Merry Christmas

So the last class of 2012 was Raggatone! 

And we certainly went out with a bang. 

More of a jam than the traditional class format, we spent the hour getting down to some hype tracks, practising our best (ahem) moves and drinking champagne - whoop! 

Highlights definitely have to include @MlleGinger's inspection of the fastest booty shaker (clearly it was me, we all know I've got mad Raggatone skills) and doing the dutty wine for a good long while - and although my neck may still not have recovered, it was definitely worth it!! 

You know we're all going to be getting DOWN on New Year's Eve. 

Overall, it was a perfectly fitting end to what has been a simply wonderful year filled with loads of laughter (it's actually because of this that we're all in such good party season-shape - did you know you burn about 3 calories every time you laugh between 10 and 40 if you laugh solidly for fifteen minutes), fun and friendship. 

Here's to more fun in 2013. 

You can leave your hat on

To celebrate the end of year's worth of waacking, we had a waacking/all styles battle/jam in the middle hour of Thursday night 

Waacking came first.

WOW must be the only accurate word to describe what happened next. Why you ask? Well take Dance Station Waacking Disciples + Battle + Christmas + excellent tunes and you do the maths!! 

Suffice to say this combination definitely brought out the inner diva in us all. 

But in no-one was this more apparent than in @Trixiecantswim. Taking on @CarleeBanks in, at first glance, a seemingly demure outfit she was out for the kill. In the most stylish and hilarious strip tease I've ever seen (and obviously I've seen tonnes so I am a clearly an expert) the belt came off first and then the dress to reveal sparkly gold hot pants and a 'GEEK' emblazoned t-shirt with an 'and what attitude' - resulting in mass hysteria and @CarleeBanks collapsing on the floor. A well deserving waacking winner. 

Second came all-styles. 

For which the soundtrack was dope!!!! Seriously when are you ever going to hear Gangnam Style, the Spice Girls and 'Under the Sea' in the same set?1?!?!?!?!

In this round the most deserving winner was @Bgirljulie who busted out some pretty impressive floor moves, knocking the socks off all other competitors - it must have been her secret santa b-girl hat spurring her on! 

Then there was only one award left to be given out. This went to @SusieQ_licious for the most outrageous christmas costume - she came as an actual christmas tree (with lights and everything). 

WERK!!!! 

But I haven't revised!!!!

Thursday night was the last set of classes of 2012, and in ballet that could only mean one thing ....... VOCAB QUIZ!!!!!

This is where the two for one nature of Thursday night ballet is put to the test and we all compete for the coveted "ballet vocab champion" title. 

Cue accelerating pulse rates, sweaty palms and numerous cases of serious exam nerves - I'm not kidding, rescue remedy was definitely being swigged by some like it was the elixir of life! I may have survived finals but this was on a whole other level - especially due to a distinct lack of revision.

Last minute cramming definitely did not help the situation either with @MlleGinger doing a heads-shoulders-knees-and-toes inspired description of the grand battement exercise and certain members of the class giving certain other members erroneous answers. Thus when it reached the last twenty minutes of class and it was time to begin the quiz, emotions were definitely running high. 

The standard was very high (clearly we've improved from last year or people were cheating hmmm) but there reached a very tense tie between @Trixiecantswim and @DelphiRose97 who both got 19/20 (and they call me the geek - talk about the kettle calling the pot black).  Obviously their costa study sesh paid off. 

Thus they had to have an all-out spelling battle, with @DelphiRose97 eventually stealing the title back from @TrixiCantCwim (the winner last year) by correctly spelling: rond de jambe en dehors. It must be due to her extreme youth (younger = less wisdom = more space available for remembering french). 

Ah well now we've got a whole year to prepare for the next one. 

Answers:
1. Plié =  Bend on two legs
2. Fondu: Bend on one leg (to melt)
3. Tendu: To Stretch
4. Glissé: To glide the leg along the floor just coming off slightly at the end
5. Port de bras: Carriage of the arms
6. Rond de Jambe: Round of the leg
7. En Dehors: Away from the body
8. Derrier: To the rear 
9. En l'air: In the air 
10. Sauté: A jump in first position that stays in first position
11. Changemont: A jump in third position in which the feet swap
12. De côté: To the side
13. Premier:  First 
14. deuxième: Second
15. Demi Bras: Flower Arms 
16. Allegro: A jumping exercise 
17. Cloche: As a bell (swinging the between front and back)
18. Bras Bar: Arms Low
19. Petit: Small 
20. Devant: In front 

Make it Happen!

What do you get when you add @MlleGinger, Waacking, the DS Waackers, Dance Station, fancy dress and Christmas? 

MAGIC. MADNESS. EPICNESS (yes I know that's not a real word). INSANE amounts of FUN!  

Take your pick, any of these answers are equally true. 

