LO1, Lo3

My friend Tara and I have been long talking about leading a dance in grade 11 as we have both been a part of past dance showcases and culturamas in school. I have been in every dance showcase since Grade 7, and in a cultural performance every year in high school. My passion in dance began back when I was 3 years old, when I started taking ballet classes. I took ballet classes for about 8 years – when I auditioned for a lyrical contemporary dance piece for the 2017 dance showcase, I realised that it was one of my hobbies, and all I needed was a guide from a dancer. Since then, I have progressed into participating in hip hop dances and more upbeat dances. Looking back at my first showcase, I remember enjoying the lyrical contemporary dance because of how much emotion that was involved in that style of dance, which I loved because I was able to feel the song and move along with it and it made me feel free.

Thus, I was determined to take advantage of the opportunity of becoming a choreographer – I had the chance in grade 9 and 10 but I was still not ready, and felt too insecure to be taking on such a big role. I knew that I was good at leading because from my post experiences as a dancer, I knew how important being organised was for a dance, and keeping things in order. I also work well with others because in a big role like leading a dance, working with someone is especially helpful and comforting – especially for our first time. We can rely on each other if one of us falls behind a bit, and we can work together in coming up with new ideas. I think that’s what I was excited about the most when I signed up to be a leader with my friend – I couldn’t wait to explore what we can do, especially after coming up with exciting ideas for our audition tapes. The feeling I get when being innovative with someone else is what encourages me to challenge myself at times.

Tara and I initially thought our high school musical dance audition tape would get accepted, but when our last choice was accepted we had to change our plans and focus on that dance. It was hard when we were especially excited with our first idea, but we pushed through and knew we had to go through with is. I think it also helped that our dance teacher, Francesca, was encouraging our unique umbrella idea, reminding us that it can help our dance stand out and bring the show to life. So although we were disappointed at first, we pushed ourselves and kept up our positivity to make sure we bring something good to the show in the long run.

Auditions went a bit stressful because we had to cut out a few dancers, which was hard. We also did expect more people to sign up for our dance, so it felt a little disappointing. But looking back to previous showcases, it was always the hip hop dances that received a lot of attention because of the hype – I knew our dance was slower and seemed a little boring for auditions since we didn’t finish our whole choreography yet. Tara and I also reminded the dancers that we were focused on making the final, on-stage performance creative with all the lights and costumes, since our genre (jazz tap) wasn’t as hype. We began planning our chroeography, spacings and final ideas and kept a positive mindstep throughout the whole process. IMG_2665