3rd Malaysia Open Dance Fest 2011

Finally the 3^rd Malaysian Open Dance Fest  (MODF)  had passed!  It was very hectic trip and  I've been super super super tired after a long day of judging! When I got back to the hotel,   I can't sleep well on that night.   I just can’t drink coffee that late in the day and especially shouldn’t drink the fully-leaded that late. This  happens sometimes when I drink fully leaded coffee.  I’d learn…

I can't wait  to tell you all about my students results – Again, we got the Champion in belly dance under 12 and 1st Runner Up in the belly dance novice junior  by Grace Heng Song Yang , 4th Place by Carolyn in belly dance  intermediate open (with her own choreography). Jia Ying and Angeline didn’t do so well in belly dance this time, this is  probably because the contingent was even larger was expected. The novice open were categorised  in  junior 0-12, teen 13-20, crystal 35-44 and diamond 45-54.  Jia Ying entered  in  teen 13-20, out of which only 12 were selected for the semi-finals, it wasn’t easy either as this was her 1^st time  and there were more than 20 participants, after fighting in 2 preliminary rounds, she was not able to make it to the finals.  And same to Angeline entered in belly dance under 12,  she didn’t get through to the finals. She didn't expect to win anything - and didn't,  but it was a great adventure, at least she did it! 

Over the years, the MODF gradually improved and improved. I'm always looking for that special time of the year when I can finally go back to see more and more belly dancers fall in love in the art. This year, there were all 6 belly dance adjudicators  from all schools and all with excellent qualifications, including me!!  We  have one adjudicator - Joey Bay from Singapore, she is such a wonderful belly dancer!  All of us are definitely individuals, with strong opinions!  Besides that, during the judge,  we were not allow to talk, so there can be no easy collaboration - and there were always plenty of people keeping an eye on us.  We have only 2.5 minutes to rate at the end of each dances to fill out the score sheet, and we can barely see our own sheets after we handed over  to the organisers. Ha! I tell you, judging can give one a bad case of brain burn, it is also so much fun!  There were contestants I can remember over the years for good things or bad. There were one  or two contestants  wasn't there to respond when her tag number/name was called. I don’t understand if you are keen to enter the competition, why you left the dance  hall?  And I was impressed by Bronya  Bishorek, she was the professional emcee for the event, she know  exactly what to handle  and sound great for the event.  A good professional emcee  is like another pair of arms and legs of the organizer, she is awesome!!!

The  intermediate/advance open category was the  tough one!! The advance  music is one of my favorite song. And the song only distributed on that day when you collect your tag number.  I can see where the first placed dancer gained points. She accents different parts of the music and she knows the music, her movements are strong and  clear. Some  dancers definitely has more fluid movement, but I can see where she lost points.  Some dancers  tended to accent all the strong beats, the  BIG accents could be seen and that for me was over the top.  And some did accent to the music in different ways, but for me she did not feel the music, she was just imitating the styles of somebody, and it really  obvious that it does not come naturally to her. I am by no means saying  who  is a bad dancer or that she didn't deserve to win.  This is only my assumption. I'm just very picky about what I like and don't like in dance.

Troupes have slightly different guidelines for the judging, but it comes to the same thing - are they the best they can be?  Innovation is so important! Most of the participants were so nice to each other and so supportive that it was a very positive experience. And it always happy to see more troupe are  joining in every year. There are always new ones, and that also makes for a lot of fun!! 

Thank you for my students who joining the 3^rd MODF and traveled with me,  and I wish you all to experience it at least once in your life. I think competitions are great for developing work ethic, ability to push yourself and promoting proper technique. It is a very special feeling, and it really helped me to stay focused in the "arts".

Well…. I am now try to take a rest during the Hari Raya Aldilftri and Merdeka long holiday  break (1 week).  Selamat Hari Merdeka and happy holidays! Mean time, stay tune for 4^th Malaysia Open Dance Fest 2012 is going to held  on 25^th August 2012 at Manhattan Grand Ballroom, Berjaya Times Suare Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, see you there!! I am sharing some of the photos taken by Jason Oh, Thanks so much to him, I just love the photos!!! 

Belly Dance Troupe Competition, photo by Jason Oh

Jason Oh's Photo

My little Grace Belly Dance  Competition, photo by Jason Oh

Jason Oh's photo

Jason Oh's Photo

Belly Dance Troupe Competition, photo by Jason Oh

Jason Oh's photo

My student, Carolyn Belly Dance Competition, photo by Jason Oh

Me with Joey Bay from Singapore, one of the adjudicators of the "3rd Malaysian Open Dance Fest 2011"

My lovely students in 3rd MODF 2011

Champion Belly Dance Under 12 category

2nd Place Belly Dance Novice Open Junior

4th Place Belly Dance Intermediate Open

Just An Update....

