite of our mistakes. Hahaha!!!

No, I’m not putting up the videos. The performance was probably only fun to watch live. If you want to watch it, well… you should have been there!

The next morning Bron had 2 private classes, so we had breakfast together before she went off. My right wrist felt stiff, and I thought I slept on it wrong. It was only much later that I realised it was a slight injury from last night. What happened was this: we didn’t have a changing room so we were given the stage (with curtains drawn) to change behind. The actual performance was on the floor in front of the stage, where the dinner tables were arranged around. As I was walking down the short flight of stairs from the stage, I slipped and grabbed the railing to stop myself from falling. I hit my thumb, so there’s a small bruise on it, but I thought that was it. I didn’t realise then that I’d probably sprained my wrist as well.

Anyway, so when we left the hotel, we were in a bit of a hurry to leave as we supposed to meet some ladies for lunch. Bron had come back to the hotel to shower after her private classes. I had like, 3 million things to carry… as usual. I had all my videocamera/camera gear, my make-up, my clothes bag, etc etc etc…

AND I LEFT MY CAMERA BAG BEHIND. WHICH HAD MY VIDEOCAMERA, MY DSLR CAMERA, 2 LENSES, FLASH AND MY WATERPROOF CAMERA.

Trust me, I screamed louder than you did.

I couldn’t believe it. I only realised it when I had reached home, unpacked everything, and switched on my computer to convert the videos, and suddenly went, “Eh? Where’s my camera bag?”

I was in total shock. I thought that I left it in I-Vee’s car initially, but my memory was very clear on that one. I could picture her car boot in my mind’s eye – what it looked like after unloading all my many, many things, and I knew it wasn’t there. And then it hit me. I knew exactly where it was in the hotel room, and I remembered that I was carrying many bags, but I had not carried it out of the room when we checked out.

I had never left anything before in a hotel room, and it’s horrifying to leave something so expensive and precious behind!

And here, I was lucky. I normally wouldn’t have the phone number of the hotel we stay in that has arranged by someone else, but today I did. I-Vee had gone downstairs first to check out, while Bronya and I had struggled out with our many bags (she herself had many bags too). I pocketed the hotel keycard which was left in the room slot (to trigger the electricity) and didn’t return it to the reception because I was carrying too many bags. And it had the hotel’s address and phone number on it.

So I quickly dialed the number and spoke to a hotel staff (who seemed to be rather *blur*) and made him check with the cleaning staff for me. And yes, it was there.

THANK GOD!!!

(Which brings another issue to mind as to why they didn’t call me to tell me about my bag. You see, I’ve labeled my bag AND cameras with my name and phone number. But that’s another issue altogether)

I called the workshop organiser, Helen Fan, who was the one who also arranged the hotel for us, and asked her to pick it up for me. Fortunately she’s coming to KL tomorrow, and I can meet her then to take my bag from her.

Actually, if Helen wasn’t able to pick it up, I was prepared to drive all the way back there myself just to get it!!

Yes, I know I’m lucky. And I’m every bit grateful for that. I had once also left a cheque book behind at a cheque deposit machine in a bank on a Sunday. And when I went back, it was GONE… but someone saw me looking for it, and his friend was the one who kept the cheque book with the honest intention of giving it to the bank. I cannot say how lucky I was. It was perfect timing as well… that the guy happened to be at the machines when I returned to look for the cheque book. If he wasn’t there, he wouldn’t have seen me hunting, and wouldn’t have told his friend to pass the book back to me.

I know I was such a fool to have made such a horrible mistake, and I cannot say enough how lucky I am. Oh, and because I don’t have the photos, I can’t put anything up with this post yet…

So now I’m waiting for the bag, and I hope everything’s still inside. My wrist is stiff, but it will recover. And I’ve just had a cup of Milo, which, to quote I-Vee, has made me “warm, comfortable, and contented”.

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]]> http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/04/26/lucky-me/feed/ 1 http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/01/18/i-never-thought-i-could-get-tired-of-dancing-but/ http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/01/18/i-never-thought-i-could-get-tired-of-dancing-but/#comments Sat, 17 Jan 2009 17:14:51 +0000 zyenhoo http://www.zyenhoo.com/?p=188 I’ve been dancing almost every night since Tuesday. Come Sunday, I’d have danced for 6 days straight. If I danced on Monday, it’d be a full week.

Tuesday : I went for Bronya’s Freestyle-in-Line CD1 class (yes, I’m starting from beginner again!!!) after school from 5 to 6.30pm. We’ve finished learning her choreography to Lady Marmalade. Then I went for the swing dance session at Aliyaa from 8pm-11+pm.

Erm. Nearly died on Wednesday. By Wednesday evening, I could barely concentrate on teaching my class. Hahaha.

Wednesday: Was supposed to go for salsa at Aliyaa with my sister, but at the last minute she decided against it because she said she had work the next day. Sigh! I already made Adam promise to go there, so I went alone. But first I joined Bronya’s line dance class until 10pm, before going over to Aliyaa to check out the salsa scene. Was there till just before midnight.

Thursday: Had dance classes in the morning with Bronya again. Joined her Freestyle-in-line CD3 and CD4. Good God, having slept late the night before, I had to force myself to wake up early. Actually when I woke up early, I felt fine. But as the morning wore on, I got sleepier and sleepier

Thursday night saw me at Shall We Dance studio for a swing dance workshop and practice session, again until 11+pm!

