Oy Friday was so crazy.
I spent the entire day worrying. First I woke up at almost 11, which was way later than I wanted to get up. Then I see that work called me. I was already such a mess about getting up so late and other worries that were already creeping in that I didn't even listen to the voicemail they left, let alone call them back. I thought all morning and afternoon about all the money I was going to spend on both classes and how uncomfortable it was making me. Luckily shortly before I left I checked the website and saw that 2 classes would be $105 as opposed to the $120 I thought it was. I became much more excited after that. Then L told me she wasn't feeling well and wasn't sure if she was going to make it. I was just like "What??" I was only doing Come Back Home because she wanted to do it! She has to come! She said she was going to rest and would get back to me later on.
Well, it was almost 4 and I still hadn't heard from her, and if I wanted to make it to the train station on time (I did) I had to leave to pick up M at 4:00. After texting and calling L she said she still wasn't feeling well enough to go, so I had to run out the door and pray I wouldn't get stuck in early rush hour traffic to get M. Then I thought I didn't lock the door, so we had to come all the way back home and then go back down to the station. Thankfully we were more than on time. Thankfully, too, we made it to the studio on time, though I missed some of the warm-ups because I and a few others had to deal with payment. But I would be going through another round of warm-ups at 8, which didn't even cross my mind until then :x Two sets of warm-ups? TWO sets of a million crunches? I really AM going to die!
Shout It Out is crazy. Absolutely crazy. We learned from 0:58 to 1:30. I felt like I wasn't really doing anything coherent for the most part. We didn't learn much because MJ had to continuously go over everything. I think a lot of the people in my class are also taking it on Wednesdays, so they'll get double the practice. But even still it seemed like this was tough for them too. I don't really have much else to say because I had trouble with all of it, except "party is so cool, party is so cool, baby/take it to the moon, take it to the moon, baby".Well I did say I've been wanting a challenge. I'm definitely going to have to practice at home.
8:00 comes, bringing Come Back Home and a lot more people. It was already way too hot in that studio. But anyway, we learned from 0:37 to 1:44. I was hoping this one would be a bit easier, but oh was I wrong. Well, in the beginning anyway. 0:37 to 0:46, "eareul wihan geora haetdeon neoui mal/geojitmalcheoreom chagapge doraseotdeon/neoneun wae, neoneun wae you’’re gone away" was crazy. Again, I felt like I wasn't even doing anything, just doing flailing arm movements. The rest of it was fine. After I realized that the rest of it was fine I started to enjoy it more. But I will definitely be practicing this one too.
I still can't believe I'm taking two classes this month. I really can't believe that after two hours in that hot and sweaty studio I wanted to keep going. Well, that's good right? That means I won't be knocked down that easily. I can't wait to start practicing, but at that point I was just ready to go home, shower, eat, and go to bed.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Trying to Get Myself Into Gear
Hey guys!
So I'm starting to get more excited about dance again. For a while now I haven't been too into it, no matter how much I try to trick myself into thinking I am. As much as I want to do it, I haven't been very excited or had much of a want to get up and dance. But a little over a week ago I talked with L and S and told them about my ideas. They both seem to like what I've got going on, and they've been very supportive and have even offered their own ideas.
So since I had off on Wednesday I decided to dance. I was going to do some on Tuesday as well, but I had to take care of a big issue and I wasn't finished with it until later than I had first thought. So on Wednesday I put on my black pants I always work out in and one of my new work out shirts and headed into the basement to practice. I wanted to do some of the dances I had really been wanting to do for a while (well I wanted to do ALL of them, but I didn't want to confuse myself).
I first started out with one of my favorite KPOP songs and dances, f(x)'s NU ABO. I just worked on the chorus, which is awesome. But whoa, was I confused. I've watched performances of this MANY times to try to understand the dance before I attempted it, and I know that's no substitute for actually doing the moves, but I was hoping it would have gone smoother than it had. For the first half I was okay with the arm movements, but the legs messed me up a lot. On "molla molla ajig naneun molla", on "molla molla" they step first with their left feet, but I kept wanting to step with my right. Then I'd realize I messed up and would then mess up the arms. It took a while to sort that out, and I still don't think I have it exactly just yet. The part where they step to the right and lift their shirts is a lot of fun, especially when I'm coordinated enough to actually grab the bottom of my shirt at the right time. The rest of the first half, "gibon gibon saranggongshig/saramdeure ibyeolgongshig" is easy, just hip hits and wiggles and bringing your arms around slowly from your right side to your left side. Not a lot confusing there.
