Snaps for Mademoiselle Ginger

Having spent the afternoon watching Legally Blonde 2 on sky, I have decided that we need to get our own 'snap cup' at Dance Station. Until I can arrange for a physical affirmation-providing beverage holder to be delivered, we'll do it digitally and the first round of snaps go to Mademoiselle Ginger for her epic win last night. Quite honestly if you weren't there I am ashamed, but sometimes people feel it necessary to pretend that they've got better things to do so for your benefit and for inspirational purposes watch the winning moves below. As the clocks go back this evening you've got a whole extra hour to kill, I highly recommend watching these videos on repeat - it's a much better use of time than sleeping and you will be helping to keep coffee providers in business. 

So here you are: SNAP SNAP SNAP (incidentally I'm going to suggest to supermalcom that we shout this out next year to indicate who we want to win rather than whatever it was we were supposed to be shouting as I never did work it out and was rather just making indeterminate sounds .... even though they still had the desired effect.) 

You've got to fight for the right to paaaaartay

So Halloween falls on a Wednesday this year. In case you haven't noticed, Wednesday is in the middle of the week. That means that we feel perfectly justified in partying both the weekend before and the weekend after. So to get things started we all entered a very scary fairytale hosted by Lola (@LolaLola_B) and DS friend Emily (@EmilySinclair3) on Friday night.

 Let me tell you when we dress up, we are very much of the 'go hard or go home' mentality. As a result Trixie, Lola, Mademoiselle Ginger, Kleio Bows, Wild K and Susie Q became: Gladys (the scariest girls world doll you'll EVER meet - especially when it follows yo around), dead Snow White, Withchy Witch, Spider Girl, a flesh-eating zombie and a PROPER vampire none of this sparkling like diamonds and falling in love with humans rubbish. Creations that were all set off perfectly by the AMAZINGLY decorated flat complete with myocardial-infarction-inducing scream mask in the toilet (it even managed to scare Gladys and she's a pretty tough nut to crack given the fact that she is plastic!) and horrific murder scene in the bathroom. Basically it's just a very good job that we all have battle-hardened nerves otherwise I'm not sure we would have coped. 

Brilliant as the night was (trust me you'll never see a bunch of guests that wouldn't look out of place at the Easter Bunny's funeral with better moves), it marked just the tip of our halloween-celebration iceberg. Keep your eyes peeled for many more treats coming up this week. For now though Lola and Emily - thanks for having us!

We're going on a Man Hunt....

...... we're going to catch a big one.
We're not scared. 
What a beautiful Day. 

Oops! Sorry that's 'we're going on a bear hunt' which is definitely not what we were doing at Dance Station on Thursday night. 

Nope instead we went on a man hunt. A hunt which entailed revisiting old-school jazz combinations,  that I've personally not done since I had to wear a lycra purple catsuit and white shoes to class about 13 years ago (the fact that I'd probably still wear this is besides the point), and giving them a waack-over by adding in a bit more attitude and a FIERCE FACE. 

It's amazing how just by adding these elements, jazz drags and pencil turns go from being moves I used to put into super-cool S-Club 7 routines, to moves I'd actually contemplate dropping in a freestyle. This is what's so great about waacking, you really can draw on all sorts of background knowledge you have (dance knowledge that is, I'm not convinced the extensive amount of memorised data on past volcanic eruptions and the effects these had on global climate I have floating around in my head would be much use!). 

So if you want a use for those moves you spent hours copying off music videos (those that are PG-13 anyway) and perfecting in the mirror, then we'll see you in class soon. If, however, all this post does is remind you to watch Flashdance again then I'm cool with that as well. 

I need a locksmith .....

Apparently the stereotype of academics being incapable of practical life skills has some foundation as on Monday morning it took me 20 minutes to open the front door at work and in the end I only managed it with the help of some nice man who took pity on me (damsel in distress much!). This incompatibility between me and locks continued into the evening and street styles at Dance Station .... although the second round was a lot more fun. 