Friday: Salsa night! Was at the Salsa Cruise Asia event at Salsa Havana, Federal Hotel with my sister and Adam. I must say that the bartenders were terrible. We ordered 3 drinks, and were supposed to get 3 drinks free. Adam ordered a lime juice, I ordered a virgin lemonade, and my sister ordered a Mojito. Our free drinks could only be alcoholic, but Adam couldn’t take alcohol, so we ordered 2 more Mojitos (for my sister) and I ordered a rum and coke.

The bartender took forever to prepare our drinks, and although I kept going there to ask for our drinks, he kept telling me to wait. I finally got so fed up and a waitress saw me, and she kinda scolded the bartender. And it turns out he ONLY prepared the Mojitos, because it was the common drink of the night. He took a while to prepare the rum and coke, and the virgin lemonade, and promised to send the last drink over later.

Well when we finished all the other 5 drinks, the drink still wasn’t ready. I went over at least 3 times, and each time he asks for “2 minutes”… “5 minutes”… in the end i just stood there and waited because otherwise I’d be a year older and it still wouldn’t arrive. And when he mixed up the drink, it wasn’t even what I ordered. I don’t know what it was (I’m not a fan of alcohol or cocktails) but it was definitely an alcoholic cocktail.

We were so disappointed about the whole thing that we decided to go to Little Havana. Sorry, Tim. Would have liked to stay but we were there for the dancing which didn’t start even though it was already 11pm. (Everyone was initially just standing around even though there was music, and then there were games)

Little Havana had a bit more dancing which was good.

Saturday: I slept the whole day and yet I was still tired by night. Saturday night was Havana Estudio’s studio party. And when I got there, I am shocked to say this, but… I was tired of dancing. I did enjoy the few rounds of salsa I had. But I can’t believe I’m already getting tired of salsa.

OK, I’m not a very good salsa dancer. Largely because I never took lessons. This salsa party is only my 4th salsa night (in two weeks!), and so far I’ve just been picking up steps on the floor, mostly by Adam who goes for lessons. Good thing is I’m able to follow most of the leads, and whatever I don’t know, I… bluff my way through. Convincingly. Some people don’t even believe that I never took classes. Hahahahahahaha!!! But after a while I guess I’m tired of doing the same steps again and again, even though I’m dancing with different male leads. I think this is largely due to (1) my being a level zero (not even beginner!!!) so they don’t try steps that are too advanced with me, and (2) they all learn from the same teachers (Sam & Aisha at Havana Estudio) so they all know the same steps.

Perhaps I ought to take lessons. That might challenge me and make me improve and maybe make me like salsa a bit more.

On the other hand, I’m kinda picking up salsa on the floor so rather reluctant to pay for classes. Yes yes I’m a cheapskate but can’t afford that many dance classes on my poor pitiful teacher’s salary, OK.

And one thing I observed. In open social parties like at Little Havana, guys are more willing to dance with girls that they don’t know, whether or not the girls are good dancers. But at the studio party, well, the guys tend to just ask the girls they do know, especially their classmates. Me being an outsider meant that I didn’t get to dance much. Which was fine because I was “a bit sick of salsa” anyway. But the studio party showed me how clique-ish people could get. I guess it’s because they only want to dance with good dancers or people who know the steps. I don’t know why. To show off to their other classmates? To show off to their teachers?

Ooh one thing to add. During the dance, when we were supposed to do “shines”, I don’t know any of the shines that everyone else learnt, so I usually make up my own stuff. Hahaha. Interestingly a few people said, “I noticed your hiphop moves!” Erm. I never thought they were hiphop moves. I don’t even hiphop. I’d call them “freestyling attempt at salsa to cover up the fact I don’t know how to do shines”. Hahahahahaha!!!

If I’m gonna continue salsa, I’d probably just stick to the open socials for now.

I must say. I’m looking forward to my morning freestyle class on Sunday. At least it’s different from swing or salsa!!!

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]]> http://www.zyenhoo.com/2009/01/18/i-never-thought-i-could-get-tired-of-dancing-but/feed/ 0 http://www.zyenhoo.com/2008/12/19/video-of-our-performance-at-jubilation-2008/ http://www.zyenhoo.com/2008/12/19/video-of-our-performance-at-jubilation-2008/#comments Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:49:14 +0000 zyenhoo http://www.zyenhoo.com/?p=176 Here’s the video of our performance at Jubilation 2008. Jubilation 2008 was a series of line dance workshops organised by Judy Teh, and consists of workshops conducted by many big names in the line dance industry, including Scott Blevins, John & Jo Kinser, Bronya, Wendy Teh, and Vincent & Felicia Chia. There were also several performances, by Wendy Teh and her friend Tracy; a solo by Sae Min; a solo by Philip Sobrielo Gene of Singapore; and Bronya & a bunch of her girls. I was one of the bunch of the girls

I didn’t want to upload the videos of the other performances as it wouldn’t be nice to do so without their permission; but here’s the video of OUR performance. Bronya was invited to do a performance on her own actually, but she included the rest of us as a team performance was always more exciting to watch than a solo, usually; plus the rest of us loved performing so we didn’t hesitate to say yes!

The performers are Bronya, Mei Ling, Peggy, Tracy (not the same Tracy as the one who performed with Wendy) and myself. I-Vee recorded the performance, and the front bit got cut off, but she only missed the first 3 seconds. Enjoy!!!

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