The rainbow after the rain

In September 2013, I signed up for the Salsa Dance Club not knowing what I was getting myself into. I had no idea what I was even doing there; I didn't know anybody, and just decided to go along with what was about to come. Then I auditioned to be a part of the UW Salsa Dance Team.

The night I found out I passed the audition, and was going to be part of the team, I freaked out big time, and smiled so widely that my cheeks hurt.

I thanked God profusely.

The night I found out I was elected to be a dance instructor for the coming school year, I felt so overwhelmed that I couldn't stop crying from joy.

I thanked God profusely.

Because of dance I have been able to meet some of the most amazing people who share the same passion as I do, and I cannot thank God enough for that. He has blessed me beyond measures, and has given me more than what I asked for. My dance family makes me happy; they make my days a lot brighter, and give me strength to continue pursuing my lifelong dream and passion.

I continue to thank God profusely.

Danspirations

I obviously like a bunch of dance videos on Youtube since I search for inspiration every so often, but there are only a select few videos that I always find myself coming back to because they're just so darned amazing. They're all by Ellen Kim, Kyle Hanagami, and Aye Hasegawa, who are my all-time favorite dancers; I also attended a workshop taught by Aye, and it was so much fun! Now, if only I can learn from Ellen and Kyle...............

I have no words for this video. I can't. No. This is my absolute favorite piece from Ellen, or from my other favorite dancers really; I really like the choreography, videography, and the fact that she always hits with such power, which is one of the main reasons why I like Ellen so much, but I truly love the concept, the "Am I perfect now?" subtext always brings me chills for some reason. Gah, I don't even know what else to say, you should watch it!

This video comes in a close second to "You'll Find a Way" because I can honestly feel the emotions that Kyle and Gracie showed through the dance. I've always loved the fact that Kyle is such a versatile dancer, and he always manages to not dance to the music, but instead, he becomes one with it while he moves........do you get what I mean? He's just amazing; this video actually got me hooked to the song, so watch it!

Aye's choreography in this video doesn't particularly spark me the way the other two videos did, but I simply love how her hits are so clean! Like how. How. Going to her workshop and learning from her was just a wonderful experience. I really don't have anything else to say. No. I'm having a bad day communicating today......so just watch the video!

If for whatever reason you'd like to see the playlist of all of my favorite dance videos, then click here.

I'll see you in the next post!

Love,
Jennifer

Trying out some stunts

"All it takes is a second and your whole life can get turned upside down." —Jodi Picoult

Boy, is that right O____O

My two best guy friends Eugene (the one in the black shirt) and Randy (the one in the gray shirt), and I had dance practice yesterday where we decided to be daredevils and attempt a few stunts. Eugene became the main base, because he was the biggest and strongest out of the three of us, while Randy and I became the "flyers" or whatever it is we were supposed to be called.

We were no strangers to stunts, but we tried some seriously crazy, Jackass-worthy stuff yesterday that really scared the wits out of Randy and me. Randy is a b-boy, so it's safe to say that he's become great friends with the floor, if you get what I mean; I am used to being lifted and spun around like a rag doll for dance (and even outside of dance); Eugene has some experience in lifting and executing other stunts. But some of the tricks we did yesterday were really............scary, for a lack of a better word. I got a shoe to the face, Eugene accidentally slammed his knees to the floor, and Randy became even better friends with the floor.

I'll stop talking for now and let you see the videos we recorded yesterday. Warning: please don't try this at home if you've got no experience in stunts or dance or whatever. I don't want to be held accountable if you get injured.

When doing stunts, or simply dancing with a partner/team, it's important to place your full trust in them lest you want to fail, or in my and Randy's case yesterday, fall on our heads. Knowing that Eugene would definitely catch us on time and know when and how to stop immediately if something went wrong gave me some sort of comfort, but I was still quite scared for the most part. Randy even told me that he was scared for me :p but thankfully, nothing too bad happened to us.

I want to try that backflip again because I didn't manage to land properly; I just want to get it right! Oh, please remember to use a mat or any soft, cushion-y material when attempting stunts or tricks—safety first.

Well, I'll see you in the next post!

Love,
Jennifer