wonderful saturday with darling

today i spent the whole day with darling. :)


it has really been quite a while since we spent quality time together.


first, lunch at a jap restaurant at shaw centre... forgot the name of the restaurant, cos i dun think i will go there again... nothing fantastic. :p

unagi sushi roll. this is actually quite nice, because of the super large piece of unagi on the sushi.

deep fried salmon belly. so so only. the one at MOF is nicer.

wah this one is super average. will nv order this again. the pork cutlet is seriously not nice. darling commented that 我吃到很辛苦. hahaha.

darling's salmon teriyaki don. the salmon portion is very genorous!




after lunch we watched REAL STEEL at lido IMAX!!! our first time watching at IMAX! :)

awesome movie! real steel is the REAL DEAL!!! hugh jackman din disappoint, but i like the little boy the most. very handsome and he is sooooo natural. and he can dance too! hahaha.


and then we went back to my house and had dinner. after that we went to PRIVE bakery cafe at keppel bay! we found this place on a foodie blog called ladyironchef, so we decided to go check it out. prior to this i din even noe such a place existed. this place is a real gem!!! and it is very near vivo! it is just a 5 min car journey! and we only go there for dessert and chill out... nothing special actually... sorry to mislead you guys on facebook. hahahahahaha.


stay tuned for photo overdose~

the happy couple very satisfied with our table at PRIVE bakery cafe.

darling enjoying her hot chocolate

strawberry trifi. the strawberries are super fresh! and they taste sweet! not sour at all!

this cupcake is amazingly delicious... matcha red bean flavour~

mango charlotte. dun ask me why isit named this way. notice the photo is a bit blurry? probably because the charlotte from nuscd looks a bit blur at times...

my macadamia flavoured coffee!

i love this photo! super mysterious~

keppel bridge is falling down~

我们背对背拥抱~ (lin junjie's song)

superwoman!

planking at keppel bay. hahahaha.

emo-ing... (when should i propose? when will we get our flat? when will i promote to principal?)

雨还在下~ (when will he propose? when will we get our flat? when can i become tai tai?)


ok we shall grow white wings (白色翅膀) and laugh at the sea (沧海一声笑), and eat POPCORN happily. 

last day of sch for graduating students

so today is the last day of sch for my batch of sec 4 students, and then they will go for their study break, before coming back for their first o level paper, which is on 24th october, which also happens to be my 5th year anniversary with darling, and i have to do invigilation on that eventful day, damn sadded... :'(


there is a special assembly for them and the teachers are invited to attend the assembly with them. i was super busy with admin work, which includes preparation of next year's teaching resources, submitting budget for next year's arts prgramme, and preparing a report on the arts scene in my workplace... so when the assembly has ended and everyone went down to the canteen to have a reception and take photos, i din even go down to join them...


but students still came to the staffroom and ask me to take photos with them. so sweet of them. got one even more kua zhang, saw me eating lunch at the coffee shop with my colleagues, and wants to take photo with me at the coffee shop. hahahahaha.


these are the very few photos, the rest of the photos my students still haven upload on facebook. :p

the horny student who reminds me of hw. hahahaha.

got stalked at coffee shop. hahahahaha.


all the best to my lovely students!!! study hard!!! and please get A1 for chemistry!!!

comparison~

i always arch my body to the side when taking photo with darling. hahahaha.


and this one is amazing:

the yellow, pink and blue couples are in the same position!!! the formation is almost similar isnt it?! scary~

sunday post

i officially declare that i am suffering from efflorescence withdrawal symptoms!


the bravo delta academy opening item song keeps playing in my earphones. i want to choreograph a wushu and chinese dance routine for my workplace's cny concert next year, using that song! 


here are more photos~

can't see the "ANGER MANAGEMENT" words clearly on the photo. hahahahaha.

i really love the color combi of this item! thank you xue hong for asking me to dance in your item! i love the pineapple tart costume and the yellow color light!

(actually pink color also not bad, hahahahahaha.)

i so fat until i can block huizhi. yay! wait, or isit huizhi din come for this light plotting? 

