The LA Salsa Congress was a big and star-studded eye opener. For the duration of the event (4 days), we stayed in the same hotel with some of the top latin dancers in the world, and at times got to interact with them as well. For 4 consecutive nights we social danced till the early morning and waking up near noon the next day. The dance floor was huge - a ballroom filled with people grooving to latin beats. I was initially intimidated, but the guys weren't difficult to dance with after all, albeit a touchy lot. I think it was there that my social dancing reached a peak. I realised many people weren't a level up there, but were just like us - out to learn, to improve, to appreciate and enjoy dancing.
It's not hard to see how much Singapore's artistic talent pool pales in comparison to the international acts. The performances were mind-blowing. The dancers executed perfect moves and spins, and most of the were freaking flexible, as if their limbs could bend and stretch without breaking. I felt honoured to be in the presence of so many great dancers, and deeply inspired by their passion for dancing, how they're so driven to promote it, and how they help each other out within the dance community.
Our item was to be performed on the afternoon of the 3rd day of the Congress. Training in a different environment turned out to be a small setback. We were breathless when we first rehearsed in LA due to the cold and dry air, but we did better the following day.
31st May was the day we've trained hard for. Being backstage and waiting for our turn was surreal. Our moment finally came, we were given the last slot of the afternoon show - apparently our rehearsal earlier in the morning was entertaining enough for the producer to give us that slot.
No matter how many times one has been on stage, each performance is still a first for that event and that moment, and the anxiety is fresh each time. This time, it was compunded by the presence of an unfamiliar crowd. We were in a foriegn land and didn't have the comfort of family and friends to encourage and cheer us on. We had come a long way, and we wanted to dance our best, like everyone else.
I hurt my ankle earlier in the morning, and was struggling to get used to the pain before we went on stage. It's strange that during the performance I felt no pain at all, probably because I was overwhelmed and too focused during those moments. So, several weeks after Bailamos En La Calle, we were on the Congress stage, dancing and cheering our hearts out. I felt it was our best dance yet.
We earned ourselves a standing ovation.
Shortly after, when we gathered backstage, we were asked to perform for the night show. Apparently, the better performers are given the night slots, damn were we elated to hear that!
I wasn't extremely surprised that we wow-ed the crowd, because I knew everyone really wanted to dance well, and I thought we would. But being asked to perform again was unbelievable. We're students who wanted to take their passion a little further by heading to LA, we may not have been strong or technically superb dancers, but we were sincere about putting up a good show, and I'm glad that our efforts were appreciated.
Up till the last night of the Congress, I still received compliments for our item. I'm really proud of the dancers!
So, going overseas to dance was something I never thought I would get to do, I only hope that we'll have something of this scale again in the next few years!
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