Almost forgot about to blog, its not because of my laziness but the time constraint, it was so limited. Been busy for  the  competition, show, workshop  preparation, and additional class practice ….The more I do, the less time I had.... ! Right here it would be a great time for me to spend a few minutes to expel the things that I want to type for a few words....

Well, these days there's nothing outstanding happens but it just about busy  marketing Serkan Tutar’s workshop.  I think my hard works was rewarded, only  2-3 space left for the workshop, 22 days to go…so I am still  pray for the best! Show time is on 16 September,  I do not have any opening dance as some of  my students not able to  travel to Kuala Lumpur,  but I have the  simple and great thing to ‘wow’ Serkan. I have around 8-10 students are going for  our troupe/solo dance, and their parents will support!  I am so proud of them.

3^rd MODF,   The students are ready and we are coming….!!!! Very excited!  click here for the  program details  : Programe List . Good luck and all the best for all  the contestant!!! Stay tune for our  results!! 

I recently asked  an expert in online marketing for businesses, I asked a lot of questions about making businesses work on the Internet. He sent me  an e-book of Marketing Art. Reading through a few pages, I know this was what I was looking for! It shows a range of typical problems that most people in business have. It delivers practical steps that you can apply to overcome them. It is great to learn from someone else’s problems. I need to print out to read so I can  enjoy reading slowly. Eyes strain and blur vision if spend too much reading on the screen! Once I finished reading,  will share it with you!

Thumps Up For Cow Girls Belly Dance

What a crazy jam packed for the last weekend, high energy and hot weekend that was! WOW is all I have to say,  I had an amazing weekend last week plus the energy that came from the crowd during the dance performance at  KEAT HWA SCHOOL'S 100TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION on  29 Sep 2011.

 For the  100th years anniversary celebration of the school event, the  Keat Hwanians really  made it very very grand. And honestly, I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. I’m sure you don’t want to  miss it if you are in Alor Setar. There were many volunteers in the event, some ex-students came all the way from other state  to help out. That was a fabulous thing because the school has become a pasar malam/promotion/gathering/performing area, and all of sudden, the quiet school turn into crowdy and noisy environment.

Belly dance was part of dance event. We were only allowed to perform in 6 minutes. We combined our Cow Girls Belly Dance and Tribal Fusion. So getting the Cow Girls Belly Dance costume together is not very hard. No sparkling costume this time -  It’s a simple style costume we dressed up for a  fun-loving cow girl. So a pair of an old jeans, a simple leather belt with an oversize buckle , checkered western shirt, boots and hat.  The best part about being a cow girl is we need nothing at all fancy, just  simply to brighten up our costs. Thanks to Li Pin, Ly-Ann, Siew Kiang, Carolyn and Grace Heng, you all  put a lot of work into your performance  and we really made a great show. I appreciate  your positive attitude and desire to improve - keep working hard, Thanks all, and get some rest our next rehearsal start soon! !  Upload some pictures to share, visit my facebook to view. 

 

 

Grace Heng Performed My New Tribal Fusion Choreo - 09-10 July 2011

It’s only been in the past few years that my lovely student Grace has really begun to make a name for herself in the belly dance community, Bravo!!! She’s been dancing when she was 4 years in ballet lessons. At 8, she began taking lessons in other genres including Latin and Ballroom. Then again, her mother enrolled her to my belly dance class at 9. Beside Latin and ballroom dancing, her second love is belly dancing. Due to her busy school schedule, she would choose her private classes with me based on how well that I would fit her busy schedule. For private classes that I accepted,  all  classes are taught in the context of a course. A course has a set length of hours and I conduct them professionally. 

Music : Maduro Sekmetron - This is my 3rd piece of Tribal Fusion choreography I did. Although for the most part, we agreed that Tribal Fusion choreography is characterized by sudden and quick changes of tempo, dynamics, deep back, side bends, breaks, pops, locks and etc…and there are no limits to Tribal Fusion as far as mixing styles. I didn’t have a lot of big move in all my tribal fusion choreography, it was just a genre based on the moves and aesthetic of ATS but incorporating ideas from many other dance styles. To add the dynamics bend and drop, I have to go through many stages to mimic my mentors. I went through many years of that, but I sometime I cant find my own voice. It just not easy ! As to avoid of sprain injury, I consider internal anatomy is most important because we want to dance for whole life. This knowledge became an integral part of my dancing life because I learned the basics of belly dancing from a qualified instructor, Hadia’s course!! She has a wealth of knowledge and some of it is knowledge that no one else can offer you. 

