tymeless

"The war between the sexes is over. We won the second women started doing pole dancing for exercise," Jacob (Ryan Gosling) had said in the movie Crazy, Stupid, Love.

He had no idea how hard pole dancing was.

During a cast party of 9 Works Theatricals' Rent about a couple of years ago, I won a free hour of pole dancing lessons in the raffle. I never got to avail of it, so it eventually expired. I never even tried to contact Polecats about it. Even though I do have a little curiosity about pole dancing, I guess it didn't quite spark my interest that much.

I do follow the Polecats' sites on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and just recently I started following their blog as well. I guess it was under the influence of knowing that I have a friend who's a Polecat (Kris), but that was it. Kris is a friend I met through a couple of musical theater workshops at least a decade ago, and after that, we sort of drifted apart.

So anyway, after reading all those posts on their blog site, I started becoming a little more curious, and decided to check out one class to see what it's like. I didn't really have any expectations though, as I have no dance background whatsoever, unless you include my 5 months of ballroom dancing classes.

Yesterday was that day. I was told there was a 1pm beginners class, and also a 2pm class that afternoon (I didn't want to wake up early for the 10am class). I was planning to take the 1pm class, but I didn't exactly calculate the Saturday traffic and commute to Ortigas, plus I had to walk to the place just so I know how to get there without relying on cabs.

I arrived at the Polecats studio while the 1pm class was still going on. There was just one student, one of the teachers (I think it was Kayleen), plus another girl who was somewhat assisting her. I signed up for the next class and filled out a form, then I just sat there watching the last few minutes of the 1pm class. A few girls started trickling in for the next class, and when I saw a couple of girls filling out forms as well, I was relieved that I wouldn't be the only first-timer.

One of the girls approached the rest of us, introducing herself as a blogger who would be documenting her experience, asking if we would mind if photos of us in class would be taken. Of course we wouldn't, though in the back of my mind, I wondered if I would look like the total fool in the photos who didn't know what she was doing with her pole. I got around to talking to her after that. She introduced herself (Joanne) and her boyfriend (eep, forgot his name, sorry), and I told them that I was also a blogger, and asked if I could also link her blog and photos to mine. So yes, I'll be linking it at the end of this blog once she posts them.

Our teacher was Sheng, whom I recognized as Monang, the comical maid in Magsimula Ka. After starting the class with warmups, she asked us first-timers to take the first row of poles right in front of her, while the rest took the others. Eep.

Sheng first taught us some basic spins. The fireman spin. Then there was an "extended fireman," (with one leg stretched out), but when I searched it on YouTube, it was called the martini spin. Plus another spin where you end up on your knees. I forgot what it was called, but on YouTube, it's named the showgirl spin.

I was having fun doing the spins because I easily caught on. I thought it was going to be as easy as those, until Sheng started to teach us a basic climb while she had the other students climb their own poles all the way to the top. At this part of the class, I can only hang on to the pole for a couple of seconds, and then I could feel myself slipping. I watched Joanne in envy, as she easily managed this than I could. While I was still trying to work on it, we had to learn how to do the dreamgirl plus another trick. Once again, I could only stay on the pole halfway through, then slip back down again. I could feel my right calf bruising already. Damn, I realized I had no upper body strength at all.

We ended the class with a little dance with our poles, and I liked that part because we didn't have to do any more climbing, haha. A little choreo, ending with a basic spin, then we had to cool down in one corner of the studio because AJ's men's pole class had to begin. I felt that my arms had turned to jelly after class, and Joanne and I were joking about it as we exchanged blog links.

Even with my jelly-like arms, I managed to make it to yesterday's evening show of Atlantis Productions' Nineat RCBC. It's one awesome show that I was glad I didn't miss. Plus it was an opportunity to see Carlo and Micah again. Dyown was supposed to watch too, but she had to bail at the last minute because her shift at work ended later than she had expected.

So I didn't really conquer the pole. I don't think I'm cut out for pole dancing, because I'm more comfortable staying on the floor with ballroom dancing, hahaha. Plus I rely on muscle memory and lots of practice to get the hang of things, and I don't have my own pole to do it. But I still felt accomplished because I eventually got off my bum to try it out once for curiosity's sake. It's not as easy as others may think, as it requires a lot of power and strength to execute all those tricks and stunts. Thank you so much, Polecats, for this opportunity.

tymeless

Arrived from Bacolod yesterday morning, but was too lazy to blog then. I spent practically the entire day yesterday just catching up on my sleep, so I felt as if I had almost lost a day.

So anyway, what happened during our Bacolod leg of Children's Letters to God? Here's my update.

Met up with Dingdong, Ikey, Nicco, John, Acey and Bart at the airport on Thursday morning. Jill, Bianca and Hendri were already in Bacolod, and Nar was taking a bus from Dumaguete. The plane ride was kind of uneventful, as most of us slept right through it. Bianca and Jill had picked us up from the airport, and we headed directly to 21 Restaurant for lunch and the press conference. Finally met Mito, who was the one who took care of this leg of our show's tour. Nar was still on his way to the venue (he had told us later that the bus broke down and there was no air conditioning) and was super late, so when the cast had to sing "I Know" for the press, we had Ikey sing Nar's parts of the song.

It was fairly a simple and short press con, but Nar finally managed to make it for the last remaining minutes, so the cast got to sing another song number ("Questions, Questions").

After the press con, the prod team had to divide up tasks. Dingdong, John and Acey went to the venue of the show, while Bart and I stayed at 21 with the cast so we can do a run-through in one of the small function rooms. After the run and some notes, we headed to L'Fisher check out the venue, as well to check in.