In fact I'm generally quite surprised that we're all still alive today. There were too many things that we  love condensed into that studio in an hour last night (great dancing, great music, great friends, great costumes, christmas, the list goes on) for it not to be extremely risky. It's really quite miraculous that nobody happened to spontaneously combust, especially given the amount of flammable material that was floating around. 

It certainly proved once again that we definitely don't do things by halves, the costumes from last christmas were pretty great, but this year things went to a whole other level. From elves to candy cane queens, we had a whole host of christmassy characters prancing above Richmond station last night. Making it, one of the many but perhaps one of the most extreme, times when I've wondered why nobody at the bus stop down below has called the mental health services on us before - especially when the Barbara Streisand Jingle Bells song dropped and certain people screamed bloody murder. 

That was it though. It was like the match to the flame. If the mood was not already hype enough, with the costumes and the amount of christmas spirit floating around, that track just tipped it over the edge, the high kicked in (and quite frankly still hasn't left) and things become a lot more hazy around the edges. 

If the Ginger Elf wasn't one of the main culprits, I'd have felt sympathetic for her having to face the daunting task of controlling us all,  this was, after all,  perhaps one of the only times I've ever heard her yell (or is it squeal?!?!?!?!? - i'm really not sure what elves sound like) "CALM DOWN" more times than "FIERCE FACE," which, for once, was happening all on its own. 

Certain parts of the combination were pretty damn fast, nobody is denying that old Barbara has a set of lungs on her, but were we allowed to give in? Oh no. It's quite hard to argue with one of Santa's little helpers when they stand there and state "I've made it now, and I'm not changing it just MAKE IT HAPPEN" - after all, we all want to be on the nice list don't we? But whilst on other occasions the amount of jerking and dashing through the snow and free-styling and staying on beat required, might have sent us cowering into the corner (or running to @KleioBows for comfort), not last night. 

Just like it says in Frosty the Snowman ("there must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found.....,")   "There must have been some ginger spice in those costumes wrapped all around, because when they placed them on themselves, they began to dance around!" And so instead of panic, the result  was WERK! 

Just reliving it in my head is making me giddy, like a five year old after eating an entire tube of the old-stylee blue smarties. 

Look out for footage soon. 

In the Jungle, the might jungle

..... the lion *dances* tonight.

Being the last official raggatone class of the year, it was with great trepidation ..... oh wait was that only me?? .... fine, I mean anticipation, that we stepped out onto the studio floor at 8.30 on Thursday night. 

This fervour of feeling stemmed from the fact that a re-cap of all the moves we are supposed to have 'mastered' by now was inevitable being that it is party season and raggatone is a party dance. 

Thus we found ourselves practicing all we've done so far so that after a pack-inspired entrance we could 'freestyle' raggatone-stylee. 

You know you're in trouble when you can't even do the first move of the combo, seriously if you can't high-five other people what is the realistic probability of being able to high five yourself whilst the target hand is moving along with the rest of you? I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty certain it doesn't lie within the 90% confidence interval. 

This is problematic because it comes before there's even been the suggestion of making your way (albeit very slowly) to the ground and busting some moves down there. Whilst for some members of our cohort, progress has definitely been made in this area (although i don't like to look too closely so I could just be being fooled, others of us are still far more likely to bust a back as we continue to look more like dying frogs than fierce freestylers.

However, all is not lost!!! 

The freestyles were supposed to reflect all that we have learnt so far, and for some of these moves, the environment of the studio was just not apt. Oh no. The truth will be revealed when this year the bells begin to toll and going to church takes on a WHOLE new meaning - seriously "Little Donkey" is just crying out to be jammed to don't you think. 

A schizophrenic at a tea party

In waacking, one size does most certainly not fit all. There are different 'fits' within the style, and as our waacking disciple pilgrimage has passed the treacherous opening pathways, we have started to experiment with these stylistic options in more depth. 

The trick is to switch the fit to reflect different parts of the music. Much like one might switch the fit of a pair of trousers from casual to high-waisted to go from day to evening. 

To do this well is by far easier said than done, as there is a risk (as I for sure found out) of looking something akin to the Mad Hatter at his unbirthday party. However, if you are successful, it certainly adds finesse to a freestyle. 

The difficulty also lies in being able to convincingly reflect all moods of a song when some of these lie outside the realms of polite society. The trick to solving this dilemma is always having an @Trixiecantswim to hand, she's like a situation thesaurus.  

The proof of the power of these moves will be in the pudding next week at the Christmas Waacking Battle where in theory we should all be multi-tasking, floor-owning, and style-switching it up like pros ..... cos that's entirely possible. 

Leap Reindeer Leap!