Well, long story short, I'm so happy for Grace and I'm glad to have watched this video. As she grew, she began to fell in love Tribal Fusion, and interested in it!

Centenary Celebration Event

Well, Just a quick update.  These past few days have been very busy and exhausting. There is  a July biggest dance celebration event  - SMJK Keat Hwa 100 Years Anniversary Countdown event on 30/7/2010.  Most all  Keat Hwaians will come back  for the  Centenary Celebration. For this anniversary, a series of celebration has  been organized the whole year, culminating with events from 28th till 31st July 2011. The celebrations include a music concert,  all kind of dance activities, grand parade, a grand dinner which is  expecting for  2500 people together and Chinese traditional cultural activities.

We are also invited  to participant for the dance event. Yesterday was the first time meeting with the committee members and the local reporters! I found that there were too many parties involve and there were too much information, too much conflicting advice out there. The dance event will be held on 29 July,  12.30 noon at the open space, right after the parade and grand opening ceremony session. Hot day Hot day!!!! Although there were problems with the organization.  I still enjoyed myself and met some interesting  people, got to know other interesting people more, and honestly, I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Now serious rehearsals start in preparation for the Centenary Celebration show. We run through the practice and overall I think we did pretty well. Counting down the day for the  “SHOW ”!  

 

Unique Originality.....Don't Copy Me Sis!

Oh and please don't copy my work or reproduce it without my permission. Hiaz….But there's nothing that can be done. I don't want to see my choreo on stage unless it's my students,  or hear that it's being used somewhere else. It's weird seeing my own work being produced on stage. Why???  If you want me to create a choreograph for your company, CALL ME! I'm poor and would love to choreograph more for you! Hahaha….

Sis, it’s easy! It's one thing to take an 8 count phrase and get inspired by the movement and expand on it using your own style. It's quite another to transpose choreography and call it your own. Close your eyes and think of the most beautiful thing or of the most sad thing and listen your heart, that's what I did in that song and that's what came up of it, and you will dance with your feeling, conveys emotions to audiences through the combination of dramatic elements and technical skills in dance, and well-contrived costumes. That’s a feeling that people can see and understand.  If you want you can copy my choreography little by little you will learn some things, I tell you something, I didn't have a teacher too. In fact I  warned by a teacher not to use her choreo (sad and hurts) !! And after this I started learn with a foreign Teachers. I learned it by myself and slowly I managed to learn.

Here I want to say…"Sis, don't you have enough ideas of yourself? Don't you get inspired from what you see around you to make your own choreos? I'm so sorry for you! Lucky I can still come up with my own new ideas."

Everyone is unique, there is nobody like you, you just need to realize this now, that you are not just special or different, you are unique. If you can't get a move, a piece of the choreography, etc. Try relaxing, if it doesn't work, MOVE ON, TRY IT! Focus your attention on something you're good at it!

Today I want to say : if I find someone copy me, that mean they think I am great, and maybe unique. So copy is the best compliment to me :) Why it Matters? 

Rockin’ Raqs Sarqi Gala Show 2011

Mercedes Nieto Workshop & 4th Annual Exotic Raqs Sharqi Gala Show!!!!

From 18 November to 20 November 2011.

We had our new costumes measurement taken in the studio last night!! So happy to see my students were so excited! Yay…! They will look stunning in their sparkle belly dance sets soon! Especially any of my troupe, because I know how hard they work and practice. I want to give them a performance opportunity, and not because I feel I have to prove anything to myself or anybody else, or justify myself in any way. What I'd really LOVE to see is pics of all you ladies in your absolute FAVORITE costume--the costume that fits perfectly, look terrific, and inspires you to dance your best every time you put it on! I am very thankful that my dance troupe also love it’ And same to me, I am thrilled for my brand new solo costume too, the new style look so simple, I love it!!!!! Whatever the reason, with this show I feel that I finally have the confidence to say, this is the theme for the show  I want  to name it “Raqs Sarqi Gala Show 2011”.  I feel confident with it and confident to give my 4th annual dinner show that title. And maybe this will sound odd, but with the confidence has also come a deep feeling of humbleness and gratefulness to everyone and everything that has come together to support, and our performances are PACKED! Stay tuned for all  details, list of teachers/guest performers will be published!!!!!!!!!!

I found my solo piece music on a CD that I purchased at a workshop. What a joy! And more joy – I love the music. Again, the artist/title were not listed. When I heard this music I was instantly transported away into movement. Sometimes you hear a song and you just know, in that instant, that you are going to create something around it. This was one of those. I was very excited to create to this piece.