The second half, though, really whipped me. On most of the second half, "naneun neomu dalla/nae mamdaero nae ddeutdaero/choha choha NU ABO" I kept messing up the arms and the legs. For both halves I tried practicing the arms first, then the legs, and then putting it all together, but I kept having trouble with the second half. After the shirt lift on "naneun neomu dalla" I would just lose it. The last shirt lift, on "nae ddeutdaero", should be relatively easy since each movement is on each syllable, but I'm still having trouble coordinating the arms and legs. Your hand comes up near your chest, then it goes down to the hem of your shirt. When your hand goes down, your right leg goes out. I kept putting it when I brought my hand up. Then on "choha choha" they step side to side. I got the arms fine, but with my weight already on my left leg from stepping out on my right, I had to do a quick weight shift so I could step out to my left on "choha". It doesn't feel right, and I don't think I'm shifting my weight properly. Lastly was "NU ABO". I have tried the arms for that part about a year ago and epically failed. I just could not get it. I could see what was happening, but it just would not click. I had to constantly repeat that part, but after a while I finally got it and I now do it all the time. It's so much fun! Lastly I went through all the "Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Nananana Na Na Na Na Na Na Na" parts. I actually had all of that down just from watching the performances a bunch of times. The only part I had a little bit of trouble with was the "putting on makeup" move. Once they face more to the left I couldn't figure out how they bring their arms around their heads, but now that I was actually taking the time to study this dance I figured it out quickly and it was no big deal.
After about a half hour I wanted to move onto something else. I thought about doing "Chu" but that's just another difficult f(x) dance I wasn't ready to attempt at that exact moment, so I chose CL's The Baddest Female. I'm not really sure why I chose this one, since I pretty much already know the chorus, and that's all I wanted to do that day. But I went over it anyway, deciding to go about it properly. I just did the "nan nappeun gijibae nanan nappeun gijibae nan nappeun gijibae/where all my bad girls at?" parts through the "eonniya(woh! ) eonni eonni eonni hey" parts. I've watched the practice video and st.319's dance cover and danced it in the mornings while getting ready for work so many times that I already had this down. I just wanted to make sure I was doing everything right and that I wasn't missing anything.
I next moved to UKISS's Stop Girl. I don't care for their earlier dances much, but lately they've been doing cooler stuff, and I've still been listening to their songs a lot lately. I've read a lot of comments from people attempting this dance having a hard time, saying they don't know how they'll ever learn it. I didn't want to be one of those people. I know it's tough, but it'll be a challenge, and as long as I feel like I'm making progress, it'll be okay, right? Well, this one is pretty tough. I spent more time doing the arms and legs separately than together. I don't feel like I had as much trouble as I did with NU ABO, however. Stop Girl came a little easier for me. I think it's just going to take a lot of practice. There's a lot of jumping out, jumping in, jumping back out, along with complex arm movements. Separately, I'm okay. Together, I'm a mess. I'll just have to keep working on it. But I was having so much fun dancing to it that that won't be hard!
Once I wanted to stop Stop Girl, I went back to NU ABO. I really wanted to feel comfortable with it since it's a dance I've really been wanting to learn for a long time. I find it's good to step away from something for a while if it's giving you a hard time, because for me once I get back to it I start to get it. I am going to keep living by this because just that happened on Wednesday. I started NU ABO again and it went smoother. Everything was starting to click, and even if I'm still having some trouble on "nae ddeutdaero" I still felt better about it than I had when I started. I was definitely enjoying myself and I was really happy that I was starting to get it.
So on Friday, I Love Dance will be starting BoA's Shout It Out and 2NE1's Come Back Home. I still have no idea which I want to do. I was REALLY hoping they would be teaching SNSD's Mr. Mr. this month, but they're not doing it yet. But I think I was so into learning that one there that even though I don't know Shout It Out or Come Back Home, I wanted to pick one anyway. I was leaning toward Shout It Out because it's BoA and she's a legend. But L wants to do Come Back Home. I'm not a fan of 2NE1's dances, like at all, so I wasn't sure if I really wanted to do this one. So I had called L since I still didn't know what to do, and she still really wanted to do Come Back Home, and she even got M to come with us. So I did what anyone who has trouble deciding between two things does: I chose to go to both.
I will hopefully be posting about the classes a little later. This one gigantic post tired me out (I apologize for it being so long btw D: ).
So I'm starting to get more excited about dance again. For a while now I haven't been too into it, no matter how much I try to trick myself into thinking I am. As much as I want to do it, I haven't been very excited or had much of a want to get up and dance. But a little over a week ago I talked with L and S and told them about my ideas. They both seem to like what I've got going on, and they've been very supportive and have even offered their own ideas.
So since I had off on Wednesday I decided to dance. I was going to do some on Tuesday as well, but I had to take care of a big issue and I wasn't finished with it until later than I had first thought. So on Wednesday I put on my black pants I always work out in and one of my new work out shirts and headed into the basement to practice. I wanted to do some of the dances I had really been wanting to do for a while (well I wanted to do ALL of them, but I didn't want to confuse myself).
