HS Dance showcase, team member/co-leader        17th November 21 – 16th February 22

Performance – Dance Showcase, Latin-American dance                                     LO2, LO4, LO5

In November, I took initiative to audition for a Dance showcase, called Momentum. I learnt and auditioned for a Latin-American dance piece choreographed by 2 student leaders.

“For us “momentum” is the present, our way of living and seeing life, but above all the importance of always leaving a positive mark wherever we go. This is where our stimulus comes from, which is Latin American culture and history. Latin America has been rising in recognition for the last few years, and this is because of that sense of joy, that vibrant culture that makes us feel proud and happy of our Latin roots. The Latin community is being seen more than ever around the world, and especially the Latin family at UWCSEA, that is why we want to continue leaving our footprints, showing our essence here in Singapore and in our next destinations where life will take us, but overall teach people to have fun and enjoy every moment in life, because we are the only ones in charge of writing our own story.”

LO2 [Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process] – This experience so far has been something completely new to me, I have never danced to a standard such as this. The main challenge for me was going down and learning the dance alongside a squad of people. Although it was a bit embarrassing for me initially, after the first 2 sessions, I let go and enjoyed dancing and moving my body. Dance is an art form, although challenging, can reveal so much about a person’s character, and dance pieces overall express messages, ideas, and convey stories. At the present moment, I am enjoying dance so much more and truly appreciate the art form, as well as dancing with other people.

LO4 [Show commitment and perseverance in CAS experiences]  – Commitment and perseverance have been demonstrated by continuing this novel activity for me, something slightly out of my previous comfort zone. I have been going weekly as well as during certain holiday periods for a few hours at a time for rehearsals. Although this dance is quite short, at around 5 minutes in total, the dance is very fast paced and the number of moves makes it increasingly difficult to memorise. However, the number of rehearsals have allowed me to practice and wring out any doubts I have had in the dance choreography.

Between now and the performance I must continue practicing the dance moves both with the group and myself in order to have a sufficient muscle memory of the dance moves.

LO5 [Demonstrate the skills and recognise the benefits of working collaboratively] – Being able to work effectively with other people is the key to a successful (group) dance. As time has progressed, I have become more comfortable with, and got to know the rest of the dancers in my group. Furthermore, working collaboratively in practice sessions has allowed me to both develop and refine my skills as a dancer. Observing and working off of other people’s movements gives me better ideas on how to improve my own. Moreover, in experiences like this, working together reduces the pressure and workload and makes the experience overall more fun. This group of people are diverse, and fun, all coming on board with different talents. Some of them are dancers, and have danced in the past- while people like me have not. Therefore, working together helps both develop my dancing as well as improve the dance as a whole.

My next steps are to continue rehearsing and refining my dance skills, as well as stay resilient during this process. I am looking forward to the performance, however, as time dwindles, I need to make sure I am prepared for the spectacle.

A small sample from a practice session below (file size restrictions):