To get an accurate understanding of what @MlleGinger was trying to create in ballet on Thursday night, one must use the imagination to transport oneself so as not to see a dance studio situated in suburban Richmond but an open plane in the North Pole filled with leaping Reindeer and Tinselled-Tutu wearing sugar plum fairies.  In this place of Christmas tranquility the only noises are delicate tinkling laughs, as light as the whipped-cream topping hot chocolate on a cold christmas morn, and the soft sounds of snowflakes landing on an already snow-covered ground. 

Isn't it a beautiful picture? 

Shame we smashed it really. 

From start to finish we were in a particularly giddy mood on Thursday. It may have been the Christmas soundtrack giving us all an extra bounce to our balancé who knows! But what really tipped us over the edge was attempting to jeté across the room whilst adding in a little bit of extra 'spice' in the form of reindeer 'antler' arm movements. 

The problem is that Reindeers are very graceful when they leap - (they have to be, if they were all jerky all the presents would fall out of Santa's sleigh!) - and we're, well, not. 

Suffice to say the left side left us all in a collapsed heap on the floor. So whilst Beyonce may say to the left, to the left, I'm, for once, going to have to contradict her and say stick to the right, to the right. It's for health and safety purposes. 

Celebrations!

And so the christmas party season begins! 

Monday night was our Christmas party. For once we all donned our glad rags rather than our sweaty socks and headed to vodka revolution to party the night away to tunes provided by DJ Dbo. Keeping our eclectic music tastes satisfied is certainly no mean feat, especially when someone is requesting something every five minutes, so the man probably deserves a medal for A)not despairing at the number of times the spice girls were asked for and B) for providing at least one track for everyone to bounce to! 

It was great to see everyone dressed up with numerous outfits getting the @MlleGinger seal of approval. 

 And it was the perfect opportunity to test out some of the moves that we've spent the last year *ahem* perfecting - a particular highlight being Cameo's Candy bringing everyone to the dance floor - funkiest looking line dance I've ever seen that's for sure! It might have been cold outside but it was definitely hot on the dance floor. 

So Cheers everybody! It's been a fantastic year and, although it's not over yet, here's to an even better 2013!

He's behind you ...

This is a sentence often screamed loudly by hundreds of children in theatres across the country throughout December, whilst they laugh at the hero/heroine's inability to notice the baddy creeping up behind them. However, it can have far scarier implications as we found out on our theatre trip to the gala evening of the Bodyguard Musical last night. 

All being fans of: (1)the theatre; (2) scaring the public by going out en masse; and (3) dressing up,  it was always going to be an evening that couldn't fail to disappoint - and so it was with great excitement that we met at Richmond Station ... all looking a lot more glam than we normally do .... and headed up to the Adelphi Theatre in a fashion that was incredibly reminiscent of school trips (especially as we had several actual teachers in tow). 

Having made it to the theatre all together - no mean feat (obviously I've never ever been left behind on the platform watching forlornly at those sliding tube doors due to my inability to push) - we rushed to our seats and ignored the collective groan around us as almost four rows of the stalls were filled with giddy, photo-taking-obsessed, Whitney lovers. Then the show started and all went quiet. 

Though the singing and soundtrack were outstanding from the start, the pulse-accelerating plot line didn't kick off until the second half - but when it did, oh man talk about TENSE. Obviously I will not reveal the exact goings on but suffice to say there was A LOT of gasping, squealing and hand-squeezing going on (@trixiecantswim not being a main perpetrator at all) all leading to the emotional peak of 'I will always love you.' 

Not being in vogue to leave a west-end theatre audience feeling teary and on-edge at the end of a performance, especially with a show honouring Whitney's musical offerings, the encore came in the form of a high energy rendition of 'I wanna dance with somebody.' This was a great excuse for the dancers of the show to come into their own (including @PlagueDanceCrew's Dharmesh Patel), busting out some of their best moves to that banging beat. But more importantly it was a brilliant excuse for all of us to get up and boogie in the seats, in the aisle and all the way home on the train - with our flash-mob-style performance only being curtailed by lack of space on the locomotives provided by tfl. Needless to say the energy was high and all sorts of hilarity ensued - much to the other passengers delight - particularly noteworthy being LOUD renditions of 'I will always love you' to various members of our company across the escalators at Waterloo. 

Overall a great night was had by all, and it was a fantabulous way to kick-off the party season. Just make sure to lock your doors and check under your bed after you read this ... turns out your mum was wrong, monsters do exist! 

Got a Question?

Right so you've heard of askjeeves and yahoo and that other search engine that sounds something like frugal but I can't quite remember it's name, I think it must have been a very small insignificant company. Now I'm introducing Ask Carlee. 

If you've got a question about Dance Station, or about other matters (within reason, there are certain other matters I'm less well informed on)  - where to go if there is an apocalyptic flood for instance (isn't that right b-girll julie) - hit the ask Carlee Banks link on the left of this blog and drop me a line. Or just email directly dancestationblog.com and I will endeavour to answer them, or I'll point you in the direction of someone who can - for example, if you want to know if it's ever ok to wear leggings in the street then please speak to @MlleGinger or read lejournalroux, or if you want to know how to speak squirrel contact @trixiecantswim. 

