Pursuing your dream, thanks to teachers who truly care…

As I was writing my blog posts, I noticed that I haven’t written any of my experiences of how I became a dancer. I got too caught up with students at the studio and totally forgot about myself, lol! So, I decided to write (in a nutshell :)) about my experience of how everything started.

Like many dancers out there, I always loved to dance. So after graduating from college, and stabilizing my job etc., I wanted to dance. At first, I was just looking for a hobby and I found Astoria Ballroom which was close to my work place, so I joined their beginner group class. One class was 45 minutes and I learned a few steps of Rumba and Waltz. Honestly, after this 45 minutes class, I was wanting for more action!! I understand that it’s a beginner class, but seriously, 45 minutes wasn’t enough for me 🙂 So, I continued to attend group classes every week and my feeling of wanting to learn kept growing….

One day, the owners/instructors asked me if I have time to talk for a bit. I was like “ok…” wondering what’s going to happen. The owners/instructors explained about different options in the dance industry. They told me that if I wish, I can compete, become a professional, start to teach and make dance my profession. Or, I can continue to take classes and private lessons, and dance will stay as my hobby. But of course, I told them “I want to compete!” So, I started to take private lessons and practiced every day because I was so excited to learn! Seriously, I was at the studio after work until 10pm or 11pm every day, even on the weekends! It was crazy, lol! After 1 month of taking private lesson, my teachers told me that we’re going to prepare for competition which was in 1-2 months… I was very worried, not knowing what’s going to happen, but I continued my practice and kept my focus with my teacher’s guidance. As a result, I won my first competition and I was super excited!! From there, I continued to compete and place in the finals and top 3 of major competitions. It was like living my childhood dream of wanting to become a dancer 🙂

Time flies so fast when you’re enjoying and focused on what you like to do in life. When I noticed, I was already teaching, helping with the business of the studio, while continuing my training to move forward in my dance career as a competitor. I must say, I couldn’t have done it without my teacher’s guidance, patience and belief in my potential as a dancer. Yes, we all have our ups and downs in our personal life (job insecurities, relationship troubles etc.), which may distract you from achieving your goals, but my teachers were very supportive during all of those struggles in both my personal life and dance career. They were there for me at 11pm at night listening to my problems, they were there when I needed a shoulder to cry, and they were there encouraging me even when I almost gave up on my passion and childhood dream = DANCING.

Right now, I’m still training and practicing every day to improve my quality of dance. I believe in continuous learning and being persistent with what you love to do. As you can probably tell by now, I’m not the type of teacher who stops their own training just because you’re already a teacher. I believe that I can become a better teacher and that I will be able to offer more knowledge and insight for my students by further improving myself. I would like to thank my teachers and thank all of the teachers in this world who supports their students wholeheartedly. You guys are amazing! To everybody out there: don’t get caught up with what others or what society expects you to do or become. It’s your life! Why not find your passion and continue to pursue your dreams?

Relationship Series (Part 1): Developing Partnership Through Dancing

Are you trying to find someone who you can connect with, communicate with, share similar passion, and enjoy being with that person as a life long partner? I’ve been there and I believe many people (unless they like to be alone… :)) has thought about it, too. Well, dancing is THE activity that requires a partner. With another person, you need to learn how to move, make your dance look beautiful, practice together, and spend a loooooot of time with that person to develop the quality of dancing you are trying to achieve. Yes, it is very very difficult, lol! So how can we develop partnership in dancing as well as regular life? What do Dancers go through to improve their relationship with their partner to make their dancing look so beautiful? Here is my first introductory story for the relationship series called “Developing Partnership through Dancing”.

Topic #1: Get to know yourself and be responsible for your own part

Typically in dancing, teachers tends to teach the men more steps, how to lead, and most of the time, women are taught to just follow the men. It could work if all men are so quick at learning the steps, timing, how to lead, what type of lead to give the lady, how to avoid traffic on the dance floor, stay on beat with the music etc. all at once. And, if the women doesn’t complain a thing and be patient with whatever the men does. But, seriously, where does that kind of perfect situation exist? How can a women just follow along everything what a men does in the world of dancing, when women are encouraged to be more independent at work or in real life? It could work for some couples and there’s nothing wrong with it, but I believe in a relationship where both people contributes their share to the relationship.

So, in dancing, I believe the man needs to learn his steps, timing, how to lead. And the lady needs to learn her own steps, timing, what lead to expect from the man, and what the lady can do to support the man when they dance together. After both people know their own part and is comfortable with their own part, then we can join 2 people together to create 1 unit. Yes, it might sound like more work to do for you ladies, but won’t you feel happier if you can contribute something to the relationship and the unity of dancing with someone important to you? The result will be much more rewarding and your relationship with your partner will dramatically improve for sure. Trust me, your man will feel so much easier to dance with you and feel more support and encouragement from you if you know what you’re doing!!

In summary, all relationships has their own dynamic between 2 people, and it’s the same in dancing. So whether you are looking to dance with your significant other, or just starting to learn to dance, or you might be an advanced dancer already, keep an open mind when learning how to dance. There is no one way to learn how to dance and the traditional approach of men learning everything and ladies following does not necessarily work for everyone. At the end of the day, Dancing is art. It’s created by 2 people dancing together in harmony. So why not both men and women contribute our own share to the partnership?

Stay tuned for the next topic!