I first started out with one of my favorite KPOP songs and dances, f(x)'s NU ABO. I just worked on the chorus, which is awesome. But whoa, was I confused. I've watched performances of this MANY times to try to understand the dance before I attempted it, and I know that's no substitute for actually doing the moves, but I was hoping it would have gone smoother than it had. For the first half I was okay with the arm movements, but the legs messed me up a lot. On "molla molla ajig naneun molla", on "molla molla" they step first with their left feet, but I kept wanting to step with my right. Then I'd realize I messed up and would then mess up the arms. It took a while to sort that out, and I still don't think I have it exactly just yet. The part where they step to the right and lift their shirts is a lot of fun, especially when I'm coordinated enough to actually grab the bottom of my shirt at the right time. The rest of the first half, "gibon gibon saranggongshig/saramdeure ibyeolgongshig" is easy, just hip hits and wiggles and bringing your arms around slowly from your right side to your left side. Not a lot confusing there.
The second half, though, really whipped me. On most of the second half, "naneun neomu dalla/nae mamdaero nae ddeutdaero/choha choha NU ABO" I kept messing up the arms and the legs. For both halves I tried practicing the arms first, then the legs, and then putting it all together, but I kept having trouble with the second half. After the shirt lift on "naneun neomu dalla" I would just lose it. The last shirt lift, on "nae ddeutdaero", should be relatively easy since each movement is on each syllable, but I'm still having trouble coordinating the arms and legs. Your hand comes up near your chest, then it goes down to the hem of your shirt. When your hand goes down, your right leg goes out. I kept putting it when I brought my hand up. Then on "choha choha" they step side to side. I got the arms fine, but with my weight already on my left leg from stepping out on my right, I had to do a quick weight shift so I could step out to my left on "choha". It doesn't feel right, and I don't think I'm shifting my weight properly. Lastly was "NU ABO". I have tried the arms for that part about a year ago and epically failed. I just could not get it. I could see what was happening, but it just would not click. I had to constantly repeat that part, but after a while I finally got it and I now do it all the time. It's so much fun! Lastly I went through all the "Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Nananana Na Na Na Na Na Na Na" parts. I actually had all of that down just from watching the performances a bunch of times. The only part I had a little bit of trouble with was the "putting on makeup" move. Once they face more to the left I couldn't figure out how they bring their arms around their heads, but now that I was actually taking the time to study this dance I figured it out quickly and it was no big deal.
After about a half hour I wanted to move onto something else. I thought about doing "Chu" but that's just another difficult f(x) dance I wasn't ready to attempt at that exact moment, so I chose CL's The Baddest Female. I'm not really sure why I chose this one, since I pretty much already know the chorus, and that's all I wanted to do that day. But I went over it anyway, deciding to go about it properly. I just did the "nan nappeun gijibae nanan nappeun gijibae nan nappeun gijibae/where all my bad girls at?" parts through the "eonniya(woh! ) eonni eonni eonni hey" parts. I've watched the practice video and st.319's dance cover and danced it in the mornings while getting ready for work so many times that I already had this down. I just wanted to make sure I was doing everything right and that I wasn't missing anything.
I next moved to UKISS's Stop Girl. I don't care for their earlier dances much, but lately they've been doing cooler stuff, and I've still been listening to their songs a lot lately. I've read a lot of comments from people attempting this dance having a hard time, saying they don't know how they'll ever learn it. I didn't want to be one of those people. I know it's tough, but it'll be a challenge, and as long as I feel like I'm making progress, it'll be okay, right? Well, this one is pretty tough. I spent more time doing the arms and legs separately than together. I don't feel like I had as much trouble as I did with NU ABO, however. Stop Girl came a little easier for me. I think it's just going to take a lot of practice. There's a lot of jumping out, jumping in, jumping back out, along with complex arm movements. Separately, I'm okay. Together, I'm a mess. I'll just have to keep working on it. But I was having so much fun dancing to it that that won't be hard!
Once I wanted to stop Stop Girl, I went back to NU ABO. I really wanted to feel comfortable with it since it's a dance I've really been wanting to learn for a long time. I find it's good to step away from something for a while if it's giving you a hard time, because for me once I get back to it I start to get it. I am going to keep living by this because just that happened on Wednesday. I started NU ABO again and it went smoother. Everything was starting to click, and even if I'm still having some trouble on "nae ddeutdaero" I still felt better about it than I had when I started. I was definitely enjoying myself and I was really happy that I was starting to get it.
So on Friday, I Love Dance will be starting BoA's Shout It Out and 2NE1's Come Back Home. I still have no idea which I want to do. I was REALLY hoping they would be teaching SNSD's Mr. Mr. this month, but they're not doing it yet. But I think I was so into learning that one there that even though I don't know Shout It Out or Come Back Home, I wanted to pick one anyway. I was leaning toward Shout It Out because it's BoA and she's a legend. But L wants to do Come Back Home. I'm not a fan of 2NE1's dances, like at all, so I wasn't sure if I really wanted to do this one. So I had called L since I still didn't know what to do, and she still really wanted to do Come Back Home, and she even got M to come with us. So I did what anyone who has trouble deciding between two things does: I chose to go to both.
