Welcome to the first #FridayFlashdance!!! As you can very well guess, this is about dance. We have a hash potato dedicated to music, so why not dance?
Those of you who have been steady followers most probably already know that my favorite pastimes are writing, blogging, singing and reading. But if ever I have already mentioned something about it, many probably still do not know or remember that I love to dance. Not even my real personal friend, my high school pal Raine, doesn’t. I don’t think she has ever really seen me dance, that’s as far as I can remember. That’s because I only realized my love for dancing in college.
It was a time when dance groups became quite popular on TV. At least three of them became really popular, two of those are still being looked up to today, one of them is still famous especially because of some members who have gone on to do other things like act and do hosting jobs.
Anyway, a few years back, I was watching my favorite noontime Sunday variety show, ASAP, and completely fell in love with a dance routine for the song “Bleedin’ Love” performed by some of the stars of the show. These stars were composed of actors/actresses who also dabbled in singing, hosting, even modeling. They’re not all that good dancers, but they managed. It turned out I wasn’t the only one who fell in love with the dance as many viewers imitated the routine (albeit not as good, of course) and performed their rendition in various company Christmas parties (Filipinos love to do shows in parties). I don’t know exactly what made it so special, but it was. It is.
I had long been wanting to share the video of the said dance routine, but I never got to. Somehow, I couldn’t find the TV-version video of it anymore, only videos taken and shared by people who got to see the show live. Finally, I did find it last week, posted by one of the dancers on his YouTube Channel.
Dancers (by appearance): (1st) Rafael Rosell (where vid is from) and Iya Villania, (2nd) Victor Basa, Will Devaughn (no hair) and Toni Gonzaga, (3rd) Nikki Gil and Jon Avila, (4th) Maja Salvador (shorter girl), Jake Cuenca and Shaina Magdayao, and (5th) Anne Curtis. Those who really regularly danced were Rafael, Iya (her other forte is hosting), Maja (one of the best young actresses of today) and Shaina, although Nikki and Anne could also perform on a good level.
Now, I did mention that many tried to imitate what they did. That included a group of people from where I worked then. And guess who was part of that group of people…? *GASP* ME!!!
I do have stagefright, till now, but I felt that I could manage dancing with a group onstage better than singing alone in front of an audience. Back in college, I did have several experiences choreographing hiphop dances so I knew I could handle it. I did feel nervous, double-nervous as I was that night’s assigned host (it was for a certain occasion).
So, again, *GASP* I shared a vid below (forgive the quality). Please do not expect us to be as good as those ASAP peeps. I’m in that group of three girls, the one initially at left, the wide one in black who seems awkward dancing in a non-hiphop number (somebody else choreographed it, not me, to be clear). There’s a certain step there that I felt awkward doing for personal, a bit irrational reason, that I kind of held back. Don’t ask me which one. We did have fun, though. I wanted to be Maja, he he…
If I seem awkward, that’s because I felt a bit conscious of dancing more “womanly”. I only do such a thing when I’m alone. I wasn’t in my comfort zone. I got used to hiphop because that’s what the dance groups on TV did, which I followed. I never got any training in dance. TV trained me.
Below–and last–is where you see me in my comfort zone. I’m the one at farthest left, white top, looking like a bouncing ball dancing. Notice the energy? That’s not just the dance showing, but my actual, usual energy. BTW, a certain part of the vid is a bit long, featuring one girl (not me) and two guys. It’s a medley of four overlapping songs. And forgive the quality.
Alright! Again, I’ve made myself vulnerable to you. It’s part of my new year’s resolutions, to not be afraid to show Me. I certainly hope I got you entertained 🙂
The End Justifies the Journey 