I am referring to the fact that on Monday night we had the fabulous PJ in to get us in a funky mood, with an hour of locking. What an eventful hour it was! Working on the muscle man, the Scoo B Doo and dropping into jazz splits - it's really a wonder that any of us could walk the next morning. And what's more is that the splits part relied rather heavily on having a partner support you on your way down - I have decided that this is a sure fire way to find out who your real friends are! 

In the end though we were banging out a pretty fabulously funky combination and were all feeling pretty cool ............. and then she made us go double time! Oh well we'd be bored if there were no challenges right? Just remember if you were bruised the next day it was not because we were doing anything overtly dangerous but rather you were doing it WRONG - now there's a politically-correctly-stated disclaimer if I ever heard one. DanceStation law services will be available very soon. 

What a Weekend......

For some the weekends are for rest and relaxation, for wild Saturday nights and overindulgent lazy Sundays but not for us Dance-Stationers! Oh no, for us, weekends are made for battling. And this weekend was a BIG one. So big in fact, that I have had to re-write the lyrics to the Bangles classic "Manic Monday":

"It's just another voiceless Monday,
It's a result of Sunday,
Cos that's my cheer-day,
It's just another voiceless Monday!"

It was of course the street-talent weekender with battles in krump, popping, hip hop, house, breaking, 'me against the music' and waacking. No surprises - it was the waacking that was our main focus.

The Saturday comprised of the pre-selection and once again a few of our own decided to throw themselves to the wolves - all in the name of fun! Waacking disciples @Trixiecantswim, @SusieQ_licious and @CarleeBanks all entered as did resident teacher extraordinaire @MlleGinger - but with very different intentions, Ginge was in for the kill we were more 'in for the thrill.'

Despite this being our second time 'out' so to speak, it seemed infinitely more terrifying this time round for a variety of reasons. Consequently I feel that us managing to get through the 45 seconds (who knew this could last for an eternity) without throwing up was an achievement in itself, but we werked it out - @SusieQ_licious was particularly on it- and came off feeling sufficiently satisfied before going to quench the terror-induced thirst with a quick coca-cola. Thereafter, the weekend went on to improve exponentially as @MlleGinger qualified for the finals the next day along with DS friend @EleanorOfficial, Bagsy and Julia - and so the hype began! 

What can I say about the next day - aside from the fact that I am very glad of my ability to multi-task! The semi-finals came first (Bagsy vs. Julia and @MlleGinger vs. @EleanorOfficial) with Mademoiselle Ginger and Bagsy going through to the finals. You could already feel the passion burning at this stage, especially when @MlleGinger and @EleanorOfficial (comrades in arms and facing each other at Funkin Stylez for the second year running) came together to battle it out to the sweet sounds of Lady Marmalade - two fierce and fabulously dressed ladies + fierce track = FIRE! But this was nothing compared to what was coming ...... 

Although there was a rather longer wait for this next instalment than anticipated (seriously does one not learn that there are ONLY sixty seconds in a minute at school these days - I need to have words with the minister for education) there were some highlights, including 'it's not unusual' dropping during the me vs music prelims - (although seriously if you can't do the running man like a dork then you shouldn't be allowed to dance to this track) and it gave the competitors some time to get 'in the zone,' besides, the final was SERIOUSLY worth the wait. 

True we were yet again reduced to gibbering, hollering, nervous wrecks on the side (even in the position of the not-so-glamorous assistant).

Yes we may have made some enemies in the form of other spectators by kneeling and screaming so loudly I'm pretty sure whatever the nearest doctors surgery to Brixton's Plan B is will be seeing a large number of cases of perforated eardrums in the coming days. 

For certain did I give myself repetitive strain injury from repeatedly making the Holla gesture.