I will hopefully be posting about the classes a little later. This one gigantic post tired me out (I apologize for it being so long btw D: ).
Sunday, March 16, 2014
The Olympics Are Screwing Me Up! + My Current Thoughts and Hopes for the Future
Hey everyone!
I'm not even going to mention how much of a slacker I've been this time. Nope.
So even though the Olympics are long over, I'm still watching them. I've recorded them so I could see all the ice skating. I've watched so much ice skating that I've been choreographing figure skating routines to KPOP songs in my head instead of actual dances! I usually do crazy dances with moves I've never even attempted. But at least I dance. I've never even been ice skating before. Those routines won't work. But since they're over and I've been really slow in catching up, my mind has been back to dance, which is good.
So for Lent this year, in addition to giving up candy like I usually do, I was going to dance more. But of course, when I actually want to do something, stuff happens. I was finally really wanting to dance last weekend, but I woke up early Saturday morning with a really sore back. I'm sick of sleeping on the couch >:( I could barely move all day. Sunday was better but I was still in a lot of pain. After seeing the doctor on Monday it was getting better everyday, so I thought I'd be dancing this weekend. Well after a disappointing try for B.A.P. tickets on Friday I wound up staying over M's house. I planned on hanging with her most of yesterday, but I had a horrific migraine. See I had run out of the medication I take everyday last Sunday, and being the dummy I am, I hadn't yet scheduled an appointment with a new doctor to get more. So I've had one that never really went away since Thursday, and yesterday was the worst it has been. It physically hurt to open my eyes. Thank God I made it home safely. I slept for several hours yesterday afternoon, which helped a lot. Today I just lazed around a lot hoping to keep it from getting too bad. Thankfully I see the doctor this Wednesday, so hopefully I can get the medication and keep these migraines away so I can keep dancing!
I seriously need to finish Chocolate Love. Well, first I need to go over what I already learned, because I'm pretty sure I forgot the beginning :x I've also been really into learning some UKISS dances, SNSD's Mr. Mr., and even f(x)'s Chu lately. I'm not sure why I've been so into Chu again lately, but it's a cool dance. f(x) needs more love. I'm really hoping I LOVE DANCE teaches Mr. Mr. next month, and I REALLY hope they're planning to teach it in Manhattan. I'm still not really into the dance, but I like the song a lot, and I even have my outfit planned for the video.
Lately I've been toying with the idea of choosing a dance I want to learn right now instead of choosing randomly. I'd rather finish Chocolate Love first and then see what I want to do. I'd rather not learn two or more at once unless I'm also taking a class at ILD. I know I'd tried this before, but I didn't get very far with it and that's why I started the whole randomly pick thing, but maybe I could try again. I don't know. For now I'll just stick with Chocolate Love and see what I want to do after I finish that.
I've also been thinking a lot about the songs I want to choreograph dances for. I've recently added EXO's Let Out the Beast, since I've been starting to choreograph that one for a while now, and SHINee's A-yo. I'm still planning to do one big post on all the songs I want to do, so I'll get more in depth with that later, but I really wish I could get this off the ground. I don't have choreographing skills. I'd love to have someone work with me and help me out with it, but I don't know who to go with. I'd love to have someone work with me one on one (or even several people), but I can't afford to do that, because I wouldn't want them to do this for free. I *could* ask an old teacher I'm still in touch with, but she's a busy woman. I'm also still trying to get myself to check out a studio nearby to take classes again, but I can't just come in there and ask for this on top of that, so I'm stuck. I could ask them for tips but that's probably about it. But enough of that. I don't have the room for the ones that are already choreographed, let alone the ones that aren't. And this should be a happy topic. For once I actually like what I'm coming up with. I have teeny bits of Let Out the Beast choreographed, and by teeny I mean teeny. Not even lines done, just...words. But I actually like it for once. I'm not trying to make it look flashy and fill it with big, crazy moves, and I think that's why I actually like it. Hopefully I can keep it up and create something really great!
So that's it for now. It's getting late and if I don't stop now I'm just going to be rambling. I'll try not to wait a month before I post again!
I'm not even going to mention how much of a slacker I've been this time. Nope.
So even though the Olympics are long over, I'm still watching them. I've recorded them so I could see all the ice skating. I've watched so much ice skating that I've been choreographing figure skating routines to KPOP songs in my head instead of actual dances! I usually do crazy dances with moves I've never even attempted. But at least I dance. I've never even been ice skating before. Those routines won't work. But since they're over and I've been really slow in catching up, my mind has been back to dance, which is good.
