Clear Talent Group Audition!

So I'm always online looking for cool classes or auditions that I can go to and then I found this one. This audition was for the Clear Talent Group agency at Pearl Studios on May 8th. They had two auditions you could attend a Jazz portion and/or a Hip-Hop portion. I was trying to think for awhile whether I should go to both or not. I felt that if I had gone to the Jazz one which was at 10am in the morning that I may feel intimidated by the other dancers and may be too afraid to the Hip-Hop portion (which was at 1pm). So I decided that I would just go to the Hip-Hop one. I was supposed to take the 11:01 train from Katonah and I was going to arrive at 12:09. I needed to arrive early because it said on the website that you needed to arrive EARLY and to be there a half hour early to check in. So I was running a little bit late because I forgot I needed a headshot or snapshot so then I arrived at the train station right when the train arrived there. I easily could have made the train if I had been on the other side of the tracks. So then the next train time was for 11:32 which would mean I would arrive at Grand Central for 12:44. I was panicking because that would mean A) I would need to rush to Pearl Studios (which was 20 minutes away by walking) B) I would be late to check in the website said to be EARLY C) I brought enough money for a taxi but if i were to take a taxi I would not have enough money for a class at the Broadway Dance Center in case I did not make the audition. My backup plan was that if I did not make the audition I would just take a class but I would not have enough money if I took a taxi. By taxi though I would get to the Pearl Studios in about 5 minutes. So i quickly decided once I got to the city that I would just go for it anyway and I took a taxi and got there at 1 because my train arrived late and there was a little bit of traffic. I was rushing in and I saw some other dancers that were headed there too so i felt a little bit more confident. First off, let me just say the whole signing in process, where you go, when you go, and everything else was so confusing. I figured out it was on the 12th floor and by asking several people I finally found out where to check in. While checking in you had to write your age on the sheet and I noticed that like everyone was 25 or 27. Meanwhile I just turned 18. I was #245 and I found out that there had been about 300 people there. I overheard that they cut it off at 300 or 350. So then I stood by myself in the hallway and one thing that I noticed was how dressed up everyone was. It looked like a fashion show but of slutty girls. I was listening to these girls talk about how it was like their 3rd audition and she was nervous. So then finally when they moved I sat on the bench they had been on. While sitting there the guys that I had seen when coming in came over to sit next to me. They had started talking to me and they told me about themselves. They were these tree guys two were 19 and one was 23 and they were from Queens. These guys were extremely friendly and I learned SOO MUCH from them. They knew so many people in the hallway it was crazy. They told me that a lot of people they knew are from the Broadway Dance Center and they told me how they take classes with Luam, Chio, Joanna Numata, and Sheryl Murakami. They introduced me to all these people who were incredible dancers. They found out information about the audition and told me everything. At first we heard a rumor that they were type casting and that before we danced we may have just been lined up and they would pick whoever based on their look. That's when i understood why almost every girl there was in their bras and booty shorts. So then we found out while sitting there for 2 and a half hours, that it was Sheryl Murakami who was teaching the combo. She teaches at BDC advanced classes and has worked with Beyonce, Avril Lavigne, Lady Gaga, Nelly, Pharell, Nelly Furtado, Diddy, etc. So she is pretty well known! Finding that out made me pretty nervous. Then we found out the we were leaving two eight counts in five minutes! Picking up choreography fast is a problem for me so then i became extremely nervous. Then we found out that after she taught you it for five minutes you split into groups of five. So after finding out all of this I was very very nervous. Then we noticed some people who had found out what the combo already was and they were practicing it. I was able to learn a couple things from watching them but I really did not know it as well as everyone else did. So i realized everyone else already knows it their going to do it extremely well. I figured that I would go in and learn it and if I thought it was extremely hard and I may embarrass myself that I would just leave before doing it in groups of five. So then finally numbers 200-250 were called (by the way my new friends were apart of that group) and we went in to learn the combo. Just like I had thought everyone already knew it and was doing it really well. I thought it actually wasn't difficult and I got it down. we practiced it in four groups of about 12 people each. I found that compared to the other people in my group I was actually doing it really well. Then it was time to split into groups of five. I felt really really nervous because your were A) in a group of five B) 45 other people were watching you on the side and C) there was 10 judges sitting in front watching you. So i wanted to leave but then one of the guys closed the door so I couldn't! I decided that I would just give it my best shot and if i were to embarrass myself hopefully I wouldn't see these people again. Also, one of the judges was a guy i recognized from the Monsters of Hip-Hop Convention. So I was in the last group of five girls to do it because I was extremely nervous. I choked. I completely blew it. I got so overly nervous I just completely zoned out and blanked. One girl from our group made it to the next cut but i did not. I didn't expect to make it but I was extremely upset with myself after letting my nerves get the best of me. So then that was it. This was definitely the greatest dance experience i have had in my life so far. The people that i met (and now keep in touch with) and all the stories and everything I learned was incredible! Also, the people that my new friends introduced me to, they made the cut. They were amazing! It was such a great experience and I'm extremely glad i ended up going to the audition because I learned SO MUCH! This is just the beginning!