If I told you, I'd have to kill you

This is becoming an increasingly serious statement as we approach Christmas. For real. I'm starting to get scared that if I write about what goes on in RaggaTone I'm going to get arrested. Especially as the outcomes of the Levsen enquiry are beginning to fall into place, and some of the metaphors alone are likely to get me thrown behind bars (and not the safe kind of barre). 

So if you want to find out what goes down in the next two weeks, come to class and see for yourself. But remember: What happens in RaggaTone, stays in RaggaTone - I'm bringing confidentiality agreements with me from next week. 

Alternatively donate to RARC (Raggatone Aftermath Rehabilitation Clinic) and help the rest of us forget. 

Nobody puts Dance Stationers in the corner

This is true all year round but becomes particularly important at Christmas when there are numerous social gatherings to attend. 

I don't know what it is, maybe it's the mulled wine or the sugar from advent calendars, but these parties have such high expectations attached to them even Victoria Beckham's heels would look short. This wouldn't be a bad thing, except in 99% of cases (the 1% exception being Dance Station's own christmas party) they are more akin to cringey primary school discos with awful music, worse outfits and even worse food (are soggy sausage rolls and flat coke seriously supposed to be appetising?!?!?!). Thus when you arrive, you can find yourself developing a nervous twitch where you look at your watch every five minutes and a tourettes-like tick: WHENCANWELEAVE. Yet there is an alternative - own the floor. 

Whilst only a few of us might be up to owning the room, or indeed the whole borough, we should all be able to walk in to a room, strut onto the dance floor and throw out that old adage 'dance like nobody's watching' because that's really boring -  it should be 'dance like everybody's watching and loving it!' Thus this is what we werked on in waacking on Thursday. 

We got into the flow by practising 'coming out' onto the dance floor with a few fierce step-combinations provided by @MlleGinger and then focused on accessorising these with a few simple but effective arm movements - resulting in the same level of effect as wearing your favourite LBD with killer shoes. 

The problem is that this strategy was a little too effective. When we're all separated at various work and family parties this will be fine but when we're all together I think the scene might be something worthy of being on animal planet. 

I need a pneumonic device

This is really getting ridiculous, we've (for the most part) left school and other forms of higher education so why is the word revision still in my vocabulary? 

Because of the Christmas ballet quiz of course. 

It's coming. Thanks to @MlleGinger. 

Every year in the last Thursday ballet before Christmas we have a ballet vocab quiz. You'd be forgiven for thinking this was just a bit of fun, but you'd be wrong. This is serious business. You get to hold the title for AN ENTIRE YEAR. As a certain Miss @trixiecantswim won't let us forget. Gracious winning is not a skill we practice at Dance Station - milking any bragging rights for all their worth is actively encouraged. 

Hence on Thursday night we found ourselves trying very hard to remember all the terminology we've learnt over the last year. The problem is that, apparently, when you try and recall the name for something you simultaneously become almost incapable of executing it correctly. So whilst two minutes ago you were able to *perfectly* demonstrate second position with your arms, as soon you start trying to think of it as deuxième, everything goes pear-shaped (in some cases literally). 

So after all this stress, when we were given the task of creating our own allegro with very little restrictions placed on the creative process, can you really blame us for getting a little carried away? All we needed were a couple of pyrotechnics and I'm pretty certain the producers of the nextbigthings' next tour would be calling us up to do the choreography. I wouldn't risk not believing me either, because otherwise we won't spend any of our earnings on christmas presents for you. 

*at least in your head* 

We've got a ring on it ....

..... ok not all of us have, some of us may be still working on it, but a number of our members have and we haven't really been able to conceal our excitement. So instead of subjecting them to even more conversations like this: "whenisitiwhatareyouwearingwhen'sthehennightwhoarethebridesmaidswhataretheywearing?" 
then they already have to face, we have instead been busting some moves to Jagged Edge 'Let's Get Married' in hip hop all week. 

It may have caused some funky timing issues, who new bouncing a pretend basketball in time could be so hard?!?!?!? but the excuse to bring back some banging boy-band steps has certainly not had us complaining. In fact at least one person has, on more than one occasion, forgotten about the rest of the choreography so involved with the opening was she! And when said person is the choreographer themselves you know there really is no hope (isn't that right @KleioBows). I'll forgive her this result of over-enthusiasm though since she ..... wait for it .... complimented my 'gun fingers' *faints!*

Of course the fact that we all married each other at the end of the number, making the aforementioned up-coming nuptials null and void, was worth it in the name of dance. 

Under-Done and Off Da Horse

Reading that you may think that I've finally lost it. That all that dancing has done it, that I've banged my head one too many times in a failed attempt at a freeze and that my marbles have been well and truly lost.