But was any of this regrettable?!? - NO FRIGGIN WAY! Getting to see someone fulfil a goal -and not just satisfactorily but absolutely kill it -  as a result of pure power and passion is an experience that nothing can detract from. Bagsy put up a determined fight but @MlleGinger was sooooo embedded in the music, it was exhilarating and impossible to beat. For that oh Ginger one you amply deserved your crown and we salute you with this aptly named track: 

Is combinator a word?!?!?

...... apparently it is! It's something to do with combinatory logic which is used in computing and mathematics - YAWN! Here at Dance Station it means something a little different. The combinator is what Ginger (@MlleGinger) becomes on a Thursday night during Raggatone. We don't do routines or choreography in Raggatone as that doesn't sit well with the party vibe. Instead we do combinations of the moves we have been perfecting (or attempting to perfect and failing miserably in my case) over the last couple of weeks. This means that it doesn't matter if you turn left and not right so long as you're having a good time and SWEATING it out. 

This weeks combination had the extra element of interactivity - (please ooh and ahh as you read this). Although my apparent inability to find a partner in time at least 75% of the time induced flashbacks of school PE sessions and being repeatedly picked last for all teams (seriously why is it so important that you are able to catch/kick/hit the ball?!?!?), the experience was immeasurably more enjoyable and, as such, can be considered a form of therapy.

In all seriousness highlighting the social side of dance is something that we're very big on here at Dance Station and that shouldn't be neglected just because Raggatone is a fitness class as well as a dance class - in some ways it may be more important as it makes exercising fun. Plus you burn 3 calories and tone your stomach everytime you laugh so why go to the gym and be miserable when you could come to Raggatone and get twice the workout just because you're having a good time? 

"It's like waacking on speed"

On Thursday night there must have been something in the air as we were feeling rather adventurous in all classes, and this was no less true in waacking than in any other classes. In fact so adventurous were we feeling that these words came out of Mademoiselle Ginger's mouth (@MlleGinger) "Could the problem actually be that the music is too slow?!?!?" Admitting the validity of this comment was a BIG mistake - voluntarily giving Ginger the option of making things faster has an affect akin to giving a five-year-old coca-cola, old-style blue smarties and chocolate cake in one sitting on their birthday - as you can imagine the results are less than pretty ....... but they are at least entertaining and as it was Flash Dance Anne's birthday we had to do something a little bit crazy! Luckily a hero was on hand to save us anyway, admittedly he may not have come riding in wearing shining armour and astride a white horse but in the form of an awesome track - giving us an excuse to regain our fierce composure and WERK! See the results below. 

We could have danced all night ....

... well we could have done if it wasn't sooo loud!! 

There are many wonderful things about tap dancing including the fact that it is a lot of fun and it improves your rhythm. There are also a million advantages to our swanky studio floor but my goodness when the two are combined it doesn't half make a cacophony! Seriously, we have decided to invent and patent tap mufflers - who cares if they completely defeat the object of tap, they will save our ears for sure.

Of course I'm only kidding, really we love the noise. There is just something about tap, and the way that you try and compliment the music with your own beats that really makes you feel like you're living in the music and when this is to an awesome jazzy version of 'I could have danced all night' then this is a massive win! Whilst getting those shuffle beats in fast enough proved more challenging than anticipated (apparently all of us need to send our ankles on a relaxing retreat as quite frankly at the moment they are all way too uptight!) pretty soon we were all living as if we had really just spent the evening twirling around with Professor Higgins, and coming back to the great things about tap - it doesn't matter that we're maybe not as light on our feet as Audrey Hepburn's Eliza Doolittle because we can just argue that the style necessitates it!  Check the video below to see what I'm talking about! 

Get Fresh

You may have noticed that we have a bit of a penchant for waacking here at dance station so an hour with @MissEleanor, recent winner of crazy legs' fresh award, for street styles this week was too-good-of-an-opportunity to pass up.

What's so great about waacking is that no matter how many hours a week you train, you always get something out of class because each teacher's personality brings something different and each individual in class interprets the moves in a different way (and trust me at DS some of the interpretations are really different ;D). 

