Antimo Russo Of Italy To Conduct Latin American Dance Workshop In Malaysia

SBW Dancesport Centre of Muar, Johor will be organizing a dance workshop which will be be conducted by Antimo Russo of Italy. The details are as follows:-

Date: November 15 2008 (Saturday)

Time: 8.00 pm to 10.00 pm

Venue: SBW Dancesport Centre
48-39A, Jalan Taman Sakeh Baru 1/2
Taman Sakeh Baru
Muar, Johor

Malaysia

Tel. No: 019-7745871 (Mr Siow Boon Wah)

Fax. No: 06-9511069

Email: sbw_dance@hotmail.com

Fees: RM80 for a 2 hours workshop

The dances and the topics that will be touched upon and discussed by Antimo Russo at the workshop are:-

Cha Cha Cha - development of rhythm, balance and changes of body weight, check position in the New York action and split Cuban break, differences.

Rumba - appropriate technique in the walks (forward & backward), application of a rotation to a walk, lead & follow, change of the rules.

Besides teaching Latin American dances in Hong Kong, China where he is currently based, Antimo Russo also teaches Argentine tango and salsa. Russo, 27, has taken part in many world dancesport competitions including the Blackpool Professional Latin American Dance championship. He is presently dancing with Ee Phei San of Hong Kong. For more information on Antimo Russo, please check out http://www.arthurmurrayhk.com/.

Best Wishes As Usual,

Dance Aficionado
Dancesport Malaysia

Line Dancers Converge On Christmas Island For 50th Anniversary Celebrations

Christmas Island is a territory of Australia and lies in the Indian Ocean. It is located about 500 km south of the Indonesian island of Java. With an area of 135 square kilometers, Christmas Island is approximately half the size of Penang Island. Captain William Mynors of the British East India Company gave the island its name when he arrived on the island on December 25 1643. In 1887, phosphate was discovered on the island which led to the annexation of the island by the British Crown on June 6 1888. Phosphate mining began in the 1890s using indentured labour from China and the Malay archipelago. Sovereignty of the island was transferred to Australia in 1958 and Territory Day is celebrated on October 1 every year with much gusto by the islanders.

This year, Christmas Island celebrated its 50th year of being a territory of Australia. The celebrations somehow attracted the attention of a group of more than 100 Malaysians comprising dancers, marathon runners as well as friends and family who cleverly combined the idea of a holiday, anniversary celebrations, dance workshop and half marathon all in one. On Oct 3, the group flew to Christmas Island on a chartered flight. The next day the dancers took part in a line dance workshop conducted by Australian dance instructor Chris Watson who had come to Christmas Island with three of his dancers from Tamworth, New South Wales. Watson belongs to a dance group called Dare To Dance (http://www.dare2dance.org/) which conducts workshops around the world.

The group of line dancers comprised mainly of dancers from two studios in Selangor, namely Jasz Dance and Studio 33 who meet regularly for parties and workshops in the Klang Valley. (For more information on their line dancing activities, contact Jasz Dance at 012-6551164 or Studio 33 at 012-3880315). The runners from Malaysia and their Christmas Island counterparts also took part in a half marathon. The 21 km "JW Flora and Fauna Fun Run" hosted by the CI Cricket and Sporting Club (http://www.cicsc.org.cx/) took the runners through the woods and roads of the beautiful island. Scott Fischer, president of the CICSC said the club hoped to organize a full marathon in future.

The population of Christmas Island stands at about 1000; made up roughly of 70% Chinese, 20% Europeans and 10% Malays. The island is noted for its lush tropical rainforest, amazing flora & fauna, birdlife, beautiful beaches and stunning landscapes. It is also famous for its red crabs and robber crabs, known elsewhere as cocunut crabs. The annual red crab mass migration to the sea to spawn has been called one of the wonders of the natural world and takes place every year around November. More than 60% of the island is now under the protection of the Australian Parks Authority. The park on the island contains the last remaining habitat of the endangered Abott's booby and the only nesting sites of the Christmas Island frigate birds

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Dancing The Foxtrot - Mastering The Feather Step And Three Step

The foxtrot is often considered the most beautiful as well as the most difficult to learn of all the ballroom dances. The dance is characterized by long, gliding and controlled steps to give it a drifty and unhurried appearance. The foxtrot is not named after the so called trotting movements of a fox as is sometimes mistaken but is named for its inventor Harry Fox who premiered the dance in New York, USA in 1914. Not surprisingly, this dance is called the fox step (fox as in vulpine) in China. When this dance was first introduced to China, the Chinese translated the word "fox" literally, and the name has stuck since.

The time signature for the foxtrot is 4/4 meaning there are 4 beats in a bar of music. The first & third beats are accented and the tempo is normally set at about 30 bars a minute. The dance figures consists of various combinations of "Slows" and "Quicks". Each "Slow" has 2 beats of music while the "Quicks" have 1 beat each. Beginners learning to dance the foxtrot are well advised to master 2 basic figures; namely the Feather Step and the Three Step. Once you have learned to dance these 2 figures well and coupled with good technique you will really enjoy dancing the foxtrot and find it not so difficult a dance to learn after all.