This may be a justifiable conclusion to draw in some circumstances, but not in this one. No, in this case I am in fact talking about intermediate ballet.

Yes you read that correctly. Ballet.

So I’m not talking about badly baked bread or dismounting a quadraped, but rather the different directions of a Rond de Jambe (or a pirouette for that matter). Namely en dedans and en dehors. 

Thursday night ballet basics is two for one, French and Ballet, but on Tuesdays, the horror of evil ballet teacher flashbacks (honestly what child wants their teacher to stand on their feet or carry water buckets on their wrists!!!) combined with the necessity of remembering about 300 million things at once whilst standing on one leg,  means that articulating the French can be a bit much. This is not to say that we don’t try, simply that we prefer to rely on the descriptions provided by @trixiecantswim to take the stress away from the situation. And thus en dehors becomes off da horse. Simple. The fact that this doesn’t make the moves any easier to execute is beside the point. 

What it does do, is make sweating at the barre a little more lighthearted, and so when we come to leave the comfort of its confines and prance about in the centre, the jovialness of the mood makes us a little lighter and so we jump a little higher, à la ‘I love to laugh’ Mary-Poppins stylee.  Good job the ceiling is made of tiles really. 

Shhhh.........

So we love Santa, how could we not, but given our ever-growing popularity we're just not sure he'll make it round all our members this Christmas and seeing as they are all equally deserving we have decided to take matters into our own hands. Yes to Dance Station Power! Thus we are having our own studio secret santa (wicked idea or what?!?!?!). The limit is just £5 and is going to be great fun - though the fact that they don't sell atlases for this amount may make create a challenge for whoever draws my name from the hat, luckily Geeks seem to be in vogue (about time too) and as such there are numerous appropriate accessories out there! If you want to get involved, let us know on the Facebook group before the end of the week.

https://www.facebook.com/events/385994564817476/386410818109184/?notif_t=plan_mall_activity

We're not going to have enough Christmas Cards!

It's true, our Street Team and Facebook campaigners are doing such a stellar job, we've surpassed the 600 'likes' mark - making our 700 fans by Christmas target seem well within our grasp. Problem is our family is getting so large I don't think we're going to have enough mince pies to go round - alas the problems created by popularity! But added hostessing stresses are a minor sacrifice for being the destination of choice this festive season. So thanks guys let's keep it up! 

Standing is not difficult to do ...

.... or it isn't on most occasions. However, sometimes it can prove to be more challenging. 

One such situation where the average adult human's ability to remaining standing is considerably reduced, is the rush-hour commuter train. Being on one of these is a truly hideous experience in the best of circumstances, but when you are stuck in the middle of the scrum with nothing to hold onto it can be traumatic! Yet there is help at hand. ZUMBA! 

Working those abs to the sounds of Shakira and Cheryl, as well as some other more unmentionable tunes, gives you a core of, if not steel, at least well-set slate allowing you to remain upright and wear a slightly smug expression whilst you give witheringly disdainful stares to those around you who begin to sway like they've had one too many. 

Thus although, Sunday's Zumba may have been yet another class where my pitiful shaking and shimmying ability was shamefully apparent, (when 14 years olds can out-shake you, you know there is a problem - right @DelphiRose/ @LolaLoa_B?!?!?) it's benefits could not be denied today AND in the run up to Christmas who can deny the bonus of burning a few extra calories a week. 

*P.S Although it will undoubtedly be easier to balance on a train directly after a Zumba class, it cannot be recommended as I your aroma is unlikely to make you passenger of the week* 

Gratias ago-vos propter musica

So all that means is 'thank-you for the music' and ABBA were saying it some thirty or forty odd years ago but seeing as yesterday was thanksgiving, it seemed an appropriate time to comment.

We really are all thankful for the music, for the fun and for the friendship of Dance Station. It's a place where you can indulge your passions for the wacky and the wonderful with like-minded people and not feel like a complete and utter loon. 

So we will be spreading these sentiments tomorrow on the streets of Richmond - come say hi if you can! 

MY EYES!!!

Maybe it is because it is approaching the festive season and I am feeling particularly philanthropic, but I have decided to fund a new foundation, the RARC.

Ok, Ok I lied - I'm really not that charitable I am actually proving Joey's point in Friends: no selfless deed is fully selfless. RARC stands for: the Raggatone Aftermath Recuperation Clinic and I have decided to fund it, for the sole reason that I require its services. I generally enjoy education but there are some topics that really involve TOO MUCH INFORMATION! And this was certainly the case on Thursday evening. As i said @MlleGinger is starting to bring out all sorts of spice now and this requires becoming overly friendly with vertical surfaces that I was under the impression were supposed to keep you vertical, I was wrong apparently. 