Adv Beg Jazz Funk Class (Chio)

So I decided after taking the Beg Jazz Funk class with Chio that I would try the harder class the Adv Beg on April 17th. I felt a little hesitant since on the Broadway Dance Center website it says you should have between 5-8 years experience for the Adv Beg classes. Meanwhile I'm working on completing my 3rd year now. So I decided to take it anyway and I thought it was a ton of fun. I did feel that it was faster paced than the Beg class but I still managed to keep up and do well (in my opinion). One big difference that I did notice in this class was that we learned a whole lot more in the song than in the Beg class. At one point a girl had to leave the class because she passed out. I thought it was an intense class but not passing out intense. At one point when we were about to split in half and do it in groups I noticed a bunch of people randomly leaving. I was wondering what was going on like maybe they were too afraid to perform in groups? Then I realized they were leaving because Chio got out the video camera and wanted to tape it. When we were splitting into even smaller groups this woman in front of me asked me if I wanted to be in the front because she did not want to be in the video but I said I didn't want to. I feel that if I'm not going to look good in it then I don't want to be in it. I had a lot of fun with this combination. We did it to the LMFAO song Shooting Star (the remix). So here's the link to the combination we did! (http://www.youtube.com/user/chiozone#p/u/9/CsMIWPTZUlA)

Monsters of Hip Hop

So I was really really excited to go to the Monsters of Hip Hop convention, but at the same time really nervous. The Monsters of Hip Hop convention was held at the Alvin Ailey Dance Studio at 4:30 on Saturday March 6th. This was my first time walking as far as a I did by myself in the city. This was also my first time going to the Alvin Ailey dance studio so I was nervous that I would get lost. This dance studio was by far the coolest looking I had ever seen. I really like how windows surrounded every studio and you could see everything from the street. Then when I got there and was waiting on line (for an hour) I noticed that I was pretty young compared to everyone else. I knew that there would be a lot of people there but I just wasn't used to dancing with that many people at a time. The choreographer we learned from was Marty Kudelka. he is a very well known dancer for choreographing stuff for Justin Timberlake, NSync, Pink, So You Think You Can Dance, and more. It seemed as if there was about 50 if not more people in the studio. Even though he was standing on a stage, it was still incredibly difficult to see anything at all. I found that i had to learn a lot from watching the people in front of me instead of him. He did show us what he wanted us to learn and it looked amazing. I had a little trouble when learning the piece because of certain holds and ways of popping. I really had so much fun and I would love to take another class from him if he came back.

First BDC Class

So this past weekend on Sunday I took the train at Katonah down to the city with my friends Marie and Denise. So then when we got to the city we split up because they were going to go see something at MOMA and I wanted to go take the Jazz Funk class with Chio at the Broadway Dance Center. So then finally I arrived at the BDC and I was really nervous because I was taking the class alone and I figured the dancers there would be snobby and mean except they weren't at all! I was sort of surprised with the age range in the class. The majority of the people were between 18-20 but there was this one little girl who looked like 10 and another older lady who looked like 45 it was crazy. I had never been in a dance class with guys before and it was pretty cool because about a third of the class were guys. You were moving non-stop in the class even when you were stretching. We stretched for a half hour and then the other hour was for the combo. I'm not exactly sure what the song was called but the dance was faster than I expected. There was this Asian guy with spiked hair in front of me that I thought was AMAZING. The class was the most tiring class I had ever experienced and I felt disgusting after but I loved it. I want to take classes there every weekend now! (Here's the link to the combination we learned http://www.youtube.com/user/chiozone#p/u/15/HlxW_nO9b9Y)

First Journal Entry

So today is Wednesday, February 10th and I am writing my first journal entry for my WISE journal. So this past weekend I made some plans that ended up working and some that unfortunately did not. Last week I had made detailed plans to go to a Broadway Dance Center (BDC) class in New York City. After I would go over to the Hyatt Hotel because the dance team at the studio I go to (A&E Dance Studio) was competing there. I planned out the train times and everything perfectly that it seemed like nothing could ruin the plans. I was waiting at the train ready for my friend to come and she was there but we missed the train due to her walking too slow to get to the train. So I was really angry because it wasn't just about her walking slowly to the train but because it involved other reasons. I was really excited to take this class too with Joanna Numata because I've heard about how she's an amazing dancer. I also found out that she had been in I Am Legend which I also thought was really cool. So then on Friday I ended up going to the Yorktown Stage for a concert and I noticed that there was a dance recital going on at the same time. So I went over there with my friend and we checked out the last 15-20 minutes of the recital. I'm not sure what studio's dance recital that was but I'm trying to find out because I'm really curious. So some of the dances I remember a jazz dance to That's Not My Name, a hip-hop dance to Thriller, two theatre dances to Legally Blonde and Grease, and then I remember the finale to Jai Ho. I remember thinking That's Not My Name was sort of messy and confusing. I liked their Thriller and when they jumped out into the crowd. My favorite part of the Legally Blonde dance was in one part where Elle is talking to her dog Bruiser and all of the girls (except the girl playing Elle) forms and pretends to be a dog. My favorite dance was definitely the Grease dance though I thought it was the best out of all that I had seen. The kids ages were around between 10-13 or so. Half of them were girls and the other half were dressed as boys. I was really impressed by how organized it was and by how much energy all of the dancers had. I found their finale to be different then ours but also entertaining. Our finales include us bowing in groups of 10 or so and then we all do a recital dance together. Their recital there was about 10 girls that would run out and do some kind of leap, turn, or a combination of moves. I was really amazed how they pulled it off and I found it to be really entertaining. Then on Saturday after not seeing the Jump Competition live I decided to check it out online. I found it to be really interesting and now I decided that I definitely want to go see one the the competitions live. That's basically it for my first WISE journal entry!