Dingdong, John and Acey were almost done setting up when we got there. We took care of the room assignments there, as we had to switch things around, like having the tech together in one room (except for me--I was with Jill in another room). Finally checked in and stashed our stuff in our respective rooms. I got to chill for a while (though a tad guilty for not helping the boys set up), plus setting up the uber-slow (but bearable) wifi before Acey texted me, asking if he could borrow my laptop for the music. Headed downstairs to the ballroom to help out the boys, and when I saw the projector that I would be using, I realized that the cord that hooks up the projector to my laptop was too short to make it to the tech booth, and most likely I might have to sit in the center aisle if I have to use that cord. Mito said that we'd have a long cord by tomorrow, so it's all cool. Anyway, the cast did a quick stage adjustment before we left the venue for dinner. John, though, still had to stay to focus the lights.

Off to Chicken House for dinner. Oh yeah, now that is some good chicken inasal. I remember hardly talking while I was eating, just listening to conversation all around me. Yes, either I was really starving, or the food was really good. And I love their tables, which were composed of pretty colorful tiles.

Back to L'Fisher to rest up for the long day the next day. I spent the evening online, blogging and listening to ballroom tunes while Jill went out.

The following morning, I woke up to Hendri waking me. The cast was guesting for an early morning show, and he needed to have a copy of the minus ones for the guesting, so I had to get up and copy the songs to his iPod touch. After copying a bunch of other music, he and the cast headed out with Mito and I went back to bed and didn't wake up until Jill had returned, ringing the doorbell. That's when I finally got my bum moving. Had breakfast with Dingdong, Acey and John on the roofdeck, then after a while, we headed back to our rooms to prep up. Dropped by the guys' room and got a CLTGshirt (as us tech people would be wearing it throughout the day), then we all headed downstairs to the ballroom.

It took me a while to be fully set up near the tech booth, as I had to wait for Mito to give me a longer cord for the projector. Then we had to re-adjust the settings that we made the day before because it wasn't saved on the projector. Then I didn't fix the settings on my laptop when Bart wanted to start the run, so I was playing the slides blindly without the presenter view showing on my laptop. Good thing I managed to set it up and add a couple of blank slides (for blackouts) before the start of the first show at 2pm.

My goodness, we filled up that huge ballroom for the entire 2 afternoon shows! So many students from so many different schools. I could even see kids wearing that oh so familiar plaid green jumper uniforms, so I knew there were kids from La Salle Bacolod. There were some slight bloopers during the show, but it was all fine. All the kids loved it! The most receptive audience we had were during the 4pm show. The 7pm gala show had a smaller audience, so we closed off two-thirds of the huge ballroom by then.

I also love the yummy food provided for us backstage in between shows. There was lunch of chorizong hubad ("the kind that you can still taste when you burp," John had said), then chicken teriyaki for early dinner. Never mind that we still had dinner after the show, I was always starving during shows.

All 3 shows were a hit! We immediately did a strike, which was already fairly easy for us, as we just had to put away the big tarp, the clouds (Dingdong accidentally let one fall and smash some of its part on the floor), the props and the costumes. Then when we headed back to the hotel, I immediately went up to my room and found Jill and Bianca already freshened up and dressed for dinner. I took a super quick (I was in and out and dressed in about 5 minutes) shower and was ready quicker than the boys, who were still getting ready when we knocked on their door when I was finally ready.

Had dinner at Bascon with the Bacolod team involved in the production. More yummy food! And I couldn't pass up the chocolate cake for dessert (never mind that I'm not allowed to eat chocolate, ahehe). Super thanks to Mito and everyone in Bacolod for accommodating us and for making things happen for this leg of the tour!

We went back to L'Fisher to have a few drinks at the roofdeck, so after dinner was over, we thanked everyone and Bianca's family and headed out. Jill, Bianca and I rode separately from the boys, so we got the the roofdeck first. Once we got there, I was surprised to see a familiar face out there. It was Bryan, whom I haven't seen since Nikki and I saw him and RR in Greenbelt a couple of years ago. Apparently he was also there for work, and realized that I was involved in the production in the ballroom when he took a peek at it earlier that day.

Anyway, Bart also arrived and found us there, then Nar and Ikey followed. They then started teasing me to dance, as the music that played was perfect for a chachacha. I did a few steps in front of them, then started getting conscious and stopped. Oh well, hahaha.

Grabbed a table near the band stand, then Nicco, Mito and Hendri trickled in and joined us. Drinks galore, crazy quips, and Nar even jammed with the musicians a couple of times. There were a couple of quips that night that made me say that I've been taking note of some of the quotable quotes during this trip...

"Parang the colors are brighter here in Bacolod."
- John while we were in the van from the airport after we had arrived.

"You're cute... but only to my pwet."
- Bart to Hendri at 21 Restaurant.

"I want to do this musical right."
- Bart about staging a certain musical that was already produced in Manila once.

And of course, I can't forget Bart's toasts on the roofdeck.
"To relationships formed... and reformed."
"To being beautiful... in art."

After finally calling it a night, we all headed back to our rooms. When Hendri started coming round the rooms, I went with him to the boys' room, as he said that he wants to "steal" some music from Ikey's laptop. I remembered that I wanted to get some tunes from his laptop as well, so I joined them. Hendri took quite a long time looking through everything, so I had to wait for him to finish. Then I managed to grab the ones I wanted, plus a bunch of other videos as well when he was done.

Early flight the next morning back to Manila, also kind of uneventful, as we already had to board upon arrival at the airport. We arrived in Manila about 15 minutes early, and I headed straight for home.

Every show of Children's Letters to God always gives me a happy heart. This musical had given me so much good vibes and memories, and it always tells me that it doesn't hurt to go back to being an innocent kid every once in a while, with curious eyes wide open. I'm so grateful to have been given the opportunity to work behind this production, and also grateful for the cast and production team that I got to work with, and I always look forward to every show tour. Hope this Bacolod leg won't be the last.

tymeless

As I type this, I'm just chilling out in our hotel room here in Bacolod. Yep, we're on our third leg of Little Boy Productions' Children's Letters To God. We have 3 shows tomorrow at the La Proa Ballroom of L'Fisher Hotel.