So for Lent this year, in addition to giving up candy like I usually do, I was going to dance more. But of course, when I actually want to do something, stuff happens. I was finally really wanting to dance last weekend, but I woke up early Saturday morning with a really sore back. I'm sick of sleeping on the couch >:( I could barely move all day. Sunday was better but I was still in a lot of pain. After seeing the doctor on Monday it was getting better everyday, so I thought I'd be dancing this weekend. Well after a disappointing try for B.A.P. tickets on Friday I wound up staying over M's house. I planned on hanging with her most of yesterday, but I had a horrific migraine. See I had run out of the medication I take everyday last Sunday, and being the dummy I am, I hadn't yet scheduled an appointment with a new doctor to get more. So I've had one that never really went away since Thursday, and yesterday was the worst it has been. It physically hurt to open my eyes. Thank God I made it home safely. I slept for several hours yesterday afternoon, which helped a lot. Today I just lazed around a lot hoping to keep it from getting too bad. Thankfully I see the doctor this Wednesday, so hopefully I can get the medication and keep these migraines away so I can keep dancing!
I seriously need to finish Chocolate Love. Well, first I need to go over what I already learned, because I'm pretty sure I forgot the beginning :x I've also been really into learning some UKISS dances, SNSD's Mr. Mr., and even f(x)'s Chu lately. I'm not sure why I've been so into Chu again lately, but it's a cool dance. f(x) needs more love. I'm really hoping I LOVE DANCE teaches Mr. Mr. next month, and I REALLY hope they're planning to teach it in Manhattan. I'm still not really into the dance, but I like the song a lot, and I even have my outfit planned for the video.
Lately I've been toying with the idea of choosing a dance I want to learn right now instead of choosing randomly. I'd rather finish Chocolate Love first and then see what I want to do. I'd rather not learn two or more at once unless I'm also taking a class at ILD. I know I'd tried this before, but I didn't get very far with it and that's why I started the whole randomly pick thing, but maybe I could try again. I don't know. For now I'll just stick with Chocolate Love and see what I want to do after I finish that.
I've also been thinking a lot about the songs I want to choreograph dances for. I've recently added EXO's Let Out the Beast, since I've been starting to choreograph that one for a while now, and SHINee's A-yo. I'm still planning to do one big post on all the songs I want to do, so I'll get more in depth with that later, but I really wish I could get this off the ground. I don't have choreographing skills. I'd love to have someone work with me and help me out with it, but I don't know who to go with. I'd love to have someone work with me one on one (or even several people), but I can't afford to do that, because I wouldn't want them to do this for free. I *could* ask an old teacher I'm still in touch with, but she's a busy woman. I'm also still trying to get myself to check out a studio nearby to take classes again, but I can't just come in there and ask for this on top of that, so I'm stuck. I could ask them for tips but that's probably about it. But enough of that. I don't have the room for the ones that are already choreographed, let alone the ones that aren't. And this should be a happy topic. For once I actually like what I'm coming up with. I have teeny bits of Let Out the Beast choreographed, and by teeny I mean teeny. Not even lines done, just...words. But I actually like it for once. I'm not trying to make it look flashy and fill it with big, crazy moves, and I think that's why I actually like it. Hopefully I can keep it up and create something really great!
So that's it for now. It's getting late and if I don't stop now I'm just going to be rambling. I'll try not to wait a month before I post again!
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Wolf Day 2: Second Day of Class 1/17/14
1/17 was the second class for Wolf. I had a much more relaxed day than the week before. I got out of work at 12 so I had a lot of time to get ready. To get in the spirit for my EXO class, I watched EXO's Showtime with M while we talked over the phone. Oh it was funny. But that's another topic that I could go on all day about.
I made it to class on time without having to rush through the streets and commuters (though I did anyway). I was happy to see MJ this week, since she couldn't make it to class the week before. First we reviewed what we did the week before, and then we moved on to the bridge (is that even the bridge? or is it part of the chorus?) and the chorus today, specifically the second one, right after the Xiumin/Lay/Tao rap and right before the slow part. Even more specifically, "Hey~ Hwak meureo/Geu daeum mak mak heundeulha jeongshi naege" to "Nan neukdego, neon minyeo" at 2:03 to 2:30. I didn't think it was too bad. The only things I have minor issues with is on "Geurae Wolf, naega Wolf" when I scoop my left hand and lean to my left side I feel a little awkward. I think it's because I've pictured it awkwardly in my head for so long that that's how it's translating when I'm actually doing it. The other awkward part is the silly crouch walk. At least I wasn't the only one who didn't like it. It's really awkward trying to look cool walking like that and coordinating yourself so you're actually moving correctly. But the biggest problem I have is with getting down and back up quickly. I think I'm doing well with the timing, but when MJ would explain and show us several times, it was a lot of get down-get up-get down-get up and my legs was troubling. My quads are really weak and the motions were sending my blood pressure for a loop. I'm getting old *sigh*
After learning and going over this, we moved on. They're cutting out the slow part, so we're going right into "Geobu alsu eobshi ganyeora", 3:01 to 3:15. Luckily during the parts where the boys do crazy jumps and slides on the ground, we aren't going that crazy (my knees are very thankful). On "Nae soge seulmeo itteon geoshi jigeum nundeosseo~", 3:12 to 3:15 I was messing up a little. When they quickly put their right arm out to the side followed by the left then quickly bring them back in and kinda "bounce" them, I thought it was right out, left out, right in, left in, bounce, which I swear I've seen them do at least the first time they do it. But it's right out, left out, both in, bounce. At first I thought that was wrong in class, but I just watched the video and that's right. Oh well, this is why I'm taking a class. The timing for that specific part was a little awkward. MJ was having a little trouble getting the counts right. Hopefully we can fix that next week.
