S24'2016

Took part in this year's Super 24, the biggest dance competition in Singapore. Right after the uni's production and we straightaway jumped into the preparation for this competition. 3 months. Honestly, I didn't expect myself to have the chance to stand on that stage, and I felt really blessed that I had the opportunity before I graduate and eventually stop dancing all together (I hope not?). To cut the intro short, I would just say that the 3 months of preparation was really not easy. Never had a single session with full attendance, and sometimes lack of motivation. But I guess in the end, we managed to shine that little bit brightly on stage.

SUTD S24 Team of 2016

I honestly don't know what to say about this so I guess I will just quote what I put on the insta haha.

It was such an amazing night and we couldn't stress how lucky we were to be able to perform on the same stage (literally) with more than 1000 amazing dancers and best crews in Singapore! When we were on stage, we fed each other with positive energy and took in the vibes from the surrounding. The togetherness, energy and feeling-each-other-ness brought us through that 60 seconds on stage, which we believe was the time that our team shone most brightly! We may not be the best dancers, but the cheers from the crowd and the smiles on the judges' face told us that we had one job and we did it! We really did! We hope that we managed to touch many people's hearts out there yesterday, not with our less-than-perfect techniques, but with our smiles :) If we didn't manage to touch your hearts yesterday, we will train hard and be sure to touch yours in a year's time! We are really proud of the 24 bravest souls out there on stage yesterday to give their all! Thanks for everyone from SUTD who came down to support, you never know how much this small act and support really means to us :') Thanks all the juniors and alumni who came down to give us your greatest support too! 😘😘💞 And also have to thank Marcus #bestchoreographer who choreo-ed such an awesome piece for us and pulled through all the hardship with us throughout these 3 months! There were phases of disappointment, but thanks for never losing faith in us! :') We are eternally grateful! Our holidays at #s24 ended yesterday, but we will definitely be back next year! #sutdpride #ddzpride 

 Indeed, there were times when we were disappointed, Marcus was disappointed. But I was glad that we woke up and got our shit back together a week before the Prelims.

It was really great dancing with all the other 23 peeps la we really felt each other on stage. No matter how much we held back during pracs, I believe that all of us really just whacked and threw face on stage already. The feeling when you know that you are bringing joy to the audience is heavenly! Even though we didn't manage to get into finals (which would have been an added bonus) and we know and accept why, I believe that we shone really brightly on stage!! 😁😁 The feeling was awesome when you heard the crowd cheering for you and really enjoyed your performance. I think the thing that satisfied me most was the smiles/hint of smiles on the judges' faces. The first thing that came into my mind once I saw the smiles was that "WE DID IT!" S24 is over now; it's time for me to take a break from dance for the next few days and focus on my school work. But fear not. SUTD Dance DerivativeZ. We. Will. Be. Back! #s24 #dancederivativez #bestchoreographer @monkcus_ #LTinSUTD

 The two captions really captured all I wanted to say laaaa.

So despite not getting into finals (for reasons we agreed and accepted), we still went to watch the grand finals of this year's S24! How can I miss such a big event? It was a pity that not all 24 of us came down to watch though. Of course the teams were awesome, to the point that I was like "omggggg when can we ever in our lifetime achieve that kind of zai-nessssssssss?" but the biggest takeaway that I got from the event was that: 

Dance to Perform, Perform to Perform.

Dance for Each Other. Feel Each Other.

Dance Together. Matching Conviction. Matching Energy. Because you want everyone to do well.

"... because you treasure it so much that you have to let it go ..." - wise words from Ryan Tan.

The teams that are really good always have the qualities of these. While not all of them are as high standard as some other teams, the feels the vibes the togetherness the closeness that they gave out really touched the audience's hearts. In these aspects, DDz really still has a long long way to go. The night of S24 grand finals was really quite an inspiring night laaaaa.

Talking about DDz, so much worries despite my term was over. Understand that it is not my problem anymore, but as part of the team that did so much for the club, worries is unavoidable la. Especially this year is such a different year with intake of experienced dancers, the way the club used to manage the club is getting outdated and have to change and adapt. It is gonna be difficult for the current exco but I guess as part of the club I will just have to take initiative and also give the exco as much support as I can. DDz is gonna change, same as every batch, but I think this time the change is gonna be big.