Flash Mob Glee In JB

Shoppers at the KSL City shopping complex in Johor Bahru yesterday were surprised when about 150 fellow shoppers suddenly performed a synchronised dance in front of them. The flash mob danced to a hip hop dance song, Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO. The event organizer Lai Jia Yan, 26, said the activity was to promote street performing among youths in the state of Johor. "This is our third stop after we did the same routine at Sutera Mall and City Square, both also in JB. Our purpose is to encourage youths to express themselves in public through healthy activities such as dancing."

"We promoted the event through our Facebook page, where our followers learnt the dance moves through a video clip pasted on the group's page," Lai enthused. Lai, a lecturer, said the followers would then meet and dance at a random place and time posted on the page. "When we started the event in Batu Pahat a month ago, we only had about 30 participants, and I am happy that the number of participants have grown," she exclaimed, adding the participants were between 7 and 40 years old. Participant Tan Seok Yeow, 24, said he previously watched such flash mob events on the Internet. (The Star)

A flash mob is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual or pointless act for a brief time, then quickly disperse. The term flash mob is generally applied to gatherings organized via telecommunications, social media or viral email. It is generally not applied to events organized by public relations firms, protests and publicity stunts. The first flash mob was created in Manhattan, USA in May 2003 by Bill Wasik. A flash mob dance is thus an event where a group of people gather in a public location to perform a pre-choreographed dance routine. (Wikipedia)

MyDance Festival 2011

MyDance Alliance in partnership with Asia Dance Magazine and University of Malaya is presenting the MyDance Festival 2011 which will be held from September 9 to 25. The fourth MyDance Festival brings the exuberance of energy and dance to Kuala Lumpur. During this three-week festival, you can watch spectacular dancing as well as join in the many interesting workshops.

You can experience the mystery of butoh, the magic of classical Indian dance, the physical spectacle of contemporary dance or the beauty of ballroom dance. Challenge yourself with masterclasses by local and international artistes. Or begin your journey into dance with introductory workshops for children and adults, including dance film and photography as well as an academic conference of renowned dance scholars; this festival has something for everyone!

MyDance Festival 2011 "All In One" creates an unforgettable celebration of dance, from traditional to cutting edge, young talents to reputable artistes, showcasing local Malaysians as well as dancers from the Asia Pacific region. Witness the depth, drama and diversity of dance in Malaysia, all in one! For more information check out mydancefestival.net.

Yes You Can, Samantha Tan!

Samantha Tan, 26, was born and raised in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Originally trained as a rhythmic gymnast, she made the late transition to dance at the age of 18 when she took up ballet, jazz and tap. Within a year of dance training, she had won the Encouragement Award at the 8th Solo Classical Ballet Competition 2004 in Kuala Lumpur. In 2006, she went to England to further her dance studies at the famed London Studio Centre where she graduated with a first class Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre dance.

Currently based in London, Tan made her West End debut at the original London cast of High School Musical in 2008 at the Hammersmith Apollo. She has acted in The King And I twice with two different companies - at the Royal Albert Hall in 2009 and at the Curve Leicester theatre early this year. Tan has also performed at the Brit Awards, danced in many stage shows in Britain and appeared in several television commercials. Other than that, this talented lady has even acted in two Harry Potter movies.

Tan has recently been accepted into the three-year Masters in Fine Arts acting programme at the prestigious Actors Studio Drama School in New York. Whilst she is thrilled with the opportunity that has come her way, she is at the same time saddled with the task of trying to raise the money for her lessons in the Big Apple. In order to raise the necessary funds, Tan has set up a blog (refer www.samanthatan.co.uk) and sent out appeals to several Malaysian individuals and companies to seek funds to help finance her studies.

The response to Tan's initiative has been encouraging, with donations totalling US3,700 from all over the world collected so far. Better Malaysia Foundation, which was founded by tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan, awarded her a partial scholarship of US20,000 a year, which is more than half the annual tuition fees of US34,000 a year over three years to help defray her studies. With that donation, she needs another US45,000 in fees and an additional US50,000 for cost of living and other expenses in the US over three years.

Dirty Dancing Remake

Hot on the heels of Footloose, Dirty Dancing has become the next '80s dance movie to be remade for the big screen. Entertainment group, Lionsgate, confirmed on August 8 it was remaking the 1987 film classic. The original movie starred Jennifer Grey as "Baby" Houseman, a teenager who falls for her holiday camp dance instructor, Johnny Castle played by Patrick Swayze, and becomes his student in dance and love. The film won Oscars for Best Music and Best Original Song. Kenny Ortega who choreographed the original movie was set to direct and produce the remake.

Ortega said: "The opportunity to direct Dirty Dancing is like returning home for me. Growing up in the '60s on the dance floor helped defined me as a person and as an artiste. I am looking forward to assemblying a great creative team and an exciting cast to bring Dirty Dancing to the screen for a new generation. Patrick Swayze set the bar for men dancing in the movies as Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire did before him. I believe everywhere you look, there is evidence that the talent is out there and I can't wait to begin the process of discovering the next breakout triple threat".

What is a triple threat? According to searches on the internet, a triple threat is a person who is adept in three different fields or in three different skills in the same field. In American football it refers to a player skilled in running, kicking and passing. In entertaintment, it relates to an artiste who can act, sing and dance well; for example Jennifer Lopez. In the movie Shall We Dance?, starring Jennifer Lopez as a dance teacher and Richard Gere as her student, she did dance the waltz and tango quite admirably. That cannot be said of Richard Gere who looked like he had two left feet.

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Gatsby Dance Competition 2011 Auditions

Dancers, listen up! The Gatsby Dance Competition is returning for the fourth time. If you're a student who is into b-boying, popping and locking or modern dance, this is the competition for you! The competition is open to all students in Malaysia, and from seven other countries: Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan and Thailand. Think about it, if you make it past the Malaysian Finals, you might just get to dance off with students from these countries - and in Japan too.

Auditions will be held in several locations around the country - Johor Baru (Oct 15), Penang (Oct 22), Kota Kinabalu (Oct 29) and Kuala Lumpur (Nov 5). Shortlisted candidates from each venue will automatically qualify for the Malaysian Finals, which will be held on Jan 14, 2012. All you need to do to join the competition is - apart from knowing how to dance - to download a 'theme song' from the list given at the Gatsby Dance Competition Malaysia facebook page to practice to. Then, head to any of the 'recruitment drive' venues.

If you can't make it to the venues, worry not, because you can also upload your videos to the facebook page, where fans will vote for their favourite clips. Participants with the most number of 'likes' for their video clips will also qualify for the finals. Here's the best part- the Malaysian champion will go on an all-expenses paid trip for the final showdown against winners from seven other countries in the Asia Grand final in Japan on March 10. 2012. (The Star)