Miss Eleanor always brings fierceness and discipline and last night we werked these to bring edge to our posing skills. Although some of us have more difficulty with pulling off fabulous pin-up poses than others, I for example tend to look more like the tin man before Dorothy brings him the oil (awkward angles are hot right?!?!?), everyone pulling their best fierce faces and hitting it together created a great vibe in the studio. Plus you know the ability to come out chilling and then BLAM hit a shape out of nowhere is gonna have some people shook when you freestyle by bringing that extra bit of dynamism to your pick-n-mix. Though I gotta say our pick-n-mixes are getting so sweet we're all going to need the dentists soon, check out the video below to see why. 

Bronx to Brixton......

....... or technically Richmond to Brixton but that doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

In case you didn't know this, and quite frankly if you didn't I'm ashamed (I mean it's not as if I didn't know this time last year or anything because I totally did ..... really), this weekend was the UK B-Boy championships WORLD finals and Dance Station was there in force. Featuring solo popping, hip hop freestyle and bboy battles as well as bboy crew battles, it is one of the sickest events of the year. In fact it is so sick, it seems to have been responsible for causing a terrible affliction whereby all us dance-stationers were left almost incapable of any type of complex, higher-order vocalisation that involved words, or at least words that made sense, and instead were reduced to a more primal form of conversation - namely screaming. 

However, I feel there was a bona-fide excuse for the level of excitement responsible for this evolutionary reversion (oh how I hope Darwin isn't turning over in his grave) and that was the amount of UK and female talent representing on stage! Seriously forget about the 'super saturday' of the Olympics, watching Brooke Milliner get to the final for popping - a FIRST for a UK dancer - and Soul Mavericks also get to the final for the crew battle was such a heart-in-your-mouth, butterflies-in-you-stomach, jelly-in-your-knees experience that I'm not sure my vocal chords will ever quite recover. Although neither took their respective crowns in the end (depriving the DS-ers a chance to "Church" much to their collective disappointment) theirs was a moral victory, as both Brooke and the Soul Mavs crew not only showcased the level of talent in the UK from a technical perspective but the level of originality, community and pride - traits that we often forget about until events like these pull us together and make us remember - and for that we can only thank and congratulate them. 

This is not to say there were no trophies taken home by UK peeps. One of the more bizarre (surreal, utterly bonkers, disgustingly shallow - take your pick) events of the weekend is Crazy legs' "fresh award." Basically this involves members of the audience going up on stage and consenting to their 'look' being torn to shreds (or potentially in hip hop speak 'cussed to chunks') by the audience and crazy legs himself. And whilst I cannot ever fully condone an event that incorporates a "thong check" (in my opinion Bridget Jones has the right idea) it was a bit of a welcome light-hearted relief from the nail-baiting drama. PLUS this year Miss Eleanor (@EleanorOfficial) fellow crew member of DS residents @KleioBows and @MlleGinger only went and won it! Man oh man can that girl WERK, if only I could bottle some of that confidence and sell it I'd be a millionaire!   

Overall, it was an aMAZing weekend. These events only serve to highlight how passion can bring really REALLY diverse groups of people together in a way that cannot be replicated by anything else - in fact it was so inspiring we've all sworn to enter next year with the intention of not just smoking some brehs but annihilating them - see you all then! 

"The linking problem is the first step"

The title of this post is an example of just one of the one-liners that waacking produced on Thursday night.

It's hard to tell why exactly Thursday night waacking has the effect that it does, but something about the potent combination of disco beats and drama has such a large impact on everyone's serotonin levels that hilarity is almost guaranteed to ensue.

This week the first culprit was a pas de bourree. It served to highlight the fact that an uncommonly high number of us were apparently having internal domestics - between our brains and feet that is. These arguments had become so ferocious that apparently our metatarsals and motor-neurones were no longer on speaking terms, rendering the footwork sequence seemingly impossible. Luckily Mademoiselle Ginger (@MlleGinger) was, as ever, on hand to mediate so that by the end of the track reconciliation had occurred and we were all flying down the room (for the most part anyway ............). 

