Swan Link Dance Studio To Organize Dance Teacher Training Course

Swan Link Dance Studio of Kuala Lumpur will be organizing a dance teacher training course at its studio at 4th Floor, Wisma Ho Po, 65 Cangkat Thambi Dollah, Pudu, 55100 Kuala Lumpur. To be conducted by its principal, Chong Kim Yee, the course will prepare students for the Ballroom Associate examinations of the Imperial Society Of Teachers Of Dancing (ISTD) to be held in Kuala Lumpur in October this year. The classes will cover the bronze syllabi of 4 Ballroom dances, namely Waltz, Quickstep, Tango and Foxtrot.

The course will consist of 20 lessons of 3 hours each to be held on Saturdays from 2 to 5 pm. Classes will commence this Saturday, April 4. Chong Kim Yee (Fellow ISTD Ballroom & Licentiate ISTD Latin American), who established Swan Link Dance Studio in 1990 is a well known dancer and instructor in Malaysia and has trained many champions and dance teachers through the years. For more information regarding this dance teacher training course, kindly contact Chong at 6012-2215727 or email: chongkyee@gmail.com.

The Imperial Society Of Teachers Of Dancing (ISTD) with its headquarters at Imperial House, 22-26 Paul Street, London EC2A 4QE, England, is the leading dance examinations board in the world. It was founded on July 25 1904 at the Hotel Cecil in Convent Garden, London and was initially known as The Imperial Society Of Dance Teachers. The name was changed to the Imperial Society Of Teachers Of Dancing in 1925.

The ISTD is today a registered educational charity and is the only organization that covers the full spectrum of dance examinations on a truly global scale. Every year, about 250,000 people are examined, for which the ISTD provides grade examinations and medal tests to assess their proficiency. The many styles of dances for which the students are examined include Ballet, Modern, Tap, National, Classical Greek, Disco, Ballroom and Latin American.


Related Posts

> So You Think You Can Be A Dance Teacher

> Imperial Society Of Teachers Of Dancing (ISTD) UK, Medal Tests In Malaysia

KoRock Of Japan Wins Gatsby Styling Dance Contest Asian Finals

Last year, Mandom Corporation of Japan co-organized the Gatsby Styling Dance Contest in several Asian countries, namely Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. Mandom said that the aim of the contest is to create a new dance genre of "style dance" in order to support creative activities of young Asians and provide a forum for cultural interaction among young people of various Asian countries. In Malaysia, the finals of the contest was held last December at 1 Utama in Petaling Jaya and was won by Elecoldxhot who took home a cash prize of RM 2000 and the chance to compete in the Grand Finals in Tokyo, Japan.

The Grand Finals which was held on February 28 2009 at East-O in the chic district of Shibuya in Tokyo offered a glimpse of the dance scenes across the participating countries - be it hip hop, popping, locking or breakdance. Malaysia's very own Exelcoldhot put up a performance comprising of a mix of different styles and which depicted a story about two boys trying to pick up girls. Freedom Squad from Indonesia blended cultural elements into their choreography and staged an entertaining dance with an Indonesian flavour.

Hong Kong's Bloos Dynamite showed off their kungfu moves in a slow dance routine which incorporated wave and popping. Donning black tradional Chinese costumes, the dancers stood out from the rest of the other contestants. Not to be outdone, Pop On The Basic from South Korea, KGS from Taiwan and Floor Techniques Crew from Singapore also put up creditable performances. It was Japan's Korock who brought the house down with a a well-choreographed and energetic dance routine to emerge champions of this inaugural contest.

The three-men dance crew from The Land Of The Rising Sun won the Greatest Gatsby Award and 300,000 Yen (RM11,250) prize money. Bloos Dynamite, the runners up, took home a 100,000 Yen (RM3750) cash prize. Elecoldxhot and Floor Techniques Crew bagged the Grooving Awards while Freedom Squad and Pop On The Basic were awarded the Technique Awards. The Styling Awards went to KoRock, Bloos Dynamite and KGS. The guest performers - Japan's U-Min No Kokoro, Egu-Splosion, Overflow, Isopp & O-Hashi, Affect and Lil' B and Indonesia's Hamdi Fathi Basalamah had the crowd excited with their dancing skills and great showmanship.

Related Post

> Elecoldxhot Wins Gatsby Styling Dance Contest With Stylish Performance

Salsa With Gavin Chan And Sally Oh At Outcast Dance Studio

With his slim and fit physique and hair tied back in a ponytail, Gavin Chan has the aura and persona of a dancer. Gavin is indeed an internationally trained and recognized dancer/instructor and one of Malaysia's most accomplished salseros. Besides salsa for which he is well known, Gavin is also does other genres like Hip Hop, House, African/Afro-Cuban and Electric Boogaloo. His passion for dancing and the journey that he has taken to achieve what he has set out to do can only leave us with respect and maybe a little envy.

Born in Petaling Jaya 29 years ago, Gavin's parents sent him for singing classes when he was nine years old. During lessons, Gavin had to sing on stage and also act as a backup dancer for the other singers as well. As his voice started to break, Gavin soon lost interest in singing. Gavin then went on to learn hip hop during his early teens. After his secondary education, he flew to Australia to further his studies where he obtained a first degree and later a Masters in Commerce. While studying in Australia Gavin fell in love with salsa and attended salsa classes at night while studying during the day.