Will blog about the whole trip in another entry when I get back to Manila. I just want to use this quiet and vacant time to blog about other stuff. Playing some ballroom tunes as well while my roommate, Jill, had stepped out.

Sometimes, I don't really like posting shoutouts on Facebook. Ever since I got myself a Twitter account, it's been easier to rant and rave as much as I can there. There's too much gossip going on in Facebook every time you post something online, and some people assume they already know what you're talking about even though they really don't. And then when it reaches the wrong or right person, misunderstanding and fights ensue. Then there's also the somewhat judgmental type of folk, who, because of certain history, talks and gossip, would have so many things running in their mind that they would assume other people's objectives would be their prime obstacles. Sigh.

But I have to say, even if I somehow lost a friend, life seems quieter somehow now. And there's also the matter of good karma. More on that later.

During the last 2 sessions of my ballroom class, I enjoyed how Ian had changed things up a bit, depending on who's attending the sessions. And I'm so glad that there are other students now instead of just me. Don't get me wrong, I like it a lot when I'm the only student, so Ian can easily focus on cleaning and polishing my technique, plus adding more advanced stuff. But it's nice that there are other people as well that I could dance with, and I love it when more and more people learn to appreciate ballroom dancing. It's not as matronly as most people would think.

I was so glad that Hanna has been attending almost every session now, including last week's class. We also had a new addition to the class. Mark had purchased an unlimited pass, so he said he's maximizing it, attending as much classes as he could. Anyway, because there was a new student, Ian decided to teach us the jive that day. Thank goodness I always have my iPod ready with songs/remixes for 4 of the 5 Latin competition dances (rumba, chachacha, samba, jive), so we always have music to dance to. It was fun learning the jive again, as we only covered it during one session in the summer, and then I completely forgot about it. Ian had said that it's good for me to change things up instead of just working on my rumba and chachacha.

This past Tuesday, I managed to get Dingdong to attend the class. Hanna couldn't attend because she had mentioned that her parents were visiting her here in Manila for a while. But nice to see that Mark was also there, as he had said that he had enjoyed last week's class. Ian had also brought Bruce that day as a recruit. I had expected that we were going to do the jive again, because Ian had told me to download more jive songs, plus mambo and salsa (but I couldn't anymore as I was already out when he had texted), but he decided to teach rumba to the boys. So I got to relax in class, and it just served as a refresher so I could observe my technique on my own while I danced with each of the boys as Ian taught them the basics. Somehow the tables had turned between Dingdong and me, as I remember that I couldn't keep up with his Sh'bam choreography during the couple of times that I had attended his free classes, and then there he was, looking awkward doing the Cuban rock.

I remember that I always get stressed or pressured whenever Ian asks me to dance with him to show an example to the other students in the class. During this last class, I wasn't feeling all pressured, probably because it's just the basic rumba that I've been doing over and over again. Of course, I still have my flaws, and sometimes Ian jokingly points it out that it took ages for me to coordinate my arms, or to have more flexible hips. And I've been enjoying the parts of the class when I had to dance with Ian and I just had to read his gestures as to what step to do next. It surprised even myself that I already know how to do so.

He even mentioned in front of everyone that I'm really going to compete soon, which means it's more or less a sure thing that I'll be competing in March. Ack.

Sure enough, I get a text from Ian on the first hour of yesterday morning...

U improved a lot tin. im proud of u. hehe. march sure compete ka 2 dance ako sponsor costume and free workshop ka sakin. pag igihan mo pa tin ha. pls practice everyday tin. tyty

It was one of the best messages that I received in a while. To know and be acknowledged that I had improved a lot in a matter of a few months was a big thing for me, considering that I had no dance background when I started a few months ago. Yes, this is the good karma that I had mentioned about earlier.

This is it. The only dancesport competition that I know that will be in March is the DSCPI 1st quarter ranking and competition. And the 2-dance event? I have to research more on that, as the only thing I know about it is that the 2 dances are the rumba and the chachacha. And of course, I still don't have a dance partner.

My goodness, am I really ready to compete? I'm excited but scared at the same time!

Anyway, so how are you, dear reader of this blog? I'd love to hear from you again.

tymeless

On Wednesday evening, I got a text both from Micha of Big Shift Studios and from Ian that our Friday evening class would be cancelled, but that Ian would take the Thursday evening slot instead. I confirmed to both that I had received the information, and that I would attend the Thursday class.

Minutes later, I get a call from Ian. Again, he mentioned the class that was transferred to Thursday, and then I found out why. As it turned out, Big Shift would be celebrating the birthdays of 3 of their big bosses, one of which was Sir Benjo (oops, my apologies, I honestly don't know the names of Attorney and the lovely lady). Ian was asked to dance as part of the program. Then he asked if I can still remember the chachacha routine that we danced at the recital. I can still recall most of it, I told him. He then asked me to review it via the videos, and to dance with him as his partner to the birthday party event. So instead of having class that Thursday, we could just rehearse the routine.

Lucked out that I was the only student on Thursday evening, plus Ian was half an hour late to class. We recalled the entire routine, with Ian correcting my every lousy move, and focusing a whole lot on my technique. There were times that I would get frustrated that I still couldn't get it, no matter how many times I repeat the entire routine. We also took out the original ending and replaced with something new, so we ended up executing a low dip to end the routine. I was excited to finally do a pretty dip as a finale, but more nervous because I still have a slight fear of falling, and I was afraid of not being able to do the routine well enough for the audience. After rehearsing it several times alone and sometimes with Ian, we finally called it a night and decided to meet up the next evening before the event so we can rehearse it again.

Friday turned out to be a long day for me. After my shift in the morning, I headed over to Opera Haus for the 2nd day of 9WT final callbacks. Thank goodness it wasn't as tiring as the very first leg of auditions, so I got to hang around inside the main studio. After all the auditions were over, I managed to use some of the few precious time to recall the entire routine a couple of times before I bid my goodbyes and left for Big Shift.

