Marguerite Brodie-Eu & Andreas Lehrke, renowned tango dancers, teachers and performers will be conducting Agentine Tango dance classes for beginners in Kuala Lumpur. The details are as follows:-
Venue: Hall of Fame, Level 2, Indoor Sport Complex Wisma OCM, Jalan Hang Jebat 50150 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Date: Commencing Thursday July 31, for 8 consecutive Thursdays
Time: 8.30 - 9.30 pm
Fees: RM200 for all 8 classes, RM30 for drop-in
Marguerite Brodie-Eu has been instrumental in helping to promote Argentine Tango in Malaysia. It was through her efforts that the Kuala Lumpur Tango Club was born in 2003. The Kuala Lumpur Tango Club organized the 1st International Kuala Lumpur Tango Festival 2008 in July; an event which saw the participation of more than 100 tangueros and tangueras from 22 countries.
Brodie-Eu and Lehrke also conduct Argentine Tango classes for groups and individuals at a couple of clubs in the fine-dining enclave of Bukit Ceylon. In addition they regularly host dance workshops and milongas. For more information and bookings, please call +60(12)315-1008 or +60(12)662-8022. Alternatively you can check out their web site at www.tangomalaysia.com.
In my post entitled "Whisks In The Waltz" (Article 5) of June 23 2008, I described the 3 types of whisks that are commonly used in the waltz. They are the whisk, the back whisk and the left whisk. There is also another dance figure in the waltz known as the fallaway whisk which is quite similar to the back whisk. This dance figure has however fallen out of favour and is seldom, if ever, taught in dance schools nowadays.
Besides the waltz, whisks are not specified dance figures in the other ballroom dances. Whilst the whisk is not a specified figure per se in the tango, it is often used in conjunction with other dance figures particularly as an ending to a chasse to the right. The whisk in tango is popularly used in amalgamation with the Oversway and The Chase.
I find the walks, contra checks, whisks and the sharp head flicks to be the distinctive figures and movements in the tango. A tango dance routine would normally incorporate at least one or more of these figures or movements. The whisk if executed properly can add a lot of flavour or character to the dance. Technique is of course important in dancing the whisk. The whisk should be executed with sharp, crisp movements for that special tango effect.
The correct technique is to for the man to stand with the full weight on his right foot. The left foot should then be swept back quickly and crossed behind the right foot in promenade position into whisk. With the weight now evenly distributed between the right and left foot, the man should be standing on the flat of the right foot and the ball of the left foot. The lady of course stands on her left foot and sweeps her right foot back in promenade position at the same time turning her head sharply to her right.
Here's a nice tango routine incorporating the whisk. Dance two walks followed by an oversway with a timing of S S Q Q S S. Next do a chasse to right, RLR and cross left foot behind right foot in promenade position into whisk. Then step right foot forward in PP and CBMP and place left foot forward in PP without weight. The timing is Q & Q S Q Q or Q & Q Q Q S but I personally prefer the first timing. Finish with a closed promenade, S Q Q S. Happy dancing!
I have always wanted to set up a web site or blog to promote dancing in Malaysia, seeing that dancesport may one day become a medal event at the Olympic Games. Prior to this site being launched 2 months ago, I believe there is no web site or blog dedicated to dancing whereby viewers can post comments or have a forum to discuss issues of common interest. Many dance schools in Malaysia have their own web sites to advertise their services but most do not publish articles or have a forum.
Unless you are internet savvy and know how to set up a web site all by yourself, you will most likely have to engage the services of a professional web designer. You will also need to register a domain name. As most of the good dotcom domain names have been taken up, you will most probably have to buy one that you fancy.In addition you will have to pay for the hosting service. Then there is the yearly renewal fee for your domain name. All these expenses can set you back a tidy sum.
Being an internet newbie, the thought of learning how to build a website from scratch, registering a domain name and then looking for a host service provider all by myself sort of petrified me. Fortunately I have a relative, Fai who is a computer techie. When I told him I wanted to set up a web site or blog, he told me all about Blogger, which is owned by Google. "How much will it cost me to set up the blog?" I interjected. "It's free!" was his curt reply. "Is it difficult to set up a blog?" I queried. "It's as easy as abc, as simple as 123" he waxed lyrical. His repartee reminded me of the lyrics of the song ABC by the Jackson 5. Fai then went on to tell me animatedly that with Blogger you can create a blog in 3 easy steps in less than 5 minutes. My interest was piqued.
That Saturday I went over to Fai's house and we sat down to set up my blog. I logged on to blogger.com. A message read - "Create a blog in 3 easy steps." The first step was to create an account. That was easy. The second step was to choose a name for my blog. As spaces, periods and underscores are not allowed in the domain name, I settled for and christened my blog, http://www.dancesportmalaysia.blogspot.com/. The third step was to choose a template. This was the easiest (or toughest, depending on your viewpoint) part as there were so many beautiful templates to choose from. After mulling over the choices available, I picked a template with a green colour theme and clicked the enter arrow.