Although in all fairness, if you haven't been down to class yet you really, really should because Christmas parties are getting dangerously close and we are going to look HOT. Or  99.9% of us are, I will endeavour to look at least .... I want to say respectable but again we're talking about Raggatone so that's really not that appropriate .... rhythmically correct. I think, however, I clearly need to find some way of incorporating a blindfold into my christmas party outfit so I can prevent my eyes from being completely burnt out of my skull.  

So hear you in class soon. 

Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end .....

..... and so does every waacking freestyle.

At least it does in theory, but that does require being able to move your feet/legs at least as well as you can move your arms - and sometimes at the same time!! Goodness gracious me that is a big ask and it was apparently the aim of this weeks class .... well nobody said we don't like challenges or that the pro @MlleGinger is not a hard task master! 

To stroke our egos a bit before we broke them down with the masses of amounts of coordination needed for the rest of the class we started with hugging ourselves. You'd think this was something that was relatively easy - i mean we hug other people all the time so why not ourselves?!?!?! But no, whilst it is easy to get the action right, it's not so easy to get it right exactly and so the genteel introduction was not so genteel after all but rather a more apt indication of what was to come for the rest of the hour! 

And so came the claiming the floor part of the evening. It is not enough to just move across the space, you must move across the space like you are in reality the Queen of Sheba - in other words you've got to OWN IT. This is not the most Richmond of behaviours but the finger-snapping action rights it gives you are so worth it and....... if you really can't handle it you can always resort to acting like a crab (@Katymillslondon) because after all cantering around and cussing like a crustacean is FIERCE. 

Video Phone

Even though I am right most of the time, statistically speaking anyway, sometimes you really shouldn't just take my word for it. The hype-ness of last Thursdays ThrowDown is one of these occasions - check out the videos below for PROOF people. 

Do the Hoedown (Throwdown) ...

... no Hannah Montana fans out there? 

Ok so I'm not talking about the Hoedown Throwdown but the one and only THROWDOWN - the monthly battle held in Brixton's plan B. It's always a hype night but tonight it was the LAST EVER waacking battle! As such, it was always going to have a little bit extra but I don't think anybody expected it to hit the levels that it did. 

For starters SO many waackers entered that right from the prelims the atmosphere was electrifying. Everyone was going all out and it was obvious that everyone had really stepped up their game. Particularly ingenious were the entrances with everybody werking it to the max. Of particular note were: (of the @Waacktitioners) the Prince of England (@NikSnode) standing directly under a red light and then strutting down the bleachers like he was on a deadly mission; Tin Mantis with his acrobatics and GLOWING GLOVES (which I wasn't at all tempted to steal); @EleanorOfficial werking a fur coat like only she can; Dance Station's own @MlleGinger intermingling with the unsuspecting audience to great effect; and Spike who went all tango-tastic to the crowd's delight. Even Dance Stationers @trixiecantswim, @susieq_licious, @CarleeBanks and DS friend Miss Mane seemed to have been infected - living off the enthusiasm of all present and (in the case of Carlee and Trixie) the fact that they KNEW THE SONG!!!!!!!!!. Unsurprisingly the aforementioned 5 (plus Bagsy, Divalicious K and Jade) went through to the quarter finals and this is where it got MENTAL! 

What followed were some of the best rounds I've ever seen (and I know I'm not alone in this opinion) - they were just sooo exciting, especially seeing the @Waacktitioners pitted against each other and watching how this played out. 

First up was @MlleGinger vs. Tin Mantis both of whom bought it. With props (physical) and FIRE (metaphorical) galore it was hard to move your eyes fast enough. The originality and dynamism of these two is really something to witness and something that makes it very hard to determine a 'winner' meaning that an extra round was needed (yay from an audience perspective) raising the excitement levels of the battle to such a level that I'm pretty sure they were illegal. 

Then came @MissEleanor and @NikSnode -  fierceness overload and even more props (although of a slightly less savoury nature this time - hmmmmm). Again the level of dancing was off the charts but what was even more entertaining were the interactions between the two on the sidelines of the battlegrounds with @MissEleanor clearly portraying her disgust at the Princes' very unprincely behaviour (evidently Harry is the influencer and not William) to great aplomb. Thus it's the confidence and presentation of these two that always gets me. You've got to love how waacking let's you fully embrace self-expression and push it to the maxx and it still be enjoyable to watch. 

From here, it was the men who went through to the semis bringing more wonderful theatrics but being knocked out by Divalicious K and Bagsy who went on to create a final of two very different interpretations of waacking - something that is very interesting for the audience - that Divalicious deservedly won, great to see a fierce dancer not being afraid to embrace her femininity and make it look strong not simpering. 

By this stage the adrenaline of everyone in the building was so high I'm pretty surprised there weren't any medical emergencies during track from the hat (in fact I think I'm going to have to suggest that werkaholism is added to the medical dictionary as a genuine affliction to prevent any future catastrophes) only luggage disASters on the way home when delirium had set in. 