Rhythm of Life VI - Efflorescence

the wedding photoshoot preview:

and many thanks to the supporters (pe classmate, colleagues, students and my parents):

i like to share this quote from xiaoyun:

"我们虽然不是顶尖的舞蹈员，但是我们对舞蹈的热忱绝对不会输给别人。"

and her personal thoughts:
 

"Hearing this phrase again is proof of what I always believe in. It carries a lot and deep meaning inside. Being a good dancer is not about technique only. It is the way you hold yourself as a dancer, the things you do and the words you said, it is not only about one man show but a troupe's effort. There are more things and details to look into other than the dance itself."

i totally agree with her and next time if i ever organise school productions again i will always come back to this blog post and read what she said to guide myself to be a better person. i will firmly abide by her principles. :)

from this performance i saw the good, the bad and the ugly.

the good:
- helping the choreographer to carry drums from place to place and finding venues for the choreographer
- helping the choreographers to do headgear and solve the problems the choreographers have
- helping fellow dancer when she has a headache, giving her panadol, and massage her head
- helping fellow dancer do acupuncture (i must admit the courage of both the sinseh and that fellow dancer, hahahahahaha)
- responsible dancers who show professional attitude and spirit

the bad and the ugly:
- maybe someone was too busy taking care of the welfare of the bravo delta academy guys, or too busy flirting with them, she nv prepare sponges for the own troupe's guys make-up kit.

let me re-enact the scene:

myself: how come dun have the sponges?

blurry rain: ohhhhhh... if i have the time i buy tomorrow, if i nv buy can you all use tissue paper??!!

myself (in a very firm teacher-to-student tone): No. Sponges.

blurry rain: ok ok i go find for you... [and she disappeared from my sight]


- fellow dancer got a terrible headache, so the choreographer went to approach someone from the exco to ask if got panadol, and the someone who was still eating ask back the choreographer to find panadol for the dancer, and continued eating. 


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ok lah i agree that the bravo delta academy pple are invited guests to our country and we should treat them with utmost hospitality and make them feel at home so they can perform to their maximum potential, so the audience feel happy, the 老师s feel happy and everyone also happy.


so besides being their baby sitter and tour guide, the exco pple also have to absorb arrows from DLS because she confirm wants the best treatment for them. so with all these, together with the very siong work involved in organising a production, deal with nonsense from irresponsible dancers, some small details may be missed out. 


but since we are at this leadership position, it is our responsibility to ensure that everything works well, no nonsense from irresponsible dancers, everybody's welfare is taken care of, and everyone is happy. 


anyway, i can say that the perform was a success (at least from the audience point of view), so it is time to move on to the next performance, good things we keep, things to improve on we improve!


and i want to add a personal thought, regarding the yellow river item. WAH LAO THAT TALL BEIJING GUY WITH SUCH LONG LEGS STILL RUN SO SLOW CAUSE ME TO RUN SLOW ALSO AND CAUSE A CLUSTER F**K ON STAGE AND I HAVE TO SQUEEZE THROUGH EVERYBODY TO GET TO MY POSITION. si bei sian. :(


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oh yah i shamelessly kapoh a bucket of garrett popcorn, which was a gift from jingwen, grace and xuefen for the alumni dancers. 


popcorn i eat lah, their words of encouragement (written on the garrett popcorn SERVIETTE which has the words Love is messy) i shall share with you all here:

gorgeous grace:

so envious that all of you are still dancing! here's our little 'contribution' to the performance since never dance or help out. 
加油 (literally with fatty popcorn)! enjoy your precious time on stage! and dance your hearts out!

xuefen:

dearest dancers, it's great to see all of you again! can't wait to see your SHINE on stage~ especially the alumni item~ miss dancing with all of you and backstage times. glad that you are still dancing~ 加油! :)

jingwen (the screw-you-up-left-right-centre dance ic which YY claims):

dear dancers... yes it's indeed a messy love affair... we would love to be on stage with you guys... but our love doesn't defy all other adversities and so we aren't able to make it up there with you all. still, we share our love by supporting you guys from below the stage and hope you all replenish energy with our full of love pop corn. break a leg! and shine on stage!

five years of dancing with nuscd

nuscd celebrates its 35th year anniversary by inviting bravo delta academy dancers to singapore to perform together with us. hence the chinese name of the performance is called 北花新放. beijing flower bloom in singapore. it seems that the main focus is on the beijing pple (as you can see from the name itself) and it can also be tied in to the ever-existent foreign talent issue in singapore. i wonder whether anybody deciphered the hidden meaning or am i just too sensitive? :p


anyway i also realised it is my 5th year of dancing with nuscd! i dun have the ability to walk down 35 years with nuscd since i am at a young age of 28, but at least walk down 5 years also not bad already right? 