Lo and behold! My blog was up and running. I edited my profile, wrote a little about myself, and published a post about the So You Think You Can Dance competition which was then being aired over TV8 every Thursday. I viewed my blog again. Voila! All that I had posted were shown on the site. I was smug and as pleased as Punch. Setting up a blog and blogging isn't so difficult after all, I told Fai. He smiled and nodded in agreement.
I told Fai that I had seen advertisements with the words "Ads By Google" in many web sites and blogs and was curious to know what they were all about. Fai told me that these are contextual advertisements that are relevant to the contents of the web pages.He further informed that the site owner or AdSense publisher as they are called will be paid a certain amount of money each time someone clicks and sees the advertisement. I was as curious as I was sceptical. "Who would want to advertise in a new blog like mine" I muttered to myself. Anyway since there were no joining fees involved, I signed up as a AdSense publisher with google.com/adsense and put up a small rectangle ad unit in my web page. We were done for the day and I then took Fai out for a nice dinner as a token of appreciation.
The So You Think You Can Dance competition started on cue at at 9.30 pm at the Ruums Bar & Club, Kuala Lumpur. After the Top 6 finalists had performed the opening dance, the ever bubbly host Aishah Sinclair stepped on to the dance floor to welcome the audience and introduce the judges. Wearing a lovely black dress (black seems to be her favourite colour) Aishah introduced the panel of judges. They were the usual trio of Pat Ibrahim, Judimar Hernandez and Ramli Ibrahim. The guest judge was the renowned dancer, performer and choreographer Aida Redza.
It was then time for the competitors to battle it out on the dance floor. In this episode all the dancers had to do a partner dance in the first round and then perform a solo in the Dance For Survival in the second round.
The names of the couples and the dances they had to perform in the first round were:-
1) Sly & Jojo - Disco Mambo
2) Black & Sim - Argentine Tango
3) Hong & CC - Samba
The dances were well choreographed and all the couples performed commendably. It was really difficult for me to pick the best couple this time.
It was only in the second round that the competitors were able to break away from the constraints of partner dancing to really express themselves. The dances that the competitors had to dance were as follows:-
1) Sly - Hip Hop
2) Hong - Contemporary
3) Black - Hip Hop
4) Jojo - Contemporary
5) CC - Conga
6) Sim - Contemporary
Black was in his elements and shone in the dance that he loves and does best - the Hip Hop. He redeemed himself from his not-too-good performance in the Hip Hop in the previous episode. Dancing to the tune of Sweet Young Thing by Michael Jackson he did some great moves. Wearing a fedora and a white glove ala Wacko Jacko he gave his best performance so far. Unfortunately he did not do a Moon Walk . I would love to see him do a Moon Walk at the Grand Finals next week and hopefully walk away with the prize money of fifty grand Malaysian Ringgit. Ramli remarked that he captured the moment. Aida was so excited that she was lost for words!
Sim also gave a commendable performance and executed some beautiful leaps in the contemporary dance. She is the only dancer in this SYTYCD competition not to have fallen into the Bottom 4 or Bottom 6 during each episode. CC and Hong did pretty well as did Sly who is nifty in Hip Hop. The weakest was Jojo and it does not help that she does not smile much. In dancing it is as much as dancing the steps as it is in expressing the joy of dancing in your moves and facial expressions.
While waiting for the sms vote to come in, the male dancers did a Malay Contemporary dance whilst the girls did a Hip Hop to entertain the crowd. The Top 4 finalists chosen were Black, Hong, Sim and CC. They will be competing in the Grand Finals which will be held on Friday, August 1 at 8.30 pm at the same venue.
The Top 4 finalists of So You Think You Can Dance Malaysia 2 will be meeting their fans at Sg Wang Plaza, Kuala Lumpur on July 29 from 2-4 pm. Be sure to catch them there.
Bryan Watson & Carmen Vincelj, 9-times World Professional Latin American Dance Champions and 7-times Blackpool Professional Latin American Dance Champions will be performing in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as part of their World Dance Tour Performance. The details of the performance are:-
Venue: Olympic Council Hall, Wisma OCM
Jalan Hang Jebat
Kuala Lumpur 50150
Date: August 1, 2008 (Friday)
Time: 7.00 pm to 11.30 pm
Tickets are priced from RM1200 to RM1800 for a table of 10 and a 8-course Chinese dinner will be served.
This event is presented by Professional Dancers (M) Berhad (http://www.pdmb.com.my/) and is not to be missed.
Welcome to Dancesport Malaysia, the website for Ballroom, Latin American, Social Dancing and other related topics like entertaintment, arts, music, lifestyle, health & fitness, etc.
Dance Aficionado, who is an Associate of the ISTD is passionate about dancing, writing, blogging and living life to the fullest. My email address is dancesport.my@gmail.com
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