Reached A Venue a little earlier than I expected, so I said hello to Micha, Rock, and Che-anne. Checked with Micha and Rock about the music that we were going to use (and possibly also the music for Ian and Ate Helen's own jive routine, but Ate Helen took care of that herself), then I decided to just wait for Ian outside the satellite studio. The urban hiphop class was still going on inside, so I went to the little hall next to it by the elevators so I can rehearse the routine on my own. Once the urban class ended, I went inside the studio to cool off and rest a bit. Once Ian had arrived, we rehearsed nonstop even while the belly dancers were also rehearsing. My gosh, the stress. I wasn't really feeling nervous about performing in front of people. I was just kind of anxious that I might not be able to pull this off, especially because it was just going to be me and Ian dancing. Ian was being hard on me that whole time we were rehearsing at the satellite studio, and I found out later that night (when we had left A Venue) that he was doing that for my own good. Anyway, for my costume, Ian had provided the same dress that I had worn to our recital. But ack, I've been having these ugly breakouts on my back, so I had to wear my black cotton camisole under the dress to cover up the uber-low back. So sorry, no sexy back for this performance.

We were called to the main studio/hall 10 minutes before we had to dance, and we handed our music (I gave my phone instead of my iPod Shuffle because it was easier to cue) to Micha. We waited for a couple of kids (of one of the big bosses) to end their performance, and finally, it was time to dance.

When we were introduced, Ian led me out to the floor. The music had already started playing where we were still walking out, then stopped (Rock admitted there was a goof in cueing), then started again. No problem, I just followed Ian's lead. When we started dancing, I knew there was no stopping it. The cheers and applause fueled my enthusiasm out there on the floor, so never mind that I had a teeny slight misstep somewhere (I forgot where). The energy and the rush I felt made up for it. I had felt such a high dancing in front of those people. It felt great, and the applause was so rewarding.

After my dance, it was Ate Helen's turn to dance the jive with Ian. I stayed in the back during their performance. When I took a peek at the other side for a while, I thought I heard someone call me "Hogi," but I knew that in this crowd, if there are people there that know me, I'm known as Christine (well, except maybe for Rock). I waited for the jive routine to end, then I followed Ian and Ate Helen back out. That's when I heard it again. Someone was calling me "Hogi." When I turned to look, Rommel, my classmate from RPT workshop back in 2010, was there! It was a nice surprise seeing someone from theater there. As it turned out, he's a good friend of one of the birthday celebrants, which explained the reason why he was there. Too bad he had to leave right away, so we didn't get to chat.

We headed back to the satellite studio to take a breather and change clothes. Bon had arrived a few minutes later. It was so funny how the scholars (Big Shift's Junior Dance Masters) recognized him right away from a TV performance. They first thought it was Ian (as the brothers look so much like, probably because of the hair), but upon seeing Bon, apparently it was him. Haha, Ian just had to tell Bon that I always find a way to keep my performance up by projecting my best smiles and just pure pumped-up energy. Anyway, after changing out of our costumes, Ian, Ate Helen, Bon and I headed out to the buffet so we can finally eat. It seemed that all of us had the idea of not really staying long. I had a long day anyway, and I needed to rest. So I gobbled up the huge pile I made on my plate without much conversation with anyone else, hahaha. When Ian, Bon, and Ate Helen went downstairs for a while to smoke, I started chatting with Paula (sitting with hubby Miguel) over raspberry vodka. As it turned out, we both knew Beef/Bryan, this dancer that I met last year from one of the AM events (Spin Tha' Streets) in CSB where I was the stage manager. She said that she was supposed to be part of it as one of Beef's dancers, which meant I could've met her earlier. She then found out about my theater background, and I was mighty flattered when she told me that I could dance pretty well for someone who had zero dance background.

Anyway, after watching the pole dancing performance by Jamaica and Lance (A-mazing, by the way), Ian, Bon, Ate Helen and I quietly made a French exit. Bon hitched a ride with Ate Helen, while I hitched a ride with Ian, as usual. He mentioned that I was more relaxed during the dance this time, compared to the recital 3 months ago. Probably because I already knew the routine by heart, and all I needed to focus on was technique. That was also when he said that he meant to be hard on me earlier so I have to keep focusing on the routine, the technique, and everything. I understand why he had to do so, especially because I really want to do well. But I guess for some people, they'd probably end up frustrated and just quit, unless they really love what they do.

I have to say, it wasn't a really big event, but I was really grateful that Ian gave me this opportunity to dance at that party. I keep telling myself I'm not ready to dance in front of people, but I realized that whenever I'm really dancing, it's better to just let go, hang loose, and just have fun.

tymeless

It seems I make fewer and fewer posts every month. I miss having that frequent urge to blog, no matter what time of the day it may be.

Anyway, time to take advantage of this long weekend (thanks to US Labor day) for some updates.

So it's well into the 3rd season at Big Shift, and Ian has been giving me more advanced techniques to work on, bit by bit. There were a couple of days that I was the only student, so those were the days that he hammered on all those advanced stuff. He gave me a whole bunch of rumba combination exercises to work on, each of them focusing on several techniques at a time, from keeping control of my balance, weight, and body in general, plus learning how to spot while doing turns. I have to admit, I know I get frustrated when I can't do all those in class, but Ian's right when he said that I should stop getting frustrated with myself, and just shut up, focus and keep on practicing.

I also attended Julius' class once. Considering I was still the only student then, he called his nephew Mark to attend the class as well so I can have a partner to dance with. Tackling the cha cha cha, Julius said that, knowing Ian is already a good dancer and teacher, he'll leave the advanced stuff to Ian, and will just focus on keeping my basics correct, should I keep on attending his class. In fairness, he did manage to make quite some progress on my technique, but mostly on footwork. I still can't seem to get my hip twists and turns right no matter whose class I'm taking.