2007, my first performance experience with the troupe. was pulled in by xue hong into the troupe and i stepped into the studio feeling very lost, wondering what befalls me. oh yah and i remember zhimin was my partner.

psyche 2008 was a defining moment for me. i realised i can act on stage, with the right kind of expressions, especially when looking pissed or fierce. hence xue hong handed me the angry couple role and poor jingwen has to bear my brunt. but because of that item i got to know her better and although i know darling may be unhappy to hear this, but i vote her as my best partner throughout this 5 years with the best chemistry. but when i am on stage i will be too engrossed in my role and get too excited, and hence i slapped my fav xinyi without even realising it while on stage until the dancers scolded me after the item. oops~


dr08 was also a great moment, two of my most important pple in ke7, darling and hw, also jumped into the bandwagon. to be honest i also dunno how darling jumped into the bandwagon, but i definitely know that i am the one who pulled hw in, just like how xue hong pulled me in. i am glad to see hw enjoying himself, and i am happy to see him still performing for nuscd after that. so i suppose xue hong is also happy to pull me in! am i right, xue hong? :p

retrospect 2009 was ok ok only. din really put much effort in it. because to me the best emcc is still psyche 08. haha. 


but dr09 was really enjoyable. first time dancing shui xiu and the movements are those that i really like. alot of jumping, alot of force and energy in the movements, and of course the beautiful shui xiu, the 柔中带刚... simply splendid. and i also get to know the amazing wang da who is still so flexible and so good... omg!!! haiz if hw joined this item then it is the first time we have full strength of guys! wat a waste... :(

motion in stillness 2010 was not bad, definitely better than retrospect but i still think psyche is the best. hahaha. the highlight of this performance is dancing a taiji item choreographed by bin ge ge, to the avatar soundtrack, which is really cool! the only flaw in this item is the costume is gan phua ugly... another moment of this performance worth remembering is ms yuen asking me, hw and laval to be her 3 snowmen to release the pink snowflakes during her item. the most hilarious is hw jerk the string and the whole string came off with the box of snowflakes still at the flybar remaining intact. and hw was cursing and swearing (in the lowest possible volume) and i was trying my best not to LOL literally. 

i joined cold night 2011 at the very last min. nothing much to say, except that got two very pro lead dancers, xiaofei and i dunno that guy's name. have seen xiaofei dance before in previous productions so it is quite awesome to dance together with her in the same production although i did not dance in any scene with her. haha.


so throughout this 5 years, things have changed, members have left, new members come in... but to me the most significant change is the strong presence of the dance ic. 


in psyche 08, i remembered the dance ic for winter solstice is jingwen. she keep forcing xue hong to finish the choreo (quoted from xue hong hahahahaha), and she is those type that if u screw up any step or got any wrinkle in the costume she will screw you left right centre. but despite being fierce she is still very nice cos i remembered she used a piece of paper and draw out the formations for me and give me helping words so that i can remember the steps better. super touched~


in dr08 the dance ic for my qing guys item is siaoyan who is super on the ball even though she is alumni and she controlled all the dancers very well and keep giving us reminders. although she is quite naggy lah but she is not irritating so still ok, but overall i still like her as the dance ic! hahahaha. 

of course who can forget gorgeous grace tiang, who is the chu lu dance ic. she takes care of every single detail, and you cant afford to screw up the item because you cant bear to disappoint gorgeous grace, and it is also because of her the group dynamics of this item is very strong. :)

these are my dance ic hence i can remember very well. sorry if i forgot my other dance ic because my memory is failing me. and i am also sure that there are other very good dance ics, for example huishi. i remembered after a full run in the dance studio, she gathered all the dancers in her item and gave a super passionate speech with quite alot of gan-ning also. i was like... WOW!!! and she is already quite tall and some more she grab a chair and stand on top of the chair and gan all the dancers and all the dancers are all looking up at her. 


in my honest opinion, a good dance ic should have these "terms of reference"
- work closely with the choreographer to ensure that the item reaches the best performance standard
- 雕 the dancers' movements when choreographer is not around, making sure all the dancers achieve the same 感觉 
- make sure all costumes, headgear, accessories etc etc are ready and well prepared
- take care of your dancers' welfare! make sure they eat already, make sure they are not sick, make sure they are all feeling good and ready to dance full out!
- account for your dancers!!! make sure they are not missing!!! make sure they come for every practise and they appear on stage for tech run, full run and the actual performance!


ok i gettiing very 激动. hahahaha. maybe there are more "terms of reference" but i guess all that i just mentioned are the most important ones... jia you dance ic!!! may you be the next jingwen, siaoyan and grace tiang! hahahaha.

artsrepublic.sg - 百花齐放

written by 颖坪:

T.G.I.F! 是的, 今天又到了每周最令人期待的日子. 为了迎接周末的来临, 我们今天选择回到大学校园去! 去做啥呢? 去支持学弟学妹们!



