..... 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.
Friday, 14 December 2012
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.
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.
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!
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!
Friday, 7 December 2012
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!
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!
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