Overall it was an AMAZING night. It is really hard to describe the effect that events like these have on the collective morale of those present but I definitely don't think anyone feels blue the next day and for good reason. It's amazing to see a scene that doesn't discriminate but lets you get what you want out of it and evolves as a result. So major props to all involved, I could not have been in Alyssa's shoes. 

Thanks @KatyMillsLondon for the photos 

Activating Battle Mode

Giving our penchant for waacking, spirits always run high between 7.30 and 8.30 on a Thursday night but this Thursday we were on a whole different level as we got psyched for the waacking battle at ThrowDown later that night. Basically this means that we went hard! 

Starting with the standard arm drills we took these up a few notches to add a little bit of (insert name of appropriate christmas spice) by ratcheting up the levels of coordination needed and of course a FIERCE FACE. Contrary to popular opinion, this doesn't mean looking like you want to either beat up or seduce the person standing opposite you (or yourself in the mirror which would be EVEN weirder) but just having intention behind your moves. For example, I concentrate really hard on not giving myself dyspraxic concussion. 

Once we'd got in the mood we moved onto busting some moves across the floor, again taking a basic move (a rond de jambe) and giving it a bit of waacktion to take it from boring to banging (the same as going from 0-60 for any of you who are automobile minded) in 5 seconds flat. Before getting to the peak of the evening - DRAMA.

This is where, helped by our dear friends Barbara and Donna, we really came into our own. Throwing the gauntlet down and crying 'ENOUGH IS ENOUGH' (whatever that be referring to) we took the intro on as teams and then busted out some sick solo freestyles for the rest of the track. Seeing everyone get involved, even those who are more recent additions to the clan and aren't quite as addicted as the waacking disciples (@LolaLola_B, @trixiecantswim, @SusieQ_licious, @KatyMillsLondon, @ToriKB, @CarleeBanks), is something that I never fail to find exhilarating and was either the PERFECT way to get us psyched for the night or the PERFECT sneak-peak of what's to come in the weeks leading up to Christmas. 

WERK!!!!! 

Let's Go for a Run

But why? you might ask! Well because we're in ballet of course! 

When you watch people run, aside from feeling sorry for the poor so-and-sos, I generally don't think it looks that difficult - at least from a purely mechanical point of view. I mean you see toddlers doing it all the time so it must be easy right? 

WRONG! It is in fact a lot harder and a lot more entertaining than you'd think. Well at least it is when you're running in circles on your demi-pointe whilst holding everything up (aka trying not to shake from laughing) and not using your arms. Ballerinas make it look weightless and as easy as breathing on stage - we made it look more like the ministry of funny walks especially when @MlleGinger is chasing you and adding a certain amount of urgency to the situation. 

Whilst this was fun, I have, after a lot of careful consideration (involving all sorts of complex statistical analysis) come to the conclusion that Phoebe had the right idea all along - so can we please do it like this next week:

Welcome Christina!

We love having new teachers come down on a Monday, no matter what the style you always get a different insight from a different dancer - something you've gotta love. So this is why we were thrilled to have the very newly arrived in London Christina come down and teach locking for an hour. 

Getting funky is something we always enjoy and Monday was no exception - come on working on wrist rolls, pacing and the scooby doo to Prince - what's not to love?!?!? Maybe the fact that some of us have clearly being spending way too much time in raggatone (@MlleGinger I blame you) as it did seem more challenging than it should have been to get some of the funky moves to move all the way from the knees up without some serious pelvis isolating action that was really not necessary (in my opinion it never is but I'm apparently in the minority on that one so what you gonna do - if you can't beat them join them!). But thanks to Christina's patience and a lot of practice, we did eventually get over this pavlovian response (maybe that should be Gingerian response?) we were banging out the combination. As such I have a sneaking suspicion that some of the moves will be making an appearance at the Christmas battle next month. 

So thanks Christina, welcome to the family - looking forward to having you back soon.  

Werking up an appetite

As we enter the third week in November, hit the six weeks until Christmas mark, and start slipping and sliding on the pavement as we walk along (we'll that might be just me but you know) we can justifiably claim that it is most definitely winter. That might mean a multitude of different things, but one thing it traditionally encompasses is Sunday Roast - yummy! These are best when you can really indulge in the stodge in a guilt-free manner - one way of doing this is to get yourself in class for the Sunday Marathon. 

Starting with Jazz at 12.30 we go conditioning crazy, especially as we engage in a fight to the finish in the weekly 'Plank' competition (read that correctly please @trixiecantswim) - trust me those Olympians of the summer ain't got nothing on us - we're aiming for 3 months by Christmas so we can feel momentary goddess before the festive food feast begins. If this doesn't kill us we work on technique and then throw ourselves into a routine.