Ian and I had once talked about the studio's class schedules. It seems that we were both thinking the same thing, that they should've just kept the classes at a minimum considering not a lot of people are keen on taking weekday classes. Or at least just hold the classes during the weekends, with the exception of yoga and Zumba, which can probably still survive during mornings and weekdays. But of course, who in their right mind would attend a class (ballroom, no less) in the middle of the week during off-peak season? Of course, Ian mentioned that I was an exception, and he went on saying that I'm keeping this going so I can compete (and I just gave a small nervous laugh after he said that, haha).

In other news, now that it's September, our Bacolod leg of Children's Letters to Godis a go! We only have 2 rehearsals here in Manila a week before we fly, then we have 3 shows in Bacolod! Woohoo! I can't wait to fly again and pig out on the local food. I had so much fun when I flew there with the cast last April.

Regarding other theater-related stuff, there was also the 9 Works Theatricals auditions last month. Helped them out all throughout the auditions, from initial cattle call auditions, to the dance callback auditions. It was great seeing a whole lot of friends in the biz during those days, though I was really keen on sitting still at certain places, like by the door in front of those auditionees who were about to face the panel. The energy feels different at that part of the room, hahaha. But even with that, it was a blast.

I also got to see a couple of plays the other weekend. First, I got a text from Claire on Friday, asking if I wanted to watch The Phantom of The Opera's dress tech that evening. Of course, I first had to check if I had dance class that very evening, but once it was confirmed that there was none, all systems were a go. Met with Claire at the Atlantis office, and once she was finished with her work, we flew to CCP (never mind that it was raining and we had to steal a cab from someone who was also waiting with us at the curb). We made it there with just a few minutes to spare.

The production was pretty awesome. Of course, like certain plays I had seen where I'd just sit back and enjoy the light-and-sound show of the musical's overture, that's what I had expected of this. When the sparks lit and the strobe lights came on as the chandelier rose, the audience applauded. I know it couldn't be helped, but I guess for me, the applause ruined the effect. Hahaha. Selfish, I know, and I apologize for that. I guess this is why I enjoy watching movies more when I'm alone. But anyway, I have to say that the production was superb. So they may not have achieved those rising candles during the iconic boat ride, but they sure made up for it (and yes, everyone also applauded when the stage floor was filled with dry ice that was spilling out into the orchestra pit, hahaha).

Next I caught TP's Walang Sugatthe following evening. I was supposed to watch it with Nikki, but she suddenly had to flake out at the last minute (due to hyperacidity). I ended up watching it with the 9 Works gang (Santi, Anna, Robbie, Peachy, Jonjon, Angela, Jason, Sarah and Tita Jinggay), and we occupied an entire row in the middle of the theater.

Knowing that this is the second period play that Cris was in, I glad that her Julia was very distinct from her Maria Clara from last year's Noli Me Tangere. Julia was more determined and stubborn than the somewhat submissive Maria. I actually enjoyed the slices of wit scattered all throughout the sarswela, especially the Monica-Lucas tandem. Heck, I can still remember a televised production of the play back when I was in grade school, and I remember watching the Monica-Lucas duet, and the last scene until the curtain call.

Had dinner with the group, plus Jenny (and Noel catching up at the last minute) at Chicken Rice Shop. Talked about Phantom, Walang Sugat, possible behind the scenes playtime, and other stuff (one topic that I fell victim to, thanks to Jenny and Ring, hahaha).

Anyway.

This past Friday, I expected to just have a nice lunch with my office mates at Bistro Ravioli, as we initially planned. Then we found out that another one of our office mates, Queen, was celebrating her birthday with her teammates (Pink Sphinx), so she was coming in that day with food for her team. She brought in a lot of food in the pantry, so other people that weren't from her team (yes, I am one of them) were invited to join the spread. Aside from the Pinks, there were a couple of other TLs (Barbie and Nadine), the other QEs (Julie and Rob), Anna from the coders, Mara, Clark, Steve, Jing, and a bunch of others. Oh, Amber's palabok and pichi-pichi were always a surefire hit. So much for our plans to go to Bistro Ravioli. Even the other guys' plan to go to Bon Chon were foiled, as they were also there.

After thanking Queen, Tin B, Julie, Sam and I suddenly decided to get dessert (yes, the pichi pichi wasn't enough, haha). We first decided to go to Dairy Queen for Blizzards, but considering there wasn't a place to sit, we decided to walk to Greenbelt for J.Co donuts. Sam was a limiting factor, as she needed to go home at a certain time. Eventually, what with all our detours all over the mall, she had to say goodbye while we were still in the Glorietta area. By the time we reached Greenbelt 3, we changed our minds again at the last minute and settled on Red Mango. I just love their frozen yogurt. Hung out there until Tin had to leave, but Julie and I still stayed and waited for Faye, as she had just finished her workload/training for the day (as our new upcoming AA for when Allan resigns). More yogurt and chatting, until I received a call from Tin Yang (I just realized how many friends I have named Tin).

It was a spur-of-the-moment invite to watch Potted Potterthat very afternoon. I didn't have much time to decide, as the show was to start at 5 in the afternoon, a half hour after the call. Tin had mentioned that it would most likely end at 7pm, and I had class at Big Shift at 8. I bid my goodbyes to Julie and Faye and ran for the walkway heading to Ayala, thinking that I should have enough time to run back to Glorietta after the show, as I had left my dancing shoes in my office locker. While I was walking past Greenbelt 4, I suddenly run into Camille. I quickly asked her if she wanted to come along with me, and after a couple of quick phone calls (me to Tin and her to Jonjon), we were both off to RCBC together.

Potted Potteris actually, yes, all 7 of the books told in 70 minutes, by Gary and Jesse. The show was chock full of hilarious antics, minimal set pieces, crazy props and quirky costumes. There were references to celebrities, books, movies and theater, and even threw in a bit of the local flavor. Best of all, the audience got to play a game of Quidditch! I even managed to get a hold of the ball during the 2nd half of the game, but I threw it in the wrong direction, hahaha. But I swear, my sides and cheeks ached from laughing during the entire show. It was such a blast.