After learning that next part, we were able to keep going right into what we did last week. This dance is a lot harder on the body than I originally thought. I kept messing up the 1 1/2 turn at the end throughout the whole class, but I couldn't even care because I was so tired out. And while I was at Go Go Curry waiting for my food I was afraid I would pass out or something. My heart was going very fast. I think I pushed myself a little too hard this week. But sometimes it's hard not to when you're having so much fun! But I'll definitely work on that!
I made it to class on time without having to rush through the streets and commuters (though I did anyway). I was happy to see MJ this week, since she couldn't make it to class the week before. First we reviewed what we did the week before, and then we moved on to the bridge (is that even the bridge? or is it part of the chorus?) and the chorus today, specifically the second one, right after the Xiumin/Lay/Tao rap and right before the slow part. Even more specifically, "Hey~ Hwak meureo/Geu daeum mak mak heundeulha jeongshi naege" to "Nan neukdego, neon minyeo" at 2:03 to 2:30. I didn't think it was too bad. The only things I have minor issues with is on "Geurae Wolf, naega Wolf" when I scoop my left hand and lean to my left side I feel a little awkward. I think it's because I've pictured it awkwardly in my head for so long that that's how it's translating when I'm actually doing it. The other awkward part is the silly crouch walk. At least I wasn't the only one who didn't like it. It's really awkward trying to look cool walking like that and coordinating yourself so you're actually moving correctly. But the biggest problem I have is with getting down and back up quickly. I think I'm doing well with the timing, but when MJ would explain and show us several times, it was a lot of get down-get up-get down-get up and my legs was troubling. My quads are really weak and the motions were sending my blood pressure for a loop. I'm getting old *sigh*
After learning and going over this, we moved on. They're cutting out the slow part, so we're going right into "Geobu alsu eobshi ganyeora", 3:01 to 3:15. Luckily during the parts where the boys do crazy jumps and slides on the ground, we aren't going that crazy (my knees are very thankful). On "Nae soge seulmeo itteon geoshi jigeum nundeosseo~", 3:12 to 3:15 I was messing up a little. When they quickly put their right arm out to the side followed by the left then quickly bring them back in and kinda "bounce" them, I thought it was right out, left out, right in, left in, bounce, which I swear I've seen them do at least the first time they do it. But it's right out, left out, both in, bounce. At first I thought that was wrong in class, but I just watched the video and that's right. Oh well, this is why I'm taking a class. The timing for that specific part was a little awkward. MJ was having a little trouble getting the counts right. Hopefully we can fix that next week.
After learning that next part, we were able to keep going right into what we did last week. This dance is a lot harder on the body than I originally thought. I kept messing up the 1 1/2 turn at the end throughout the whole class, but I couldn't even care because I was so tired out. And while I was at Go Go Curry waiting for my food I was afraid I would pass out or something. My heart was going very fast. I think I pushed myself a little too hard this week. But sometimes it's hard not to when you're having so much fun! But I'll definitely work on that!
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Wolf: Day 1: First Day of Class 1/10/14
I am getting slack again D:
Anyway, January 10th at 6pm was my first class for Wolf at I Love Dance. I had such an adventure getting to the studio. First of all, I was still running on my high from just seeing UKISS in concert the night before. I also had to work til 3:30 and I needed to take out money for the class and I needed to catch the 4:46 train if I wanted to get to class on time. So I get home at almost 4, and my plan was to just get dressed, get my stuff together, and go. But I could not find my pants. Seriously, how does one lose a pair of pants? Someone tell me, because I still don't know (I also cannot believe I had to use the phrase "I lost my pants" in all seriousness). I searched all over the place but I could not find them. So since I was running short on time, I just grabbed my dance shorts instead and flew out the door. I get to the train station close to 4:30 and I was panicking so much that I left my parking ticket on the passenger seat, so I had to run back up and get it. I finally get up on the platform with a good amount of time to spare and catch my breath. Now, I was really worried about taking this train, and I had hoped to try to get the 4:29 if I could. The weather was pretty crazy. I don't remember it too much, but I know it wasn't the day that it was really bad here, because I wouldn't have gone if it was. There were alerts for my line and a few other lines about delays because they were checking for ice in the tunnel. Fair enough. Well my train comes on time, and I am ecstatic. I would be able to make it on time! Well, I was almost wrong. This train went sooooo sloooowwwww. I understand about the icy conditions, but I think it took us almost 10 minutes to get from Metropark to Rahway, which is the next station. Oh. My. Shisus. I think we got to New York at like 4:50, or at least close to it. I speed walked through the station and the streets, running in the opposite direction of rush hour (which luckily I was prepared for having been in NYC at the same time the night before). I just made it to the studio with like 3 minutes to spare. Luckily, though, I wound up getting to the door right behind some of the people who would be in my class, and Ying was running a little late, so it wound up not being so bad. But oh my goodness, what an adventure.