The other cackle criminal was a rather 'interesting' attempt at a call and response exercise - one half of the group were waacking to the instrumental parts of the track and the other to the lyrical - EASIER SAID THAN DONE. When you're supposed to being the voice and you miss not one, but every single entrance and wind-up in a rather failed attempt at hiding - there really isn't anything to do except laugh! 

Who knows what will happen next week! 

FIELD TRIP!

When they don't involve wading in rivers to measure flow rate or counting grass to calculate the impact of compaction on species diversity, field-trips are dope! This is why once a month we inevitably end up tearing our way to Brixton after class to get to plan-b for the infamous Thursday night Throwdown.

Last night we went to witness the last ever seven-to-smoke popping and two-on-two bboy battles - we were not disappointed. Although I'd like to claim it was our presence that was responsible for the atmosphere being even more hype than usual, I suspect it had more to do with the Bboy champs (this weekend wohooo) providing international involvement for added tension. Where else do you get this much of a cultural induction as well as class? It may make work the next day interesting and the next three weeks seem like a really long time, but it is sooooo worth it. See you there next month or see you in class and we'll have our very own seven-to-smoke! 

Does anybody feel like a Russian magician?

When one walks into a ballet class, one expects to see multitudes of bun-heads in black leotards and pink tights politely practicing their pirouettes with nobody speaking in tones other than the dulcet ….. but at DS we do things a little differently and Thursday night was no exception! We spent the evening doing magic tricks to put the pizazz in port-de-bras and pretending to be Russian with the intension of injecting the dynamism in developé all aided, not by a spoonful of sugar but a measure of merriment, and a large one at that. What do you reckon we'll be doing next week - leaping like leprechauns? I guess you'll just have to come to class and find out for now you can just enjoy our motivational pirouette song:

Popularity!

Oh my gawd, we're like so totally popular! 

So you know that feeling you get when you check your phone and you have a text and an email, and a tweet and a bbm and a Facebook notification etc. etc. and you just sit back and bask in your own fabulousness as people clamour to send you friend requests? (Ok well maybe I don't personally but I have a good imagination).  That is how we at Dance Station are feeling today as we hit our 400th 'like' on Facebook. Whilst some people may say like 400 times in a sentence and so not see it as anything momentous, for us the feeling is so truly tremendous only the Pointer Sisters can express it in a way that does it any justice. Thus I leave you with this link as a thank-you. Enjoy it and keep the likes a-coming.

Strike a Pose ... Vogue

I bet you never knew that walking like a duck could make you feel FIERCE, but that is exactly what we discovered last night with the one and only Nikolas Snode. Werking out femme and old way grooves and dips (and working out our thighs at the same time) we all came to embrace our inner diva attitudes, helped along by some not-for-the-fainthearted song lyrics, and were sashaying down the studio by the end of the night. The transformative power of our energy being such that it was our beloved Richmond-based studio no more, but the most sought-after runway show in Milan. As a result, I'm pretty sure that Madonna has just booked us all for her next world tour. I should warn you though that if any of you show the slightest bit of jealousy over our new found fierceness and (imaginary) fortune and fame our stares can kill -so look out! 

Show Time!

Kleio (@Kleiobows) and Mademoiselle Ginger (@MlleGinger) proved that it's definitely NOT a case of 'those that can't do, teach' here at Dance Station. Performing at a private black and white party on Saturday night, they not only wErked the dance floor but ranked pretty damn high on the style stakes too showing us doubting Thomases that you really can take a jacket, rip off its sleeves and produce a banging waistcoat hey presto!! ( ... well so long as you're pretty nifty with a needle and can deal with the carnage of the first stage that is...) HOLLA! 

Welcome!