After the show, I thanked Tin (via text) and Sam, then Camille and I quickly left. We were supposed to take a jeep back to Glorietta/Edsa, but seeing the long queue at the loading area, we decided to just walk the whole way instead. I still got ample time, so we ended up walking and talking the whole way. The bad part of walking was that I was met with another long line for a cab after I got my shoes from my locker. Thank goodness I still made it to Big Shift with time to spare.

I was glad not to be alone in class that evening, as the 2 Chinese girls (Hannah and the strictly Chinese-speaking Abby) were there as well. We tackled the chachacha, and because I was busy practicing the rumba (thanks to those rumba combinations), I got a bit disoriented in class. Of course, once the session was over, Ian let me stay for a couple of minutes to quickly give me a couple of combinations (this time for chachacha) before we had to leave the studio.

While I was writing this post, I started thinking if I should also crosspost my blog entries in Tumblr. What do you guys think?

tymeless

So I found out that Multiply will be gone before the year ends. Got pretty bummed when I found that out, as I've been using the site for almost 7 years. Almost all my blogs, and lifetimes of photos. Photos of workshops, different circles of friends, family, and yes, boyfriends, and lots of other crazy moments. Even the blog has seen me through different stages and moods.

Oh well, I don't really mind losing the blog, as most, if not all, of the entries were cross-posted on LiveJournal and Tabulas. At least I have good archives in the latter platform. But I sure do hope that Multiply will migrate our stuff elsewhere.

Quite a few sampling classes were held at Big Shift this past week. When I checked out the schedule, I noticed that there will be another ballroom teacher this season. Curious as to how he will teach, I decided to check out his sampling class this past Thursday. I gathered from Olivia that Julius is her friend's coach, so he sounded pretty good.

When I reached the 3rd floor of A Venue on the actual day, Olivia was there at CCF with her boyfriend Angelo, so we managed to chat up a storm. While we were still talking right there in the middle of the floor, the teacher arrived and said hi to Olivia, then headed inside the Big Shift office. I didn't get to meet him until class was about to start, when I was already inside the studio. Micha introduced me to Julius when she ushered him inside. He was also with his dance partner, Belinda, who assisted him during the sampling class, plus Belinda's husband (I forgot his name, though).

There were only four of us who attended the sampling class. There was Hannah, plus a couple of beginners, one of which apparently knew both Hannah and Julius. Anyway, we tackled the basic chachacha, which was pretty easy for me, so I easily managed to follow, even though my New York still looked a tad messy. We also tackled a bit of samba, which I still couldn't grasp quite well, but I didn't mind.

Got to talk to Julius and Belinda and her husband after the class. I had mentioned that I'm a student of Ian's, plus I knew his brother as well. I even mentioned that I got to watch the midyear ranking and enjoyed the whole-day experience of it. I told them that I just started taking up ballroom dancing this past summer, and knew a lot of the basics from then, and they mentioned that I already picked up some advanced moves (like when Hannah told me to do the melt). I had no idea that that was already for an advanced level. Anyway, in the class, I noticed that Julius had a more formal approach to the class, which kind of piqued my curiosity as to how he will teach.

Took Ian's sampling class the next day, Friday. He ended up arriving an hour late, so Hannah (who was supposed to attend the class as well), couldn't wait and had to leave. Considering it was just me, and Ate Helen (who arrived with Ian), plus Bernard (who initially just went to return a couple of costumes that he borrowed from Ian) in the class, Ian then tackled way advanced techniques. Combination of the high hip and Cuban motion. I swear, my upper torso hurt the entire day the next day. But I actually enjoy the fact that every class brings a new challenge. After the class, Bernard had told Ian that I had attended one of his basic jazz classes during the previous season. Alone. It was only the 2 of us using the biggest studio for a full hour, and despite the fact that it was tiring, and my entire body ached for 2 days, I had a blast stretching my body to its limits. It made me consider taking a foundation class, such as yes, jazz, or even ballet, if only I had the budget for it.

Two teachers, two different and distinct approaches to teaching ballroom. I've been so used to dancing and taking class under Ian's wing that I forgot how refreshing it is when there's something different comes along. So right now, I'm thinking of taking both Ian's and Julius' classes. That would be 3 days a week. Plus I'm still considering taking that jazz class that Howie had recommended. If I do sign up for that class, it would mean dancing 3-4 days a week. Not bad. We'll see.

Out of sheer curiosity and boredom, I even attended Alvin's contact juggling sampling class yesterday afternoon. I was the only one who did, so I got to learn a lot. My goodness, it takes months to master all those moves, but it was fun learning the butterfly, plus that illusion of moving around a suspended ball, and the palm circle. Heck, if I had budgeted my money to include other classes, I would've signed up for contact juggling this season as well. Plus, those clear acrylic balls look so pretty, hahaha.

Oh, and finally, I managed to break in my new ballroom dancing shoes. I was planning to buy them after getting my referral incentive, and Ian knew I was planning to buy new shoes. He recommended getting a pair from a supplier he knows, so I managed to buy my shoes (including heel guards) through him. After using those shoes during a couple of classes, I developed super huge multiple blisters on both feet, that I was so grateful for the season break. But after bending the shoes this way and that to stretch them, it didn't hurt as much when I used them in class this week. Considering I loathed them during the first couple of times I wore them, I love them now, hahaha.

tymeless

The weather's been pretty lousy, and today's the first time in a long time that I had to call in from work because my commute routes were impassable due to all the flood. It's high time I should update this baby.

Saw this post on Clyde's Facebook a couple of weeks ago:
"ang saya istalk ang satili mo kapag nakatimeline ka. mamili ka lang ng taon, maaalala mo na lahat ng nangyaro sayo. HAHAHAHA."

After seeing that, I randomly checked out my Facebook back in August 2008. It was the year when I actually started logging into Facebook sporadically, then more regularly.