Okay, so now for the class. We started towards the end, from 3:16 to the end, where they sing "Geobu alsu eobshi ganyeora..." the second time after the slow part with the "Hey~ Hwak meureo..." behind it. The part from there up to "Geurae Wolf, naega Wolf" wasn't all that hard. I knew what to do for the most part from watching it so many times. Now the next part, on the ""Geurae Wolf, naega Wolf", which I've heard called "the chicken dance," is dumb. I am sorry, I really don't like it. It's actually kind of difficult. You have to put your weight on your left leg but keep off of your heel so you can easily move it back and forth. I need to keep practicing because I think I'm not brining my left knee in when I bring my right leg in, because it's kind of an in-out-in-out motion, so I need to watch how I do that. It's also kind of hard to keep your balance doing that. And I know I'm not the only one who doesn't like that move. Everyone else feels weird doing it. My take on it is, it doesn't feel as cool as it looks, and it doesn't look very cool to begin with. Ah well, it happens. Just gotta roll with it. The second ""Geurae Wolf, naega Wolf" wasn't that bad, just scoop your hand, come up and make ears with your hands on your head, and then repeat on the other side. Not hard. The part directly after that though, we did Kai's ending, in which he does a 1 1/2 turn. I'm still getting a little stuck on the set up, and then I mess up the turn. I was doing well for a while, but by the end of class I was losing my balance and going all over the place. But it was just the first class, so there's room for improvement.
All in all, I think class went really well. I'm sorry for the messy descriptions. Some of the moves are a little hard to describe. Also I figured it would be better to put in song lyrics instead of timing, so the result was kind of confusing >< But anyway, I had fun and I was really looking forward to the next class!
Anyway, January 10th at 6pm was my first class for Wolf at I Love Dance. I had such an adventure getting to the studio. First of all, I was still running on my high from just seeing UKISS in concert the night before. I also had to work til 3:30 and I needed to take out money for the class and I needed to catch the 4:46 train if I wanted to get to class on time. So I get home at almost 4, and my plan was to just get dressed, get my stuff together, and go. But I could not find my pants. Seriously, how does one lose a pair of pants? Someone tell me, because I still don't know (I also cannot believe I had to use the phrase "I lost my pants" in all seriousness). I searched all over the place but I could not find them. So since I was running short on time, I just grabbed my dance shorts instead and flew out the door. I get to the train station close to 4:30 and I was panicking so much that I left my parking ticket on the passenger seat, so I had to run back up and get it. I finally get up on the platform with a good amount of time to spare and catch my breath. Now, I was really worried about taking this train, and I had hoped to try to get the 4:29 if I could. The weather was pretty crazy. I don't remember it too much, but I know it wasn't the day that it was really bad here, because I wouldn't have gone if it was. There were alerts for my line and a few other lines about delays because they were checking for ice in the tunnel. Fair enough. Well my train comes on time, and I am ecstatic. I would be able to make it on time! Well, I was almost wrong. This train went sooooo sloooowwwww. I understand about the icy conditions, but I think it took us almost 10 minutes to get from Metropark to Rahway, which is the next station. Oh. My. Shisus. I think we got to New York at like 4:50, or at least close to it. I speed walked through the station and the streets, running in the opposite direction of rush hour (which luckily I was prepared for having been in NYC at the same time the night before). I just made it to the studio with like 3 minutes to spare. Luckily, though, I wound up getting to the door right behind some of the people who would be in my class, and Ying was running a little late, so it wound up not being so bad. But oh my goodness, what an adventure.
Okay, so now for the class. We started towards the end, from 3:16 to the end, where they sing "Geobu alsu eobshi ganyeora..." the second time after the slow part with the "Hey~ Hwak meureo..." behind it. The part from there up to "Geurae Wolf, naega Wolf" wasn't all that hard. I knew what to do for the most part from watching it so many times. Now the next part, on the ""Geurae Wolf, naega Wolf", which I've heard called "the chicken dance," is dumb. I am sorry, I really don't like it. It's actually kind of difficult. You have to put your weight on your left leg but keep off of your heel so you can easily move it back and forth. I need to keep practicing because I think I'm not brining my left knee in when I bring my right leg in, because it's kind of an in-out-in-out motion, so I need to watch how I do that. It's also kind of hard to keep your balance doing that. And I know I'm not the only one who doesn't like that move. Everyone else feels weird doing it. My take on it is, it doesn't feel as cool as it looks, and it doesn't look very cool to begin with. Ah well, it happens. Just gotta roll with it. The second ""Geurae Wolf, naega Wolf" wasn't that bad, just scoop your hand, come up and make ears with your hands on your head, and then repeat on the other side. Not hard. The part directly after that though, we did Kai's ending, in which he does a 1 1/2 turn. I'm still getting a little stuck on the set up, and then I mess up the turn. I was doing well for a while, but by the end of class I was losing my balance and going all over the place. But it was just the first class, so there's room for improvement.