傍晚时分, 我们来到了国大艺术中心(NUS University Cultural Centre)的舞蹈室. 轻推开舞蹈室的大门, 只见国大华族舞蹈团(NUS Chinese Dance)的舞蹈员们正忙着拉筋和准备彩排的服装和道具。


在十月八日晚上, 国大华族舞蹈团将在国大艺术中心有一场演出, 名为《舞韵风情六 – 北花新放》。


经过一番安排, 七位来自北京舞蹈学院的学生将参与这一次的演出, 而两个舞团也将会一起合作演出气势澎湃的《黄河》- 当晚的压轴表演。


丁红老师(指导老师/艺术总监) 希望透过和北京舞蹈学院的合作与交流激荡出不同的火花, 让学生们对华族舞蹈的诠释方式有更深一层的认识, 从而提升舞技和自信心。


和许多校外的舞蹈团体相比, 身为业余的国大华族舞蹈团的水准其实并不逊色. 在指导老师(周雷老师)的严格要求下, 团员们在每个星期都必须进行定期的基础和技术训练。


禀持着传承的精神, 许多团员们在毕业后并没有放弃舞蹈, 反而常常回到校园和学弟学妹们一起排练并参与表演. 有些学长甚至在这一次的演出参与了编舞的部分。


无论是民族舞还是古典舞, 华族舞蹈在形态, 神韵, 力度和律动都有它自成一格的美学特色。


民族舞反映了不同民族不同的民风、民俗、生活方式、地理气候以及历史背景; 古典舞则是以民族为主体，以戏曲、武术为基础，吸收借鉴芭蕾舞等外来艺术的有益部分，使其成为具有民族性、时代性的舞种。


曾经听过这样一个关于古典舞的口诀: “身要拧倾而动，臂要转肘而行，步要擓绞而走，翻转留身而做。” 是不是很传神呢?


对个人而言, 古典舞所呈现的姿态和造型之美是在其他舞种所无法感受到的。


时隔多年后, 今天再次回到国大艺术中心就有如当年在这里参与演出和幕后制作一样, 心情依然是兴奋和充满期待的。


从我还是大学生的年代到如今已踏入社会多年, 学生团体的表演始终面临着票房的难题。或许近这几年已有进步的现象, 但学生团体的表演始终还是没有太大的曝光率。 学生们经过长时间的排练, 其实也不过是期望能够在演出中获得观众的掌声和认可。可是却常常因为经费不足而无法在校外大力宣传, 一般大众也因此无法获知表演的讯息。所以前来观赏的观众们大部分还是校内的学生, 老师, 家人和身边的朋友们。


离开国大的时候已接近晚上十一点。


临走之前听见一位小朋友前来问丁老师, 她是否可以先行离开因为得准备隔天的考试。


这么用心又认真的小朋友, 很值得我们去支持吧?

tuesday post

photos were taken yesterday during our yellow river practise with the bravo delta academy dancers!

wah lao eh all different timing one. si bei jia lat. 

hands up~

everybody put your hands up~




a quote from yours truly to end this post:


"我们虽然不是专业的舞蹈员，但是我们必须有专业的精神和态度。"


ai seh! steady right? ok i shall be professional by looking at the video clips and remember the steps so that i wun forget them again... :(

first full run with bravo delta academy

reached ucc at 430 pm, and i caught a glimpse of the bravo delta academy dancers. there are 4 guys and 3 girls. all 7 of them are good looking and their technique is amazing!!! those who are going to watch, you will be treated to a good show! those who haven buy tickets to watch, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??!!


the first item that i danced was xue hong's item. because it is the first item and i haven really warm up yet, so i forgot some movements and i forgot to go down all the way again! sorry xue hong... and today's chemistry with ms yuen was totally horrible... she wrote the calligraphy in the wrong direction... zzzzzz... wed really must practise hard and must not disappoint xue hong. btw i like the costumes! i look like pineapple tart, nzj look like strawberry pudding, ang hw look like pandan cake and luohao look like... blue marshallow. and the girls look like little nyonya.


second item was ok, actually i quite enjoy doing this item because i can act cute and i can shout "HOAY!!!" and i can just smile like a lunatic.  but it still looks a bit messy. :p

third item was also ok, and of course it is the most shag item. i screwed up the rolling to the front part and i can feel my legs hitting alot of pple. this item i really put in all my effort because dance together with the bravo delta academy dancers, even though they are professional dancers and i am just an amateur, there is still a desire burning inside me to compete with them and outshine them. i know i can't win them in terms of technique but i still can draw with them in terms of stage presence. huifang even said that we jump higher when we are dancing with them. hahahaha.