Then I saw this post on July 28th of that year:
"is dreaming to be a competitive ballroom dancer."

I actually said that? Huwaw.

Intrigued, I wanted to recall why I was thinking that, so I checked out my blog posts from that year. It was the time of my 2nd year as a stage manager in the Virgin Labfest, then I acted in Tartuffe, a thesis production in CSB. There was also this post that began with how I met one of Rosa's officemates in Glorietta, who in turn had asked me how Rosa and I became friends, and how I got interested in theater. The 2nd half of that same post was a meme I had answered, sort of like a "back on this day of that year" kind of thing. It ended with a little rough forecast, and I had mentioned that I wanted to focus a little more on my other interests, and yes, I had mentioned that I wanted to take up ballroom dancing.

Interesting how fun it is to discover these trivial little things from way back when.

Speaking of way back when, I remember being super busy during this time last year. I had work in Makati during early mornings, then rehearsals for Noli Me Tangere in CCP in the evening, regardless of what the weather would be like. I felt like a boarder in my own house because I only come home to sleep for a couple of hours and shower and change clothes. I did most of my sleeping in our office lounge between work and rehearsals. This year was the complete opposite. I actually had enough time to catch the Cinemalaya festivities in CCP. This was actually the first time I managed to watch almost all of the films in the New Breed category. There were days when I'd even watch 2 or 3 films in a row. I actually enjoyed watching them by my lonesome, because I don't have to worry about getting good seats for another person or group.

During one film (I believe it was for The Animals), I distinctly remember a group of 3 or four girls who sat behind me. They were still decked out in their school uniform. Before the film began, I was actually amused while I somewhat eavesdropped on their conversation (heck, they were loud enough for everyone in the MKP to hear, anyway). They were raving about how fun it would probably be to work in CCP. Cute, I thought. But when the film began, my goodness, they still wouldn't stop talking. Sure, they would comment on the film, but it was just too loud for people to bear. I shot them looks a couple of times, and they were already shushed twice by other people, but they just wouldn't stop. Kids, mahiya naman kayo. Naka-uniform pa kayo, nakakahiya naman sa school ninyo.

Another season in Big Shift just ended. Well, technically. There are extended sessions for some of the classes for about 2 weeks. Too bad our class isn't one of them. So I really can't wait for the new season to start. I'm still considering also taking a basic jazz class, but I think I might have to wait for my next payout before I do so. Ballroom is still my priority.

My goodness, this rain is crazy. I heard that the current amount of rainfall (and still going) had already surpassed the amount of Ondoy's rainfall from 3 years ago. Stay safe, everyone!

tymeless

Ian had mentioned a couple of times in the past 2 weeks that he and Ate Helen were going to be in a competition this past Saturday, July 14th, and encouraged me to watch. Of course, I really wanted to watch, just to see what their competitions were like. Sort of like a taste of things to come? Hahaha.

Before Saturday, I decided to do a little research. I looked up what the events in the competition were, as well as the requirements of each one. As it turned out, the event was the DSCPI (Dance Sport Council of the Philippines, Inc) Midyear Ranking and Competition. Good thing that Olivia was also online while I was doing so. I had no idea what the other stuff meant, and she cleared it out for me, and even shared with me a bit of her firsthand experiences back when she used to compete (as she had stopped for about a year now). Then I also invited Iam to come with me to the event as well.

Ian had mentioned that their calltime was at 8 in the morning, and their event would be at 9. Considering that I haven't been to the Ultra for over a decade, I had allotted a lot of commuting time, and ended up arrived almost at the same time as their calltime. The gates weren't open yet, but there were already people milling about. Found Ian almost immediately when I had arrived, near the ringside entrance of the Philsports Arena (sort of where the participants were to go), so I went over to say hi. Ate Helen's car had just pulled up then, so I said hi to her as well. Even Bonbon arrived at almost the same time we did.

When they all went inside, I went back to waiting outside the gate. It took a little while, but by 9am, they finally opened the gates, so I secured my ticket and went inside the venue. The participants were still all over the floor, still warming up and practicing their routines.

Arknee and his sister (I forgot her name, sorry) joined me after securing their own tickets from Ian, and we watched all the Latin ballroom events. Iam had slept in, but she managed to catch up.

It was so fun watching all those different events that morning. Latin ballroom consisted of the chachacha, the rumba, the samba, the jive, and the paso doble. There were participants of all ages, ranging from the juvenile division, to the juniors, to the older couples. I think Ian and Ate Helen were competing in 2 events (Special Event 2F, and Special Event 2 4-dance, though I'm not sure about the second) in the semifinal round. Bon was also in a couple of them, I think. It was awesome watching all the couples on the floor, dancing their asses off in front of the judges that were scattered around the edge of the floor. I was fascinated with all the dancers, especially the kids. Even they were better dancers than I am, haha. And how do they manage to show off their routine without bumping into the other participants? They were all so amazing and I was so enamored by the pretty costumes and all the choreography. I could see all the basic steps (and "basic-advanced," as Ian had called it) that I had learned in class, and then some.

After the semifinal and final rounds of each of Latin ballroom events, it was time for the standard dance participants to warm up and rehearse on the floor. Iam and I took this as an opportunity to have lunch, so we left the venue for a while and crossed the street to Aysee's to have some sisig and papaitan. Oh yum. Plus it was good quality time to just sit and talk with my best friend after a long while. While we were in the middle of eating, Ian, Arknee and Arknee's sister (is her name Aya?) arrived to have lunch there as well. They finished up earlier than we did, as Iam and I took our time. When they were about to head back to the arena, Ian had asked me if I was ready to compete in October? Huwat? No! I'm not yet ready! Hahaha!

After lunch, Ge picked up Iam up, and I went back to the arena. Sat with Arknee and his sister again while the participants for the standards were still warming up. Bonbon and Ivan even joined us for a while. Arknee and his sister decided to go home for a bit, as the awards would still be much later in the day. As for myself, I had no idea how long I would be staying, but I still wanted to watch as much as I can.

