Article by Marcus Lim
Storyblog by Euclea Tan, Verlyn Ku, Natalie Lem, Andrew Sutjipto
Dancing is hard. There, I said it. Dancing is hard because it makes you hyper-aware of every flaw in your body. Every time my knees crack when I squat, every time I reach for my toes and fall short, I am painfully reminded that my physique is more suited for the writing desk than the dance floor.
But that’s hardly the worst part of dancing. Not even close. As dance is a performative art form, there is an audience present to scrutinize the movements of a dancer, which means that every physical inadequacy is laid bare before the audience eye. Every moment on stage is dissected by the silent critic and etched in (relative) eternity by an arsenal of phone cameras and video recordings.
Though I had my reservations about joining BP Dance, I ultimately decided to step out of my comfort zone and give it my best effort. It was a rare opportunity to mingle with my USP batchmates (thanks Covid-19) and also allowed me to contribute back to the community in my chosen field of expertise interest. Though my passion far exceeded my skill, I was committed to doing my best; making like-minded friends along the way was the cherry on the cake.
Picking up dance in a post-COVID-19 era has its fair share of complications. For starters, all dance practices are conducted through Zoom live videos. All the common problems endemic to Zoom, such as glitchy video or delayed audio, have been exacerbated by the musicality demanded by dance. Learning to mimic the precise movements of a choreography and keeping in beat with the rhythm of the dance piece becomes exponentially harder when plagued with connectivity issues and video frames that freeze every few minutes.
In addition, learning dance through a computer forces us to pick up steps quickly or risk being left behind. In a conventional dance practice, there is (ideally) a mirror to spot our own movements and correct any mistakes. Should we have any doubts, we can clarify with the choreographer on the spot and ask for a demonstration to clear up any misconceptions.
However, when we learn a dance at home, our speed at picking up new choreography is heavily dependent on depth perception and spatial aptitude as we struggle to translate movements from a 2D screen to 3D steps. The initial confusion over mirroring the steps or moving in the corresponding direction further added to our woes. As such, many of us struggled to keep pace with the first few lessons.
At the time of writing, we have completed the first two lessons in contemporary dance, Bollywood dance and mass dance. If I could travel back in time to our inaugural session, I’d probably give myself the following tips:
Dance in front of a mirror/window/reflective surface. You need to be able to spot your own movements, and a small Zoom window on the corner of your computer screen isn’t going to suffice. All the dance lessons are held in the evening anyway, so turn the lights on to 10 and turn your windowpane into a makeshift one-way mirror!
Don’t lose focus! Dancing in the comforts of our own homes can be very distracting. Nosy family members, space constraints and the allure of your bed after the 2752868th plie can make it difficult to concentrate during the lesson. However, once you start lagging behind, catching up becomes an uphill battle because you need to practise the previous steps AND learn the current step simultaneously. Also, if you concentrate hard enough, you can block out the inquisitive stares of your neighbours as you ~body wave~ your dignity away :’)
Last but not least, always cool-down! It’s tempting to collapse into a heap and binge-watch the next episode of It’s Okay to Not Be Okay after a 2-hour cardio session. However, always make it a point to stretch and give your muscles time to cool down. Your body will thank you tomorrow morning ;)
Speaking of the dance lessons, we have Matthew, Rhea and Tasha to thank for imparting their respective expertise in contemporary, Bollywood and mass dance. They patiently taught us various techniques such as Rond de Jambe and Cabbage Patch and handed out useful tips like focusing on a point on the wall while turning to avoid dizziness. With their unwavering guidance, we progressed by leaps and bounds in a few short lessons. As more batchmates join our dance project, the road ahead looks promising, and I am eagerly awaiting to show off the fruits of our labour in a few weeks’ time!
We are committed to learning the dance well and putting up a performance in support of our beneficiaries. We have barely started on the road leading up to the video recording, and I am confident that with our shared passion for dance and willingness to learn, we will be able to surmount these teething issues as we familiarise ourselves with the routine. However, compared to the fun times we share during our lessons, the problems that plague our beneficiaries are deeply entrenched in their lives and bear long-lasting consequences. As we go about making new friends and creating memories during our batch project, we must never lose sight of our purpose: to help underprivileged families, youths, and seniors.
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