so it's been close to a month since HO.

and it's now 5 more days to jdc.

to the end if my dance-packed semester.

well, the end of the 'dance' part that is.

and my academic sem will officially start next week.

for me. heh.

HO.

just thinking bout it makes me grin like an idiot. really.

any day. any time. anywhere. and everywhere.

close-up. check out the tutting here. =)

a month may seem like a long time.

but i still remember everything too clearly i scare myself sometimes.

it was really one of the most awesome experiences.

not just the performance itself. but the entire journey with SS.

especially for my item.

well, not claiming it as mine cos it really isn't.

but yea you get what i mean.

it's the first time i've ever done an item where everyone contributed. really contributed.

how anyone could just suggest any random thing and everyone would get excited about each and every idea that came up.

and we just add it in. whether or not do-able. yet. lol.

it was really amazing especially now that it's over and you look back.

and cos everyone contributed, was it able to be THAT good.

thinking bout our first session where we attempted to choreo.

sat down at scape and listened to the song.

and just stoned for 2+ hours.

and then after a few sessions. realising that we only have 6 people left.

who would've thought that we could actually dance to a classic disney song?

locking and popping.

the original song. NOT a remix.

i still find it rather unbelievable myself. really. heh.

and towards HO when the choreo looked more and more complete, everyone wanted to do the item.

people too. unbelievable. -.-

anyway.

i never got that nervous about a performance before.

waiting backstage and feeling too overwhelmed that every breath was so heavy.

maybe cos it's the first time i actually prepared so much.

first time i felt so confident.

first time i felt so proud.

first time i couldn't wait to get on stage to dance with everyone.

to show the audience what we're capable of.

to share with the audience our dance.

too many emotions.

too strong those emotions.

and halfway through the performance of the hall before us.

i closed my eyes. and imagined.

i don't know why but i imagined a concert.

the one i've always been dreaming of.

the stage was of course no where close, nor was the number of audience in the audi.

but surprisingly, when we actually got on.

the light seemed more blinding than before.

and the cheers were louder than i could ever imagine.

and so i danced my hardest, and for the first time was i able to say that i truly enjoyed the stage to the fullest.

giving my all, dance wise and emotion wise.

and also internalising every single thing my senses picked up, the lights, the audience, the cheers, the aircon, my heart beat.. you get the idea.

and i guess that means i leveled up.

and i'm proud of myself. =)

it's a competition.

but that feeling walking of stage and knowing nothing else matters anymore, cos from the cheers from the audience, you know you stole their hearts. and that's all that matters.

and i was so overwhelmed again after stepping off stage. that i cried.

and when the results were being announced, i really didn't feel anything else any more.

i cheered cos everyone was cheering. cos i was still feeling so thrilled from the experience on stage. cos i was happy. nothing to do with the results.

now i close my eyes.

and i can still see that light.

that blinding light shining through my 'v' sign.

and the cheers. comparable to that of supershow4. no joke.

yea my display photo on fb. ^^

and i still feel really grateful to be able to be part of Strawberry Stretch.

and i really thank everyone for the amazing journey. and that awesome night.

& then 2 weeks later there was dance beat finals.

ahh i can't embed the video cos they only uploaded on fb. =(

it wasn't a smooth/happy journey. people unhappy with people and stuff.

and it was a really last minute thing in the first place so yea unprepared.

but everything turned out good anyway.

yea i learnt to just forget and move on.

just ignore the unhappy stuff and really just enjoy dance.

performance was good.

freestyle was good.

audience response was good.

judge response was good.

just that we didn't win anything.

you realise why i said judge and not judges. yea.

and i learnt something from this.

not exactly 'learnt'. but 'suddenly realised'.

dance really isn't just about expressing to and impressing dancers.

yea they probably understand better, but it's about wow-ing the general public as well.

for our case, the dancers were impressed.

the judge who was a professional dancer was impressed.

from the audience response, they probably liked our song choice and so that caught their interest as well.

but for a prof, we weren't good enough.

from their comments, our costume wasn't colorful enough, our blocking wasn't always centralised, we didn't have enough fancy moves and we weren't smiling enough.

and so i realised.

balance.

really something to think about.

and when i get that. i'll level up. 1 more.

=)

& 2 weeks after that, which is this week, jdc.

my first full-item-popping performance.

and my first waacking performance.

(and first time i'm performing a style i don't actually know much about yet. as in never really took waacking classes before. just learnt a bit in hiphop classes and a few workshops? heh.)

and my dunno-how-many-th locking performance. lol.

3 styles. 2 items. at 1 concert.

it really isn't much to do.

just that it's been rather difficult making choices as to which item prac to go to for which day.

the problem is cos we're one cca doing 2 styles. but the instructors wanted everyone to focus on one style since they're just starting out, especially the juniors. and since one prac a week definitely isn't enough preperation. and we should stick to our usual cca days cos yea it's just easier for people to coordinate and stuff.

so we end up with the two item pracs happening at the same time on the same days.

and what makes it even more challenging is that in the locking item there are like 5 different segments, and some of the pracs happen concurrently as well. yea.

and cos i'm the kind of person who doesn't want to miss any prac cos i just don't think it's right. yet i wanna do both cos yea since i can then why not? and also cos i really couldn't decide at first. heh.

but anyway. i'm glad i decided to do both and that i stayed with doing both.

cos i really did benefit from both sides. learnt a lot. =)

there were initially 6 people who wanted to do both. really wanted. although they told us we could only choose one.

now there's only 2 people, including me, doing both items. yea.

anyway. i can't wait for sunday.

i actually don't know why exactly am i so excited.

maybe cos my parents are coming.

and i'm center for locking.

and i've got a popping solo. in the center as well. although just one eight.

and i'll be doing something new that they've never seen me do before.

yeah. ^^

& last weekend there was sdd.

JOYCE & THE BOYS~~

still my favourite.

still champs to me.

too DOPE.

and my top 5,

Elecoldxhot

Freekzy Nutz

KO-08

Da’ Street Soulz

(Y)(Y)(Y)

really damn dope.

official videos not up yet. shall not embed.

anyway throughout that night.

there were a lot of stunts. flips and drops and stuff.

and a lot of lifts-shirt-and-show-abs-whether-or-not-i-have-them.

but really. however dope your move is, it really isn't dope unless the flow and the timing is perfect. yea.

& this post is kind of long i kind of don't know what i'm saying anymore.

maybe i'll read this another day and edit or add on or something.

but i think i got my main points out. so yea. that's good.

1728.

life's been really awesome.

i still really wish you were here and i could share all this awesome-ness with you.

but you've been watching me. right?

i miss you.