I ended up staying until the very end. I watched all the standard dances (consisting of the waltz, tango, slow foxtrot, Viennese waltz, the quickstep). It was super different from the Latin, of course, from the costumes, to the actual dances, but both have their equally beautiful qualities. The grace and the exotic curves of the Latin dances. The simplicity and the elegant lines of the standards. It makes me want to learn all of them.

After the Latin dances, there was a short break for about 15 minutes before they began the actual program of the day's event, which included a parade of all the participants. I didn't want to leave my seat anymore because it was right smack in the middle, so I just stayed inside. Thank goodness I always bring a book with me, hahaha. At least I have company in one of Steve Harvey's publications.

There were a few more Latin and standard events after the program and parade, and Bonbon was in one of them. My goodness, he was that good a dancer. Iam had even commented during one of Bon's earlier events that even his eyebrows projected as far as his movements did. Sometime then, from across the venue, I saw that Arknee and his sister returned, sat next to Ian and Ate Helen while they watched the events, but Aya had to leave after a while.

Stuck around for the awards as well. Ian and Ate Helen had placed 4th in Special Event 2F. Bonbon and his partner Beth had placed 3rd in Special Event 2 4-Dance and 2nd in Special Event 2 5-Dance. By then I could see Ian and the others about to leave the venue, so I left my seat as well and decided to wait for them outside.

Ian had invited me to join them for dinner at Nipa Hut, so I did. There was Ian, Ate Helen, Arknee, and Ivan. Bonbon still had one more event ranking, but he just followed after that. Chit chat galore. I learned a lot from all their stories (and some gossip, hahaha). Got some encouraging words and advice from Ian, and a whole lot more advice and reality check from Ate Helen, plus some crazy quips from Bon. And here's a first. This might not be a big thing, but I had my first taste of beer, hahaha. Yes, I'm a social drinker, but I always prefer hard liquor and mixed drinks. I never really liked the taste of beer. But of course, I had no choice that night, hahaha.

All in all, it was one pretty good day. It was somewhat an educational field trip for me. Plus I spent it with good friends, both old and new. And who knows, if I keep this going, I might be one of those dancing out there on the floor someday.

tymeless

This has been a pretty lazy weekend, and I guess I'm just glad to actually have full weekends to myself lately. Last year, I never had much of my weekends due to rehearsals and stuff, and even until this summer, I never had a free Saturday because my classes were from Mondays until Saturdays.

My schedule had abruptly changed this 2nd season. During the summer, I was taking classes 6 days a week. When the new season began, it got reduced to 3 days a week. The schedule kept changing, and now, I'm only taking classes 2 days a week (one in the evening, and another day in the afternoon). Kinda disappointed about the new schedule, but I do understand why the studio had to do so.

Because I'm not tied up with any projects this season, I managed to watch all 5 sets of Virgin Labfest 8 during its first week. I preferred to watch during the 1st week because there would be a lot more people watching on its 2nd week, and of course, I always have a preferred place to sit inside the Batute Theater. Thanks to the Labfest's festival pass, I somewhat saved on money spending on tickets. What I'm just annoyed at during half the time I go there were the looks common friends give along with harmless teasing due to certain given circumstances. I mean, I don't mind, really. But my goodness, it's already over, so please get over it and move on. I know we already did. Plus there's another story about that, and maybe I'll write about it another time.

Anyway, I'm so glad I got to watch all the Labfest sets again. The last time I managed to do so was when I was still working as a stage manager for one of the plays, which was 4 years ago. After that, I never found the time and only got to watch selected sets. There were some plays there were pretty good, and some that weren't all that as I had expected. But that's the fun part of the Labfest. It's the risk of watching these plays, to see how well they'd fare with the local audience for the first time.

With that, I can't wait to do the same thing again for Cinemalaya next month.

I somewhat needed something to do last week after finding out that I won't be coming to Big Shift as often as I had expected, so I had invited Sam to join me for one of the Zumba classes this past Thursday. I had met Fiona, one of the Zumba instructors, a couple of Fridays ago, while Ian was cleaning up one of my steps before our respective classes, until we found out that both our classes were cancelled due to a last-minute scheduled event. Anyway, I offered Sam one of my gift certificates (as I still had a whole bunch of them) because she kept mentioning that she always wanted to try Zumba.

Fiona's class was pretty fun. It was fast-paced, and I haven't had any cardio workout since I stopped going to that aerodance/belly dancing class in CCP on Saturday mornings was back in early April. Because Zumba also included a bunch of Latin dances, I was familiar with most of them, yet I had to make an extra effort to keep up with the pacing. But it was still super fun, nonetheless. Plus Fiona seemed amused with how I add a little extra hip movement to some of her moves that were similar to ballroom, hahaha.

I can't wait to go back to class again, though. Ian had now moved me from the rumba to the cha cha cha, and he was right about certain things. Once you learn the basics of the rumba, doing the other Latin dances wouldn't be so hard because the rumba has the foundation of all footwork and hip movements.

While I was checking my gift certificates the other day, and checked my class schedule, I realized that I still had enough gift certificates to last me until the end of this season if schedules will stay the same, haha. I guess I don't have to renew my class passport until next season. Maybe that's why Ian's classes got reduced, because I won't be paying for any of his classes until August. Oh well.

One more thing. Ian had mentioned that he wants me to compete soon. Probably October at the soonest, but the one in March will be a sure thing. My oh my. I've looked up dancesport events online, and I found out that in these competitions, couples have to perform at least 3 dances (the most common for Latin are the chachacha, the rumba and the jive). I have to master all these in at least 3 months? Hope I can do this.

Speaking of dancesport, I'll be watching the DSCPI (Dance Sport Council of the Philippines, Inc.) Midyear Ranking event this coming Saturday. Ian and Ate Helen are in it, and it would be a good opportunity to see what these competitions are like.