My dance team, Shango Team of the Bamboo Dance Academy in Incheon, went to compete against 11 other teams. While we didn't win a top 3 prize, we walked away with a trophy for the "Most Popular" performance. It was my first competition after 6 months of salsa dance and I was part of a winning team!
We've been practicing for about 2 months, with people rotating in and out of our team due to injury and other commitments. We've been meeting Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday every week.
We met at our studio around 11 a.m. Saturday where the girls started preparing their makeup. We got to the concert hall in Seoul around 2 p.m., and started to prepare.
Each team got about 7 minutes for a rehearsal. That's not a lot of time, so we mostly worked on our spacing and a quick run-through. We all felt pretty good. Most of the teams had pretty technically advanced routines, but only one really caught my eye. The team's guys all died their hair blonde and spiked it up in a faux-hawk. They won first place overall.
We were the last team to go, so we had to wait for all the other teams. But when it was our time, we didn't disappoint. We really nailed our timing as a team, and the choreography of our routine sucked the crowd in. There was a certain part where the crowd started to rumble, then just exploded into cheers at various sections of the dance. When it was all over, they were on their feet going crazy. It was a really incredible feeling.
Then, during the parade, while all the teams stood on stage, we heard our team's name called for an award. So we got to walk out in front of everyone and take a bow. Noticing a foreigner, the host immediately came to talk to me and ask me where I was from. The crowd went nuts again. It was such a cool thing to do.
We went back and celebrated our incredible experience afterward.
Unfortunately, I'll miss the next available show that's taking place in August. I'll be back in America with Jeong Mi for my sister's wedding. That means I have to wait until February to compete again. Hopefully I'll get to perform between now and then though. It's such a rush to be up there with your partner and team and hear the crowd yelling and cheering. I'm so fortunate to have become a part of this team and met such wonderful people, and I hope it continues for a long time.
I'll post the video as soon as I can, but for now, check out all the great pictures!
2 comments:
you can perform at the wedding!
Dad and I would love to see that as well!!
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