Kyogo in SHINGAPORE

Hello everyone!

This year has been really awesome! We have Bobby Mileage, Brian Green, WCO, Sala who visited Singapore but I have never dreamt that D'OAM, Kyogo would be down in Singapore as well!

I'm really glad that I took the opportunity and committed a week of training and performance for Esplanade's 4Flo 16 Dance Challenge Festival. I HAVE TO SAY IT AGAIN. IT WAS AWESOME!!! Minus school in the morning though.

I have to thank Willy and Melissa for asking me to participate in this. It was a very last minute decision, we choreographed a routine within 2 hours just a night before audition on the next morning. You should have seen our faces, we got so damn excited when we met Kyogo in person! His english is superjitao the dope and he is so humble!

That is also the most hectic week ever. We have to learn the choreography within 16 hours. Monday to Thursday from 7pm - 11pm. Usually we have to end up taking cabs home, my bank savings are depleting like crazy on that week as well. LOL.

I feel that Kyogo is really an awesome teacher and a dancer. He has been very patient with us, guiding us with passion, and giving us words of wisdom in dance. Hanging out with him is pure joy as he's a very nice and outgoing person. I really admire his style of Hip Hop and I like his style too. Too bad he won't be in Osaka in October Marzipan. :'(

Then again, I'm so excited! Marzipan, Rach Hoho, Imoto and I are leaving for Osaka soon! Whee-o-whee!

Stay tune for more videos as I'll be editing more! Here are 3 videos first. Heh.

Kyogo's Routine :) He took over Melissa's position as she sprained her ankle 2 days before the performance. But it was such an honor to be able to dance on the same stage as him! *Faint*

Food For Thought : Popping is like driving

Hey guys, its been awhile...anyway just wanted to share a thought i had the other day.

I was teaching poppin class and while i was trying to find a good way to explain why we pop, i came across this "metaphor".

Well, when u are dancing, its like driving a car. You are driving along the highway which is the music. And on this highway(of music), you come across many humps along the road. These humps are your drumbeats aka Pops. So as a car, you drive on continuously until u hit a hump on the road, and then resume your driving. You dont purposely plan to stop every 10 secs to meet a hump, you just drive and let the hump come naturally.

So its the same with popping. While u dance, the drumbeats/snare comes naturally along. You let the beats affect you and make you pop. You dont plan to pop. You dont plan to pop at say every 2 counts or 4 counts. You just do it, you react to the sound of the pop....all the while dancing. So sometimes u pop at this count, sometimes that, sometimes in between movements. It gives u the ability to really dance, while still having pops.

So always imagine yourself driving along the highway and meet humps as u go. Dont plan for humps :):)

And final note, as always, eat food for thought in moderation :)

-Marzipan

Eventful June!

Hey guys! Its been awhile since i posted, but June was another crazy month full of events.

In case anyone missed it, Bobby Mileage from Elite Force Crew was intown!DAaaaaaaayuuumm! Finally EFC man! His course was very enriching and i hope itll help lay down the foundation of Hiphop in Singapore. Please spread the love and knowledge people!!!

Alright, in case you missed it (You will regret and smack ureself on your forehead!),

You missed :

1) Super Jam(s) at Music Garage

2) EFC workshops n course at YMCA (Courtesy of Da bomb)

3) Swagg out! 2 with Kyle, Ellen and Lyle

4)Elm workshop at Danz People

5) Mileage High Party!

6) And lastly, you missed the tribute jam for Wild Cherry... Lets take a moment to reflect on this OG of Funk and Asia. He truly was an inspiration and great forefather of Asia's streetdance scene. Rest in Peace Wild Cherry, the world will not forget you...

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Ok to end this off in a brighter note,

Somethings not to miss in July :

1)TBG workshops!! OMG

2) Crazykyo+Woong Workshops at Dope studio!

3) The Big Groove!!!! Yeahhhh! Cant miss this man, all the big names coming down, you will see the whole dance scene at the same event..hahaha cant wait to see all u guys man

Cya guys and peace out!!

-Marzipan

Words of Wisdom

I chanced upon this clip on youtube
(the full-length DVD can be found somewhere in O School)

Before I link the video, I want to say this:
I've said the same thing to so many dancers so many times, but not many took my words seriously... not many actually paid attention... not many listened...

now hear the same words coming out of the mouths of Bobby Mileage, CEBO and Ejoe...
listen and understand...

NTU FUNK JAM VOL1

Hey! Apparently I'm the only person who didn't do the write-up on SDD :p



Anyway! NTU FUNK JAM VOL.1 was held last Saturday (If you had no idea about it!), and it was a blast!


This event was organised by Fabian from Soul Funky and a few of his other friends from NTU Funkstyles (Nocturnal Nut & Soul Funky). And I believe all of them would have felt accomplished to have the whole event running so successfully.

Being the judge for both Popping and Locking categories, along with Bboy Larry for Breaking, this is also probably the first time that I've seen so many lockers, poppers, and bboys down for the same event. You can probably say that it's the first funk event that we have in Singapore which is being organized by ourselves, PLUS the additional fact that this time, the Popping and Locking categories were specially catered to the younger dancers. (Not gonna touch on the Breaking category)

My truthful opinion? Quite a good event. Achieving a total number of 32 lockers and 24 poppers without the more experienced dancers was an incredibly good turnout. (Where were all the lockers at during FTL2010?!)

It's so hard to judge the popping and locking categories alone! Every decision lies on me myself, and any mistake in it would results in the anger and wrath of the audience (ok I'm just joking hahaha) But truthfully speaking, the competition among the lockers were incredibly tough! I had such a hard time deciding who had to go on the next round. I have to say that my favourite lockers were Uncle Tan and Marzipan! I totally love the chemistry between them, don't you guys agree? Besides that, the competition among poppers were tough too! Mouse and Josh gave a good fight (especially Josh) against Timothy and Melise for the popping side. For the locking side, Augustine and Wei Sheng (WASA) had also displayed their own unique style of locking, up against Darren and Aloysious (Lockers AD)

The final winners were Mouse and Josh (MOSH), Augustine and Wei Sheng (WASA), and Hazrul and (sorry i dont know his name) (FTC) for the popping, locking and breaking categories respectively. A big congratulations to the winners! You guys gave a good fight during the battles.

The committee has put in a painstaking amount of effort to organize the whole event. On behalf of the poppers and lockers, I would like to congratulate, and thank the committee for pulling their hair off and racking their brains just to make the event a successful one. Keep your funds going Soul Funky~!!!



And also just to let you people out there know, I'm actually also organizing a dance event too! The
event name is Get Down! Vol.3, and it's going to be a 1-on-1 Freestyle Hip Hop battle. No gimmicks, no tags, its just going to be strictly street dancing. Check out http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=117430821618902&ref=ts for more details!!!