This is the brand new Dance Station blog to keep everyone up to date on all the shenanigans that go on both in the studio and out! The aim is to let people know that Dance Station is so much more than just another commercial dance studio, it's a community, and one that we are very proud and fond of. In keeping with this aim we'll post on anything to do with the dance world that our members are talking about (even if this mostly consists of SHOES) to keep the conversations flowing. In that vein if there's anything you want us to discuss just let us know! So for now get comfortable, read on and get acquainted with the wonderful world that is Dance Station.Warning the saying 'err on the side of caution' definitely doesn't always apply in our case and neither do we always err on the side of sane!  

P.S. Want to know why all the writing is in italics?? 

It's because everything is cooler with a tilt. This is a FACT. 

Waack Date the Third!

Shake Your Groove Thing!

Waack Date is an event masterminded (rather brilliantly, in my humble opinion at least,) by our very own Mademoiselle Ginger with the goal of putting the social back on the agenda of waacking and other freestyle dances. Every waacker brings a 'date' who specialises in a different dance style - be it popping, locking, house, breaking, jazz, tap whatever! The top eight couples (selected by a preliminary round in which only the waackers freestyle) then battle it out to be named waack date winners whilst everybody else supports and has a good old boogie!

This event has happened twice and both events have been hype! But what was the cherry on the cake this time (for us anyways) was the level of dance station involvement. The Dance Station Massif was out in force last Sunday at madam JoJos to support Ginger's event and members Trixie, Lola B, Susie Q, Carlee Banks and head instructor extraordinaire Kleio who all entered! For Trixie, Lola, Susie and Carlee it was their first time showcasing in a public arena - que knocking knees and butterfly bellies but although none went through the prelim they all survived without forgetting to waack, falling over  and/or throwing up - SUCCESS!. Kleio, however, went on to battle brilliantly with her locking date, Frankie, cheered on rather loudly by the rest of us. In fact the supportive screams for Kleio and Ginger, during her showcase, were of such ferocity, several of the massif were rather hoarse the next morning - a price well worth paying.

Overall, the whole evening was truly marvellous. The atmosphere was one that can only be created when a community comes together to celebrate a shared passion and the enjoyment that this created was evident on the faces and in the spirits of everyone in attendance. From this it is clear, that events such as these enable the inclusion of a far wider fan base than was previously possible and consequently ensure the future of a form of expression that we at dance station ADORE. So all we wanna know now is - when's the fourth date Ginge?

Happy Birthday to ya!

Dance Station turned 1 in September and because we need far lesser excuses to party we celebrated in style (or at least we tried to!). Vodka Revolutions in Richmond played host to us for the evening and for ambience and atmosphere it was great - it's music choices, however, were slightly lacking. Despite numerous attempted negotiations with the DJ we just could not get our own way, determined as he was to stick to the charts and not stray into the unchartered (in recent years at least) territory of disco and old-skool hip hop! This may have been because our demands were in the minority and not the majority but would it have really hurt to play cameo's "candy" at least once when we were so willing to perform the dance routine for what surely would have been the entertainment of the remaining clientele?!?!?! I think not! But apparently dancing on masse went out of fashion along with hair rats and platform shoes - Alas. Luckily our moves are such that we can dance to anything (within reason) so long as we've got good company and that we had in abundance. Thus all in all a good night was had by all - bring on the Christmas Party!

RaggaTone

RaggaTone launches exclusively at Dance Station.

Taught by the one and only Shawty, Raggatone is an exclusive dance fitness class to Dance Station. Based on Dancehall and Caribbean moves/music it's a class with a carnival feel, designed for you to have fun AND get fit - how often do those two words fit together in a sentence without it being an oxymoron?!?!? It's only been running since the beginning of September and it's already our most popular class. I can't really disclose why because for the most part what happens in Raggatone stays in Raggatone (the author of this post, for example, has ended up on the floor in hysterics at least once), so you'll just have to come and try it for yourself - but in the interests of good manners I'll give you a sneak peak below for your entertainment purposes only.