The Feather Step is a four-step figure with a SQQS timing. For the man the first step is taken with his RF forward. On the second step he places LF forward preparing to step outside partner, left side leading. On the third step he places his RF forward in CBMP outside partner. The fourth step is taken with his LF forward. The stepping outside partner on the third step has to be done correctly and "shaping" is important here otherwise an ugly hip movement will result. For the lady who is moving backwards, it is important to release the toe of the front foot from the floor as it commences to move back towards the supporting foot.

The Three Step as the name suggests is a three-step figure with a QQS timing. For the man the steps are - 1. RF forward, HT; 2. LF forward, TH; 3. RF forward, H. The figure should be danced with a slight right side lead on steps 1 and 2. For the lady the steps are - 1. LF back, TH; 2. RF back, TH; 3. LF back, T. A slight left side lead is used on steps 1 and 2. It is important to release the toe of the front foot from the floor as it commences to move back towards the supporting feet. If the foot moves back with the toe of the front foot in contact with the floor, the movement will be seriously restricted and not be smooth. Happy Dancing!

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8th Sabah Open Dancesport Championship 2008

Imperial Ballroom Dancing School of Kota Kinabalu, Sabah will be organizing the 8th Sabah Open Dancesport Championship 2008. Details are as follows:-

Date: December 6 2008, Saturday

Venue: 1 Borneo Hypermall Ballroom, Kota Kinabalu

Events: Ballroom Standard - Waltz, Quickstep, Tango, Foxtrot, Viennese Waltz;
Ballroom Latin - Cha Cha Cha, Rumba, Jive, Samba, Paso Doble

Participation: Open to competitors from the Asia Pacific countries only

For information and enquiries please contact Anthony Keung, the principal of Imperial Ballroom Dancing School at telephone numbers 6088-253090, 6019-8213322, fax 6088-238785 or email: ymmc7388@tm.net.my

Sabah is one of the 13 states and 3 federal territories which make up Malaysia. Known as the "Land Below The Wind", Sabah lies on the northern part of the island of Borneo. Sabah has lush tropical rainforests, beautiful islands & beaches and an idyllic lifestyle. The capital of Sabah is Kota Kinabalu which is the gateway to eco-tourism adventures like mountain climbing, caving, river cruising, white-water rafting and diving. Mount Kinabalu at 4095 meters is reputedly the highest mountain in South East Asia. Its main attraction is the Kinabalu Park with its rich diversity of flora, fauna and an amazing array of birds.

Other famous tourist attractions in Sabah include Sipadan Island which lies off the town of Semporna in the East. Sipadan which is famous for its teeming marine life has been named as one of the 5 most beautiful diving spots in the world by renowned oceanographer Jacques Cousteau. In the town of Sandakan to the North is the well known Agnes Keith House. This former British colonial government quarters was once occupied by famous American author Agnes Newton Keith who wrote Land Below The Wind (1939), Three Came Home (1946) and White Man Returns (1951). Nearby Sandakan is the Sepilok orang utan sanctuary where orang utans are raised before they are released back into the wild. Tourists can also take a river cruise along the Kinabatangan River to witness the proboscis monkeys and other wildlife.

Best Wishes As Usual,

Dance Aficionado
Dancesport Malaysia

South Korean And Japanese Scientists Develop Dancing Robots

Scientists at South Korea's Institute of Science and Technology have recently developed a robot which can do household chores and also dance. Named "Mahru", the robot can display emotions by moving its lips, eyebrows and even pupils freely to make faces and emit two scents of fragrances to match its emotions. It can also move its upper body parts freely while walking on its legs. "Mahru" which can dance while moving its legs was developed as a humanoid robot capable of working in place of a human. It will open the way for commercial use of humanoid robots doing housework.

Over in Japan, scientists at Tokhuro University had in 2005 developed a Partner Ballroom Dancing Robot (PBDR) which was able to predict the steps of a human dance partner based on body movements and react accordingly on its three wheels. The robot had sensors to anticipate the moves of its dance partner and a complex wheel system that enabled it to move freely in any direction. The 1.65 meter tall robot (or "fembot") had a female face and a female body. It wore a ballroom gown and came in bright pink plastic. Although it could match the movements of a human partner's upper body it could not perform dance steps.

Japanese scientists had in 2007 also taught a human-sized robot named "Promet" to imitate the steps of a dancer. It was hoped that the robot could be used to record the movements of traditional dances that may be lost as their performers die off. To demonstrate what the robot could do, the scientists programmed the 1.5 meter tall "dancebot" to mimic the graceful sways and whirls of the Aizu Bandaisan, a Japanese folk dance. Although its interpretation of the upper body movements of the Aizu Bandaisan was impressive, the robot had difficulty with complicated leg movements.

It would not be in the realm of science fiction anymore that sometime in the not too distant future, scientists will be able to develop human looking robots or androids as dance partners and which can do your housekeeping as well. You may even be able to order a dancing robot to match your height, size, temperament, etc. Imagine bringing your own dancing robot to your dance school or social events. You can programme your dance routines into the robot and dance like champions. The best part of it is you can chide the robot and it will never talk back. That would be a blast!

Best Wishes As Usual,

Dance Aficionado
Dancesport Malaysia