Dance has always been my passion since I was a little girl. Almost every member of my family was a dancer at some point in their lives. My parents used to be Malay dancers before they decided that it was not something they would do for a long period of time. My sister was also a Malay dancer back in primary school. She too decided that it was not meant for her.
Apparently, I am the only one in the family who has such a strong passion for dance and is still dancing till this day. I have been exposed to several dance genres and surprisingly I seem to love them all. Let me bring you through my journey as a dancer and maybe some of my favourite performances.
The Early Years
I started my dance journey when I was in primary school when I joined the Malay Dance CCA in Primary 3. That was the first time I was exposed to traditional Malay dance and I liked it a lot. I took part in the biannual Singapore Youth Festival (Primary School Category) twice.
Apart from that, I performed for several school events such as White Sands Primary School Vibranz Concert. That was actually one of my favourite performances I have took part in. That was when I realise that I had a strong passion for the art of dance and would love to keep dancing.
Branching Out to Other Genres
When I first joined the Dance Club in secondary school, they were in the midst of preparing for the Singapore Youth Festival (Secondary School Category), thus I did not get to participate. However, I was actually chosen to perform the SYF piece for an event that took place at Ngee Ann City – it was a malay dance item.
Soon after, a new instructor came to take over and that was when I was exposed to Contemporary dance. It was pretty tough as being a contemporary dancer also means you need to learn and master the techniques used. I was struggling to nail my splits, plies and spins.
Nonetheless, I kept pushing through and was selected for SYF 2015 and several other performances. One of my favourite performances was the items my school performed for Within Us. It was a dance production hosted by Holy Innocents’ High School and my school appeared for a Guest Performance.
Apart from performing, I also took part in several dance camps hosted by JUMP Productions. It was definitely a great platform for me to learn more about other dance genres. I get to expose myself to genres such as Hip Hop, Street Jazz, House and more.
I Chose Hip Hop
Sadly, secondary school had to come to an end. I then continued my studied at ITE College Central and decided to join Urban Central Statements (UCS). They were the Hip Hop Dance Crew of ITE College Central.
Even though I was part of the crew for just a few months, I do get to perform for their April Intake CCA fair. I had trainings almost every week and I have to admit, it was pretty exhausting. Trainings would end at about 8.00pm to 9.00pm and I had school the following day.
Despite all that, I have to say that it was such a great experience, and it was such as eye-opener as it was my first time performing a Hip Hop item in front of a huge crowd. Nonetheless, the performance was a success, and it will always have a special place in my heart.
My New Dance Family
I came across Style Groovaz Crew (SGC) several times before stepping into Republic Polytechnic. I have always dreamt of being a part of their family and I am glad to say that I am today. Getting into Style Groovaz Crew definitely was not an easy one. I had to go through an audition before I was selected to join the Interest Group.
After being selected, my batch has to go through a 6-months’ probation period and perform for our Freshie Debut Showcase – Emergence, before we were officially part of the crew. The 6 months was not an easy period. We had trainings every week on Tuesdays and Fridays, learning both Breaking and Hip Hop.
Despite the tough and exhausting trainings, my batch and I managed to pushed through as we all performed our very own item during Emergence. I truly believed that we did our very best as we hold up the SGC sign at the end of the Finale item – I cried.
Dance will always be a huge part of my life and I will never stop dancing. Do not forget to share this with your friends and family. To all the dancers out there, keep pushing through!