 For the last couple of weeks we've been expunging all the weekly stresses by whiling out to Emeli Sande's 'Read All About It.' It's a perfect routine for self-expression, and also for making seemingly simple moves look completely ridiculous - seriously sometimes I don't know how @Kleiobows doesn't just lose faith completely! One move which basically consists of lifting your heels off the ground was especially guilty of this by somehow instead of looking effortless and relaxed looking more like whack-a-mole!!! Never mind by the end of class we'd managed something reasonable aesthetically pleasing (see video below), only to have all the gentleness reversed by segueing into hip hop. 

Here we got angry (or at least pretended - turns out Richmond peeps are not that aggressive - who knew!!) embodying Busta Rhymes and heading out to (metaphorically) break the necks of all who had annoyed us during the week. Although the floor section may have left my legs looking like they belonged to a 9-year-old boy it was totally worth it, as the routine was looking pretty hype by the end of class. As we normally do more groove-based routines, it was good to be challenged to pick up more intricate choreography and pull it off (to a certain degree at least). 

All of this is rounded off by a nice bit of calorie burning zumba action where we shake, shimmy and time warp (yes really) into LBD shape. 

If you're not convinced yet, I'm pretty certain that our stamina is so good after all this working out that if the end of the world really does come on the 21st of Dec we could outrun it. 

p.s. none of us are falling out of some of the turns in this jazz routine, not one bit ;)

I whip my hair back and forth

So on Saturday we had a treat! One of our extended family, Lee B (@LeeB_official) from BBC's 'So You Think You Can Dance' was down to teach a contemporary workshop and so the leggings were out in force. Rocking out to a great soundtrack we started with a warm-up, full of the infamous split push-ups (or awkward crouch push-ups in some instances), working our way up to exercises from the corner and then onto the routine.

Considering at least 85% of those in attendance were complete contemporary novices, the fact that we didn't have any major casualties during the corner exercises was a major cause for celebration. In fact as we got the hang of them a bit more and the level of resistance of our musculoskeletal systems went from a level necessary for resisting the dinner invitation from your strange next-door-neighbours to that necessary for resisting a second slice of chocolate cake (i.e. virtually non-existent resistance), we came to really embrace them and were (at least trying very hard) to whizz across the floor. 

Thus we were well and truly in the mood by the time we got onto the routine, especially when we found out that it was to Ellie Golding's "anything could happen" which is a serious TUNE. With lots of  whiplash-inducing and tribal action it was a brilliant opportunity to completely immerse yourself and LIVE in the music - something that is always enjoyable regardless of the style. And so by really throwing ourselves at it, encouraged by Lee's unfaltering enthusiasm and compliments, we all got a fantastic sense of release, freedom and of course fun (even if the exact execution of all the moves reflected this!). 

Overall, although contemporary can sometimes seem exclusive - especially for those who haven't studied technical styles of dance for years - we found, thanks to Lee, something new to embrace and add to our style bibliography. You can guarantee we'll have him back in the New Year. 

Dancing in the Street!

Ok, ok we weren't actually dancing in the street - at least not in a hot lunch flashmob Fame fashion - but we were out actively encouraging the dance-seeking public to come down and join us at dance station by showing off some of our funky skills to great success! We will be out in force again on Saturday so keep an eye out for us and come say hi! 

I need a stretcher

Technically I really shouldn't be writing this and you shouldn't be reading it, as what happens in Raggatone STAYS IN RAGGATONE. 

This is a disclaimer that is becoming increasingly important as we've hit the run up to Christmas parties and things have started to heat up .... a lot! This is a good thing (for most) as little treats that have been kept at the bottom of @MlleGinger's pocket, start to be pulled out one at a time and each (judging by Lola's face anyway) is like that long-lost fiver when you've got 19p in your account and nothing on your oyster card. For some of us, the effect is dampened by the fact that the added amount of shake reinforces the resemblance of the reflection in the mirror to one of the robots in Will Smith's "I-Robot" malfunctioning. However, this doesn't stop it being AWESOME, oh quite the contrary, collapsing on the floor (I'm not telling you why  -- I'd have to build in a self-destruct virus into this post if I did) provides ample opportunity for observation and some of the sights are truly priceless!!!! In fact so priceless were they, I feel that @KleioBows' suggestion of us getting involved in Carnival next year may have been taken a little too literally!! We may not be quite ready to make the move from Richmond to Notting Hill (or the Caribbean at that rate) quite yet (so don't be getting any ideas!) but we will definitely be ready to bust numerous moves throughout December - Offices all throughout the Thames area GET READY!!!   

If you want to not only dress to impress, but dance without distress throughout the party season, then get yourself in class!! Warning though the excitement may cause you to forget basic life skills - like being able to dress yourself for example - as we proved getting ready to depart after class. Oh well it's a price I'm pretty sure that we're all willing to pay.