All in all, I think class went really well. I'm sorry for the messy descriptions. Some of the moves are a little hard to describe. Also I figured it would be better to put in song lyrics instead of timing, so the result was kind of confusing >< But anyway, I had fun and I was really looking forward to the next class!
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Happy New Year! A Break From Our Usual Programming
Happy New Year everyone!
I know it's already nearing the end of January and I've been M.I.A. since the beginning of last month D: The holidays and the job had physically and mentally tired me out and I just didn't feel like dancing. But here's to the new year and a fresh new start!
At the last minute I Love Dance added EXO's Wolf to their Manhattan schedule, and even though I'm still not sure how I feel about that dance, I still have it on my list, and I had the money, so I've joined the class! I'll talk more about that in the next few posts.
I went to see UKISS in concert in NYC on the 9th and it was one of the best nights of my life! It was mine and L's first KPOP concert. We finally broke the curse! Seriously, both of us have missed everyone else that has come through here. But we broke our curse, saw UKISS, and feel good about the future in regards to more concerts.
I already liked UKISS a lot before, but I didn't know many of their songs. I was mostly into the members, mainly because of Eat Your Kimchi's many interviews with them. But their songs are really great and I have no idea why I've never heard much of their stuff beforehand. Now I've been listening to them a lot, today especially, and I think that they are seriously underrated. They need more love~ So with that, expect to see more of their songs on either of my lists! Man Man Ha Ni and 0330 have already made it.
In addition to feeling good about this year in terms of more concerts, I just feel good about this year in general. I still haven't found a nursing job, but I am staying hopeful that this year will be my year. I am also feeling good about dance. I managed to get into another I Love Dance class, and I hope to continue to go to more classes. It definitely can get tiring, but I really enjoy going into the city every week to dance. Even though it's just for fun, I get to dance in NYC. That's such a great feeling. Also the receptionist at my new chiropractor was telling me that her niece is a dancer and had taken over the studio she grew up attending, along with all of her dance friends. They provide a non-competitive environment, which is definitely what I'm looking for, seeing as I never competed growing up. From what I told the receptionist about what I'm looking for, she thinks her niece's studio is exactly that. She gave me her name and number, but I haven't called yet. I'm extremely nervous! I'm also worried about money. I want to start ASAP! But I don't know what I can afford. But I won't know any of that until I actually make the call. I go back to the doctor tomorrow, so if she's there maybe she can give me some confidence!
So here's to a new year and a new start! Keep dancing!
I know it's already nearing the end of January and I've been M.I.A. since the beginning of last month D: The holidays and the job had physically and mentally tired me out and I just didn't feel like dancing. But here's to the new year and a fresh new start!
At the last minute I Love Dance added EXO's Wolf to their Manhattan schedule, and even though I'm still not sure how I feel about that dance, I still have it on my list, and I had the money, so I've joined the class! I'll talk more about that in the next few posts.
I went to see UKISS in concert in NYC on the 9th and it was one of the best nights of my life! It was mine and L's first KPOP concert. We finally broke the curse! Seriously, both of us have missed everyone else that has come through here. But we broke our curse, saw UKISS, and feel good about the future in regards to more concerts.
I already liked UKISS a lot before, but I didn't know many of their songs. I was mostly into the members, mainly because of Eat Your Kimchi's many interviews with them. But their songs are really great and I have no idea why I've never heard much of their stuff beforehand. Now I've been listening to them a lot, today especially, and I think that they are seriously underrated. They need more love~ So with that, expect to see more of their songs on either of my lists! Man Man Ha Ni and 0330 have already made it.
In addition to feeling good about this year in terms of more concerts, I just feel good about this year in general. I still haven't found a nursing job, but I am staying hopeful that this year will be my year. I am also feeling good about dance. I managed to get into another I Love Dance class, and I hope to continue to go to more classes. It definitely can get tiring, but I really enjoy going into the city every week to dance. Even though it's just for fun, I get to dance in NYC. That's such a great feeling. Also the receptionist at my new chiropractor was telling me that her niece is a dancer and had taken over the studio she grew up attending, along with all of her dance friends. They provide a non-competitive environment, which is definitely what I'm looking for, seeing as I never competed growing up. From what I told the receptionist about what I'm looking for, she thinks her niece's studio is exactly that. She gave me her name and number, but I haven't called yet. I'm extremely nervous! I'm also worried about money. I want to start ASAP! But I don't know what I can afford. But I won't know any of that until I actually make the call. I go back to the doctor tomorrow, so if she's there maybe she can give me some confidence!
So here's to a new year and a new start! Keep dancing!
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