From Australia, Gavin moved to the USA and stayed in New York to soak in the dance culture there. In the Big Apple, he met up with other dance groups and started to dance and perform there. He was practically dancing day and night. Through his contacts there, Gavin had the opportunity to perform and teach in places such as Germany, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia. With the experience that he had gained from these stints, Gavin decided to return home to Malaysia to teach and impart his knowledge and skills.

Gavin and his partner, Sally Oh initially taught freelance at the different dance studios here but have since decided on opening their own dance studio called Outcast Dance Studio at 1-5 Dataran Petaling Utama, Jalan Masjid, PJU6A, Petaling Jaya. One distinguishing feature of Outcast Dance Studio is that they teach four different styles of Salsa: New York On 2, New York On 1, Cuban and Colombian style. Besides Salsa, the studio also offers classes in Hip Hop, Street, House, Ballroom, Latin American, Swing, Pole, and Belly Dance. For more information, contact Gavin at telephone no. 012-2495785.

Related Post

> Havana Estudio Celebrates 10th Anniversary In Style

> What Is Salsa?

Hugh Hefner's Ex-Girlfriend Holly Madison Competes In Dancing With The Stars

Dancing With The Stars (DWTS) Season 8 premiered in the USA on March 9 2009 with 13 celebrity contestants taking part. Two of the original 13 contestants namely, Jewel and Nancy O' Dell had to sit it out due to injuries sustained during pre-show dance rehearsals. Holly Madison, former Playboy model and ex-girlfriend of Hugh Hefner, and who is now being seen on The Girls Next Door replaced singer Jewel who broke both her tibias (shin bones). Madison who admitted she did not really have any dance experience, performed the cha cha cha with her partner Dmitry Chaplin and scored 18 out of 30 points from the judges.

Melissa Rycroft, a former Dallas Cowboy cheerleader who has a background in ballet stood in for Nancy O' Dell who tore the meniscus in her knees. Rycroft's past dance experience helped her and partner Tony Dovolani earn 23 points for their waltz. Giles Marini who performed the cha cha cha with Cheryl Burke scored 24 points to become the top dancer in round 1. Steve Wozniak who did the same dance with Karina Smirnoff was at the bottom of the list with 13 points. Each week, the contestants had to perform one of two dances chosen for the show. For the first week, it was the cha cha cha or the waltz. For the second, it was the salsa or the quickstep.

Injury seems to have hit many contestants in this and previous seasons of Dancing With The Stars. For this season, Gilles Marini suffered tendonitis in the shoulders whilst Steve Wozniak sprained his foot during rehearsals. Both have however chosen to continue dancing in the competition. Steve-O is considering pulling out from the competition due to a back injury sustained while practising the salsa. How on earth did Jewel fracture both her shin bones? What dance figure was she practising when she was injured? Winning the DWTS crown may be prestigious, but do the contestants really have to go for broke? (Pardon the pun!)

Those social dancers out there or those who are contemplating taking up dancing as a pastime are well advised to know their own fitness level. If you intend to take up "strenuous" dances like pole dance or breakdance and if you have not been exercising for quite some time, it is advisable to do a medical check up before signing up at a dance studio. Forget about the Quickstep Scatter Chasses or the Vienesse Waltz Fleckerls if you find yourself breathless or feeling dizzy. These figures are not for the beginners or the not-so-fit. Dance some of the basic or simple figures instead. Or maybe take up line dancing. Happy Dancing!

Related Posts

> Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak To Compete In Dancing With The Stars Season 8

> Line Dancers Converge On Christmas Island For 50th Anniversary Celebrations

> The Macarena Still Going Strong

New Vogue Very Much In Vogue Down Under

The New Vogue dance style is an Australian form of sequence dancing which originated in the 1930s when some Australian dancers rebelled against the formal and rigid footwork of the English Old Time dances, and started to choreograph sequence dances based on the Modern Ballroom technique. Len Hourigan of Brisbane coined the term "New Vogue" for these dances. Like English Old Time or American Smooth, New Vogue has many open positions such as open holds and shadow positions.

In New Vogue dancing, every couple on the floor performs the same steps at the same time, and at the end of the sequence, the steps are repeated. This makes New Vogue dances relatively easy to learn, as beginners can easily imitate the steps of fellow dancers on the floor. The dances typically have 8, 16 or 32 bar sequences, and so need music with a similar musical phrasing. New Vogue dances have been choreographed to all the popular dance rhythms including Modern Ballroom, Latin American, Bossa Nova and March.

The basic holds, alignments and footwork are standardized, but the dancers are allowed to improvise their own shaping, styling and arm movements which makes these dances very expressive to dance and a joy to watch. For example, when performing the throwaway oversway figure, the man might use both arms to hold the lady's waist and the lady might throw up both her arms in the air, while another couple might interpret this picture line differently. There is freedom of expression, so to speak!

New Vogue dancing is very popular in Australia and is danced at social dances in clubs and public halls around the country. In dancesport competitions and championships held in Australia, there are usually more entries in the New Vogue events than in either the Modern Ballroom or Latin American events. Of the many New Vogue Ballroom dances, 23 (the Viennese Waltz and Foxtrot make up more than half) are recognized by Dancesport Australia for use in dancesport competitions, out of which 15 can be performed at dancesport championships.

Related Posts

> Swing, American Smooth And American Ryhthm Dances

> Dancing The Vienesse Waltz And The Fleckerls

> Dancing the Foxtrot - Mastering The Feather Step And Three Step