Hmmm… As I am cleaning out my storage, I want to sell my old costume, those were in the days when all the embroidery was hand stitched! Those are carefully designed, one of a kind creations. Due to it being too big and too loose for me, so I really want to sell them. Be sure to contact for purchase as I don’t want to upload the picture here because I also got a ton of mails asking for price lowering , can you take detailed pictures of this part and blablabla…. and later this part will be “oh I'm not interested anymore etc & etc” ARGH…….. But hey, it’s common... can't complain too much right? 

Belly Dance Fever - Upcoming Workshop!!!!

GREAT year for workshops - and you don't even have to leave your homeland to learn!

August 27 – 3rd MODF Competition coming! Enter now, or purchase a ticket to watch the show.

Venue : Berjaya Times’ Square Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

September 16, 17 & 18 – Serkan Tutar’s  Show & Workshop  You will learn  impressive choreographies  with a good mix of Turkish and Arabic techniques and combinations. You will have fun learning and dancing while the audience have fun watching.  See Event Page here for more info. ONLY 10 SEATS LEFT for the Workshop. HURRY! Hosted by me www.arabesquebellydance.com.my.

September 23, 24 & 35 – Yousry Sharif  is back to Singapore!  He is world-renowned as a master of Egyptian dance.  He is master choreographer, he is the one to give you fresh ideas. He has been teaching workshops and coaching professional belly dancers all over the world.  I really wanted to go!!!!  I am actually looking for people  to go with,  but there are so many workshops coming up.   Hopefully I can make it!  Hosted by Claribel’s Raks Sharki

October 21 & 23 - Egyptian Master Teacher Wael Mansour  He is New to me I am not familiar with! Wael is a choreographer and solo dancer of Egyptian folklore, and modern and contemporary dance. Click here for more www.orient-addicts.djamila.pl/teachers.   Hosted by Brancy Nekvapil

November 18, 19 & 20 - ‎Mercedes Nieto is coming to Malaysia to kicks off her show and workshops in Alor Setar. Don't miss it! She is a wonderful dancer and  I love her!  She will be teaching 3 workshops - how often do we get her  so close? Jump on it, ladies! If you are not familiar, watch her  troupe – Mercedes and her Nymph Company  on youtube and make sure you like what is going on there before you make your decision!  It's gonna be a blast! More info at Mercedes Nieto Workshop & Raqs Sharqi Gala Show  Hosted by me  www.arabesquebellydance.com.my.

November 26 & 27 -  Mercedes Nieto moves down to Kuala Lumpur for workshops. Don’t miss the emotion and power in her interpretations...leaves me breathless...seriously!! A lovely dancer and person, and now an international name in belly dancing. Hosted by me  www.arabesquebellydance.com.my

I am a workshop taker. Most of the classes in town cost the same. I know some can be expensive...but sometimes it's worth it. I'm not sure of any other workshops coming to this area anytime soon. Does anybody know of any more? 

Baladi Workshop

Super busy and I keep loosing weight!!!!! First thing is no home-made/cooked food and eat outside, sometime eat biscuits, and I do cook some instant noodle to solve the hunger, and worse come to worse, cup noodles! Now, I will collapse, cause I'm officially dead !!!! 

I'm already back from Katerina Shereen workshop (on last Saturday). It was the classic style Baladi workshops. Thought her style, I fall in love with her dance. What can I say, she is a beautiful dancer!!! I love her hands, she had the beautiful hands I have seen in a dancer. An experience just to see her dance and to see how she interpret the music. I tried to follow best I could but was not in the top of the class, hehehe. The choreo was fantastic and not demanding, a real beautiful Baladi! I remember she emphasized the importance of being relaxed and not cramming all tricks here and there. She said the Egyptian audience will hate you if you try to please them too much so you should just enjoy yourself on stage and they will love you. What else…? Oh yes, We listen to the MAWAL and Shereen  explained to it. So far I know what is Mawal, but it was a bit boring because I really cant understand the vocal Taqsim in a song.  Mawal  is similarly to an instrumental Taqsim. There are sometimes words that make sense. Sometimes random words of expression, So most of  times Mawal is improvising!  Mawal lets the singer show off the beauty of the human voice, show off the storytelling and improvisational skill as well as vocal abilities. Shereen said if you dance to Mawal part, it’s better understand the meaning of the vocal before you dance. Hmmm… this may not a great explanation from me,  but this is the best knowledge I picked up in the workshop! This is the Baladi workshop I got most out of I think, for becoming a better dancer. Thank you Shereen! 

Sadly can't attend her Shaabi and Saidi Workshops. I was just too busy to stay for the Sunday workshop.