Bits and Pieces That Make Me
Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. - Victor Hugo
Monday, June 25, 2007
Demi-plie, dawgs!!
I attended dance classes at Powerdance, Cubao last Saturday. I took only Jazz 1 and Hiphop, though I really wanted to try the rest of the classes (para sulit): Breakdance (until I saw it - never again!), Ballroom (but I didn't bring high heeled shoes, which were required), and Jazz 2 (which sounds so much more difficult, after having gone through Jazz 1). Besides, I had a movie date with my sibs so i had to leave early. I liked Powerdance better than Studio 116. The instructors seemed (Disclaimer: seemed to me lang naman.) to pay more attention and could better explain how the steps were executed. Although I realized something about me that I already noticed when I tried Studio 116 before - talagang mabagal akong makakuha ng steps!!! Powerdance kind of reminds me of myself when I was a college senior in my running class (PE). All my classmates were freshmen and sophomore students, and they were just so fast and excited and I always found myself getting left behind. But the good thing about Powerdance was, the instructors will make the whole class repeat the steps over and over until everyone got it. Well, maybe everyone except me. I just stayed at the outskirts of the group, cos I didn't want to be singled out by the instructor while he asks me to execute the move properly. Also, a lot of people there knew each other already. So I felt again like a new kid in a new school. Fortunately, I met a nice girl, who was a newcomer as well. But she dances really well cos she took classes already in college.

Anyway, Jazz was great. We had a really intense warm up, which I couldn't follow at all. The instructor - Chester - who was a really cool gay guy (not so maarte - he was kinda strict but friendly at the same time) with a J. Lo butt - would just move to the music and stretch whatever part of the body needs stretching. He would do so without warning as to what the next move is. Well the others were able to follow so I guess that it must be a routine after all. After 10 minutes of warm up, he made us repeat the warm ups on our own for another 30 minutes, teaching how to keep 'square hips' and 'square shoulders' while doing the stretches, showing what is the difference between two kinds of side stretches, and demonstrating an eight step walking routine:

With arms outstretched on either side - Right leg step/point, Left leg kick, Left Leg step/point, Right Leg kick, Right leg step/point, Left leg step/point, (I don't know what this next step is called so I'll just describe how its done) Bring left leg up to knee level at the same time crossing arms over each other, bringing hands to shoulders. Repeat same steps starting with the other leg. And then for the next 20 minutes, Chester taught us a short routine, which was really simple and made me feel so Chicago-ey.

My favorite term (kasi yun lang ang naintindihan kong French term there!) was something that sounded like "Demi Plee-yay." (ok, I just googled it cos I can't take it anymore. it reads: demi-plié - Demi: Half; Plie/Plier: To bend). Sounds cool but it doesn’t look or feel like it! You start with your heels together, with toes and the knee (caps) turned away from each other at a 160-degree angle. Then when Chesters shouts demi-plié, you have to bend your knees, going as low as you can, without your heels lifting from the floor. A full plié is when, from the demi-plié position, you go down as low as you can, almost doing a tiptoe, with your heel lifting from the floor.


It really hurt like hell! I don't know if my jogging has hardened my muscles and calves so I couldn’t bend too much - I am so devoid of grace everytime I'd do the plié-s I look like I'm just squatting. Well, moving on, I really enjoyed the stretches and the routine, even if my body is aching until now from all the suddenly-utilized muscles.

Hiphop class was a feast for my ears, and my eyes! The track was catchy, and almost everyone was a good dancer. Apparently, they don't only dance, they also BREAKDANCE. As in, they would roll off the floor on their heads, and one guy (during the freestyle segment) turned his body so quickly like a top, with only his arms touching the floor. Galeng. They all really danced with an attitude. And the instructor - Sir Ace - was a pretty cool big guy. He came to class wearing a sleeveless hooded shirt, knee length shorts and kickers-type boots which reached up to almost a third of his calves. He entered the room without warning, plugged in the music CD, stood in front of the class and started the warm up - no questions asked. I really loved the routine he taught, though I'm still mentally recalling each step, wahhh!! I do hope I get the hang of it. The track he played was Amber Davis' Love Drunk, which I searched for immediately at Odyssey in Gateway before my moviedate. No wonder Sir Ace was plugging the album to the class. Turns out that Amber was half Filipino, hence her album was filed under OPM. Funny, I even argued with the saleslady about it - when she asked me if it was OPM, I vehemently shook my head and said - no her name is Amber Davis (and if she could read my mind, she would know that I meant, 'It is so unFilipino, duh?') So na foot-in-mouth disease na naman ako. Palso in other words. Anyway, the album is worth Php 300 and cheapass that I am, i didn't buy it even if it meant improving my chances as a hiphop.. dance..er. I'll try to download it somewhere first. hehe.

I'm still debating whether I will enrol in Jazz (Php 2,000/eight sessions at another studio - Peak Performance) or Hiphop (Php 1,300/four sessions at Peak Performance) because lugi ako if I enrol for regular sessions at Powerdance. Or, I would just do a once a week / whenever I feel like it at Powerdance since I don't really want to spend that much if I'm not going to make this a career.

May type nga pala ako sa Hiphop class namin. Syempre hindi mawawala yan! He's a reaaalllly cute guy - maputi with dark hair, magaling pumorma, expressive ang mata, and laging nakasmile. Sya ang lagiging nagcu-cue ng 5-6-7-8, its obvious that he's Sir Ace's favorite. Too bad I didn't even get his name. But I'd know him anywhere (as long as we're within the Powerdance compound) - kasi he really stands out. He's the only 3 and a half feet tall, 6 year old there. =D Di bale, hihintayin kita. 15 years. Wala yun! By that time, isa lang naman akong matandang mayamang madaling mamatay. Hindi naman na siguro ipapagkait sa akin yun ni tedhana ano? Hehe

So after the class, I cleaned myself up inside Gateway's Php10 restrooms. Literally, washed my whole arms there, and changed into a new shirt. The girl at the reception desk kept blinking at me as I walked out. Hehe. Yun, then had a snack and watched Ocean's 13 with my sibs. Will try to make a review later, but the gist is, I liked the movie. Yun lang ang naintindihan ko sa whole Ocean's trilogy. Well, sa totoo lang, I didn't see 11, and in 12, I was more distracted, but in a good way, by the (pa)effects rather than the dialogue, and syempre sa damoves (Read: dance moves) ni nightfox.

Hayun. =)
posted by Tami @ 3:07 PM  
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