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.
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